In a fluid movement, Nash scooped up Bud as she stood with him. Surprising her, he took her hand in his as if it was the most natural thing in the world. For once, she wasn’t going to overthink this.
She held on to his callused hand, warming from the inside out at his gentle touch. Dammit, she had to get out of her head. Had to get over him. Somehow.
“Let’s take Bud back inside and we’ll head out,” he said.
“You’re going to have to change too,” she said, eyeing his jeans and T-shirt. The man looked sexy in anything, but he was now covered in dog fur. “The place we’re going to is upscale.” She glanced down at her own jeans and sneakers. Yep, it was time to put on her new “skin” as she thought of it. One of her many personas during a job. “You know, if you want to come?”
He snorted, not even answering her.
Okay so he was definitely in this thing with her. Now it was time to get to work.
And ignore her ever-growing attraction to him. Easy, right?
Chapter 5
Nash tapped his finger against the steering wheel as he stared out at the front of the Publix from the parking lot. He’d dropped Ivy off so she could change and he’d already changed at his place. Before he picked her up, he had one thing to do.
His phone rang once, twice, three times—
“Hey, what’s up?” Juan sounded slightly out of breath.
“You busy?”
“Kinda. But what’s up? You need me for something?”
“Maybe.” He briefly filled Juan in on what he and Ivy were up to.
When he was done with the basics, Juan let out a low whistle. “No wonder you took off a week.”
Technically he hadn’t known what he was getting into when he’d asked for time off, but that didn’t matter. “I have a favor to ask you. It’s sort of a gray area.”
“Count me in.”
“I haven’t told you what it is.”
“You don’t have to.”
A smile tugged at his lips as he sat in the idling car. “You’re a good friend.”
“True. Look, I’m with Angel right now but she’s got to get back to work anyway. What exactly do you need?”
“I’m about five minutes from your house.” It was why he was sitting in the grocery store parking lot close to Juan’s. “It’s better if I tell you the rest of the details in person.” And he had to give him something.
“Just head this way now. I’ll see you in a few.” He disconnected before Nash could respond.
Nash set his phone on the center console and pulled out of the parking lot. He wasn’t going to tell Ivy what he was doing with Juan. He figured it would be easier to ask for forgiveness later if she got really angry.
Her safety came first for him, and if he was involved in this, he was going to protect her.
* * *
“I wish I could hear what they’re saying,” Ivy murmured without looking over at the table. She and Nash had managed to arrive at the restaurant earlier than two of the three Green brothers. So Leo had been correct in his info, and now they were even.
Only two of the thieves were out in the open with a man she assumed was the middleman seller. She didn’t recognize the guy but she’d gotten a couple pictures of him. She would find out soon enough who he was.
“You want me to plant a listening device?”
She raised an eyebrow at Nash. “You have one on you?” She did too, but that was because of her job.
He gave her a cheeky grin. “Always be prepared.”
Why did he have to be so damn hot? When he grinned at her like that it was easy to forget that they were just friends. Normally she liked working alone, but it was different with him. She never got tired of him, which was rare for her.
She started to respond, then she saw her oldest brother stand up from a table on the other side of the room. Noooooo. What the heck was he doing here? Nooo, this could not be happening. Think, think, think. Not meaning to, she swore softly, making Nash frown.
To give him credit, he didn’t turn around and draw attention to himself. They’d talked about that before arriving here. She wasn’t going to look at the thieves or make eye contact with any of them the entire time. She couldn’t afford to get on their radar at all, or risk having them remember her in any capacity.
“Incoming,” she murmured as Sebastian approached.
Nash stiffened slightly, but the tension in his shoulders eased when Sebastian came to stand next to their table, giving them a confused but pleased smile. He looked like her other brothers: tall with jet-black hair and blue eyes. The four Danger siblings were all similar, though her brothers had just a bit of height on her.
“Hey, you two.” He leaned down and gave Ivy a kiss on the cheek. Like always, he looked very “king of the business world” in his custom suit. It almost appeared black, but it was a very dark navy with barely discernible white stripes. The look was classic, though his violet tie and paler lavender button-down shirt were anything but. They had Maika written all over them. That was something her sister-in-law had definitely picked out. And of course her brother pulled it off. “Ivy, when did you get in town? I thought you were in London or something.”
“Oh, a couple days ago.” She steeled herself, hoping to make this quick. She so did not want her brother asking questions here, of all places. Sebastian and Nash were friendly, but Nash was best friends with her brother Ezra so at least it was only Sebastian here. She cleared her throat, her brain working overtime. “Ah, I’m here because—”
“A date.” Nash answered for her as he stood and shook Sebastian’s hand. “We are on a date.”
Sebastian blinked but took Nash’s hand as he looked between the two of them, confusion flickering in his gaze as he digested the word date. She wasn’t sure why they were shaking hands at all and was too shocked by Nash’s words to move or say anything. She just sat there as her brother’s eyes widened, ping-ponging between the two of them. The man he’d been dining with approached and said something about meeting him outside. Sebastian grunted a response and continued with the stare.
“It was good to see you,” Nash said. “It looks like you’ve got to get out of here, so we’re going to get back to our lunch date.”
Um…what was happening? And why had Nash said the word date eight billion times? No, he’d only said it three times but it felt like more, probably because the word was ricocheting around in her head like a ping-pong ball. Also, what was up with the politest dismissal ever? Nash had been so smooth about basically telling her brother to get lost.
“I’ll call you in a little bit,” her brother said to her, seeming to pull out of his stupor before heading out of the restaurant, his strides purposeful. But not before shooting Nash a look she wasn’t sure she wanted to define.
Not quite murderous, but pretty damn close.
“Why did you say that?” she demanded, her heart thudding in her ears. Why on earth would Nash tell her oldest brother that he and she were on a date? Just why?
“It was the quickest way to get him out of here. He was going to draw attention if you’d told him you were working a job.”