Page 43 of The Coffee Shop

“DoorDash for Herman?” A nasally voice says through the open window.

“Right here!” Luke says cheerfully, taking several large Target bags from the man before heading back over to us with a giant grin.

“I’m going to fucking kill you for that,” I grind out.

“What? I thinkHermanis a lovely name. Isn’t it Leena?” Luke asks, still grinning like an idiot at his littlejoke.

Leena just looks confused until the jokester keeps talking.

“It really just rolls off the tongue. Sebastian Herman Chase-” his voice cuts off with anoofwhen I put him in a headlock.

“Your middle name isHerman?” Leena asks, laughing so loud that she’s practically gasping for air at this revelation.

“Yeah, yeah, very fucking funny. Hilarious,” I say, deadpan, because I am not amused. Leena just keeps laughing and I can feel Luke snickering under my arm. “What’s in the bag, hotshot?” I ask Luke, finally releasing him.

“You didn’t think I was going to spend the whole night with the two of you without my toothbrush, did you?”

“You’re unfuckingbelievable,” I say, stomping off towards our room.

—

It was hard to stay mad at Luke for long when the clothes he bought fit me so comfortably. It was especially hard to stay mad at him when I caught a glimpse of the little numbers he picked out for Leena along withthe lube, a bottle of tequila, Leena’s favorite iced coffee, makeup and enough toiletries that the three of us could camp out here for a month.

“So, what do you think?” Leena asks, giving us a little twirl as she comes out of the bathroom.

I guess my little side project of stalking her clothing size came in handy after all and I can’t help my own smile at the sight of her. Sure, I like seeing her in our clothes, and I like seeing her naked even more, but it’s nice to see her all dolled up and looking like her little hipster self again.

She is wearing a skin tight black long sleeve crop top that shapes her breasts perfectly and shows off the skin all the way to her belly button, a pair of those high waisted cargo pants, boots and a little brimmed brown hat. Her long black hair falls nearly to her ass in waves and fuck if she isn’t the most adorable thing I’ve ever fucking seen. She looks more like a cover model, and I suddenly find myself fantasizing about what she’d look like in some skimpy dress.

Luke is grinning as he showers her with complements, and Leena is fucking glowing. That man always knows how to lighten the mood when shit gets hard.

I walk over to our surveillance bag, the one we thankfully left in the Suburban so it didn’t get abandoned back at the safehouse with the rest of our things, and shuffle through it until I find the box with the GPS trackers. I pull out the smallest one we have, a little pendant looking thing, then stare at Leena, wondering where on this goddess I’m going to hide it. She doesn’t wear a bra, so I guess…

“Oh! I bought something else,” Luke says, seeingmy predicament.

He pulls a necklace out from one of his Target bags then takes the tracker from me and clips it onto the clasp where it will be hidden behind her hair.Clever.

Then he turns to Leena, holding it up for her to see. She stares at it, then her eyes fill with tears and her perfect mouth begins to quiver. And when I look down to study the necklace further, I see why.

Hanging between the delicate rose gold chains are three perfect hoops, interlaced together in a row. I want to roll my eyes, but I don’t, because I can see how much the gesture means to her. I’m not even sure what exactlythatis supposed to mean, but it’s sweet. And it will distract her from the reason behind her wearing it.

Leena eyes find Luke in question.

“So we don’t lose you,” he whispers.

She studies the device, but she doesn’t seem to care. She just looks up at Luke again with big eyes, then at me when he stands behind her to help put it on.

I stare at her and the look on her face tells me everything I need to know.

Fuck,she doesn’t want to lose us either.

Once we’re all dressed, we walk the three blocks back to where we hid the car in a parking garage. There are nearly a hundred hotels in this area, so we figured if anyone found the car, they would have a hell of a time figuring out which building, let alone which room, we were staying in. At least, not before morning when we have the chance to get a new vehicle.

Since we ditched the burner phones back at the house, just in case that is how they found us, we have to drive clear across town before finding a payphone.

I told Luke and Leena to wait in the car, butsurprise surprise, they are right here with me.

“This booth was not designed for three people. Get out. Both of you,” I say.

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