The Cunning Thief (Stolen Hearts #6)(11)

Once they got to the restaurant, they were shown to their seats immediately. It was the type of place that normally had a massive wait, but because it was going on ten o’clock, it wasn’t hard to get a table.

Toni probably could’ve gotten him a table anywhere, but he didn’t want Shae to get suspicious. He was still trying to pretend to be Joe Schmoe.

He wanted to be all charming and hold out the chair for her, but the host did that before Tristan could get there. He glared at the host, who had technically done nothing wrong, as he took his own seat. Shae immediately picked up the menu and started to peruse the options. He waited a few seconds to see whether she said anything, but she remained silent. He could tell she wasn’t super comfortable in social situations, which kind of shocked him. Usually people as pretty as her blended right in wherever they went. But Shae didn’t seem to be all that normal....

And it wasn’t for lack of confidence. When he was rendered almost speechless at the sight of her as she came out, a little smile had curved her lips. She knew exactly how good she looked, and she was happy with it. “So.... Have you ever been here before?” he asked.

Shae let out a little laugh. “Oh no. The foods I’ve been eating lately are about fifty percent preservative and fifty percent carb.”

“You live in a place that nice and you eat that badly?”

“I live in a place that nice because I eat so badly. I’m really good at budgeting, which unfortunately means I tend to eat as cheap as possible.”

“Well, you need to find someone to take you to nicer places.”

Her face fell, and he knew he’d said the wrong thing. She started looking at the menu again. Before he could apologize, a waiter came up and asked them for their drink orders and asked whether they’d looked at the wine menu.

“Oh, I couldn’t,” said Shae softly in a way that told him she really did want wine.

Tristan quickly ordered two glasses of his favorite red wine. He looked at Shae questioningly, hoping he wasn’t out of bounds by ordering her drink, but she didn’t fight him.

Once the waiter was gone, she leaned forward. “You shouldn’t have done that,” she said softly.

“Order wine?”

“That wine,” she said pointedly. “One glass cost more than I usually spend on an entire dinner out.”

Well, that was interesting. She was utterly cheap when it came to eating, but she knew the prices of wines off the top of her head. He had a feeling there were more layers to Shae than he realized. “Nope. You saved my life. You get the best wine.”

“You can’t use that excuse for everything.”

“All right.” He looked at his watch, then back up at her. “I say for the next twenty-four hours, I can use that excuse for anything I want. You saved my life, therefore you deserve all the things.”

She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t save your life. I’m sure you would have gotten out of the house in time.”

“Well, I’m very grateful to you for saving the house. Therefore you get wine. Now I’m done arguing about this. Tell me something about yourself.” He found himself ever more curious to know all the secrets she was hiding.

She narrowed her eyes but didn’t continue the pointless wine fight. She sighed and started looking back at the menu. “What do you want to know?” she asked without looking at him.

“Well, that’s the fun part about asking such an ambiguous question. You get to decide what I should know.”

Sometimes what people didn’t say told him more than what they did. Before she had a chance to say anything, the waiter came back to pour the wine in an overly long display before asking for their orders. Shae ordered a rare steak, one of the cheaper ones on the menu. She really wasn’t a fan of having suitors pick up the tab, from what he could tell. Tristan didn’t pressure her about it this time and ordered one of the more expensive cuts for himself before collecting both the menus and handing them over. As soon as the waiter was gone, Tristan stood. “Excuse me. I’ll be right back.”

He made his way to the bathroom and pulled out his cell phone as he moved. He could always ask Shae information about her past, but he had a much more effective way of getting details. He dialed Toni’s number.

After only one ring, she picked up. “Everything okay?”

“Pretty boring here,” he said. “I’m out to dinner was Shae Grant. I’m working to find out anything useful that I can, but I was hoping you could give me a rundown beforehand.”

“A rundown? What exactly do you want to know?”

Tristan knew Toni was fucking with him. Usually before a mission, she would tell him more random facts and trivia about the people and places involved than he ever wanted to know. But now she was playing dumb? “Come on, Toni. I know you know something.”

“Okay, fine. I know a few things, but I thought this would be a better operation for you to run dry.”

“Well, I not so respectfully disagree. Now tell me what you know.”

“Tell me what you know first.”

“I don’t have time for this.” Shae would be expecting him back at the table soon.

“Fine. Shae Grant is twenty-eight years old. She is a home flipper, and she works in various parts of Miami, Louisiana, and Georgia. From what I can tell, she’s on her tenth house. Each one has gotten slightly more expensive, which makes me think that she puts her entire life savings into every house that she’s working on. Ballsy, but maybe not the smartest move.”