Marty reached behind him and grabbed a bottle off a glass shelf that sat in front of the giant ornately carved oak mirror, which looked like it came out of the turn of the century. He set cut-glass short tumblers down on the coasters and tipped up the bottle, filling each glass with the amber liquor.
“Not real busy,” Cole observed.
Marty shook his head. “Nope. This time of day, all I get in are the painters and drywall installers. Apparently, they knock off early.” He nodded toward the four guys in the back at the pool table. “They’ve been here since two.”
Cole nodded. “Mind if I close the place for about half an hour? Meeting someone here in about fifteen minutes.” He slapped a fifty dollar bill on the bar top. “Make it worth your while.”
Marty’s eyes fell to the bill. “Yeah, sure. You want me to run ‘em off?” He nodded toward the men at the pool table in back.
“Yeah, thanks. I’ll get the front door.”
Crash watched as Cole walked over to the front door and flipped the open sign to the closed side. He paused, one hand on the doorframe, watching the street. Hearing the backdoor open, he twisted, looking over his shoulder. Crash followed the line of his gaze. The four drywall guys were walking out. Marty locked the door, turned and nodded. Cole returned his attention to the street, dipping his head to look through the glass.
Crash wondered why Cole was even bothering with this girl, but then he figured Angel had something to do with that. Crash had to admit, this girl had brains. She was smart enough to use Angel to get Cole to do her bidding. And by the tension around Cole’s mouth, Crash figured Cole knew her angle, and he wasn’t too happy about it. Crash walked over, handing him his glass. “Here you go, brother.”
He watched as Cole took it and downed a sip, his eyes scanning the street. Red Dog joined them at the plate-glass window. They watched the workers’ crew-cab pickup pull out of the lot to the right.
“Last time I met Shannon here, she was early. I figure she’ll be here any minute. When she gets here, I want you to keep an eye on the street,” he instructed, turning to Dog. “She’s worried this guy is following her.”
Dog nodded. “Right.”
Crash scoped out the street. “It’ll be easy to spot him from here. There’s no parking on the street. He’d either have to pull in here, or that chicken place over there.” He nodded to the fast food place across the street and half a block down.
“Yeah.” Cole’s eyes went to the chicken place. It was almost deserted. Only two cars were in the lot. A moment later, Cole was straightening, his body coming alert as his eyes tracked a cab pulling into the lot. “Here she is.”
Crash’s eyes moved to the cab and watched as a tall slim blonde stepped out. He’d met her briefly, years ago, but he barely remembered what she looked like. He’d remembered she was a knockout blonde, but he hadn’t really been able to place her features when Cole had told him about this meet. He thought she’d been about twenty then, which put her around twenty-six now.
Cole opened the door for her as she approached the entrance lugging a wheeled overnight bag with her.
Crash was stunned by her beauty as he took in the whole package.
She had on a short-sleeved sweater dress in a soft cashmere that hugged her slender curves and fell about four inches short of her knee. It was the color of buckskin and set off the beautiful blonde color of her hair that fell to the tip of her breast. The V-neck dipped just low enough to show a bit of cleavage while still being classy. His eyes skated down the length of her long shapely legs set off perfectly by the nude colored four inch stiletto pumps she wore. An obviously expensive slouchy handbag of soft, supple golden leather was slung over her shoulder. As his eyes ran over her, Crash had a hard time deciding which was her best feature, her legs, her tits or her ass.
And then she pulled off her designer sunglasses, and Crash was lost in her crystal blue eyes. And there was no doubt in his mind. Those eyes were by far her best feature. They were large, tilted at a seductive angle and set off by perfectly arched brows. He had to admit, if he was her ex-boyfriend, he’d have a hard time letting this gorgeous woman go, too.
“Holy fuck,” Crash heard Red Dog whisper from behind him. He gave Dog a swift elbow to the solar plexus and heard an “Umph” just as Shannon’s gaze swung to him. If he’d thought her eyes were beautiful before, it was nothing to how stunning they were when they looked straight into his. Of course, the effect was kind of ruined when she rolled her eyes as if dismissing the men with Cole and returned her attention to him.
Cole closed the door and threw the bolt. “Shannon.”
“Cole, thank you for seeing me.”
He nodded, then ducked his head and glanced out the window. “So, if this ex of yours was following you, what kind of car would he be in?”
Her eyes moved from Cole, to the window and back. “I was careful. I left my car at one side of the mall and called a cab to pick me up on the other side. I don’t think he followed me.”
Crash watched Cole’s head drop, and his eyes bore into her. It was a look that had put the fear of God into more than one man. “Shannon, what car?” he repeated.
Her chin came up, and her head tilted to the side in an arrogant pose, as if she wasn’t going to let him intimidate her. But Crash also saw her swallow before she replied, and he’d bet Cole had picked up on the telltale sign as well.
“Probably a black SUV.”
Cole’s gaze swung to Dog, who nodded and moved to the window to take up watch. Then he lifted his chin at Crash, signaling for him to follow Cole. He turned back to Shannon. “You dump your phone, too?” he asked, leading her to a booth.
She nodded, wheeling her bag b
ehind her and sliding into the booth. “I left it in my car.”
“Good.” Cole slid onto the seat opposite Shannon.