Actual Stop (Agent O’Connor #1)(32)

“Um…Maybe?”

Allison’s eyes narrowed at me, glinting with suspicion. “Was this your idea?”

“I can neither confirm nor deny.”

“Right.” She appeared to consider this, and I changed the subject. No good could come of this line of questioning. I certainly didn’t need for the bosses to find out we played this game. I couldn’t imagine they’d have a sense of humor about it.

“So, are you hungry? Because I’m ravenous.”

Allison regarded me silently for a long moment, and I had a flash of fear that she wouldn’t let me divert her attention. Thank goodness she opted to chug the remainder of her beer and hold out the empty bottle to me.

Sighing quietly, I took it and automatically prepared two more, one for her and one for me. “Burger?” I asked, lifting the lid off one dish and carefully setting it upside down on the edge of the dresser, out of the way.

When no answer came, I looked back over my shoulder to find Allison staring at me. I gestured toward the steaming plate with one hand as I took a small sip of the beer nestled in the other.

“What if I wanted pasta?”

Smugly, I lifted the metal cover off the other dish and set it inside of the first. I took a step to the side to reveal the plate of fettuccini Alfredo topped with grilled chicken. “Then I’ll eat the burger. But I’m not sharing my fries.”

I placed the plate of pasta with its garlic bread on the desk, then removed the cling wrap from one of the two glasses of water that’d come with the meals and set that down to the right of the plate, just above where I’d laid the still-wrapped silverware. The small vase with its single rosebud joined the place setting, and I pulled the chair out for Allison and waited for her to take a seat.

The odd expression on her face as I finally turned to look at her was difficult to interpret, so I didn’t even try. I merely held out my hand to her.

Allison pushed the papers off her lap with no regard for order or destination and slid off the bed, the beer bottle dangling loosely from her fingers. Her eyes held mine as she took the offered chair, and I slid it in for her, helping her get comfortable. Once she was settled, I gathered the papers and my laptop off the ottoman and deposited them on the floor where they’d be out of the way while I ate.

The room was silent but not uncomfortably so, though I did wonder what she was thinking about a couple of times. Once I’d inhaled my burger, I went back to studying my scribbly diagrams and making more notes as I worked on my fries.

“The text message.” Allison’s voice was hushed and tinged with realization and something else I couldn’t identify.

I was completely absorbed by my work, and perhaps that’s why Allison’s statement surprised me. It took a few seconds for her words to penetrate, and I frowned as I dragged my eyes from my papers to look up at her.

“Huh?” I was trying to shift gears and catch up with her, I really was. But nothing was sticking.

“The text message you sent in the car.”

“What about it?”

“That’s how dinner got here so fast, isn’t it?” Her gaze was sharp as she studied me. “You texted ahead and asked them to have dinner waiting.” Her dark eyes clouded. “That blond woman from the lobby,” she murmured quietly, almost to herself. Her attention shifted from the cart to the plate in front of her to the flower back to my face.

“Stacey,” I supplied with a nod, popping a ketchup-covered fry into my mouth.

Allison’s eyes now cleared as the pieces fell into place, and something not unlike affection flooded her features as she looked at me. I tried hard not to blush. “Thank you,” she said finally.

I smiled at her, secretly thrilled that she was pleased. “No problem.” I quickly shifted my focus back to the papers in my lap, anxious to dispel the intimacy of the moment.

“That was very thoughtful.”

“Well, I know how you get when you’re hungry.” I deliberately kept my voice light, falling back on one of my most relied-upon tools: using humor to gloss over a situation I wasn’t entirely comfortable with. “Frankly, I don’t have the energy to deal with you when you’re like that.”

“Ha, ha. Think of that all by yourself, smart-ass?”

“Yes, I did. I’m unbelievably clever.”

“Oh, you’re something all right,” Allison mumbled.

I ducked my head to avoid further eye contact and made a show of working. While I may’ve actually been getting some things accomplished, my underlying thoughts were distracting me.

Coming up to Allison’s hotel room had been a terrible idea. A small part of me had recognized that when she’d first suggested it, then worried when we’d been so close to kissing in the car. And now that she was sitting just a few feet away from me engaging me in witty banter like she used to and looking at me with that special smile as if not a day had passed, I was certain. Worst idea ever. What had I been thinking?

I wanted to resent her but was having a tough time justifying that emotion. This wasn’t her fault. I was the one having a problem keeping this encounter strictly friendly. I was also apparently the only one who still felt the attraction that’d once flared between us. I mean, aside from the flash of desire on her face in the car, she hadn’t indicated that she had any feelings for me not rooted in professional respect or nostalgia for what we’d once shared.