Page 7 of Fury

Good night. What the hell was wrong with her?

She forced her gaze away from his body to find him again watching her as he spoke to the other man. "Yeah, Charlie, everything is fine. Everything is healed and I'm here to get back to work." He nodded in her direction, forcing the man to turn and stare at her as well.

A shudder worked down her spine. The residents of this island had a way of looking through her that unnerved her. Or maybe this was simply their way of trying to intimidate her. Either way it prickled the hairs on her neck and left her feeling suspicious. On edge wasn’t the way to start an investigation

So as much as she wanted to disappear into a crowd right about now, she stiffened her spine, pulled up her big girl panties and took a step forward. "You must be Sawyer," she said.

"Yup."

The one syllable word directed at her sounded clipped and uncomfortable. Apparently, her island escort didn't want to be here anymore than she appreciated being handed off.

Well, too bad. She had a job to do and it seemed playing nice with the locals was the only way it was going to work. Her predecessor on this case had gotten exactly nowhere with the residents of Devils Point and her job was to dig deeper and come up with a viable suspect for the strangeness that seemed to surround this island and their current residents.

The fact it was private property and no local or Federal judge felt obligated to force the property owners to cooperate didn't help. Just another question mark in the long list of oddities in her mind. Of course at this point, it didn't escape her that she was likely given this case because of her gender. Bulldozing these people wasn't going to work. This situation called for a gentler hand.

"Great. How about we—"

"Did you eat breakfast this morning?" he interrupted.

His abrupt question caught her off guard. "What?" she hesitated, drawing in a deep breath to calm her reaction. Something about the tone of his voice made her nervous.

Penelope sighed. Definitely not the foot she wanted to start on. Kill them with kindness. That was the motto. Not weird them out with her lack of finesse.

"No. But I often skip—"

"Good, then we'll eat. I'm starving and Finn back there makes an amazing Howler that you're going to love so much you'll want more." He turned to the man still standing next to him. "Charlie, thanks for checking in. How about I meet up with you and Creed later? We'll go for a beer since it's been a while."

A big grin spread across the man's face as he looked between her and Sawyer. "Sure thing. Whatever you want, big guy." His statement ended on a low chuckle.

She had no idea what the hell was so funny, but she was pretty sure it was at her expense. "You don't have to leave on my account," she said. "I can go outside and wait until you're done with your friend and your breakfast."

This time Charlie snickered and she glared at his back as he walked through the door without another word. Dammit. She really didn't like this. They were not getting off to a good start with the two of them sharing some sort of secret joke at her expense.

"You're eating, too." Sawyer brushed her cheek with his fingertips and tucked the one stray hair that refused to stay put behind her ear. "Skipping meals isn't good for you."

Her breath clogged in her throat. The familiarity of his touch was as magnetic as his stare. Her skin burned in the wake of his hand. Again, she didn't understand the sudden thread of longing that swept through her. Never mind the inappropriateness of it. All of which kept her silent over his take charge attitude.

"I'll go order. You go grab us that seat in the corner before someone else claims it and I'll be right over." Of course he didn't wait for an answer, or any response at all for that matter. He obviously expected whatever he said or suggested would be followed. The hairs at the nape of her neck bristled over that idea. Less than five minutes in and she was already losing control of the situation.

She had half a mind to walk out the door and wait outside until he was done. Except her stomach grumbled and she had to admit whatever the cook was making behind that counter smelled exceptionally good.

Reluctantly, she nodded and turned to the now vacant booth next to one of the windows. From force of habit she first grabbed some napkins from the table dispenser and wiped down the table and both chairs. She then arranged the plastic silverware, also provided in a wire basket, in a setting for two along with some napkins. When she finally sat and looked up to check on Sawyer's progress she again found most of the customers staring at her.

Clearly, she stuck out like a sore thumb here. So she had a bit of a cleanliness complex. Most people appreciated that nervous trait. Even found it useful most of the time.

She glanced toward the counter and collided with Sawyer's gaze, already settled on her. She tried to read his thoughts from his expression and body language and found it impossible. He either had no thoughts on what she was doing or he'd make one hell of a poker player.

Moments later, and before she could finish analyzing him, he grabbed two plates from the man behind the counter and brought them over to their table and placed one in front of her. Staring down at the food, her mouth watered as she tried to puzzle out what the heck it was that smelled so good.

"Thank you," she said, grabbing one of the extra napkins she’d prepared and placing it in her lap. Picking up her fork, she began poking at the food.

There was a perfectly cooked over medium egg on top, apparently meant to smother some sort of meat and potato mixture. She moved the egg and poked at the shredded beef? Maybe? She did recognize the Yukon gold potatoes though. They were her favorite. Who could resist their natural buttery taste?

"Are you going to play with it or eat it?" he asked.

"I was just trying to figure out what all is in here. It smells delicious."

A deep laugh rumbled from his chest, the low vibration of it sliding across her skin like rough velvet. Her stomach tumbled and goose bumps rose on her arms. What an usual sensation. She swallowed thickly, trying to reorient her now jumbled thoughts.

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