That seemed to work some magic on Jolie. “On Dani? Okay. I’ll hang back. Let me know if you need anything. And I’ll feed the goth girl. You might be surprised at the bill. She’s a tiny thing, but she can eat.”
Jolie started to walk away as the bell over the door rang and Vanessa walked in. Jolie turned back. “Coffee for you?”
“Black, please. Thank you,” Vanessa replied. She then turned and smiled his way. “Good morning, Sir.”
That Sir went straight to his cock, and he actually had to stand up to adjust himself. It was a good thing he was playing the courtly gentleman because it would have been uncomfortable to keep sitting. He held out her chair. “Good morning, Vanessa. How was your evening?”
Thanks to Deke, he knew exactly how her evening had gone, and he was going to be able to tell if she was lying.
“It was fine.” Her smile had tightened, and even if he hadn’t known the truth, her expression would have told him she was hiding something.
She sat, and he moved back to his seat. He’d carefully placed her so her back was to MaeBe.
“Well, I spent my evening thinking about you and how we should proceed.” He relaxed, watching her as she took off her sunglasses and set them on the table beside her purse. He could see the top of her cell phone sticking out of the side pocket. It wouldn’t be hard for MaeBe to slip it out, but she couldn’t do it if the purse was on the table in clear sight.
Another reason for the platter. The table was a small bistro capable of sitting two comfortably. It was intimate, unlike the longer picnic-style tables that were also available.
“I thought we were going to play night on Friday,” she said, those odd, stunning eyes of hers on him. “And I made an appointment with the therapist.”
A man could get lost in those eyes if he let himself. If he didn’t know the woman behind them was lying to him. “I’m glad. I think you’ll like her. I’ve spent some time at the Ferguson Clinic myself.”
“You said you went after you first joined the company you’re at now.”
“Yes, but that was about ten years ago. I follow up from time to time when I need to. I spent about three months a year and a half ago working through some things. It’s good to have a tune-up every now and then,” he admitted.
He didn’t tell her he’d gone because Big Tag pretty much forced anyone involved in a dangerous op to check in with a therapist afterward. Most jobs weren’t. Most involved him going through loads of data and figuring out which employee was most likely to fuck over his or her company. When he had a list of names, the stakeouts began. Those also weren’t typically dangerous to anything but his waistline because stakeout food wasn’t usually healthy.
But he’d had one go sideways, and he’d been forced to defend himself. Now there was a man out there who couldn’t walk because Michael had put a bullet in him. Of course, he’d taken a bullet, too, but sometimes it still haunted him.
They all did. No matter the circumstances.
She nodded, and her hands folded together. “Yeah, I suppose so.”
“I thought we would start slow on Friday. We can watch some scenes and then talk about them afterward,” he explained. “Until then I would like for us to talk on a daily basis, and I would like to set up some homework for you.”
“I got the books you sent over. Thank you for that.”
He’d had a few books on the lifestyle sent to her office this morning. It was important to keep up the teaching aspect of his cover. “Are you okay with the reading schedule? I’d like to be able to talk about the texts when we meet up.”
“Of course. I assure you I don’t have a lot to do in the evenings, so if I’m not working, I can read.”
Jolie returned with a cup of black coffee, the platter of minis, and a small plate for each of them. There were cinnamon rolls and tiny croissants with chocolate. The éclairs were particularly good. He reached for one of the lemon mini muffins he never had a chance to try because Big Tag was always too fast when they catered in.
Vanessa stared down at the platter for a moment and then took a sip of her coffee, ignoring the small plate Jolie had set in front of her. She did, however, move her purse, turning so she could sling it over the back of her chair.
Perfect. He caught sight of MaeBe’s head coming up out of the book she was reading and knew she’d noted that the target had moved to a more convenient location.