Page 28 of Falling Fast

Special Agent Taylor Kennedy glanced up from her plate in surprise to look at the man seated across the table. “What do you mean?” she asked.

They’d barely spoken since they’d sat down a few minutes ago, the awkwardness threatening to edge her nervousness into full-blown anxiety she was struggling not to show. She would so much rather be back at the hotel working on the files Charlie had transmitted today from Pinnacle Group, instead of here on the world’s most uncomfortable fake date of all time.

Not that Special Agent Logan Granger seemed to notice.

By way of answer he hid a smile behind the rim of his coffee cup and looked subtly toward Charlie and Jamie’s table near the back of the restaurant. He’d asked for this table against the exterior wall and had positioned himself on the far side of it for the best view of Jamie and Charlie.

“Dude’s completely ignoring Jamie’s existence. And from the looks of it I think he plans to keep doing that all night. Not that I blame him,” he added, lowering his mug and leaning back in his chair, the motion pulling his cream-colored dress shirt taut over his muscular chest and shoulders. “She’s a hell of a lot nicer to look at than Rodriguez’s ugly mug.”

Taylor tore her gaze away from him, resisting the urge to turn around and see for herself. “Is he alone?” Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she tried once again to quell the nerves jumping in her stomach. She’d worn contacts instead of her glasses, and they were already bugging her eyes, making them feel dry and uncomfortable.

She kept telling herself there was nothing for her to be nervous about. She was a professional, and they were only here to appear like a couple out on a date, so Logan could keep watch for other players Baker might have brought along. Coming here to spy on Baker didn’t bother her, and if anything did happen, she had some training.

No, the problem was the man sitting across from her.

Logan was apparently FAST Bravo’s newest member, and a former DEA undercover agent. With his reddish-brown beard and broad shoulders, all he needed was a plaid flannel shirt and an axe to complete his rugged, outdoorsy image. He was also huge, his size and obvious strength secretly unsettling her.

It didn’t happen too often anymore, but every once in a while being around a large man would set her inner radar buzzing. Something ingrained in her long ago. Combined with her discomfort about being here, sitting this close to him stirred up ghosts from her past she’d thought long buried.

Apparently she’d been wrong. They were alive and well, still lurking around in her frightened twelve-year-old subconscious.

The realization shamed her. She should be stronger than that. Strong enough to banish the memories and lock them away in a place where they could never escape again. God knew she’d done her best to vanquish them.

“Everything’s cool. They’re alone.” Logan snorted. “And buddy can’t seem to drag his eyes off her anyway. Well, her boobs, to be precise.”

Gross. Taylor wrinkled her nose. Men like Baker thought they could have or do anything to a woman they wanted, simply because they were rich. They were disgusting pigs and she couldn’t wait for Charlie to finally gain access to that laptop so they could find something to nail his privileged ass with and put him away for a long time. “I feel bad for her.”

“She’s handling it like a boss.” His tone was full of admiration.

“I’m just glad she’s not alone with that guy.” Charlie was one of the first people she’d met after moving to D.C. and they’d become good friends. They went out to movies together or out to dinner a couple times a month. She’d tried to get Charlie interested in joining her book club a while back, but that hadn’t gone over too well.

Taylor was worried about her. Charlie might be mentally tough and know how to handle a firearm, but she was a civilian employee, not a trained field agent. Taylor had tried to volunteer for this op but the head of the taskforce had wanted Charlie because of her computer expertise and because she had the look Baker liked best.

And you think you’re stronger than her? A full-fledged special agent who’s nervous just sitting across from Logan?

Sometimes her inner voice was damn mean.

But it was almost always dead on.

Wincing inside, Taylor reached for her stemmed water glass and took a sip, her gaze on her plate once again. It helped to avoid looking at Logan whenever possible. “I guess it’s a good thing he seems interested in her.”

“You not hungry?” he asked, glancing at her nearly untouched salad.

She’d poked around at it for the last five minutes, basically moving pieces of lettuce and fruit around on her plate but not eating. “Not really.” To give her hand something to do, she picked up her fork and scooped up some dressing-glossed greens, put it in her mouth and chewed.

Logan shifted in his chair. She stilled at the movement, even stopped chewing for a second, watching him. “You okay?” he asked.

She swallowed and nodded despite the sudden restriction in her throat, gave a wry smile as she forked up another bite. “Yes. Sorry. Bet you wish you’d taken someone else out to dinner, huh.”

“You’re fine.”

“Been a while since I’ve done this,” she said, completely willing to laugh at herself.

“Yeah? How long.”

She considered it for a moment. “Can’t remember.”

Months at least. The last date she’d been on was with a guy she’d met through an online dating site, and it had been a total disaster. She’d wound up texting Charlie an hour in, begging for an excuse to bolt. Charlie had come through for her, calling with a fake family emergency.

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