Chapter 3 #2
Michael straightened his spine as the hostess led the woman to his table. He stood to meet her.
“Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry.” Her dainty brows furrowed with worry. “I abhor tardiness, and here I am, two minutes late. You must be Michael.”
He held out his hand. It might not be his choice to be here, but like Zia Rose had said, it was no excuse to be rude. “I know what you mean. It’s nice to meet you, Sage.”
She blew out a sigh of relief and shook his hand.
Her slender fingers were strong, her grip confident.
“That’s kind of you to say.” She settled into the booth, and he took his seat.
“But really, I should’ve accounted for the possible heavy traffic and trying to find a place to park when I’m not familiar with the city.
There’s no excuse.” She smoothed out the skirt of her dress and seemed to catch her breath.
“You’re new to Renegade?”
She nodded. “Just moved here from the Chicago area. I’ve always wanted to live near the mountains.” She straightened the napkin so it was exactly perpendicular to the edge of the table. “I can’t wait to go hiking. I’ve already listed the top five trails and mapped out the routes.”
“I hope Bagg Trail is one of your top five. It’s my favorite.”
Her grin brightened. “That’s my first choice.”
Hmmm. A planner. Pays attention to details. Takes responsibility for her actions. Maybe Pops is on to som—
No! Wait. This was just a courtesy dinner. There was no room in his world for a relationship right now. His family came first. Once the boys graduated and his mother’s reputation was set straight, then maybe.
But despite Michael’s reluctance to pursue anything romantic, the conversation flowed easily over their calamari appetizer and salad course.
His cousin Arianna brought out the margherita pizza they’d ordered and refilled their glasses.
The other voices in the room created a pleasant hum around them.
As Michael served Sage, he glanced around.
“Michael?”
His gaze darted back to Sage. “Sorry, I was distracted there a moment.” He placed the slice of bubbly pizza on her plate. “So tell me, how did you get into nursing?”
After taking a bite of pizza and wiping her lips, she sat back. “I was sick a lot as a kid. And—”
The rest of her words were lost on him when an odd movement out the window caught his eye. In the shadows of the church tower, something shifted. He squinted, straining to see what it was. Too big to be a bird up there in the belfry.
“Is something wrong?” Sage asked.
“Ah, no. Everything’s fine. As you were saying?” Michael took his own bite of pizza but hardly tasted it for all the concentration he put forth to stay engaged in the conversation. When Sage paused her story for a drink, he allowed himself to look again across the street.
The shadow moved. That was a person.
In the locked bell tower.
And whoever it was must have a death wish, because they were perched on the ledge like they were going to jump.
Michael couldn’t let that happen.
“I’m sorry, I have to go!” He threw down his napkin and rushed out of the restaurant.
How was it that Dani found herself in a pickle in the first hour back in her hometown? She was a fully fledged special agent with the FBI now, for goodness’ sake!
But no. Here she was, hanging from the crumbling brick ledge of St. George’s bell tower, about to plummet to her death.
At least her reflexes had kicked in as she’d slipped.
She’d caught the edge but couldn’t get enough oomph to pull herself back up.
She tried to adjust her grip, the sharp edges of the stonework cutting into her fingers and palms as she hung there.
The flat soles of her Converse sneakers couldn’t find any hold to relieve the pressure on her arms.
She could see the headline now: “Special Agent Dani Kim Breaks Neck and Dies Before Her Life Can Begin.”
No.
She could do this. She looked down. What was it? Fifteen feet? Thank goodness she’d fallen on the side where the tower met the adjoined school roof and not the streetside, which would’ve been a much longer fall. If she could control her drop and roll—
“Hey, you need to come down!” a masculine voice yelled.
Oh goody. Someone to witness her humiliation.
“What do you think I’m trying to do?” Dani yelled back.
Footsteps on the school roof sounded louder. He was getting closer. “It’s dangerous. You have to come down!”
Before she could release the sarcastic quip on her tongue, he ran over. “Oh. Uh. Wait there, I’ll grab—”
Dani’s hand slipped. Her scream reverberated off the brick wall for the heart-stopping nanoseconds she hung in the air before landing with a thud.
But she didn’t hit the pebbled surface of the roof.
Taking stock of her situation, she breathed out a prayer of thanks. A habit more than anything else. No shooting pain, nothing broken.
She’d made it.
Probably thanks to landing on a well-formed torso. A waft of subtle amber fragrance embraced her. With her hair in her face, she couldn’t see exactly who she’d landed on, but he definitely worked out. No one had pectorals that defined without trying. Maybe this wasn’t such a disaster after all.
She blew the thick black strands out of her eyes and caught a glimpse of a chiseled jawline and long nose. The surprised expression in the velvety-brown eyes probably mirrored her own shock.
Michael Martinelli.
She scrambled to her feet.
Oh.
My.
Word.
God, this isn’t funny! I know I asked for a rescue, but really?!
A thousand memories flooded her mind as she looked down at her brother’s best friend. So much for avoiding Michael Martinelli.
He finally seemed to catch his breath but still hadn’t found words yet as he got to his feet. He brushed the dirt and dust from his jeans. His shirt pulled taut against his broad chest. “Dani?”
It was fine. All fine. She had to…play it cool. He was simply an old family friend. She could do this.
“Look at you, Mike. You’ve been working out.
” She gave him an appreciative glance. And that wasn’t the only change.
A fitted button-down shirt replaced his old anime graphic tees.
And no more wide tortoiseshell glasses framing those big brown eyes.
His dark hair was long enough on top to see the natural wave to it now.
A five-o’clock shadow graced his masculine jaw and neck.
He was the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome.
So stinking handsome!
She swallowed hard.
“What are you doing here, Dani?” His voice still wheezed a bit.
“I wanted to see if my little time capsule from eighth grade was still up there. Maria was supposed to join me, but she had something come up.”
“Guess I should be glad my sister was busy. No way I could’ve caught both of you. But what are you doing in town? I thought you lived in the DC area.”
“I was in Virginia actually, and then Baltimore.”
“Oh, right. A bank job?”
“Uh, at first I was working for a financial institution. But I switched careers about six months ago.”
“So what are you doing?”
What was she doing? Trying not to spontaneously combust into flames of embarrassment.
But since she couldn’t say that out loud, she should try to come across as the new, sophisticated special agent who had her life figured out.
“You happen to be looking at the newest FBI agent at the Renegade office.” She gave him a big grin. “I start my job tomorrow.”
Did she look confident? She lifted her chin a little higher.
Michael didn’t seem impressed. If anything, he looked concerned. “Does your family know this? I can’t imagine your parents liking it at all. And your brother didn’t say anything.”
“I haven’t told Josh yet. I want to surprise everyone.” She pointed at him. “Don’t you go and ruin it either. I know my mom is a little overprotective, and there’s no pleasing my father, no matter what I do, so I’m finally doing what I want to do. And…I love it.”
Michael chuckled. “I shouldn’t be surprised by anything you do. Not that I can say anything about switching careers. My dad thought I was crazy leaving med school to become a cop, but it’s worked out so far. Congratulations though. Quantico’s a big deal.”
“Thanks.” She breathed a little easier. He hadn’t laughed at her or keeled over with shock. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. It was kinda nice being adult friends.
She shook off the earlier awkwardness and relaxed into the role she knew.
This was Michael. Her friend. Maria’s brother. Nothing more.
“Not that I wanna rain on your parade, but you do realize Josh and Lily are in the throes of teething with Archer and that Simon has entered his three-nager years, right?” he asked her.