Page 15 of Burn Bag

“Dude, you don’t even know her name.”

That was true. I hadn’t actually paid any attention to it. “Okay, what’s her name?”

“Emily.”

I thought it over and grinned. “Emily. That’s a good name. Strong, but not too strong. Nothing weird or exotic. I like it.”

He sighed heavily, kicking his feet up on the table. “I can’t believe I’m letting you do this.”

“You’re not letting me do anything. I’m a grown man.”

“Yes, and you’re about to make a lethal mistake.”

“Am not. This is gonna be good.”

“Like hell it will,” he grumbled. “Mark my words, you will come to regret this.”

“Look, you built the algorithm. What could possibly go wrong?”

He shot to his feet and strode toward the door. “Oh, no. I’m not falling for this shit.”

I stepped in his path to stop him from leaving. “Hang on?—”

“No, you hang on. I see how this is going. When this all goes south, it’s my neck on the line. That’s it! I’ll be dead and everyone will say,Well, he should have known this would end badly. And they’d be right because right now, this is really going to end badly.”

“It will not. I swear to God.” I had no way to convince him, so I pulled a line out of my ass and went with it. “I’m gonna build a fire with her.”

He rolled his eyes with a sigh. “Not you, too.”

“I swear. Nothing will happen until the kindling is set and the fire is roaring.”

I was totally lying. I fully intended to contact this woman and set the date as soon as possible. I was tired of waiting around for life to happen.

“You swear it?”

“On my father’s grave.”

He and I were never close anyway.

He eyed me warily for a moment before finally giving in. “Fine. Let’s get to work.”

“That’s what I’m talking about. Hello, future Mrs. Kavanaugh!”

“What if she doesn’t show?”

“Relax,” Dash sighed, sitting across from me at the coffee house in Kansas City. “She’ll show.”

I checked my watch again, wondering why it was taking her so long to get here. I had come all the way from OPS to Kansas City to meet her, yet she couldn’t be on time.

“Mark this down,” I told Dash, already irritated with her tardiness. “This is a strike against her for being late.”

He rolled his eyes and opened the notebook, putting one strike against her. “I can’t believe I’m actually participating in this.”

“Believe it. I’m telling you, if she’s the one, this is going to be the most successful relationship you’ve ever seen.”

His eyebrows shot up as he stared at me. “You know I’m married, right?”

“And?”

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