“Get your own place going again. You did such a good job with that little Tex-Mex bar you had in Austin.” Mom held up her hands. “I know you don’t have the money, but I do. I could be your first investor.”
“I can’t do that, Mom. I can’t take your money.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Gina. Don’t be proud. I earned that money.”
“It’s dirty money.” Gina flung open the front door and slammed it behind her. She caught her breath and waited outside to make sure she hadn’t woken up RJ.
Her mother called through the door. “He’s still sleeping. Get a move on.”
Gina blew out a breath and crossed the hall to the elevator. Mom knew her too well. She’d been right about the nerves, too.
Josh Edwards’s call hadn’t surprised her too much. She’d felt the pull between them, had noticed the way he’d assessed her but wasn’t sure he’d act on it. She wasn’t sure she wanted him to act on it. Her trepidation had more to do with the fact that she didn’t trust her instincts anymore rather than the fact that she hadn’t dated since Ricky’s assassination.
Maybe if she just pretended this was a work function, she wouldn’t fall under Josh’s spell. She’d keep her guard up and her .22 close.
The elevator landed in the lobby, and she crossed the marble tiles to the front door, waving at Enrique, the security guard at the desk.
Stepping into the night air of Miami, she inhaled the slightly sweet and spicy scent carried on a light breeze. She noticed this smell only here in South Beach—a combination of the perfumes and colognes of the women and men out for a night on the town and the savory odors from the restaurants lining the sidewalks and the occasional food truck hawking authentic Cuban food.
The bar she’d picked for her date with Josh got a good crowd on weeknights, but didn’t command the standing room–only business of some other, more popular clubs. Cicero’s would do for a quick drink and some informal chatter—that’s all she could commit to right now.
She made a left turn at the corner and crossed the street. Squaring her shoulders and hugging her purse to her chest, she stepped into the bar and did a quick survey of the room.
Josh, sitting at a corner table facing the doorway, raised his hand.
Gina wove between the high cocktail tables until she reached the corner of the bar. As she approached, Josh stood up and grabbed her chair, holding it out for her.
Ricky had always done that, too—didn’t mean a damned thing.
“Thank you.” She scooted the chair closer to the table, hanging her purse over the back, gun compartment on the outside. “Have you been waiting long?”
“I got here about fifteen minutes early. You’re right on time.” He tapped the glass in front of him. “I just got some water, but I hope we see that waitress again. It’s busy for a weeknight.”
Gina turned an appraising eye on the scene—attractive waitresses, a good number of bartenders hustling up drinks and sharp busboys cleaning up tables as fast as customers vacated them. “Management’s on the ball here. We won’t wait long.”
The waitress appeared at their table seconds later, as if she’d heard Gina’s assessment. “Ready to order now?”
“I’d like a mojito, please. The house rum is fine.”
“Sounds way too exotic for me. I’ll have a beer, please. What do you have on tap?”
The waitress reeled off a list of beers from memory, and Josh selected an IPA.
Gina folded her hands on the table. “Have you given any more thought to that town house?”
“I might want to see a few more.” Josh quirked an eyebrow at her. “Do you have any more to show me?”
“I can show you whatever you like.” She bit her bottom lip. Did that sound like a come-on? She had to admit that Josh looked fine tonight—his short, almost black hair slicked back and a sexy scruff on his jaw.
She cleared her throat. “I mean, I can show you condos outside our own office’s listings. Just tell me what you like.”
His dark eyes glittered as they seemed to drill into her.
“I mean, tell me what you’d like to see...in a condo.” She grabbed a menu tucked against the wall and skimmed the appetizers without seeing a thing.
Josh’s intensity was off the charts up close and personal like this, face-to-face over a small table. With that stare burning a hole in her, anything she said sounded like a double entendre.
“I like that area. Maybe I’ll make a list for you.” Josh tapped the edge of the menu. “Do you want to order some food?”
“Not really.” She blinked at the menu in her hands and then held it out to him. “Do you?”
“No, thanks.”
The waitress saved her from any more inane conversation by delivering their drinks.
Gina poked at the mint leaves with her skinny green straw. “Where do you live now?”
“I’m new to Miami. I’m staying in a hotel not far from here.” He took a sip from his beer, watching her over the rim of his mug.
Why did it seem as if they were having a conversation as a subtext to the words they were speaking? Every word from their lips felt loaded with meaning. Was it just this crazy attraction between them? She’d felt crazy attractions before—they never ended well.
If he could afford to stay in a hotel in South Beach long-term, he could afford a nice little town house just about anywhere in Miami.
She sucked up some of her drink and the cool mint tingled against her tongue. “Staying in a hotel must get...tiresome.”
“There are certain advantages. I don’t have to clean up after myself, or cook.” He winked.
She studied his face. The wink didn’t match the man. It was almost as if Josh was pretending to be someone he wasn’t, or maybe she’d gone from not trusting her instincts to analyzing every word and every facial tick.
“How about you? I assumed you picked this bar because it was close to where you lived. Are you in South Beach?”
“We’re temporarily staying with my mother, who has a condo here.”
“We?” He casually curled a hand around his beer mug, but his knuckles appeared white.
She dragged her gaze away from his hand gripping the glass and met his dark eyes. Maybe he thought she was ready to spring a husband on him. Would a child be worse?
“My son and I. I have an almost three-year-old.”
“That’s great. Pictures?”
“Really? I don’t want to bore you.” Was this an act? Feign interest in the kid to get to the mom? Was this something men did? The last time she’d dated she didn’t have a child, so this was new ground for her.
“Family pictures don’t bore me.”
Her fingers traced over the weapon stashed in her purse as she reached for her cell phone. Cupping it in her hand, she tapped her phone until she found a few current pictures of RJ.
“Here he is.” She held the phone sideways in the middle of the table, so they could both see it. She had no intention of handing her phone over to him.
“Cute little guy.”
She swept her finger to the next photo. “Here he is with his newfound friend from daycare.”
Josh squinted at the picture. “They look like buds.”
She pulled the phone back. “My son just started going to that daycare, so I’m happy he made such a fast friend.”
The waitress dipped next to their table with two more drinks.
Josh glanced up. “We didn’t order another round.”
“I know.” She slapped down a cocktail napkin and placed the second mojito on top of it. “A friend of yours at the bar ordered one for you.”
Gina twisted her head to the left, her gaze tripping over the patrons at the bar. “I don’t see anyone I know. Did she give her name?”
“He
and no.” The waitress shrugged and spun around to return to the bar.
Josh downed the rest of his first beer and pulled the second one toward him. “You have generous friends.”
“Are you sure it’s not one of your friends? I don’t see any of my friends at the bar, not that I have many here in Miami.”
“I don’t have any.” He clinked his glass with hers. “Maybe it was a mistake. Should we drink up before he realizes it?”
One side of her mouth turned up in a smile, but she didn’t feel like smiling. That was too weird. Who would be buying her drinks?
“Can you excuse me for a minute? I’m going to use the men’s room.” Josh shoved back from the table. “I’ll swing by the bar to see if I recognize anyone.”
“Maybe once this person sees you up close, he’ll realize he made a mistake.”
“You’d better take a sip of that drink before he can take it back.”
As Josh walked toward the restrooms to the left of the bar, Gina picked up the second mojito and sniffed it.
A black scrawl on the cocktail napkin caught her eye and she dragged the napkin toward her with her index finger.
The words jumped out at her.
Dump this guy. You’re still married. Meet me behind the bar down the block from Joanna’s place, paloma. R.
Chapter Three
As he washed his hands, Josh leaned into the mirror and practiced winking. He was pretty sure that was a move his slick buddy Slade would’ve tried, but Gina had looked at him like she was staring into the face of Ted Bundy.
Maybe whoever sent that second round of drinks over noticed how badly he was tanking with Gina and was trying to help him out? That was a strange move for someone to make. If a friend of hers was at the bar, why not come by and introduce himself?
Maybe the guy was there right now and having better luck with Gina than he was. Could she be any more uptight? Maybe Ariel and her bunch had sent the wrong SEAL out here to do the job.
He yanked a couple of paper towels from the dispenser, dried his hands and tossed them into the trash before shoving out of the men’s room. He held the door as two men came barreling through.
When he walked past the bar, nobody stopped him to claim responsibility for the drinks. He approached the table and sat down. Gina greeted him with a tight smile, her purse clutched in her lap, the second mojito untouched.
“Everything okay?”
“No, actually.” She folded over the corner of the damp napkin beneath her empty glass. “I just got a call from my mom, and my son isn’t feeling well. He woke up, and he’s asking for me. I’m sorry. I’m going to have to leave now.”
He watched her lips as they formed the lie.
“That’s too bad. I hope it’s nothing serious.”
“Just a stomachache, but he needs his mom.”
“Of course.”
“I can leave some cash for my drink.”
“I’ve got this one.” He stood up as she shot up from her chair. “Can I walk you back to your mother’s place?”
“No, thanks. It’s not far and it’s still crowded outside. I’ll be fine.” She stuffed a white napkin into her purse. “W-we could try this again...if you want, later.”
“Sure. I’ll make my list of requirements first—so we’ll have something to talk about next time.”
The zinger seemed to go over her head. “Fine, yes. Call me.” She pivoted toward the front door and practically leaped over the tables to get there.
As soon as she disappeared, Josh tossed some bills on the table and set Gina’s full glass on top of them, since her second mojito seemed to be missing its cocktail napkin.
He’d seen a back door to the bar by the restrooms and made a beeline to that hallway. He slipped through the door and jogged toward the alley that led to the street. He flattened himself against the stucco wall and peered around the corner.
As he expected, Gina had already passed the alley. Her white jeans stood out in the crowd. She stood out in the crowd.
He joined the stream of people on the sidewalk, edging toward the curb, keeping cover. She glanced over her shoulder once or twice, but each time he stepped off the curb into the gutter and out of her view.
She turned and crossed the street, and he jaywalked to get out of her line of sight. He edged around the corner and spotted her several feet ahead of him.
Maybe she’d been telling the truth about her son. Her pale face and wide eyes when he’d returned to the table screamed scared rabbit, but maybe that’s how she looked when her son was sick. Hell, what did he know about having kids?
Her mother’s pastel-colored condo loomed down the block, and he’d have to end his sleuthing once Gina went inside. He’d probably never find out the truth about why she ditched the date early. It was probably that wink of his.
Then she passed the front entrance to the condo and his heart rate picked up. She wasn’t going home to check on her sick child?
With one final twist of her head, Gina ducked into what looked like a bar almost a block down from her mother’s condo. Hello. Maybe she wanted to pick up some ginger ale for the kid’s stomach.
He didn’t plan to blow his cover now by barging into the bar after her, so he cut down a small side street after the condo and headed to the alley running behind the buildings, including that bar.
He strode down the alley toward the back of the establishment, hoping it had a rear entrance. As he reached a Dumpster, a vision in white jeans and a red top stepped into the alley from beneath the black-and-gold awning of the bar’s back door. A yellow light spilled over Gina’s form beneath the awning.
Josh jerked back and ducked behind the Dumpster. Luckily, the light bulb that had been screwed in above the Dumpster lay in shards at his feet. Even if Gina glanced this way, he’d be nothing more than a shadow in the night.
And glance, she did. Her head turned from side to side as she rested a hand on the purse pressed against the front of her body.
Josh crouched and waited. She waited. They both waited for something...or more likely someone.
A slight movement across the alley caught Josh’s attention and he melted against the wall, watching beneath half-shuttered lids.
A man emerged from the darkness, creeping like a jungle cat in his all-black clothing, his focus pinned on Gina, still in the doorway of the bar.
Josh’s muscles tensed and his finger twitched as if it were on a trigger. He remedied that by slipping his hand in his jacket pocket and gripping the gun nestled there.
Through narrowed eyes, Josh followed the man’s silent approach toward Gina. Could she see him coming at her through the blackness of the alley? The only light past the condo building was shining right on Gina. Where were the other lights from the other businesses? Josh nudged a piece of broken bulb with the toe of his shoe. Was this light broken by design?
A thrill of adrenaline percolated through his veins, and he hunched forward.
Gina’s head jerked back. She’d spotted him—the predator.
She threw out one hand and her voice carried in the enclosed space of the alley. “Where is he?”
The man’s voice came back, too low-pitched for Josh to hear a response.
“Where?” Gina tossed her long hair over one shoulder, giving a good impression of a woman in charge—but Josh picked up the tremor in the single word.
Once again, Josh missed the guy’s response, but he pointed to the end of the alley.
Did Gina know this man? Would she go off with him? Josh couldn’t allow that without knowing the identity of the man first. Somewhere in his job description for this assignment he’d read the word protect.
Gina shuffled forward without much enthusiasm, or at least not enough for her companion, who took her arm.
Wrong move,
buddy. She shook him off and stepped back. “He can come here.”
“He can’t.”
This time Josh heard him loud and clear.
“That’s the only way.” Gina shifted her stance toward the door, but the man was beside her in a second, his hand on her shoulder.
She twisted away from him and that’s all Josh had to see.
He stepped out from behind the Dumpster and startled a cat who’d been crouching and watching, too. The cat yowled in protest at being outed from his hiding place, and two white ovals in the night turned toward Josh.
Josh took one step forward and that was enough for Gina’s pal. He shoved Gina against the door where she stumbled and went to her knees.
“Hey!” Josh took off, but the man was anticipating his move.
He spun around and sprinted down the alley.
Josh ran up to Gina. “Are you all right?”
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m going after him.”
“No!” She grabbed the sleeve of his jacket, but he slipped away and chased after the man who’d reached the end of the alley and a cross street.
Josh pumped his legs to catch up, but a white sedan squealed to a stop and the man jumped into the back seat. Josh sprinted to the end of the alley and tried to get the license plate of the car, but it had already woven into traffic and all he could see was a white blur sandwiched between two other cars and a bus.
Josh spit out an expletive and dived back into the alley. When he reached Gina, she’d pulled herself up and was brushing dirt from her white jeans.
“What the hell are you doing here? Did you follow me?”
“It’s a good thing I did.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “What was that all about? Did you know that guy?”
She backed up against the door, pinning her shoulders against it. “Are you some kind of creepy stalker? Was it you who closed the blinds and the door of the condo yesterday? I should’ve shot you when I had the chance.” She patted her purse. “And I still might.”
“Me?” He jabbed an index finger into his chest. “What about that guy? Was he, or was he not trying to get you to go somewhere with him.”
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