Chapter 8
“What exactly am I late for?” the woman who’d haunted his dreams asked as she sat down at his table and helped herself to the coffee he’d ordered, making his lips twitch.
“Yer surrender,” Shayne said, watching as she thought that over as she finished taking a long sip of coffee before she put the cup down and helped herself to the slice of coffee cake topped with apple streusel that he’d ordered for her.
“What exactly am I surrendering?” Ashlyn asked as she reached over and stole his fork.
“Careful, lad, she’s armed,” Declean said, sounding really fucking amused as he hopped up onto the busy counter, where the baristas were struggling to keep up with the long line of customers desperate for their morning caffeine fix.
“Why don’t ye want ta work with me, lass?” Shayne asked, watching as she took her time cutting a small piece of coffee cake with her fork.
“Besides the fact that I work alone?” Ashlyn asked, placing that one perfect bite of cake in her mouth and savored it with a soft moan that left him struggling not to think about the dream he had last night.
Christ, the things she did to him...
“Besides that, lass,” Shayne murmured, settling back in his chair as one of the baristas brought him another coffee and a slice of coffee cake before moving on to the next table.
“I don’t trust you,” Ashlyn said, cutting another small bite of coffee cake before scooping it up with her fork.
“Because ye don’t know me,” Shayne pointed out.
“I know enough,” Ashlyn said, placing the bite in her mouth and drew his attention to her lips, making him wonder if they were as soft as they looked before he realized what he was doing and looked away.
“And what exactly do ye think ye know?” Shayne asked, only to end up glaring when Declean released a long-suffering sigh and a muttered, “I knew he’d fuck this up.”
“He always did have a way with the lasses,” Aidan said as he suddenly appeared on the counter next to Declean.
“That you’re hiding something,” Ashlyn said, meeting his gaze as she took another bite.
“Never said I wasn’t,” Shayne said as he picked up his cup of coffee and forced himself to take a sip of the bitter liquid.
“Fair enough,” Ashlyn said, taking another bite as she seemed to think that over.
“What do ye want ta know?” Shayne asked, watching her expression turn assessing as she absently twirled the fork between her fingers.
“Do you really think that playing twenty questions is going to help?” Ashlyn asked, taking another bite.
“It couldn’t hurt,” Shanye pointed out.
Nodding, Ashlyn finished off her bite before she said, “Fine. I’ll play along. Where were you born?”
“Ireland,” Shayne said, wondering why she was starting with the basics.
“How long have you been in the United States?” she asked, finishing off the last bite of coffee cake.
“Not long,” Shayne lied, watching her nod absently as she set her empty plate aside and reached for his.
“Your accent is softened and the way you annunciate your words tells me that you’ve been living in the United States for quite some time,” Ashlyn said, watching him as she took a bite of the second slice of coffee cake.
“I’m a fast learner, lass,” Shayne drawled only to go still when the tsking started.
“And a bad liar,” Declean said, shaking his head in disgust.
“He really is,” Aidan readily agreed.
“How many brothers and sisters do you have?” Ashlyn asked, moving onto the next question.
“Seven brothers, lass,” he said, barely getting out the last word when she followed that up with, “And Tristan’s the youngest?”
“Aye,” Shayne said, watching her take another bite as she slowly nodded and-
“You do realize that I’m not buying the long-lost brother story, right?” Ashlyn asked, never taking her eyes off him as she took a sip of coffee.
“And why’s that, lass?” Shayne asked, keeping his gaze locked with hers.
“Besides the fact that Tristan’s biological parents were only sixteen when they had him?” Ashlyn asked, blinking at him.
“Are ye slut-shaming my mother, lass?” Shayne asked, making her lips twitch as she took another sip.
“Do you really think that anyone’s buying it?” Ashlyn asked as she placed her cup back on the table.
“Probably not.”
“Do you care?”
“Not even a little fucking bit, lass,” Shayne said, reaching over and grabbed the fork so that he could cut a bite-sized piece of cake off.
“Then, what’s the point of all of this?” Ashlyn asked, watching him as he took a bite of the cake that was sweeter than anything he had as a child.
“Ta make ye fall in love with me,” Shayne said, placing the fork back on the plate.
“And you’re doing a wonderful job,” she said dryly as she picked up the fork and took another bite.
“There’s nothing that I can say that will make ye trust me, lass,” Shayne said, watching as she went to take another sip of her coffee only to realize that it was empty and stole his instead.
“Probably not,” Ashlyn said, taking a sip of his coffee as she stood up to leave only to go still at his next words.
“They gave ye the wrong files,” he said as he reached over and plucked the coffee out of her hand and took a sip.
“They gave me the files that Detective Black requested,” Ashlyn said as she slowly sat back down.
“He requested eighty-seven files and they gave ye-”
“Eighty-nine,” Ashlyn finished for him, looking lost in thought as she absently reached over and plucked the coffee out of his hand.
“They gave ye two extra files,” Shayne said, watching as she took a sip of coffee as she thought that over.
“Which ones?” Ashlyn asked, making his lips twitch.
“Ah, lass, ye know that I can’t tell ye that,” Shayne said with a sad shake of his head as he moved to pluck the coffee out of her hand only to have her pull it out of his reach.
“She’s definitely thinking about going for the taser gun she has in the bag,” Aidan said, nodding solemnly.
“She’s thinking about going for his balls,” Declean said, gesturing lazily towards her. “Ye can see it in her eyes.”
“Fine. Then, tell me what he was looking for,” Ashlyn said, finishing off his coffee before placing the empty cup on the table.
“And take away yer only reason for working with me? I’m afraid that’s not an option, lass,” Shayne said, watching as she placed her hand on the table and began absently drumming her fingertips against the flat surface while she debated her next move.
“Then, what about a trade?” Ashlyn suggested.
“Ye have nothing ta trade, lass,” Shayne said with a pitying look that had her eyes narrowing dangerously on him.
“I have information that you need,” Ashlyn said, reaching into her bag only to go still when he reached into his pocket and pulled out the memory stick that his brothers swiped from her.
“Tell me that isn’t what I think it is,” Ashlyn said as her gaze flickered between him and the memory stick.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea ta lie this early on in our relationship,” Shayne said as he placed the memory stick on the table.
Ashlyn reached over and picked the memory stick up. “I’m assuming that you made a copy,” she said, absently twirling the memory stick between her fingers.
“And printouts,” Shayne said, watching as she slowly nodded.
“I don’t suppose that you’re going to tell me how you got it?” Ashlyn asked, looking incredibly pissed.
Not that he could blame her.
But with the curse looming over their heads, he didn’t have time to play by the rules.
“Tell her that she dropped it,” Aidan said, shrugging it off as he sat there, taking in the busy coffee shop and looking completely bored.
“You dropped it,” Shayne said, watching as her eyes narrowed on him.
“And how did I do that?” she asked with a look that said it all.
She was definitely thinking about going for his balls.
“Tell her that it fell out of her bag,” Declean said, jumping off the counter so that he could get a better look at the display of baked goods by the register.
“It fell out of yer bag,” Shayne said, watching as she glared at him for another minute before she held up her bag and-
“Face it, lass. Ye need me,” he said when she spotted the small rip on the bottom of her bag.