On Her Master's Secret Service (Masters and Mercenaries #4)(13)

He glanced to his right. Neiman Marcus was up ahead. To his left was a long line of shops and not a single sign of his contact. He was stuck here with Momma Frozen Forehead, a young woman in a suit and nametag eating her lunch, and two dudes in smart suits showing each other what they’d bought at Brooks Brothers.

Fifteen minutes. He’d been waiting for fifteen minutes, and now all he could think about was the cake pop stand near the exit. Eve would love that. They used to joke about food on a stick. Everything was better when it was on a stick. Now she just ate yogurt and salads. Her eyes never lit up over a salad.

Ian was right. His head wasn’t in a good place for this. Five more minutes and he would call it fate.

He glanced up at the shop girl. Woman. She was probably thirty-five, but she had a sweet smile that made her seem younger. She kept talking to the little girl who was studying the ducks, her face shining as she did. Only the small creases around her eyes gave her away as older than thirty.

Damn. He was actually thinking about how pretty she was. It had been a long time since he’d noticed another woman. Even as he realized how her strawberry blonde hair caught the light, it was an intellectual study. His cock wasn’t engaged at all. She was just a pretty girl with a brilliant smile.

He only wanted one woman.

And then Red looked up and winked at him.

Fuck. What did he do about that? He got hit on at Sanctum a lot, but that was an easy thing to deal with. He just gave the subs a decisive shake of his head and they melted away. He had no idea how to deal with a woman who wasn’t a trained submissive. Did they follow orders? He rather thought not. The wives of his friends were all subs, and half the time they didn’t follow orders. Grace was known to laugh when given an order she didn’t want to follow, and Serena had a potty mouth. Avery just smiled and agreed and did whatever she damn well pleased.

He wasn’t even wearing a ring to prove his off-the-market quality. He didn’t have a ring. Well, he had it, but he felt like a freak when he wore it now. Maybe he should still wear it.

Would the contact run when she saw he was being hit on by a cute redhead?

She waved his way.

Damn it. He was trained to kill, to track, to run large investigative units, but he hadn’t flirted in almost twenty years. He didn’t even want to.

She rolled her eyes and sighed and then pointed to her nametag.

Kristen

Yeah, he hadn’t really been trained to profile. She was his contact. This whole thing was more Ian’s speed. Alex had been a cop at his heart. He felt himself flush as he walked toward the pretty woman who was only interested in his connections.

She moved her sandwich out of the way as he joined her on the bench.

“Sorry about that.” Her voice was husky, and he noticed that she was solidly built. He would bet when she stood up that she would have an hourglass figure. There was nothing fragile about this Kristen. “I wanted to make sure we were alone first. You seemed to have been a very good boy.”

“I told my boss we were meeting across town.” In the West End, to be precise. With its shops and numerous restaurants, it would take Jake a while before he realized he’d been had. Because there was no way Ian hadn’t sent someone along to shadow him. He knew his best friend. Besides, it was what he would have done in the same place. “We’re alone. So talk.”

“Wow, you are all business, aren’t you? Come on. We’re here and it’s beautiful.” She turned her face up to the sun that was streaming through the skylights. “Shouldn’t we enjoy the day a bit? I was really having a nice time sitting here and reading. And this chicken salad sandwich rocks, let me tell you. Got it off a street vendor named Carlotita. She knows chicken salad. Oh, yeah.”

Alex shook his head. He’d expected this meeting to be dark and ominous and she just kept grinning. “What do you want? Because you’re obviously not serious. Is someone playing a joke on me?”

She frowned. “I am so sorry. This is completely serious for me, Alex. Trust me. I’ve been working on this particular case for a very long time. I can see the finish line now. I’m just…happy to be here. I always wanted to come to Dallas. I have some history here.” She pulled a small envelope out of the trade paperback she had been holding. It didn’t look like her reading habits were any more serious than her demeanor. Surrender to Me. Yeah, she was very literary. She caught him staring. “Hey, Mister. Don’t turn your nose up. This is one hot book. And I’ve been using Ms. Shayla for some research. Open the envelope. It’s got some important information about Michael Evans.”

He opened the envelope and pulled the neatly folded papers free. He looked over the information she’d typed up. It was a list of locations and dates. And a photocopied passport that plainly showed Michael Evans. He was thinner and his hair was blonde instead of dark, but there was no way to mistake those eyes. “Is he still going by Andrew Johnson?”

She shrugged a little. “I suspect he has several passports from a couple of different countries.”

“How did you get this?” She might look like a sweet little ball of fluff, but she’d been close to Michael Evans if she’d gotten a copy of his passport.

A little smile tugged her lips up, and her eyes nearly slid away from his for a second. The minute she’d heard the command in his voice, her hands had turned palms up on her thighs. If they had been alone, she likely would have sank to her knees. Sub. Very well trained. Too many coincidences were racking up. “I didn’t copy it myself. I followed him for almost a month until he finally went to a bank. He was moving around a lot of money and they made a copy of his passport. Honestly, he probably dumped this ID after that, but I needed to prove to you that I’m serious.”