“Jesus, someone bit off the end. How did I not notice that in the store?”
She had tried to hide her grin but failed.
“You took a bite out of the bread? In the store?” I gaped at her.
“Once I paid for it. It was still warm, Damien. Warm,” she repeated. “I couldn’t resist.”
All I could do was laugh. She was completely adorable, and I didn’t want her any other way. I liked her just like that. Free-spirited bread-stealer that she was.
I encouraged her to tell me more stories of the kids she taught, enjoying the way her eyes softened when she spoke of her students.
“You’ll make a great mother one day,” I said without thinking.
She stared at me, her mouth forming a silent O.
“I mean, if you wanted kids,” I added.
“I would love a couple of them,” she admitted.
“It seems so natural to you,” I observed. “But I didn’t mean to overstep.”
“No, it’s fine.” She waved off my concern. “I love children. I love being part of their lives. Watching them learn and discover the world around them. I would like to have my own one day.” She paused. “What about you?”
I finished my steak, chewing slowly. I pushed away my plate and took a sip of wine.
“Given my occupation, at one point, I would have said no. But now, I think so.”
“Your occupation?” She eyed me over the rim of her glass. “You’ve said a few other things. You mentioned your training and your background. Your assurances I couldn’t be any safer. I assume you didn’t always operate a security firm?”
“No.”
She pursed her lips. “Are you a spy? An undercover agent? 007?”
I chuckled. “Nothing that impressive. In fact, I was never a field agent. I have no machine guns in my car or a pen that will explode when needed.”
“Damn.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine. I can live with that.”
“I can, however, protect you better than anyone else in this city.”
“There is a story there.”
“Yes.”
“You said you’d tell me.”
“When the time is right.”
“Okay,” she agreed and dropped the subject. “What do you have planned for the weekend?”
“Whatever you want. I’m at your beck and call.”
She grinned. “I’ve never had a beck-and-call guy.”
“Well, here I am. I assume you plan on making cookies from the items I saw you put in the cart?”
“Yes.”
“Then whatever you want. As long as I get to be taste tester for said cookies, I’m your guy.”
A mischievous look passed over her face, and she tried to hide her grin. I narrowed my eyes. “What are you up to?”
“Nothing.”
“I think you are.”
“Well then, Mr. Super Spy, you’ll have to find out.” A breeze stirred her hair, and she shivered a little. I glanced up at the clouds that had gathered while we were eating, surprised at how quickly they were coming in.
“We should head in,” I said. “We’ll continue this discussion inside.”
She stood with a smile. “Or not.”
I grinned as I followed her down the steps. I was looking forward to getting her secret out of her.
Any way I had to.
CHAPTER TEN
Damien
Back in the apartment, Raven curled up on the sofa with her Kindle, and I sat across from her, using my laptop, checking emails. Every so often, I would feel her eyes on me, but when I would lift my head, she would drop her gaze back to her e-reader, a small smile tugging at her lips. She was up to something, but I hadn’t figured it out yet.
Outside, the wind was stronger and the clouds darker.
“Are you afraid of storms?” I asked.
“No. I love to watch them.”
“Me too. The skylight in my room is the perfect place for it.”
She lifted one eyebrow. “Is that a fact?”
“It is.”
“Trying to lure me into your bed, Damien?”
“Is it working?”
She giggled, and I grinned at the sound.
“You like the sunlight best, though, I assume.”
“Why would you say that?”
“You seem like a sunshine kind of girl.”
“I enjoy the sun and summer, but I actually love the darkness. You know most people hate the winter and how short the days are? I love it. The nighttime. The inky skies and the stars. Winter is my favorite season. Fall, second.”
“You are one odd girl, Raven.”
She laughed again.
I enjoyed teasing her. I liked hearing her laugh. I liked being the one to make her laugh.
I looked back at my laptop, unhappy with Egan’s latest message. He still had come up empty trying to find Andy. He was convinced Andy was a hacker and had deleted every trace of himself from the site. I had to agree. We were going to start delving into other sites, although there was a chance Andy had used a different name or had erased himself there as well. Egan informed me he was shocked at the number of dating sites there were. I had to agree with him, especially given how much harder that would make our job of finding this slimeball. But I was determined.
I shut my laptop and looked over at Raven. She shifted in her seat, rolling her shoulders.
“Um, could you hand me that pillow?” she asked, indicating the other end of the sofa she was seated on.
“Sure.”
I placed the laptop on the table beside me, stood, and picked up one of the toss cushions to give her. Unexpected movement caught my eye as I picked up the pillow, and I gasped in disbelief as a mouse scurried under the other cushion.
“Fuck,” I swore, jumping back.
“What?”
“A mouse,” I said through gritted teeth. “A goddamn mouse.”
“Oh.”
“I hate mice.”
Suddenly, it appeared again, and without thinking, I backed up, hitting the other sofa and falling on it. “Damn it!” I yelled. “There’s more than one!”
A strange noise hit me, and I looked at Raven in a panic. Her hand was covering her mouth, and she was laughing.
Why the hell was she laughing?
We were being overrun by rodents, for fuck’s sake. Scurrying little vermin were in my apartment.
My gaze went back to the mice. Then I frowned. They hadn’t moved. One was still under the cushion, its ass peeking out, the other sitting in the middle of the seat. Perfectly still.
I stood, staring. Something wasn’t right. Raven’s laughter grew louder, and I glanced her way then at the mice.
And spied the thread attached to them.
I snapped my head in her direction, glowering at her. I thought about how chummy she and Leo were when I arrived at the coffee shop earlier. Laughing and joking when I walked in, talking about something amusing.
That fucker had sold me out. Told her about how much I hated mice.
“Think you’re funny, do you?” I asked.
She could only nod, her laughter still loud.
I reached down, pulling the mice off the sofa. Fake, stuffed mice. It hit me. At the store by the pharmacy was the pet aisle. There had been a display of toys. She had distracted me. Twice.