Page 22 of ELITE Justice
“I’m sorry, Gwen.” He regretted what he’d done all the way to his boots but he had to do it. He laid his hand over hers and was thrilled when she didn’t jerk it away.
“I need to make arrangements for a surveillance team.” Quin wiped his mouth and rose. “Take your time, Jonathan. I’ll see you back in the office and we’ll strategize.”
“Thanks, Quin.” His boss was a smart man.
When he’d left, Jonathan tried to explain, hoping the knot in his stomach would ease. “I really enjoyed last night, supper, the rooftop, everything.” He lowered his voice so only she could hear, “And especially being with you upstairs.”
She glanced away then back to him. “I had a good time, too.” Then she smiled. “No one has ever romanced me the way you did. You blew me away. Then…”
“I’m sorry,” he said again. “I wasn’t sure what…if you were involved—”
She stiffened under his grasp. “I wasn’t, and now you know.”
“Yeah, now I know what a wonderful woman you are, willing to put yourself out there to continue to protect the United States.” He sighed. “Fuck, Gwen, you took one hell of a chance. If those boys knew you were onto them or their families, they’d run home and your name would be at the top of the cell’s kill list.” He wanted to wrap this brave woman in his arms and protect her forever.
“Do you think I am?” She rolled her hand over and squeezed his.
He shook his head. “No. I don’t think they have any idea. So, let’s keep it that way. Let us take over from here.” He made his decision right then. He’d be inside the diner when those kids arrived.
“I’ll be back this afternoon.” He looked at their joined hands and felt the heat coursing through his body. “Feel it? The connection we have?”
Staring into her eyes, he saw the moment she admitted it.
Yes.He mentally fist-pumped. “I’d like to see you again. Not just this afternoon on the stakeout, but to take you out again.”
“We’ll see.” She gave his hand one last squeeze and stood up. “I’ll see you later this afternoon.”
Jonathan stuffed the last bites of his omelet into his mouth. He wasn’t going to let food this good go to waste. Finishing off his coffee, he stood, threw a few extra bills on the table for Mandi and more than enough to cover both their meals. He quickly headed toward the door.
“Is your company doing the security for the American Airlines dedication?” Gladys asked as he passed their table. “American usually hires on a few extra guards when they have an event like that.”
Before he could explain that Guardian didn’t have that kind of guards, it struck him what she’d said.
“Big ta-dos, you know.” Viola leaned toward him and conspiratorially lowered her voice. “They say even the governor is coming but don’t want to announce it. Crowd control, you know.”
“That governor is so cute.” Gladys grinned ear to ear. “He looks like Dr. Kildare from that TV show, back in the day.”
“So…what’s this about American Airlines?” Jonathan tried to interrupt.
“No,” Viola corrected, “he looks like Richard Chamberlain.”
Gladys rolled her eyes so dramatically Jonathan thought her eyebrows were going to touch her hair, which was…he had to look twice to be sure…yes, that was definitely purple. “Same person. Richard Chamberlain played Dr. Kildare.”
“Excuse me, ladies, but I haven’t heard about this.” He set his hand on the table garnering their attention.
Gladys smiled up at him with teeth too perfect to be real. “My second husband, Jerald, God rest his soul—”
“God isn’t going to give Jerold any peace,” Viola interrupted. “Because the man is burning in hell and should be for all that cheating lounge lizard put you through. He thought he was such a big shot, Director of Security at American Airlines. The only thing the man did was direct his fingers, tongue, and dick into as many women as possible. He brought new meaning to the term cavity search. And I’m too old to think about what other orifices he searched that way.”
Jonathan didn’t know whether to laugh or just walk away and find some mind bleach, if there was such a thing.
“He wasn’t all that bad, and besides, he was wonderful in bed. You’re just jealous because your Charlie always seemed to get called out at night to go deal with Ranger stuff.”
“I’ll have you know that Charlie and I had an excellent sexual relationship up until he had his third heart attack.” She cocked her head. “We even had sex before the doctor said we could after his bypass surgery”
Oh my fucking God. Talk about too much information. Before the women started comparing dick sizes of their husbands, Jonathan said loudly, “Ladies. Can one of you tell me,” he smiled now that they were both looking at him, “please, what’s happening at American Airlines and when.”
“Well, next—”
