Page 86 of Silent Comrade
Britt gritted her teeth. She peeked at hisfashion choices as she waited for him to wrap up his loud, VeryImportant Phone Call. He wore gleaming brown Louboutin oxfordswithout a scuff on them. That gray suit, double-breasted with not acrease to be found, looked like an Armani, based on the cut and thefour-button cuffs. Appeared to be a wool, silk, and linen blend forthe warmer spring weather. She fought an impulse to rub thematerial between her fingers. Silver cuff links on crisp whitecotton peeked out under the blazer sleeves and boded well for thesize of her tip.
The guy must work out, judging from the cutand breadth of the suiting as well as the cords of muscles on hisneck. Even the hand tapping a pen with impatience was broad andstrong as it flexed and moved. Several knuckles were red andbruised, like Red’s after the department store fight. Where bothshe and Red had almost died. She swallowed hard.
Frowning, she glanced at the man’s smoothlyshaven face. Bruises dotted his temple and stony jaw. MMA fighter,maybe? She peeked at his normal-appearing ear. Didn’t MMA fightershave messed up ears from getting hit there? Britt was noexpert.
Before she could kill more time crafting amake-believe story to explain his background, he barked a goodbyeand put down the phone with a definitivethud. When heswiveled his head to her, his expression went from tight rage to anengaging grin in a split-second. With the combination of his icyblue eyes, a gleaming smile, and thick hair that was perfectlymussed, she rocked back on her heels at the impact his appearancehad on her.
“Good morning, Britt.”
She froze. Her heart scampered a millionmiles per hour. How did he know her name? Should she know him? Oh,God. “How? What—”
He crinkled his nose in a handsomelydisarming manner and pointed. “You, ah, have a name tag rightthere. Sorry if I offended.” His Southern drawl dragged out thewords like thick Karo syrup.
Name tag. Of course.
“I … got it. Yes.”
He reached out but didn’t quite touch her.“Having a rough day?” Tapping the back of his phone, he added,“Because I am.” He made a dramatic and handsome sigh. “Actually,the person on the other end is now having a worse day.” A fleetingtwitch made his left eye and an eyebrow scrunch.
“Hmm,” she gave a noncommittal noise andheld up the pad. “What can I get you?”
His assessing gaze cooled a few degrees, butthen he broadened his smile to compensate, almost like he tuned aninstrument. “Pretty lady like you should not ask questions likethat to guys like me.”
Kind of gross. Kind of flattering. Shedidn’t know whether to bat her eyes or wash her hands again.“Um.”
“Say, do you know anything about the RodgersBuilding?” He straightened both cuffs to one half-inch of whitefabric showing with a peek of cuff link visible on each side. “I’vegot a meeting there in an hour. Not sure which way to go.”
He could literally tap on that phone he’dbeen barking into and pull up a map.
Maybe he was nervous about the meeting ortrying to be friendly. Not like she could fault anyone for that.Britt would be friendly back, because, frankly, she liked goodtips. “I believe it’s down the street to the left one block, then aright onto Peachtree Circle. Not Peachtree Street, which is whatwe’re on now.” A laugh bubbled up. “That’s not confusing at all.I’m not sure if I helped or not.”
His warm, deep chuckle came out a half-tonewrong as he shook his head. “Darlin’, you gave me exactly what Ineeded this morning.”
Before Britt could try and figure out whathe meant by that, he provided his order. As she walked back toprepare the custom coffee with extra shots of everything, themuscles of her neck prickled, as if sensing that he was watchingher.
Turning back, she stared across the room. Noone looked up. The man’s head was down as he typed on his phone,like any other customer. Nothing sinister. Just abusinessman—she paused—softly whistling a tune while he probably pulled upemails and waited for his breakfast croissant and coffee. Great.Now she saw danger everywhere, including her customers.
A few minutes later, she returned to histable. “Here you go.” She set down the cup and plate with a cheesecroissant in front of him. “Anything else I can get for you?”
A half-second later that media-ready smilecreased his face. He shot her a handsomely boyish look. “See, I hadan inappropriate answer in mind but thought better of it.” His eyeand eyebrow twitched again. Could be he had a nerve or muscleinjury. He curled a hand into a fist on the table, thendeliberately laid his hand flat but this time slid it onto histhigh. “Maybe later.” He set out a twenty and pushed up from thetable with a fluidity of movement that appeared at odds with hisbig frame.
“I’ll get your change.”
“No need. Seeing your sweet smile while youserved me and stood here, not a foot away, within arm’s reach, waswell worth the investment.”
Britt didn’t know what to say to that.
The man strolled out of the coffee shop,whistling again.
He had left his drink and croissantbehind.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Damn it.
Red had lost an hour of video feed. Classwas starting soon. He fake-relaxed on the sidewalk bench acrossfrom the coffee shop, fighting through the fake video loops playingon his phone while keeping an eye on Britt’s workplace.
A large man in a suit exited the coffeeshop, whistling a tune that Red couldn’t place. The guy lookedsomewhat familiar. Rodeo called, catching Red’s attention.
