“I won’t leave you alone with anyone who might try to take advantage of you. You’re there to take advantage of them.”
“But now that I know all this, I can’t image how I’ll do that.”
“Same way I do. You’ll focus on why your target doesn’t deserve their good fortune at the expense of others and what good work you can do redistributing their money to people in need. You’ll tell Bob how your charity supports women in China. You’ll talk to Victor when he’s so high he’ll agree to anything.”
“You make it sound easy.”
He tapped the open manual. “With the right tools, it is.”
Maybe. It was like she was at a script table read for a spy movie that featured top-secret dossiers and a covert mission plan. She closed the cover of the manual and pushed it away. It made her queasy. “Do you have a dossier like this on me?”
“You told me what I needed to know about you. I heard your pitch. I knew how desperate you were to raise money. You told me about your dad’s tire chain. Your never-put-a-foot-wrong sister. I looked your loser ex up, and I did a scan on what was publicly available on you. I didn’t know you don’t eat sushi, and I’d never have guessed you liked cartoon porn. The background information is good, but it’s not infallible, and it’s not the only thing that determines how a person will act.”
“It doesn’t feel like that. I told you I was a quitter. You could use that against me.”
“What’s my motivation to do that? We’re codependents in this. I need you as much as you need me. And I don’t believe everything I hear. Do you need a break?”
No, she needed to roll with this, because putting aside the slightly creepy nature, it was fascinating. It was a way to stop being a flake and make a difference. She waved a hand regally, “Bring on lie detection.”
Chapter Twelve
Asking if Fin was nervous gave Cal permission to give her a once-over.
She sat beside him in the back of the town car and crossed her leg with an exaggerated kick that gave him a glimpse of smooth thigh under her fitted, ice-blue dress. She’d made good use of his credit. No borrowed finery this time.
They’d look good together. He liked her in her fun fifties dress u
p better, but with designer elegance, she’d fit in with the old money, Fifth Avenue crowd.
All bug eyes, she gave him an exaggerated stare. “What’s the point in answering your question? You already know how I feel from my microwhatsits.”
She’d learned about micro-expressions and how they gave away what people were trying to mask in lie detection training. She fiddled with her hair. She was desperately nervous and working hard not to show it.
“I was making conversation,” he said.
She blew air between her lips. “No, you weren’t.”
“And you know that how?”
“Rory said to use my gut.”
Thank you, Aurora. He stretched an arm over the back of the seat in no danger of touching Fin, which made the gesture redundant, but now he was stuck. This would be easier if he was less attracted to her. He’d never felt less smooth. “You read your briefing pack?”
“Yes, boss.”
He smiled at her sass. “It’s nothing difficult tonight. We have four key targets and we work together, but it will be different to the retrospective. Follow my lead. Just be yourself.”
“I’d be home in sweats, with Chinese takeout and beer.”
He could almost get a finger to her cloud of hair, twist a curl. “Be yourself on a good day.”
She dropped her head to the back of the seat. “I’m nervous. I won’t fit in with these people.”
“I’d be home in sweats with Chinese takeout and beer, too.”
She rolled her head and looked at him. “Really?”
He could almost touch her face, graze a knuckle against the soft skin of her cheek. “What’s so hard to believe about that?” He dropped his arm back to his side.