Page 27 of Guarded from Treachery

Once she finishes the salad, she grabs a head of lettuce and plucks off some leaves, then rinses them in the sink and leaves them on a paper towel to dry. After that comes a crusty loaf of some sort of bakery-baked bread, much different in appearance from the usual white bread I buy at the grocery store.

Lucy would be impressed.

I bet Lucy would like Isla. Bubbly Lucy would know just the right things to say to make Isla feel better. Fifteen minutes together and I bet they’d be chatting like old friends. But instead, Isla’s stuck with me, a subpar cook who seems to say the wrong thing more often than not.

As Isla slices the bread into thick slices, she glances over at me and raises her brows. “Did I add something you don’t like? Sorry. I didn’t even think to ask before I threw everything together, I make this recipe so often. But if you don’t care for yogurt, or dill…”

“No, no. It looks great.” Setting my knife aside, I turn to face her. “I was intrigued by all the things you added. Last time I made chicken salad, I used exactly two ingredients.”

Isla grins. “Mayonnaise and chicken?”

“Yup.” My own lips curve up. “Not even salt or pepper. Just canned chicken and mayonnaise. On white bread. So you can imagine why I’m impressed.”

Her attention still on me, she starts spreading the chicken salad on two slices of bread. “I’m not sure if I’d consider chicken salad impressive, but it’s something I make a lot.” Gesturing at the carton of Greek yogurt, she explains, “Using this makes it healthier than straight mayonnaise. And the lemon gives it a bit of a tang. I just like dill, so I always add it…” Trailing off, her cheeks go pink. “I’m sure you didn’t want to hear all that.”

“I did. I do.” Pausing, I gather up the spears of carrot and celery and split them up on the two plates Isla pulled from the cabinet. “My cooking skills are pretty sad. So it’s interesting. And my friend Lucy, she’s Xavier’s wife, she likes to tease me about it. So I’m going to try making these sandwiches to show off.”

Her face brightens. “I can write the recipe down, then. It’s really easy.”

Chuckling, I reply, “Well. You haven’t really seen me cook. Cutting up vegetables doesn’t count.”

“I liked the sandwich you made last night,” she retorts with a smile. “So I think you’re not doing too badly.” Her smile dims. “I had to cook a lot when I was growing up. So I kind of had to get good at it. My parents?—”

With a tiny grimace, her lips press together. A tiny line forms between her eyes. Her gaze shifts to the sandwiches in front of her as she neatly adds the leaves of lettuce to them.

Shit. I remember her mentioning how her parents refused to help, so I think it’s a safe assumption their relationship isn’t the best. I don’t want Isla to have another bad thing to think about, so I quickly change the subject. “So. What do you like to do in your free time?”

Her hands still for a second. A beat later, some of the tension smooths out of her features. She looks back at me, a hint of laughter in her eyes. “Nice subject change.”

My ears heat. “I was trying. Not very well, apparently.”

“No, you did.” With a wry smile, she adds, “I don’t have the best relationship with my parents. But I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to get into that. When your teammates get here?”

“Yes.” Isla grabs one plate and hands it to me before taking the other. As we walk over to the kitchen table, I explain, “We were talking about it while you were napping. Erik will be here tonight, and Rhiannon will arrive on Friday. So you’ll have the three of us directly working on your case. Of course, if something comes up and we need added support, the rest of the team will jump in to help.”

“Okay.” She slides into her seat and picks up a carrot, tapping it on her plate as she thinks. “So… what’s the plan?”

And here I was thinking she wouldn’t want to get into it right away. That she’d want some time to rest. Decompress. But it’s just another sign of how strong Isla is.

“Well. I thought we’d wait until Erik gets here and go through more questions then. Really get into all the information I need to start the investigation. And with three of us here, there will always be one person escorting you wherever you need to go and standing guard while you’re at work, someone monitoring surveillance, plus all the research, of course.”

“And you do that? Hawk mentioned you’re the computer whiz of the team.”

“I do.”

Isla takes a bite of her carrot, pausing to swallow before asking, “So you do all the protection stuffandlead the investigative part of the cases?” Admiration tinges her voice. “That’s pretty awesome, Matt.”

“Oh. It’s not that big of a deal.”

Her eyebrows jump up. “I don’t know tons about Green Berets, but from what I do know, it’s a really hard job. Dangerous. And on top of that, you learned how to do all this hacking stuff?”

Taking a bite of my sandwich, I hesitate for a few seconds before responding. “I’ve always liked computers. First it was just video games, and then I got into programming. I had this amazing computer teacher in high school, and he taught me a lot. Then I just sort of went off to learn more on my own.”

“So when you mentioned games last night, you were talking about video games?”

“Yes.” Bracing myself for the inevitable look of disappointment I usually get when I tell a woman about my interests, I explain, “In my free time, I like to play video games. RPGs, 3D sandbox games, sometimes a first-person shooter likeCall of Duty, if one of my teammates wants to play. I mostly play at night, when I’m not on a job, you know?”

And now she knows I have no social life aside from my team and video games in my apartment. Great.

---