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Me:Your little gossip club sounds like a menace to society should I be concerned?
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Wildflower:Oh no they’re harmless really I can’t promise they won’t try to hit on you though. Darla is the one you have to look out for She’ll grab your ass and pretend she was looking for her glasses while they are on her face
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I shake my head while grinning down at my phone. I’ve had to dodge my fair share of advances over the years but what she’s describing is hard to picture. I’m not sure how I’d react to a handsy sixty-year-old cougar grabbing my ass. I can’t remember the last time I smiled this much.
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Me:Well, good to know I need to watch out for geriatric predators. Thanks for the heads up
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Wildflower:Don’t worry Gryffindor. I’ll protect you
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The image of her trying to fight off a group of grandmas, has me biting back a laugh. I finish my coffee and toss the tip downon the table. I grab my to-go box and stand up while shooting off another text.
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Me:Such a valiant defender Wildflower
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Wildflower:About time you noticed my gallantry, Gryffindor
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Me:I noticed I chose to ignore it
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I take a beat to think about it and then send another one.
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Me:And stop calling me Gryffindor
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Wildflower:Sure thing Gryffindor
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I chuckle as I slip my phone back into my pocket and exit the diner. I shouldn’t be indulging in this, letting myself get distracted with banter and sharp wit. But damn does she make it hard to focus when she’s playful and teasing like that. I glance in the direction of Moonglow before heading back to the hotel to eat and shower. I’m supposed to keep my mind on the job.
I need to focus on finding all the weaknesses in Sokolov’s operation. I’m a professional. I don’t do serious relationships or have time for emotional entanglements. I always keep myself out of deep water, period. But this? This feels like I’m sinking deeper and deeper into a bottomless sea. And I’m happy to drown. Here I am, smiling like a lovesick fool because some witchy shop owner decided to flirt with me over text. I clench my jaw and force my mind back on track, back to the task at hand.
I spend the rest of the day in the shadows, tailing Sokolov’s men and making note of locations they visit. I pay attention to who comes and goes from the Miller Hotel. Recon and stakeouts, this is what I `know. This is what I’m used to. I fall back into a familiar routine. That doesn’t mean she’s not lurking in the back of my mind. That new game of ‘what if?’ I’ve found myself playing since I met her nags at me. What if she couldn’t get to her phone in time? What if she decided to deal with it on her own? What if she doesn’t trust me? I push it out of my mind and focus on watching the two men I followed enter an old house on the edge of town. Right as they go inside, my phone buzzes.
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Wildflower:They’re here
