Page 8 of Known By You
I’d have to tell him what a good job he did. Liz being his fiancée’s very protective older sister meant Adam had a complex relationship with our new coworker. All signs pointed to her being happy for them, but Adam wasn’t about to miss an opportunity to show her he was a decent guy.
“Thanks for inviting me,” she said to Bruce, then nodded at me.
The teenage boy who lived inside my brain shrieked, “She nodded at me!” He was busy running around in circles, not knowing what to do, when she accepted a beer and took a spot between me and Luc, who slid over to talk to Bruce at the last minute.
Torn between loving the man for doing what was right and hating that he’d made it less than covert, I nudged her elbow with mine. “How does the Utah beverage selectioncompare to wherever you were last? I’m guessing somewhere different from where we first met?”
Our cooperative mission had been based out of Estonia and slipped into… other places near Estonia. State Department and the fancy folk Elizabeth worked for had advised. She’d been nothing short of magnificent in her management of our arrival, the in-country situation brief, and every aspect she touched. I’d been more than a little enamored of her. Mission accomplished, we’d left, but I’d been keenly aware she had an entire life there.
“Yes. I left Tallinn not too long after you guys came through. And I would say thus far, good, though I’m basing that solely on this one beer.” She took a sip.
I did not watch her because that would be weird.
“When did you get into town?” I asked, taking an oh-so-nonchalant swig of my own glass someone had shoved in front of me.
“Thursday early evening.”
I choked on my beer. “Really? I guess I thought you’d been here a minute. So it’s like eleven at night in your brain?”
Her lips, which objectively were extremely well-made based on the curvature of her cupid’s bow and the soft reddish-pink color of them—curled into a slight smile.
“Well past my bedtime, yes.” She tipped her pint glass to the side and touched the edge of hers to mine. “But here I am. Being social.”
This hit me in just the right way, and I burst out laughing.
“So proud of you.” I raised my glass, then took a drink. “I take it you’re not particularly fond of social outings?”
As a former member of a unit where at least half thepersonnel tested as extremely introverted, I was familiar with the desire of some to avoid social events, especially those that might condemn them to small talk.
“Depends, but generally, something like this—” she looked to her right toward a group laughing just a little too loud, then continued, “—wouldn’t be my first choice.”
“What would be your first choice?”
The question jumped out before I could stop it. The only solace came in the form of her ignorance about just how high my heart had leapt at the chance to ask it.
She sipped her beer and eyed me, not quite squinting but certainly… skewering me with her gaze.
Wait, can she see how my internal organs just reacted?
They shouldn’t be reacting at all. They should be going about their regularly scheduled programming. Beating heart. Breathing lungs. Intestines… well, whatever. They should just be doing their thing and not responding to the nearness of a woman who was simply a coworker.
“I love a good run. I’m hoping to ski while I’m here. And I like watching movies.” Her head dipped down, and if I wasn’t seeing things, her cheeks tinged with a blush.
No. No no no no. I could not be appreciating things like the color on her cheeks or the way she seemed embarrassed at the simple contents of her answer. I couldn’t like that she’s a little grumpy and a little shy, not unlike two of my three best friends.
“Would you two step outside with me for just a minute?” Bruce asked, then turned toward the exit as though he knew we’d follow without question.
And of course we did.
“Sorry to interrupt, but since you’re both here and I’m selfishly hoping not to go in this weekend, I wanted to brief you here. You’ll both have the full details in your secureemail, but the most important thing is—you’re it. You guys are the team.”
My mouth dropped open, then snapped shut.
Bruce chuckled. “You’re the team that’ll be going to California.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Elizabeth
