Page 39 of Protecting Christina

I dialed Will’s number, and he answered after two short rings. “Hey,” he said slowly. “I’m glad you called.”

“Me, too,” I said. “I was hoping we could talk today. Do you have time to meet me at the coffee place down the street from my office at lunch?”

“Definitely. I’ll be there.”

“Great, see you then.” I was just about to hang up when his voice stopped me. “Christina?”

“Yes?”

“How did you sleep last night?”

“Terribly.”

He paused, then sighed. “Me, too. You should have stayed.”

My heart beat faster, and that anxious feeling in my chest returned. “I’ll see you later,” I said and hung up the phone.

What the fuck was wrong with me? Why didn’t I set him straight like I always do? He should know that shit like that didn’t work with me. If he said something like that again, I’d be prepared to set him straight. He wouldn’t catch me off guard again.

***

The smell of roasted coffee beans brightened my mood when I walked into the coffee shop a few hours later. Will was already sitting in a booth near the front, wearing a white shirt and holding two drinks in his hands.

I raised my eyebrows. “Double-fisting coffees now?”

He shook his head and smiled. “When you didn’t get back to me with your order, I asked Nikole.”

I had ignored his texts earlier because I was busy with a client and also because I didn’t want this to come across as a date. I needed to set the record straight immediately.

“Will, I asked you to meet me here because there’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”

“I’m glad because there’s something I’d like to discuss with you, too. I’ll go first.”

My heart leaped out of my chest. If he said something about us seeing each other, it would make my work request awkward, so I quickly jumped back. “No, no. I’ll go first.”

He smiled. “All right. Go ahead.”

“Nikole mentioned to me earlier today that you possess a certain set of skills that could be useful in retrieving my sister from Simon’s house.”

He furrowed his brow. “I might.”

“Great. Then I’d like to hire you to get my sister out of there.”

“Hire me?”

“Yes.”

“As in, pay me money to do a job for you?”

I squinted at him, wondering if he was trying to be difficult on purpose to get back to me for leaving last night. “Yes,” I said slowly.

He shook his head. “No.”

“No?”

“That’s right.”

“What do you mean, no?”

---