Chapter 5 Atticus #2
After dunking it in the broth, I took a bite of the crusty bread they’d served with her seafood stew.
“Cheaper than explaining to investors why their private information got posted on Reddit.” I glanced over and noticed the security detail guys in the corner getting antsy—probably time for their principal to leave.
“But that’s what keeps folks like me in business. ” Again, real and pretend.
She laughed. “Standard sales pitch?”
“Only for clients smart enough to understand the stakes.”
A half smile returned to her face, and she studied me. “You clean up pretty well for a tech consultant, Mr. Nolan.”
“You’re not so bad yourself, Mrs. Nolan.”
As the sun set over the bay, the couple at a nearby table stood to leave.
“I couldn’t help but overhear you’re newlyweds,” said the older woman. “We’ve been married forty-seven years,” she added when her husband joined her.
“We met right here in Sausalito at an art gallery opening,” he said, putting his arm around his wife’s shoulders.
“That’s beautiful,” Brenna said, glancing at me when I squeezed her hand. “What’s your secret?”
“Never go to bed angry,” the woman said. “And always remember why you fell in love in the first place.”
“Sound advice,” I said, bringing Brenna’s hand to my lips and pressing a soft kiss to her knuckles. The gesture was for show, but the way her breath caught was real.
After the couple left and wished us well, Brenna’s expression turned unreadable.
“You’re very convincing,” she murmured.
“It’s not hard when you’re working with good material.”
“What does that mean?”
I kissed her hand again. “You make it easy to play the devoted husband.”
She bristled, which should’ve made me pull back, but I wasn’t willing to.
“Ready to get out of here?” I asked after signaling our server for the check.
“Sure, I should probably visit the ladies’ room before we walk back.”
“Meet you out front.”
I’d just signed the credit card slip when I heard someone call out, “Perry?”
I looked up to see the only guy who still used my old Air Force call sign walking by. Luke. Brenna’s brother. Of all the damn coincidences—not that someone in my line of work believed in them.
I stood and walked over to the patio railing that separated us. “What are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” he said as we shook hands over the barrier.
“Just heading out, actually. But come on. Let me buy you a drink.”
As we walked inside, I quickly texted Brenna. Unbelievable. Luke just showed up. Will distract him so you can slip out front.
“Seriously, what brings you to California?” I asked once we’d settled at the bar.
“Work thing,” he said after ordering a Scotch. “What about you? Have you moved back permanently? I’m sure your folks are happy if that’s the case.”
Which reminded me I should probably let them know I was in town, so the same thing that happened tonight with Luke didn’t happen with them. They lived in Calistoga, which was almost seventy miles from here, but still—Luke lived outside of DC.
“Nah, I’m here for work too.”
He took a sip of his drink. “How long you in town?”
“A couple of weeks, maybe.”
“We should catch up properly,” Luke said. “Coffee sometime?”
“I’d like that,” I said when I saw Brenna slip out of the ladies’ room and head outside. Luke was facing the opposite direction, so as long as we were careful, he shouldn’t spot her. “Text me where and when. I should get going.”
“Hot date?” he joked.
“Something like that.”
“Wish I could say the same. Working dinner for me, which means I’d better see if my co-workers are here yet.”
We hugged, slapped each other on the back, and I left.
When I didn’t spot Brenna right away, I worried she’d walked home alone. I was just about to call and give her an earful when I saw her waiting around the next corner.
“How did it go?” she asked.
“He didn’t see you, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“What’s he doing here?”
“He said he had a work thing,” I responded. “He wants to meet for coffee while we’re both here.”
“Nice,” she muttered, folding her arms as she headed off toward the house.
“Hey. Hold up. What’s goin’ on?”
“You get to see my brother, and I don’t.”
I put my arm around her shoulders. “I bet if the two of us put our heads together, we can come up with a reason you’re in town too.”
“Won’t that be too risky?”
“It would be better than accidentally bumping into him again. This way, you control the narrative.”
“Good point.” When she smiled, I breathed a sigh of relief.
As we walked, I noted the quiet residential streets, the lack of foot traffic, and the parked cars that had been there when we left. Everything looked normal, but I made mental notes of the license plates and potential observation points anyway.
“Penny for your thoughts,” Brenna said as we reached our front gate.
“Running through our game plan for tomorrow night.” I punched in the security code while scanning the street one more time.
She worried the inside of her cheek. “To be honest, I’m too exhausted to even think about it.”
“You go ahead. I’ll be up in a few minutes.”
“Can’t sleep without checking the locks twice?” she teased over her shoulder.
She was a few steps up when I couldn’t stop myself from saying something I knew I shouldn’t. “Hey, Brenna?”
“Yeah?”
“I had a really nice time tonight.”
She nodded but didn’t respond.
When I eventually went upstairs, I fell into my nighttime routine after a quick glance to confirm she was already in bed. I brushed my teeth and secured my weapons. When I emerged from the bathroom in sweats and a T-shirt, a Berlin Wall of pillows had been constructed down the center of the bed.
Brenna, whose eyes had appeared shut earlier, was lying on her side, reading on her tablet.
I stood there for a moment, taking in the center-of-the-bed barrier that would have impressed NATO. “Fortress of Solitude?” I asked, climbing in and settling against the headboard.
“Good night, Atticus.” She didn’t even look over her shoulder.
I reached over to turn off my bedside lamp. “Good night, Bug.”
In the darkness, I could hear her breathing and could sense when she shifted position. The pillow wall might keep us physically separated, but it did nothing about the awareness crackling between us.
“Atticus?”
“Yeah?”
“I had a really nice time tonight too.”
The breathiness of her voice, the memories of the sounds she’d made when she tasted the crab cakes, the sexy-as-fuck shoes she’d changed into—God, I wanted to toss those pillows to the floor, pull her into my arms, and kiss her.
Not good night, but as the precursor to stripping her out of her skimpy pajamas and showing her exactly how nice of a time we could have now too.
I woke to an empty bed and the scent of coffee drifting from downstairs. According to my watch, it was already zero five thirty. The pillow wall was still in place, though I had a vague memory of attempting to reach across the divide in my sleep, but the wall was impenetrable.
I found her in the kitchen, fully dressed in dark jeans and a cream sweater, nursing tea while staring out at the bay. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she looked like she’d been awake for hours.
“Morning,” I said, heading straight for the coffeepot. “You’re up early.”
“Couldn’t sleep. Too much on my mind.”
I settled beside her at the kitchen island, automatically positioning myself to watch both the front entrance and the deck access. Old habits. “Second thoughts?”
“Just running through scenarios. Too many what-ifs—”
“Hey.” I reached over and covered her hand with mine. “We’ve got this. You’re one of the smartest people I know, and I’m reasonably good at not getting killed.”
That earned me a small smile. “Reasonably good?”
“I’m still here, right?”
Before she could respond, my cell buzzed with a text from Kodiak. On my way to the rendezvous point. ETA 45 minutes.
The spell broke. Brenna pulled her hand away and stood up, immediately shifting into work mode.
“I should review the target files one more time.”
“Good idea. I’ll shower and change.” I headed for the stairs, but then stopped when I realized I had no idea where the rendezvous was scheduled.
Or even that it had been planned. When I turned around to ask, Brenna was watching me with an expression that made my chest tight.
This thing between us was getting harder to ignore. At least for me.