Page 13 of Island Holiday

“I need a break,” he said the next time they were both up. “You up for finding a coffee shop?”

“Yes.” She stretched out the word. “There’s a national chain place a couple blocks away.”

“Do they have that holiday special everyone is raving about?”

Her eyes lit up with excitement. “They do. You like those?”

“Once in a while. You?”

“I live for the holiday special,” she admitted. “Come on.” She had her jacket on and her purse in hand before he’d tied his shoes.

It was great to see her animated about something as simple as coffee, considering the scope of their work today.

“Have you found anything?” he asked as they rode the elevator to the first floor.

She glanced up at him and once again, he was struck by her gorgeous, expressive eyes. “Anything? Yes. A viable lead?” Her curls danced as she shook her head. “Not so much.”

“Well, the good news is all three girls have posted on social media channels in the past twelve hours.” They stepped out of the elevator and he held the door for her as they exited the building. “Every verification I know to run confirms with over ninety-five percent confidence the posts are real.”

“Mm-hm. And the bad news?”

He scanned the area. The weather was clear, the sun bright, though it would soon be chilly as evening set in. Benign vigilance was the goal. He needed clear awareness of their surroundings, without being obvious enough to worry her. “All three of them claim they’ll be mostly offline through Christmas, undergoing a special beta test and training with a new device designed for influencers.”

“Connor.” She grabbed his arm and he smoothly kept her moving along the sidewalk.

The contact, even through his clothing, stirred his senses and gave him a pleasant jolt. It was easy to pretend as if the touch was an affectionate gesture, because he wanted it to be.

In his active fantasy world, they had a one bedroom, two-office condo in Chicago. They worked from home most days, went out with friends on the weekends, and made love every night before falling asleep curled up together.

It was idyllic. Perfection. And impossible. He really needed to get some perspective about her. And fast. He didn’t want his fascination with her to show up at the wrong time and freak her out.

He had her tucked close to his side, enjoying the fragrance of her hair just under his nose. When he caught their reflection in a store window, he thought they looked good together. A real couple, strolling through a trendy neighborhood, happy and carefree.

“That has to be a load of crap,” Sonya muttered.

And his pretend-life bubble popped. “What?”

“The beta test thing.” Her brow furrowed as she looked up at him. “New tech is always on the horizon, but if it was some legit new consumer test project, I’d expect it to be tied to the original fund.”

“No action there?”

“Nothing new on that front.” She paused at the display in the coffee shop window. “Wow. It looks like a snow globe.” The smile on her face was pure delight as she took in the scene of a tiny village decked out for Christmas. “Adorable.” She pointed to the figures skating across a frozen pond. Nearby was a white gazebo with evergreen boughs dripping from the railings. “It’s like a winter version of Brookwell’s town center.”

He grinned. “It really is.” It charmed him how much she enjoyed the holidays. Or at least the holiday vibe and decorations.

She thanked him as he pulled open the door and urged her inside. “The credit cards show travel expenses in the area weknow about,” she said, returning to the previous subject, “but so far nothing new.”

The shop wasn’t too busy, so their orders came out quickly. He let Sonya choose where to sit and followed her to a spot against the wall, moving into the seat that gave him a view of the front door.

“That’s a protector move,” she noted.

The first sip of her coffee left a line of whipped cream along the top of her upper lip. He fought off the immediate reaction and focused on her statement. “It is.”

“And you get to pull it off because?”

“Let’s go with seniority,” he suggested.

She rolled her eyes. “Good answer.”

---