Chapter 25
Barry noticed Mac storming away from Miles’s table.
He would have to ask her about it when the dinner was over.
What had she been thinking sitting with him?
Talking to him? At first, she had looked flirty with him, and then his fiery Mac had shown her true colors, and they’d seemed to look angry at each other.
He hoped in her anger she hadn’t revealed they were looking into him. Mac had a tendency to speak before thinking.
“Well, I should go,” Annabelle announced.
“The night is young, or are you going to turn into a pumpkin by midnight, Cinderella?” He was ready to call it a night but didn’t want her to think he was rushing for it to be over.
“No,” Annabelle giggled. “But Miles has an appointment that I need to be there for tomorrow evening. I need to work on a few things at the office beforehand and find time to get my beauty sleep.”
“The hotel and its issues?” Barry guessed.
“No, business dealings on the north side of the island. Some fishing matters. I won’t bore you with the details.” She waved it off with a flick of her hand.
“You know, you never did tell me how you ended up working for a man like him.” In fact, she had hardly spoke about herself at all. She had a way of deflecting the conversation.
“Another time.”
Barry could tell she was avoiding the explanation, but he wasn’t going to push her. He might need to ask her out again to get more information, and he didn’t want to rouse suspicion. “Ah, another one of those good things to those who wait.”
“Exactly.” She laughed, standing up to gather her things.
Barry stood up as well and pulled her chair out of the way. “Well, thank you for a lovely evening.” He wouldn’t get any more details from her right now. The bug in her bag should pick it up tomorrow and show where they were going.
“I hope you won’t make me wait too long until the next time.” Annabelle stood there a moment as if waiting for something. If it was a kiss, she would be waiting a long time. Flirting was one thing. Kissing her was another. He didn’t want his lips anywhere near her.
“I’m sure we’ll see each other again soon. I can walk you to your car,” he offered. Barry still had a tracker on him that he could put on her vehicle.
“That’s alright, have a good evening, Sean.” Annabelle stepped closer and leaned up to plant a kiss on his cheek.
“You too, Annabelle.” It took all of Barry’s hard training not to shudder from her touch or step away.
Annabelle gathered her bag and strutted away, putting an extra sway into each step. More than one man watched her leave. One even looked at him like he was crazy for not going after her. He had every intention of going after his woman, but it wasn’t Annabelle.
Barry noticed Miles watching Annabelle leave, but she didn’t look in his direction. Miles turned to stare at him. He could almost feel Miles’s probing gaze from across the courtyard, trying to read him.
Barry left the courtyard, wiping his cheek with the back of his hand as if he could erase the feel of her lips on his skin.
At least it rubbed the smear of her lipstick from him.
He looked up and down the street but didn’t see Annabelle.
She had completely vanished as if she had never been there.
Barry did notice Miles’s car. He was shocked the man was there without his bodyguards.
He never seemed to go anywhere without them.
Barry walked toward the bar as a couple was passing him. They both looked intoxicated. Barry bumped his shoulder into the man and stumbled to the ground.
“Dude, are you alright?” the guy asked, releasing his girlfriend to help Barry stand.
Barry slipped the small black bug the size of a silver dollar from his pocket and stuck it under the car before he rose to his feet. He stayed hunched over as if he were drunk as well. “Yeah, sorry, I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going. So sorry about that.”
“No worries, man.” The guy wrapped his arm around his girlfriend and continued down the road.
Barry stood to his full height and marched toward Mac’s house. As angry as she’d looked, she wouldn’t have gone to his place to wait for him.
Barry didn’t slow his steps until he reached her porch. The blinds were drawn and the lights were on. He knew she was home.
Barry knocked on her door and only had to wait a moment for Mac to answer. She only opened the door a crack and didn’t look happy to see him. Well, tough.
She had changed since she’d left the restaurant. She was now in a tank top and shorts with her makeup washed off, which he was thankful for. She was pretty with makeup, but he liked her best in her natural form.
Barry didn’t wait for an invitation before brushing past her.
“Well, just come on in,” she muttered under her breath and closed the door.
“I warned you to stay away from him.” He hadn’t meant to come at her with guns blazing out the gate, but she had deliberately disobeyed him. The man was dangerous. She had seen that last night, and then today she’d sat with him as if she didn’t have a care in the world.
“He came up to me.” She pointed at herself, staying near the front door as if she needed a quick exit strategy. He might rant and rail, but he would never lay a hand on her. “I didn’t approach him.”
Barry stalked toward her, crowding her against the door. He heard her back hit it, but he refused to back down. He was at a crossroads of wanting to kiss her and strangle her. “That didn’t stop you from sitting at a table with him, drinking.”
“I wanted to toss it over his head, but I was hoping he would tell me something.”
“Did he?” He found himself mildly curious despite his anger.
“No, but from the looks of things, it appeared Andrea had plenty to say.”
“Annabelle,” he corrected, knowing she had said the wrong name on purpose. “And she did.”
Mac looked away as if striving to look bored and uncaring. He knew it to be a lie. He had seen the anger and hurt in her eyes every time she’d seen him with Annabelle. “Well, good for you. Why don’t you go back there and pump her for more information? I’m sure she’d be willing to share everything.”
“I got all I needed from her.” If he never had to talk to Annabelle again, it would be too soon.
“For a man of your stamina, I figured it would take you longer.”
“You know I’m a very thorough man.” He made his double entendre clear. He knew he was poking a bear by picking at Mac’s jealously, but he liked seeing her like this. Seeing her upset that another woman had come onto him.
That he wasn’t just a booty call as she had made it out to be. She did care for him. She wouldn’t be so upset if she didn’t.
Mac’s head whipped back to face him. Her nostrils flared in anger. Her eyes full of hatred before she pushed against his chest and darted past him.
“Don’t you dare walk away from me.” Barry grabbed her arm, pulling her back toward him.
The momentum brought them chest to chest. “Annabelle is a means to an end. Believe me when I say, I didn’t want to be there with her, but it was the only way to get the information we needed.
I would have much rather been with you.”
“It didn’t look like that from where I was sitting.”
“How could you see anything when you were talking to Miles?”
“I saw enough. Hanging on her every word. Staring down her cleavage.”
“Please,” Barry scoffed. “That woman couldn’t hold a candle to you.”
Mac’s mouth hung open as she stared at him in shock. Barry could see the uncertainty in her eyes. Did she really think he would want a woman like Annabelle when he had her?
Mac closed her eyes and dropped her head in shame. “I allowed my own jealousy to cloud my mind. I looked at Annabelle and saw all the things I’m not,” she confessed softly. Barry could hear the sorrow in her voice.
He lifted her chin up with the crook of his finger, forcing her head up. “Look at me,” he ordered. Her eyes sprang open. “What could she possibly have that you don’t?”
Mac’s mouth opened as if to answer, but no words came out.
Then she rose up on her tiptoes and planted a soft kiss on his lips.
Barry remained rooted. His entire body including his lips were immobile as stone.
Mac pulled back, thinking she had done something wrong and had misunderstood his feelings for her.
“I thought you said you wanted to keep things professional.” His face and tone were neutral, afraid he was misinterpreting her. He even held his breath. The only movement from him was the slight trembling of his hand on her bicep, from trying to hold himself back from crushing her to him.
“I don’t care. All I know is I have to kiss you.” It had been too long, though it had really only been a day. One very long day, and he was about to make up for it.
“Is that all you want?” He would respect whatever she decided.
“No.” Mac shook her head, her eyes searching his. “I want everything.”