Leo (Vigilance 3)

Or maybe my imagination was out of control, and he’d grown bored being an accountant.

My hands shook as I tried to clean up the table while he watched me. I swore his gaze was heating me up, and as nervous as I was, I had to focus on the freezing cold water I was soaking up to keep my dick under control.

When the seat was dry, I was able to rise without embarrassing myself. “There. I think it’s dry now.”

Leo slid back into the booth and pinned me with his gaze. “I don’t need any water, just black coffee and a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich on a croissant. That’s what I get every morning. Tomorrow you can bring it right to me.”

Holy shit. Why did his demanding tone turn me on so much? I wanted to get on my knees for him right there. “Y-yes, sir.”

He shook his head. “Leo.”

“What?”

His lips curved in an almost smile. “You can call me Leo.”

“Oh. Right. I’m Ezra.” I pointed to my name tag.

“It’s nice to meet you, Ezra.”

I doubted he meant his low, gruff voice to be sexy, but it made me want to lick him like he was made of chocolate. “Nice to meet you too, and I’m really sorry about the water. I…”

“You tripped on the rug. It should have been pulled flat.”

I glanced back and saw a small hump in the nonskid rug that stretched in front of the coffee bar. I thought I’d tripped over my own feet. It wouldn’t have been the first time. How had he noticed when he’d seemed to be absorbed in something on his phone?

I realized I was standing there mooning over him. “I’ll get your coffee and put your order in.”

“Everything okay?” Cathy asked as I slipped behind the counter.

“Yeah, you know how clumsy I can be.”

She shook her head. “I’m not worried about that. He likes you, and that spells trouble.”

I frowned at her. “No way. Not after I spilled his water like that.”

Cathy’s smug smile made me uneasy. “I saw how he looked at you.”

“Like I was an idiot.” Like I was prey. Like he could…

“Just remember he’s a one-and-done kind of guy, and… there are other reasons you should ignore the looks he’s giving you.”

“What does that mean?” I asked as I filled a mug with coffee.

She shooed me away from the counter. “Go on. He’s waiting.”

As I approached his table, walking slowly this time, Leo frowned at his phone, then put it to his ear. He acknowledged me with a nod as I set the coffee in front of him. A few moments later, when I brought out his sandwich, he rose and slid from the booth.

“Something’s come up. Could you wrap that up to go and bring it over to the shop?”

“Um… We don’t…”

“Cathy and I have a special arrangement, being neighbors and all. I watch out for her place at night, and she delivers to me.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll be over in a few minutes.”

He smiled. “Thank you.”

He’d been gorgeous before, but with that smile on his face… Jesus, he was stunning.

It wasn’t until he’d left that I started to wonder what kind of emergency would come up at a tattoo shop, especially one that didn’t seem to have opened for the day yet.

Maybe something was wrong with the building. Hopefully it was nothing serious.

I took his sandwich into the kitchen, wrapped it up, and filled a paper cup with coffee for him. When Cathy came through the swinging door from the front, I lifted the bag. “Leo needs this delivered.”

She nodded like that was normal. “Go on. Things will start picking up for lunch soon.”

I used the back door and cut through the alley. When I looked across the street, I saw Leo standing in the lobby of his shop talking to a man with long dark hair who looked even more menacing than Leo, despite being slightly smaller. They both looked angry. I wasn’t sure if they were mad at each other or at someone else. I almost stepped out into the street in front of a car because I couldn’t take my eyes off Leo. The man Leo was talking to slammed his hand down on the counter in the tattoo shop, and it made me jump even though I couldn’t hear the sound. Cathy was going to have to tell me more about what was going on over there.

I was wondering if I should knock or wait until their argument was over, but as soon as I crossed the street, Leo and the other man turned my way. Leo unlocked the door and pulled it open.

“Thank you.” he said, taking the bag and the cup I offered him. “I really appreciate you bringing it to me.”

His voice was low and rough again. Was he flirting with me? “You’re welcome. I… um… I’ll see you later.”