He didn’t feel that he needed the additional chastisementin front of the entire team, but Rhys was the captain. He could do as he pleased.
As the team dispersed, Jonny changed quickly, his mind already racing ahead to the task awaiting him that night. Breaking into the station house to retrieve Blackwood's ledger wouldn't be easy. And the risk if he was caught...
He shook his head. Best not to dwell on that. He had to do this, for his own sake and the team's. Shouldering his kitbag, he hoped to keep out of anyone’s notice tonight. The last thing he needed was to get cornered by Ada or anyone else who might question where he was off to. He would stop by The King’s Head, have a drink, and then slip out before anyone noticed. To miss drinks with the team completely would only garner more questions than would be worth it.
He wondered if Ada would join them, uncertain what he wanted the answer to be. As much as a big part of him was longing for the chance to see her again, he knew that if anyone would read into his intentions, it would be her — she knew far too much, and, apparently, could read him far too well.
He walked into The King’s Head with some hesitation, and for a moment was both relieved and disappointed when Emmaline walked in on Rhys’s arm without her friend — until the door opened again, and Ada walked through. Alone.
Jonny felt a shove against his shoulder and turned, fist already clocked, until he realized it was just Felix, who was staring at him with concern.
“Easy now, Jon. I was just trying to get your attention. Milton’s asked you three times now what you want to drink. I told him you’ll have ale — you always have ale — but he’s still waiting.”
“Sorry,” Jonny muttered, slowly lowering his fist, hoping that no one had read into his intention, although his teammates were looking at him with some uncertainty. “Was startled, is all. I’ll have an ale, Milton.”
“See, I told you!” Felix called after the barkeep as he walked away, and Jonny only shook his head sheepishly at him.
While he was turned toward the table and the rest of his teammates, he knew instinctively the moment she sat down. Beside him, of course. She had a distinctive scent he couldn’t quite place, but it was almost as if someone had bottled up sunshine and suffused it into a bar of soap that she covered her body with. When he had held her in his arms the other night, it had been so hard to let her go. She had filled him with not just a heady desire for more, but with a peace that he hadn’t even known he’d needed. With other women, he felt like he was putting on an act, being the person they wanted him to be, but Ada saw him for who he was.
Which was the very reason he knew she would never be anything more than an acquaintance, for she was too smart to allow herself close enough to get hurt.
Felix elbowed him, and Jonny grunted as he rubbed at his side.
“Jon. Jonny.”
“Yes, Felix,” he grunted as he turned to him.
“You know Ada, Emmaline’s friend?”
“Yes, I know Ada,” he said out of the corner of his mouth. “She’s sitting beside me.”
“Yes, I know,” Felix said, his voice dropping down to a whisper. “Do you think you could put in a good word?”
Jonny stared at him, blinking.
“For you?”
“Yeah,” Felix said with a shrug. “Why not? I’m one of the few single men on the team, and she’s a good-looking woman. Has that,” he waved his hand in the air, “allureto her.”
“Didn’t even know you knew a word like ‘allure,’” Jonny couldn’t help but mutter, even though he recognized he wasn’t being fair.
He wanted to tell Felix that he had no business sayinganything about Ada, that she was her own woman, one who, if she was going to choose a man, would choosehim— but then quickly realized he was in no place to say so. For he had no claim on her, as much as he’d like to. She was not his, nor did she have any intention of being his.
He had to stay far away from her, for the very same reasons she wanted him away from her friends.
And that was that. That didn’t mean Felix had to keep his distance, though.
“Sure, Felix,” he said with a tight smile. “I’ll put in a good word. But no promises, understood?”
“Of course, Jon,” Felix said, clapping him on the back. “Thank you.” He pushed back his chair and stood, ale in hand.
“Where are you going?” Jonny asked.
“There’s a blonde over there I like the look of,” he said with a grin, and Jonny nearly spit out his first sip of ale.
“Felix,” he managed. “Did you not just ask me to spread some interest in you?”
“Might as well keep my options open,” he said with a shrug and a wink, and Jonny could only roll his eyes.
