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Seconds before he arrived at her table, she stood and gave him a smile that could melt the coldest of hearts. “You caught me.”
Appreciation gleamed in his eyes. “I certainly did.”
“What am I to do now?”
“I’d say that’s up to you.”
Holding out her hand, she kept her eyes locked with his as she felt his large hand engulf hers. The description from his bio had been wrong again. Blue eyes? Not exactly. The color was the blue found in the deepest, darkest depths of the ocean. Unfathomable and endless.
Jules felt her world tilt on its axis.
Gathering her wits took longer than she had anticipated, as did retrieving her hand from his. He’d held on to it longer than was socially acceptable, and she found herself almost breathless from the small but obvious gesture of attraction.
“Are you on holiday?” Cheesy opening line, but she was flummoxed for something more meaningful and intelligent right now.
“You tell me.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’ve been following me for two days. I thought you might’ve already figured that out.”
If she’d had any chance of getting back on even ground, he had just destroyed that hope. When had she gotten so complacent that she couldn’t tail a mark without getting caught? She refused to accept the whispering accusation in her head that told her she’d wanted the meeting to happen and therefore hadn’t been as invisible as she could have been.
Regroup, Jules, before you ruin everything.
Giving a self-conscious tilt of her head, she confessed, “A friend of mine told me about you. I wanted to observe you before we met.”
“Is that right?” He waved his hand toward the chair she’d been sitting in, and with much less grace than she wanted, Jules plopped down.
Pulling out a chair on the other side of the small table, he sat and then crossed his legs in a supremely confident manner. “Tell me who your friend is, what your friend told you, and then tell me why you wanted this meeting.”
This part should be easy. With expert help, she had created this cover story. As much of it was true, the words should flow effortlessly from her lips. She hadn’t, however, expected to have these other feelings get in the way. The success of her mission required her to maintain as much emotional distance as possible. Being attracted to her mark was a very bad idea.
The reminder was a good one, settling her nerves. Instead of answering his question, she glanced around and said softly, “It’s a delicate issue. Can we go somewhere more private and talk?”
“Here’s fine.”
She couldn’t blame him for his mistrust—it was well earned. But it did make things a bit trickier for her. Eyes and ears could be anywhere, everywhere.
“Very well. My name is Juliet Stone. Jules to my friends.” The words, at last, came easily to her lips. “And the friend who told me about you is Kate Walker. She said you could help me.”
His nod was almost imperceptible, as was the lessening of tension in that granite jaw. Someone else might not have noticed the change, but she had studied this man back and forth. She knew him.
“How is Kate? Still fighting the good fight in Washington?”
Her smile was genuine, as was her admiration. “Good try, but you know full well that Kate wouldn’t be caught within a hundred miles of DC again.”
“And how do you know Kate?”
“I interviewed with her when she was at the FBI.” Not technically true, but close enough. “I didn’t get the job, but we stayed in contact.”
And because it was one hundred percent true, she added, “Friends like Kate don’t come along very often.”
* * *
Well, hell. He liked her. And he couldn’t say that about many people. But there was something about Juliet Stone that made him want to smile. Since smiling had become as rare as unicorns in the last few years, that in itself was an anomaly he wanted to explore.
Using Kate’s name was a powerful move. Kate Walker had been his mentor when he’d first started with the FBI. Though she had left the agency before his life fell apart, their friendship had remained solid. He owed her for many things, but mostly for saving his sanity. Outside of OZ, she was the only person he completely trusted.