The Fidelity Files (Jennifer Hunter #1)(93)

I walked in the direction of his table, exuding confidence, my failed-inspection card burning a hole in my Louis Vuitton handbag. All I had to do was get him to ask me upstairs. According to his wife, it wasn't unusual for him to drink too much and just rent a room here in the W Hotel instead of making that long, dangerous drive through the canyon.

Overdrinking husband and frequent hotel stays in the same city he inhabits? No wonder she hired me. That would sound fishy to anyone.

Walking into an assignment location is a lot like walking onto a brightly lit stage. Poised and ready to perform in a play in which the main character's name is Ashlyn. But to the outsider, and soon to Daniel Miller as well, Ashlyn would not be a character in a play. She would be real. Just another girl in a bar.

I took a deep breath, reminded myself of the exact role I was to play tonight, and stepped onto the stage, walking slowly as I passed Daniel's table in my usual attempt to capture the attention of my chosen audience.

But tonight my audience was distracted. And despite my slow, purposeful stride and my carefully selected outfit, Daniel Miller barely even blinked as I walked by.

So I stopped about a foot in front of his table and looked down into my purse, feeling the sudden urge to check for something that might be missing, and as a result, buying more time in front of my distracted audience. And after verifying that everything seemed to be in place I continued walking. Daniel Miller, however, still did not look up.

That's when I knew that I had to pull a shameless maneuver, one that I rarely ever have to resort to. But I conceded that tonight would just have to be one of those rare times. After all, it's not like I could go back to my car, change into a miniskirt, and walk by his table again, hoping his preference for legs would cause him to finally turn his head.

No, I would have to trip.

So I did.

And not surprisingly, I fell right into the man sitting alone in the back booth. And he caught me.

"Oh!" I exclaimed as I used the top of the booth to steady myself. "I'm so sorry!"

"Are you all right?" the man asked, helping me regain my balance.

"Yes," I replied, obviously embarrassed at the incident. "Thank you." Then I pointed down at my shoes. "They're new."

Daniel nodded his understanding and laughed politely. "It's no problem at all."

I was just about to walk away when suddenly a small trace of recognition happened to wash over my face. "Hey...haven't I seen you down at the marina?" I asked.

Reference: Section 2a of the Daniel Miller biography. He has a boat docked at the marina.

Daniel's distressed mood seemed to change slightly with the mention of the marina, and his lips curled into a humble smile. If he didn't know any better, he might have thought that this beautiful young stranger somehow knew exactly what would cheer him up and get his mind off of less fortunate things.

But that, of course, would be impossible.

"Probably," he replied. "I'm there a lot. I have a boat docked there."

I scrunched up my forehead and bit my perfectly glossed, bottom lip as if attempting to solve a very difficult logic problem, when suddenly the name of a sailboat hit me. As if it had been swirling around in the back of my foggy memory and I was just able to grasp it as it flew by. "The Five Winds," I said, nodding my head proudly.

Reference: Section 2b of the Daniel Miller biography. His boat's name is The Five Winds.

These words cheered him up even more. "Yes! You know my boat?"

I smiled brightly. "Oh, of course! It's one of the nicest boats down there, a 2000 Morgan Classic sloop, forty-one feet with a thirteen-foot, ten-inch beam, cutaway forefront, fin keel, skeg-hung rudder. I bet that thing can be sailed at 35 degrees off the wind."

Reference: Page 3 of the 2000 Morgan Classic sloop electronic sales brochure available on most sailboat Web sites.

Daniel nodded, thoroughly impressed. "Wow, you certainly know your sailboats."

I shrugged modestly. "My dad taught me all about boats. I go down to the marina a lot with my family. I knew you looked familiar."

He stretched out his hand. "I'm Daniel."

I shook it eagerly. "Ashlyn."

"Nice to meet you,"

"Thanks. You, too," I said, standing awkwardly and glancing off in the direction of the bar, apparently wondering if I should go up and order myself a drink or continue standing there, talking about boats.

At this point I had to make it appear that I truly wanted him to ask me to sit down but that I was too much of a lady to ask myself. So I decided to look bored.

And to my surprise, he did, too.

Daniel checked his watch. "Well, I better be getting home. It's late and I have quite a drive in front of me." He scooted out to the end of the booth and offered me his hand again. "It was nice meeting you, Amy."

"Ashlyn," I corrected as I stood quite dumbfounded in front of him and slowly shook his hand.

"Right, sorry. Well, maybe I'll see you down at the docks," he said, pulling a large bill out of his wallet and dropping it on the table.

"Yeah, maybe you will," I replied softly.

I stood speechless at the back of the bar as my eyes followed Daniel Miller making his way toward the archway that led into the main hotel lobby. As soon as he disappeared from sight, I followed a safe distance behind and watched him with great curiosity, like an animal researcher who has just witnessed a dolphin walking on dry land. He exited out the front door of the hotel and never came back.