Page 63 of Garrison's Creed

The waiter was suddenly there again. Maybe her second whiskey had packed more of a wallop than she’d realized. “Would you like to order?” He stood there as if expecting… something. “Food?” he prompted.

Beth studied the drink menu for a second. “Noodles.” She leaned over to Cash, her new best friend, and yell-whispered, “Do you want noodles?”

He gave her a wink. “I want whatever Nic wants.”

Beth sighed loudly enough to turn the table behind her. Nic waved her glass to them, then looked at the waiter. “Can we have a sampler or something with lots of carbs?”

He nodded, clearly trying to figure out if they were good for their bill.

Cash spoke up. “Make that two samplers. And lots of noodles.”

The big guy needed his food. Nicola finished off the rest of her drink and admired the way his shirt clung to his pecs.

Cash leaned over. “See something you want?” A flush flashed from her cheeks to her chest. “On the menu?”

Nicola pushed her shoulders back and smoothed a napkin over her lap until it started shredding. “I’d like to talk about David the Butler now. That is, if you two can handle it.”

Beth’s buzzy nod said so much about what she could and couldn’t handle now or remember later.

“We already have our plan for the butler,” Cash said to Beth. The grand plan must have been discussed when she wasn’t listening to Jared yammer on because she had no idea. Cash continued, “And we’re going to talk to Sugar—”

“That’s her name? Sugar?”

Thank you, Beth. It was about time you pulled your BFF weight.

Cash laughed. “Her,huh?”

“Of course she told me about her.” Beth was going to get a headache from all of her nodding. Well, and from all the vodka too.

“Nic’s reading into something.”

“I am not.”

He shrugged one shoulder.

“So what’s your get-the-butler plan?” Beth asked. Good thing Cash was there to explain it to both of them. And here he thought she was being über professional. In reality, she’d been lost in the Cash-clouds.

He cracked his knuckles and got serious with a swig of his Warrior Smash. “Simple. Nic and the butler have to partner, per the CIA’s request to work it out, so as they do that. Nic slips in a few tracers and bugs. They do some bogus assignment together. Titan harvests the intel to bring the fucker down. Nic plays it all nice and sweet.” Cash stared at her a hard second. “That is, if she can manage to keep her left hook in check. She’s got a quick temper.”

Oh, for God’s sake. She didn’t have a temper. Maybe a short fuse, but that was a byproduct of her ex-boyfriend run-in. Now that Cash clued her in to the plan, it sounded reasonable and simple enough. This plan, for that matter, sounded too safe. It sounded like Cash and Jared were keeping her at arm’s length while they did the fun work, or was her Whiskey Whatchamacallit making her paranoid?

She took a sip and added, “But if I see an opportunity to take him down and have cause, I’ll do it.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement of fact.

“Not according to the plan,” Cash countered with a hint of a growl.

“Plans are meant to be adapted.”

“Not this one.” He sounded smug and sure and steadfast.

I’m going to wring his neck.

“This is about me being in the field again, isn’t it?”

“What?” He shrugged, looking guiltier than sin. “No.”

Yes.“I cannot believe you and Jared. You two can’t handle it.”

“Actually, not Jared. He thinks you’re fine to do whatever you please. Roman and I have reservations. We don’t want you running around when we can take care of it.”

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