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“Bible study.” He didn’t miss a beat, and I rolled my eyes.
“Forget it.” I dropped some money on top of my bill and swung my bags over my shoulder.
“Fine, we’re engineers for various construction companies, and we’re here for a conference.”
I pushed my sunglasses through my hair and shaded my eyes. “Wow, you’re such a bad liar.”
“Think what you want,” he shrugged, “but don’t tell me you aren’t a little curious to find out how we know you.”
“You’re persistent, I'll give you that. Fine, but the least you can do is give me your name.”
“Paul.”
“Paul.” I waited for his last name, but he just stared at me. “All right, Paul.” I waved for him to lead the way. He grabbed the rest of his order, and I followed him to the table. The guys all stood while Mark pulled me over to a seat next to him, then Paul joined us.
“Everyone, Nicole,” Mark jumped right in, “Nicole, this is Mike, John, Keith, Cole, and of course you’ve met Paul.”
I repeated their names in my head a few times to make it stick. Then something hit me. I turned to Paul and chuckled.
“What?”
“I see why you went to the Bible cover story. You all have biblical names. Well, with the exception of yours.”
“We get that a lot.” Cole chuckled, and I took a moment to admire how handsome and fit they all were.
“Well, you got me here. Let’s hear it.” I leaned back in my chair and looked around the table. “Spill your secrets.”
“Before we do anything like that,” Paul said, “what were you doing at that motel?”
“At what motel?” That got my back up.
“Come on, Nicole, we saw the clip on the news channel.”
“So, you do know me from TV.” I raised my brows at him.
“Not only from there.” Mark raised his chin at me and wiggled his brows.
“So, you want to pick my brain first before you’ll tell me.” I shook my head, annoyed, but not a single one of them looked about to budge. “Wow.” So that was how they wanted to play this. Well, two could play at that game. “I see trust isn’t easy for any of us, but I’m outnumbered here, so screw it. I was following a lead.” I chose my words carefully and kept that part vague. “And it took me to the motel. Carlos, the owner, shared with me that he was working with the DSA about the struggles he was having with the GMP. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but later that night, we were attacked.” I waited to see if they’d get it. I tilted my head at Paul. At his blank expression, I looked around at the others. They all tried to hide their blank expressions and began to shift in their seats.
“So, it wasn’t DSA or GPM?” Mike, whose name I’d never forget given his head-to-toe tattoos, tried to play off their confusion but screwed up the abbreviation.
“No,” I laughed. I knew I had them. “Why would any of that have to do with an attack on some sleazy motel?”
“Any of what?” Cole tapped his finger on the table, and it drew my eyes to Mike, who sat next to him. Mike stretched his arms over his head. Would you look at that tattoo.
“Really?” I set my glass down harder than I meant to. “You guys are supposed to be the best, and to be honest, I’m a bit let down.” Mark filled a glass of beer and slid it over to me. “Thanks.” I smiled and then gave a dramatic sigh. “I guess you shouldn’t meet your idols.”
“Well, now I’m fucking lost.” Mark tossed a hand in the air.
“All right, all right.” I leaned forward and rested my elbows on the table and made no attempt to hide my smugness. “Let’s start from the beginning now that I see what this is. So, Paul here accused me of following him, and I must be honest, he did catch my eye.”
“Good to know,” John chuckled, but I didn’t look amused.
“I wasn’t following you,” I looked at Paul, “but you just happened to show up in two different places where I was. I found it odd but decided it could be a coincidence.”
“Right,” Paul huffed, and I glared at him. Christ, he was annoying.
“Later, Paul offers me some pain medication, which he carries in a GI spec matchbox holder. He also mentioned that our worlds were very similar, and add to that the fact you all look like a real-life version of Team America. And Keith,” I smirked, “you’re one strange look away from shedding that Godawful outfit.”