Page 30 of SEAL's Paradise
Except they were in Hawaii.A freaking tropical paradise.
Sawyer set his beer down and neatly slid off the barstool, crossing the crowded space without thought.Hopefully tiger boy wasn’t watching, because Sawyer only had one chance to fool the teenager.
Fucking tiger tattoo.
“You got a message for me?”Sawyer asked as he approached.He stood in front of the teenager, blocking the view of him from the bar in case old tiger stripes himself happened to look over.
The teenager swallowed, suddenly looking nervous.“Um—maybe.”
“Stripes and whiskers, right?”Sawyer asked with a grin.
“Well, uh, I’m supposed to look for them,” the teenager boy said, his voice cracking.His gaze scanned over Sawyer, clearly not finding anything of the sort.
“Just a code word, my friend,” Sawyer said, clapping him on the shoulder.“How about I give you some cash for your trouble?Thanks again for coming all the way down here to meet me tonight.”Sawyer pulled his wallet from his back pocket, peeling a few twenties off the little money he carried.Too bad Sawyer hadn’t realized he’d be paying off some dumb kid this evening.He’d have made sure to have more cash on him.
The teenager looked at the money, shrugged, then pulled a folded manila envelope from the inside of his jacket.“Here you go.”He handed over the delivery and snatched the cash, almost seeming worried that Sawyer would change his mind about tipping him.
The kid was gone before Sawyer could question him about who’d hired him, but no matter.They’d gotten more intel tonight than in the weeks Riley had been working the case alone.Some of it was pure luck as far as timing, but hell.If they got answers, that was all that mattered.
Sawyer lifted the bottom of his shirt and shoved the envelope into the front of his pants, deciding he needed to get the hell out of there.Thankfully, he’d grabbed his phone in his haste to intercept the delivery.He thumbed a message to Riley as he strode out of Coconuts into the dark Hawaiian night.
Sawyer:Meet me at your car.
Riley:Okay.I’m headed out in a few.What’s going on?
Sawyer:I’ve got the package.
Riley:That’s not some sort of sexual innuendo, is it?
Sawyer:Negative, kitten.But you know me all too well.
Sawyer:After all, a tiger never changes its stripes.;)
Riley:You need a girlfriend.Someone else you can bug all the time.
Sawyer:Also a negative.I already got my future wifey.
Sawyer:Get your cute ass out here.
Sawyer snorted as she sent him a blushing emoji.Then his jaw dropped as she texted him back.
Riley:Your ass isn’t so bad either.
His low chuckle filled the parking lot.Riley could protest all she wanted, but she wanted him, too.She just wouldn’t admit it.
***
RILEY CAME RUSHINGout the back door of Coconuts a few minutes later, her purse slung over her shoulder, her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail.Sawyer frowned as she crossed the nearly empty back lot.Sure, he was here waiting for her, but what about the nights he wasn’t?It didn’t sit well with him that she was out in the dark, deserted area alone.
He had little time to worry about that, however.Riley’s jaw dropped as she got closer, and Sawyer held up the envelope.
“You didn’t.”
“Oh, but I did,” he said, loving the shocked look on her face.
“I don’t understand.How did you get it?”
“Well hello to you, too,” he said, smiling like the cat that got the canary.Because he was.He had the intel.The girl.“And yes.I have the address.”
