“Do they do that with every guy you’re interested in?” Joe asked, casting a glance over his shoulder.
They’d been on one date and had one kiss. She might argue that it was too early to tell if she was actually interested, but honestly, she couldn’t be bothered. Especially because it would be a lie if she tried. The man knew how to kiss. Not only that, he was intelligent, had an easy smile, and possessed a confident way about him—whether it was talking shop or cooking—that pulled at something primal in her. His ass wasn’t too bad, either.
“Actually, no,” Cyn answered honestly. “They’ve never done that before.”
He flashed her another smile, and she caught a glimpse of the dimple. “I’m not sure whether to be worried or flattered by that.”
Cyn smiled and poured herself some sparkling water. “Maybe both? To be fair, I’ve never really given them the chance to interrogate anyone.”
Joe plated the food, then turned and placed one in front of her and one at the place setting beside her that she’d laid out for him. Her stomach rumbled as she inhaled scents of onions and spices. Rather than come around and join her, he eyed the two plates. “Your kitchen island is nice and all, but it goes against my grain to eat dinner here. How about we move to the table?” he asked, nodding toward the round breakfast table. It was located near the gas fireplace and would be a lovely place to enjoy their meal.
“I’ll turn the fire on,” she said, sliding from her seat. Taking her plate and table setting with her, she set them down, then flicked the fire on. Joe joined her, taking a seat next to the one she’d chosen.
“So why haven’t they given the third degree to other guys?” Joe asked.
She took a bite before answering and the perfect blend of seasonings exploded in her mouth, making her groan in appreciation.
“Oh, good lord, that’s delicious,” she said once she’d swallowed. It was some sort of curry, though she couldn’t place the origin.
He smiled. “Thanks, it’s a combination of a few things I picked up while overseas. Now, back to the question.”
“There really hasn’t been the chance to,” she answered. Part of her thought that maybe she should guard her words a little more, but another part of her thought it might be good to put everything out there. The better she and Joe knew each other, the faster they’d know if the chemistry between them was more than just chemistry. Of course, the latter approach suited her personality better since she tended to be a jump-in-the-pool-feet-first kind of woman, but she’d never felt like testing that with a man before.
“Surely you’ve dated,” Joe said.
She smiled. “Given that I travel so much, I’ve had my fair share of one-night stands and short affairs. But I haven’t really dated anyone. Not seriously. There were a few longer-term relationships, but those were more about convenience than anything meaningful. And because I wasn’t all that invested in them, neither were my friends.”
“Reading between the lines, are you saying you’re invested in me?” He quirked his brow as he asked, giving her permission to take the easy way out and laugh it off if she wanted. But she didn’t want to.
“I could be,” she answered. “It’s early days, but I could be. If that freaks you out, you can also tell yourself that the only reason they interrogated you was because you are also the first local I’ve had any interest in. We don’t tend to date anyone who lives here. Not because there’s something wrong with them, but our lives are, well, they can be a bit crazy, and Cos Cob is our sanctuary. We don’t need, or want, to create any drama here.”
He finished a bite, then took a sip of his beer. “I didn’t date anyone my family tried to set me up with for the same reason. I definitely didn’t need any of the drama that would come with that.”
“So, what about you?”
“What about me? I would think after the grilling I got that you’d know everything you need to know.”
She grinned. Her friends had done a remarkable job of digging into his life and psyche. That he’d gone along with it and not once gotten flustered or mad or irritated spoke volumes about his personality. And likely also about his interest in her.
She was about to ask a more pointed question when her phone dinged. It was sitting on the island and she couldn’t see the number, but she frowned and started to rise.
“Leave it,” Joe said, placing a hand on her arm to still her. “It’s dinnertime. We’ll be done in fifteen minutes. It can wait.”
She slipped out from his grasp and continued to rise. “While I like that premise, only about six people have my number, so when they call or send a message, I need to answer it.” She crossed the room and picked up the device. It was an email alert, which was even more odd…very few people in her world emailed these days. Not unless it was a full file or report and she wasn’t expecting any of those.
“Everything okay?” Joe asked.
Popping open the email app associated with the number, she clicked on the message only to find a hyperlink to a news article and nothing else. She wasn’t about to click on the link, so instead, she looked at Joe. “If I read a URL to you, can you type it into your phone?” She wasn’t so much worried about where the URL would take her but about clicking the link itself and having an embedded virus, or something worse, download when the article opened. If the URL was legit, when Joe manually entered it into his browser, they’d be able to pull up the article.
“Sure,” he said, pulling his own phone out.
She rejoined him at the table as she read the link out loud, coming to a stop behind him so she could read over his shoulder. It took a few seconds to load, and once it did, she reached for the device. Joe pulled it out of reach as he wrapped an arm around her and brought her down onto his lap so they could read it at the same time.
“Why would someone send you an article about the 2019 bombing in Mogadishu?” he asked. “And who sent it to you?”
The article wasn’t long, but she took the time to finish reading it before she answered. It covered the very basics of the event that killed more than eighty-five people. She knew about the bombing, of course; everyone in her line of work did. A truck had been driven into a police checkpoint before exploding and killing dozens of innocent people. The bombing had been claimed by Al-Shabaab, an extremist group that operated in the area.
“Cyn? Who sent this to you?” Joe asked again.