*
“What exactly are you looking for out here? I thought you had a specific place in mind for lunch.” Insisting on coming with her had seemed a good idea at the time. He wouldn’t take it back. But he hadn’t anticipated how exposed he’d feel out in the open again.
A reminder the danger was very real and they had no true guarantee that he was safe.
At all.
“I’m not looking for anything specific, just keeping my eyes open for interesting things along the way.” Lizzy continued to hold his hand casually as they walked, for all the world like a tourist enjoying downtown with her boyfriend.
Come to think of it, he’d never explored downtown on a date. Relationships weren’t a priority so he’d rarely dated a woman more than a few times before she figured out he put work before pleasure.
She’d taken him on a winding route to this street, stopping in two different cafés for a quick change. It was amazing how little people noticed of the comings and goings of other customers in those places. Had circumstances been different, he’d have never given credence to the precautions. Surely, someone would notice the ridiculous behavior.
But no. People moved about their day on the streets and didn’t look twice at either Lizzy or him. Like ants, rushing along their paths, not even acknowledging his existence unless he stepped directly into their path. What Lizzy had taught him was to look, see and blend into the rush so that those searching for him wouldn’t find him amid the sea of faces.
There was comfort in the anonymity of crowded places. A new perspective for him.
“Okay.” The smile spread across his lips without effort, really. Tense as he was, the idea of Lizzy enjoying a simple pleasure like running around a city sightseeing appealed to him. He kept his volume to a murmur so it’d be hard for anyone not walking directly with them to overhear. “So what amorphous something would convince you to take a detour from our current plans?”
She shot him an irritated glance and he returned it with a raised eyebrow. Neither of them was trying to make a scene and the banter probably looked very normal to anyone not actually listening to the content of their conversation.
She huffed out a breath. “I’m looking for the hiding spot, the vantage point the shooter chose when he, or she, took a shot at our friends.”
“Ah.” Well, it explained why she was spending so much time looking up. “I assume we would end up on a roof somewhere?”
Lizzy shook her head. “Not likely. Possible. But if that was where our shooter decided to set up, it’ll tell me a lot about them.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “And if your original lunch spot is still the best choice?”
“The location will tell me a lot regardless, but if they were careless enough to choose an exposed position like those rooftops on either side of this street, they were likely sloppy enough to leave a few presents behind too.” She paused and glanced in a shop window or two.
He noted she didn’t look into the chocolate store, which was across the street, but she did peer into the glass window directly across from it. Tricky girl using the reflection. Still, she really did love her drinking chocolate. He wouldn’t mind trying more.
It was a sensual pleasure. Perhaps Lizzy didn’t think of it that way, but it was an easy progression from imagining sharing a hot cup with her to tasting the chocolate directly from her lips.
She might not appreciate his imagination at the moment.
“Talk to me about vantage points, then. I’m in the mood to learn.”
Her head whipped around and she pressed her lips together. “Do you actually want to know? Or are you just chatting with me to keep me distracted?”
He considered for a moment. “I’m actually curious. Though, I will admit, I enjoy the absentminded tone your voice takes on when you’re sharing information with me. It becomes rather husky, very sexy. So please, do share.”
Maybe too much. It’d been truth though and he rarely held back on such candor. Few women believed it anyway so there was little sacrificed in being honest. It made it easier to avoid discussing other things he preferred not to.
Still, Lizzy didn’t like it when he laid it on too thick, so to speak. And that last had been a bit heavy-handed in the delivery.
After a moment, she stepped forward and tugged him to get him to move with her. As he did, she released his hand and slid her own higher up his arm in a loose hold. She was warm against his arm and the semiembrace—just his arm—sent chills through him, exciting him. He surreptitiously adjusted his belt and the fit of his briefs.