Page 16 of Lyon

“Are you asking if I’m involved with someone?”

“No, just making an observation,” I said.

“I’m not involved with anyone,” I said, smiling.

“Neither am I. I was. I mean, he was more serious than I was. I didn’t know that until he asked me to quit my job. That’s when I realized he was more than serious; he asked me to marry him. I hated hurting him, but I never told him I loved him. I loved him, but not as a husband.”

“That must have been hard for both of you.”

I’m sorry. God, sometimes I need a button to shut me up. Ignore everything I said. I’ll eat my food now.”

I watched the red creep up her neck to her face. I thought she was beautiful, even if she had the same clothes she’d had on for three weeks.

“Tell me about your job. What do you do?” I asked.

“I’m an FBI Special Agent.”

“Oh, yeah? What do you do on your job?”

“I’m undercover most of the time.”

“Undercover with who?”

“What do you mean? You know I’m not allowed to discuss my undercover assignments.”

“I won’t tell anyone,” I said.

“I’m sure you wouldn’t, but I still can’t discuss my work.”

“Okay, I won’t ask anymore—for now. Can I take you to dinner when this is over?”

“You don’t even know where I live,” Niki said.

“I don’t care where you live; I won’t be late. Where do you live?”

“Santa Barbara.”

“I live in Carlsbad, California. We’re not too far apart. How about I pick you up next Friday? We’ll go to dinner. It’ll be fun.”

“I’d love to go to dinner with you.”

“Great. I’ll pick you up at seven.”

“You’ll need her address,” Raven said from behind us.

We both chuckled, and then Max spoke up. “Her home is easy to find; she lives in the hills on a horse ranch.”

“Do you have horses?” I asked.

“Yes, I have beautiful horses. I breed them.”

“I don’t know anything about horses,” I admitted.

“That’s okay. You don’t need to know about horses to take me out,” she said.

I smiled. “That’s a relief.”

We both laughed.

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