Page 18 of Code Name: Atticus
“Actually, it’s one of my boss’ favorites. That’s the only way I know it.”
She raised a brow like she didn’t believe me. Which meant she was either really playing up this fake marriage or she was truly jealous. An idea that made me grin.
“What?”
Before I was forced to respond, our server appeared—a young woman who moved through the dinner rush like a caffeinated ballet dancer. Based on her posture and the way she constantly scanned the room, she was either former military or a very well-trained restaurant security. Interesting for a place like this.
“Good evening. I’m Jessica, and I’ll be taking care of you tonight. Francesco mentioned you’re celebrating your honeymoon?”
“That’s right,” Brenna said, her smile radiant. “We relocated here from DC recently.”
“How lovely. Can I start you with some appetizers? The Dungeness crab cakes are spectacular.”
We ordered—crab cakes to share, followed by cioppino for Brenna and grilled salmon for me. As Jessica walked away, I raised my champagne glass.
“To new beginnings.”
“To successful performances,” she replied, touching her glass to mine.
The champagne was excellent, and our conversation shifted naturally between cover story details and authentic moments. When the crab cakes arrived, I watched Brenna break off a tiny bit, then bring it to her mouth. “Oh, these are very good,” she said, diving in for a bigger forkful. With the second helping, she moaned. “God,” she muttered, closing her eyes as she savored the bite. “These are better than my mom’s.”
While her sounds of pleasure had me instantly hard, the mention of her mother effectively settled me down. “She’s a great cook. How is she, by the way?”
“Same as always,” Brenna said, breaking off another piece but stopping partway to her mouth. “Aren’t you going to have any?”
“I thought I’d wait to see if you wanted them both.”
She put the fork in her mouth, but her eyes stayed riveted to mine as she chewed. “They are that good, but it wouldn’t be very wifely of me.”
“A good husband would make sure his woman had as much as she wanted,” I said, grabbing her hand when she stuck her fork in for another piece. Instead of guiding it to her mouth, I brought it to mine. “Mmm,” I moaned and closed my eyes like she had. When I opened them, she hadn’t moved a muscle. “The crab cakes are okay, but your scent drives me mad.” I rolled her wrist and inhaled. “Intoxicating.”
Brenna let go of the fork, and it clanked when it hit my bread plate. “You’re overacting,” she said under her breath.
“Who says I’m acting?”
She picked up the fork and rested it on her plate. “What happened to me being Luke’s little sister?”
I drew circles on the back of her hand with my fingertip. “Who’s Luke?”
Just like the femme fatale who’d walked out of the bathroom earlier in her sleek black dress, the version of Brenna sitting next to me was one that had me right back on the edge of desire. She wanted me. That much was obvious. But she was afraid of it. Not of me. Of us. I loved the way her breath caught and how her eyes widened and she licked her lips as she gazed at mine.
Moments later, our waitress returned with our main courses. After a few minutes of me almost inhaling my salmon, I noticed Brenna’s dish had hardly been touched.
“Cioppino not good?” I asked.
“I may have overdone it with the crab cakes,” she said, setting the fork and spoon aside. “You can have some if you’d like,” she offered.
“A good wife making sure her man has as much as he wants?”
Her cheeks flamed, but my attempt at humor didn’t wipe the frown from her face.
“So, we should probably talk more about tomorrow night.”
“We should.”
“So, when clients hire someone in your line of work, what’s usually wrong with their security?”
It was a good question that related as much to what I did in real life as it did to the op. “The problem with most companies is they think cybersecurity means sticking a metaphoric deadbolt on after everything is built. Like securing the front door but leaving all the windows open.”
