“Thank you for speaking with me. I’m going to find Leland. Today. I’ll tell him to contact you ASAP.” He motioned for the waitress and requested his coffee to-go.
Tayla declined a to-go cup. And leaned forward again after the waitress was out of earshot. “Where are you going to start? I’ll go back and speak with the front desk. They may be able to—”
He held up both hands. “Whoa. No. What you’re going to do is wait in your room. I’m handling this now. Eric is sending two more agents to help. They’ll be here in a few hours. If you give me your number, I’ll text you when we know something about Leland.”
She gave him an uncooperative look, but didn’t argue. They exchanged numbers. “Keep me updated,” she said.
“I will. And I’m sorry about these circumstances, but it was nice to meet you.”
She stood and pushed in her chair. “It was nice meeting you as well, Mr. Bridger.”
“Please, call me Jason.”
She nodded with a look he couldn’t decipher. “Okay, Jason. You can call me Tayla. Well, good luck, Jason. I hope you find Leland soon.” The waitress returned with his coffee, and Tayla walked away.
You can call me Jason?When was the last time he said that to a woman while on an assignment? Or anywhere, for that matter?
He walked out of the bistro, and his eyes immediately landed on Tayla. Not at the bank of elevators, like she should be. She was chatting at the front desk. A few long strides and he was standing next to her. “Just one moment,” he said, smiling at the receptionist, and tugging Tayla’s elbow to lead her away from the desk.
He pivoted to face her. “I thought we discussed this.”
“Discussed?” She flashed a not-so-sweet smile. “We didn’t discuss anything. You gave your opinion on what I should do.”
He forced himself to take a calming breath. “Tayla, I don’t know what’s going on here yet, but it probably isn’t safe. I have a lot to do and I need to get started, so please, go wait in your room. I told you, I’ll let you know when I find Leland.”
She set her jaw and glared at him. And he found it attractive for some reason. Which was all kinds of surreal.
“Look,” she said, “I came a very long way to find Leland. I’m not going to wait in my room. I can help you, or work on my own, but I’m not just sitting around. You said thoseother men wouldn’t be here to help you for a few hours. I can help. You’re only one man.”
Why was everyone saying that today?He was very capable on his own. She had no idea the kinds of assignments he’d completed by himself. But he didn’t feel like explaining that to her.
He paused two beats, attempting to devise a response that would convince her to wait in her room. He noted the resolve stamped on her features. And drew a blank.
“Under the circumstances—the circumstances being that you are very stubborn—I think I could save time by allowing you to help.”
That was the first time he saw her smile, really smile. And he tried to ignore the effect it had on him.
Chapter 2
Tayla tried to keep as still as possible.
Reviewing the security footage Jason assigned to her was a simple task. But her desk chair protested every micro-movement with ferocious squeaks. The hand-painted tiles covering the floor and walls in the security office did nothing to muffle the screams from her bad-tempered chair.
She tried to concentrate on the images in front of her—of all the comings and goings around the hotel’s main entrance—and not on all the questions pin-balling in her head.
About Leland. About Jason.
And there were so many questions.
Why had Leland lied to her? Why hadn’t she pressed when his explanations about his job sounded weak? He’d obviously been lying to her for a long time. But Jason actedlike this situation was different. What kind of danger was Leland in? What would those men do if they found him first? And why?
After everything she’d been through . . . if she lost Leland . . .
Emotion tightened her throat.
She was scared. And angry. As soon as they found him, she was going to hug him. Then yell at him. Then hug him again.
And why did Jason, and his warm, brown eyes, make her feel . . . safe? They’d just met. It didn’t make sense. She knew better than that—knew what it was to pay dearly for misplaced trust.
