“Thanks,” she said, dropping her phone in her purse.
“You’re welcome. Enjoy the muffin.”
She chuckled. A warm silence drifted between them as they shared a smile, then she glanced up at the window, where the rain was lashing down hard.
“Hopefully that rain will stop soon,” she said.
He smiled. “Hopefully.”
He could see she was nervous, and he guessed it was probably because she liked him. But truthfully this couldn’t happen between them, not while he was investigating her from afar. There was too much at stake. His loyalties lay with his newly reunited brothers. How would they react if they walked in now and caught him having a coffee with the woman they were paying him to trail?
Unless he pulled out of the case and stopped working for them…
He shook away that stupid thought. Why would he give up this well-paid job for a woman he hardly knew? Besides, he wasn’t the sort of guy she was looking for. And he couldn’t let anyone get too close to him. Not unless he wanted to end up revealing the dark secret he’d been harboring all these years. Which he didn’t. He’d rather be alone. He’d always been a loner and he was happy that way – well, not happy, but it made things easier. Having his new family around was enough to deal with. He didn’t need the hassle of a woman in his life…
She sipped her coffee and absentmindedly licked her lips, making her look incredible. Then she stuck her fork in the chocolate muffin and groaned orgasmically as she tasted it.
Jake was grateful he was already sitting down…
“Good?” he asked.
“Amazing,” she said. “I love chocolate. Thank you.”
“No problem.”
They exchanged a smile. “So,” she said. “What do you do for a living?”
“Uh…” Jake faltered. He’d never been good at small talk, and this question wasn’t one he was keen to answer. Not least of all because he already knew everything about her since he’d spent the last two weeks reading her emails and listening to her phone conversations. Maybe a double-bluff would throw her off the scent.
He grabbed a sugar packet and poured its contents into his coffee. “Well, I’m actually a secret double-agent. Don’t tell anyone. Lives are at stake.”
She laughed. “Oh, okay! And who are you investigating at the moment?”
He smirked. “Someone in this very room.”
She bit her lip and suppressed her giggles, happy to play along. She opened her mouth to speak, but the sound of a guy shouting at the counter grabbed their attention.
“Hand over the cash now!” the guy yelled.
Jake glanced over and saw a scruffy young man waving a gun in the cashier’s face. The cashier was frozen to the spot. She could barely speak, but managed to splutter, “Please don’t hurt me.”
A ringing silence gripped the room – even the walls and ceiling seemed to hold their breath. Without thinking, Jake stood and drew his gun, pointing it at the back of the guy’s head. He knew the guy could see him in the mirror behind the counter, so he stared directly into his eyes. Jake realized this kid was young – and from the look of him, he was withdrawing from drugs.
“Drop it, asshole – unless you want me to decorate the wall with an interesting shade of brain – which you won’t be around to appreciate.”
Jake could see the gun shaking in the guy’s hands. This armed robbery was clearly some desperate attempt to get money to fuel his habit. But at this moment, Jake had no sympathy. He couldn’t let anyone die... Never again.
Jake stepped forward. “I said put the gun down. Now. Slowly…”
The kid was wavering now, unsure what to do – this hold-up had gone very wrong. He hadn’t factored-in the ruthless armed ex-cop in the coffee shop…
Jake took another step forward. “Put the gun down.”
The tense atmosphere smothered the air. Jake watched the kid for another tense few seconds, waiting to see what he planned to do. Jake opened his mouth to tell him again to put the gun down, but something inside the kid shifted. His posture softened slightly and he slowly lowered the gun to the counter – seemingly relieved it was over.
“Put your hands where I can see ‘em or I’ll blow your fucking brains out.”
The terrified kid held up his shaking hands.