“Maybe.”Reed gestured up the street.“So you’re staying up that way?”
I nodded and sipped my coffee.“I’m way up the hill.”
He put an arm around me.“Walking distance.”
“Are we making plans past this morning?”
“I’d like to.”
He moved behind me and pressed his lips to my neck.It was easy to press my back into his chest, to have his arms close around me.I turned sideways to study his face.In the sunlight, his hair had naturally golden highlights in the sandy brown.And those dark eyelashes.They were long and the perfect accent for the brown eyes that watched me with such intensity.
My brain flashed back to the two of us in bed.I definitely enjoyed it.Maybe too much.I took hold of his wrist and moved out from his encircling arms.Going around the table, I sat down.
“What did you order for us?”
“If I ordered the right things, does that mean we’ll do this again?”
I couldn’t help but smile.“I hope you got it right.”
“So much pressure.”He scoffed and sat in the chair across from me.He pointed to each of the sandwiches.“Turkey Avo, Veggie Lovers, Best Reuben Ever.”
“How do you know this is thebestReuben ever if you’ve never had it before?”
“That’s what it’s called on the menu.”
“You trust everything you read?”I teased.
“A hundred percent.I’m the most trusting person you ever met.”
Maybe, but a shadow of doubt had already entered the picture.Payam was the most accomplished and efficient assistant I’d ever had, and there was still nothing getting reported back.Not a good sign.I guessed that Reed’s information was turning out to be a bit more complicated than just plugging his license number into the data files of the New York State Motor Vehicle Department.Definitely not a good sign.
“Start.”He motioned to the food.“Please.”
The sandwiches were huge.Thankfully, they were divided into quarters.“You must have guests coming that you haven’t told me about.”
“I warned you about how much I eat.”
Taking a section of the Veggie Lovers sandwich, I pulled out my cell and put it on the table, next to my plate.
“Expecting a call?”
“You never know with the crew I travel with.Any one of them could be at the house right now, trying to figure out how to get in.”
“And you have the only key.”
“That’s me.Master of the key.”
“The one that can open every door.”
“Actually and metaphorically.”
He tapped my coffee mug with his.“I’ll drink to that.”
He stretched out his long legs, and the intentional brush of his bare feet against mine sent a subtle shiver through me.There was an unmistakable appeal about the way he remained acutely attuned to me.
I absorbed the warmth of the moment, but I couldn't shake the awareness that this connection couldn’t last.A fling was one thing, but I wasn’t home.Here it would be stupid—possibly dangerous—to form any kind of attachment to this man while on a mission.The sex would have to do.But in this fleeting instant, I couldn’t help embracing the delicate and passionate dance between us.
“I meant to ask you about Austen,” I asked.
