Page 1 of Tangled
CHAPTER ONE
Scarlett Mitchell scooped her long black hair away from her face and settled itbehind her shoulders. Her tight curls wouldn’t stay back for long; they were far too springy for that. But for now, she could see with her peripheral vision.
Taking a sip of her Negra Modelo, she glanced around. Her date was five minutes late, but she didn’t mind. It gave her time to scope out the small burger joint located a couple of miles from LAX airport. Popular with the airport crowd, she spotted a few cleaning staff and food service workers still in their uniforms. Although she’d wager that the four men sitting at the table opposite her were pilots. She’d flown enough in her life that she could spot one a mile away, even out of uniform.
At the end of the bar, one man sat alone. Two women in a booth nearby kept eyeing him and giggling. Scarlett didn’t blame them—well, not for the eyeing part; the giggling was a little over the top. The man was…more than attractive. Physically, he checked all her boxes. Tall, lean build, dark hair, sharp jawline, and the kind of eyes that were hard to look away from. She couldn’t tell their exact color, although she knew they weren’t blue, and their striking light shade contrasted with his dark lashes and tanned skin. The stark difference between the light and the dark reminded her of a young Gary Cooper, despite their different color. So did the twinkle she glimpsed in them.
His appearance might have been what caught her attention. It wasn’t what kept it, though. No, what kept it was the steady way he held his drink, the flash of the smile he offered thebartender, and the “thank you” he gave the waitress when she delivered his meal. He wasn’t a man looking to hook up or impress or portray an image. He seemed, from her vantage point, a man comfortable with himself, kind, and based on the tiny tilt of his lips every time the women behind him giggled, easily amused. All good qualities in her book.
Then again, maybe she was attributing far too much to him because, in many ways, he reminded her of her best friend’s husband. In the eighteen months they’d been married, she’d only met Ethan Warwick once. But she’d seen enough pictures and heard enough stories from Kara that Scarlett adored the man. And their four-month-old son, Jasper. She hadn’t met the baby yet, but as soon as she finished her current “project,” she planned to head up to Mystery Lake and visit. It had been far too long since she’d wrapped her friend in a hug.
A person slid into the other side of her booth, and she jerked her attention away from the man at the bar. Then did a double take at the one now sitting across from her. The man she’d met online, and had arranged the date with, had billed himself as a forty-year-old fitness trainer. The one across from her, holding out his hand and introducing himself as said trainer, had to be at least fifty-five. And if he’d seen the inside of a gym, or any physical activity in years, she’d eat her hat.
“It’s nice to meet you, Scarlett. I’m Cole,” he said.
She blinked, then held out her hand. “Nice to meet you too, Cole,” she replied. If she cared at all about this “date” she’d be pissed about his misrepresentations. But as she didn’t, she found herself mildly curious as to what kind of person felt so free to lie about themselves.
He flashed her a chagrined smile. “I know, I’m not what you were expecting,” he said. She lifted her shoulder and glanced away, looking for a waiter. The dark-haired man at the bar—the man she now thought of as Cooper—turned his head andtheir eyes caught. He held her gaze for a moment, maybe two, then it dropped to Cole, who was explaining something about his profile that she was paying no attention to. Cooper frowned, then seemed to catch himself. His gaze lifted to hers again, then he turned away. She could all but hear the internal dialogue in his head, reminding himself that whatever was happening in her booth wasn’t any of his business. Pity that. If it were a different sort of night, she might not mind being his business.
“Don’t you think?” Cole asked.
“I’m sorry,” Scarlett said, returning her attention to herdate. “I was looking for a waiter,” she added.
Cole smiled. Despite not being at all how he described himself on his profile, he had a nice smile. Still not her type. But again, hooking up wasn’t the purpose of the evening. Not for her, anyway.
“Reverse aging,” he said. Confusion had her furrowing her brow. “I know I said I was forty, and I’m not. Not biologically. I’ve been doing a lot of reverse aging work, though, and I think it’s really paying off.”
Scarlett stared at him. She tended to keep up with medical research, even if 99 percent of it wasn’t relevant to the work she did as a nurse with an international aid organization. And reverse aging was not a thing the Average Joe—which Cole definitely was—could do. Sure, he could have light treatments and all sorts of cosmetic procedures—although, judging by his appearance, he hadn’t. But reverse aging at the molecular or cellular level? Well, she hoped, for his sake, he hadn’t been sold a bunch of modern-day snake oil.
Still, his obvious enthusiasm could serve her well.
She leaned forward, fingering her beer bottle. “That’s fascinating, Cole. I’ve heard things, of course. What woman my age hasn’t been told how to look younger? I’d love to hear all about it.”
She knew for a fact she looked younger than her thirty-seven years, but whatever. Women over the age of thirty weresupposedto be paranoid about keeping their youthful appearances. Her interest would be easy for Cole to believe.
And believe her, he did. As he launched into a monologue about his treatments, she let her attention skim across the growing crowd. Four young men had walked in two minutes earlier, and she’d pegged them as college kids out for a late-night snack of the locally famous burgers. Two older women, cleaners at one of the local hotels, if Scarlett had to guess, followed.
As the women removed their coats, chatting away in Spanish, her gaze darted to Cooper. Again, their eyes caught. A fluttering of something started in her stomach as they continued to stare at each other. His gaze, not quite predatory, held a keen but quiet curiosity. Instinctively, she knew he wouldn’t try to pick her up. Not while she appeared to be on a date. He couldn’t, nor did he try to, disguise his interest, though.
Inside, she sighed. If only tonight were different. If only tonight allowed her to ditch Cole and explore the chemistry arcing between her and the man at the bar.
But she had much bigger plans. Plans she had no intention of wavering from.
The door opened, and three more men walked in. Her breath caught, and she drew back in both surprise and relief. She’d hoped, but hadn’t been sure, they’d show up tonight. An instant later, she forced herself to relax. She had no interest in drawing attention to herself. Although, judging by the way Cooper watched her, it might be too late for that. At least where he was concerned.
Counting her breaths in and out, she took a sip of her beer and looked at Cole. Who she promptly tuned out again as he continued to espouse his knowledge of molecular biology in away that told her he hadn’t studied it himself but was happy to own whatever information he’d been fed.
Out of the corner of her eye, she watched the three men walk across the room. She only recognized one—his white-blond hair making him hard to forget—and she cataloged the features of the other two as they passed by the bar. None of them looked at the crowd or seemed to assess their surroundings as they headed toward the hall leading to the restrooms. And beyond that, to a storage area in the back of the building. A storage area with an industrial-size walk-in freezer that, if her sources were right, wasn’t used for food.
A tiny smile touched her lips. The layout of the building was a convenient bit of luck. Excusing herself to go to the ladies’ room wouldn’t raise any flags. And since she’d nearly finished her beer, the timing worked.
She dragged her attention away from the hall and back to Cole, stopping when she noticed Cooper watching her, studying her. A small line appeared between his brows as he lowered them. The left side of his mouth tightened, and his eyes burned into her. As if asking what she was up to.
Until now, she hadn’t considered the possibility that he might be with the three men who’d disappeared down the hall. That he might be an advance scout who’d noticed her interest. Her chest squeezed at the thought. Was it possible? Yes. Was it likely, though? She didn’t think so. Her instincts were honed from years of good situational awareness determining the difference between life and death. And those instincts were telling her that he was just a man having a burger and a beer and eyeing a woman he found interesting. But could she risk it? Should she still move ahead with her plan?
Cooper’s gaze swiveled toward the hall, lingered there, then returned to her. A heartbeat later, one of the older women who’d entered earlier bumped into him, and his attention jerkedaway. The woman’s voice was too low for Scarlett to make out the words, but she recognized the cadence. To her surprise, he answered back in Spanish. The woman laughed, and they bantered for a bit before he shifted over a stool so that the two women could sit beside each other.
“Drink?” Cole asked.
