Gina shook her head to clear it. She was on assignment. She needed to keep eavesdropping on the men in the teashop. She needed to meet her contact and discuss what she’d heard about enemy movements out of Qatar. Lachan couldnotbe here right now.
Yet she watched without moving a muscle as he pulled out the chair across from her and sat down. Watched his piercing eyes soften as he smiled, before his lips parted and he said, “Do you take lemon with your tea?”
Gina swallowed hard before answering, “Only when drinking with the royals.”
“It’s been a long time, lass.” He set the bag of spices down and folded his hands on the metal table.
This had to be a set up. Why hadn’t Jeremy warned her that Lachlan was her contact? No, he would have said something—Lach had to be acting on his own. But the men talking inside the teashop were real, and dangerous judging by their conversation, and Lachlan must be the agent she was supposed to meet.
“It has been a long time. I’d love to catch up, but I have some fascinating friends inside right now.”
Lach nodded and stayed quiet. Even through her shock, it was second nature for Gina to record and remember clandestine conversations and she hadn’t missed a word. She returned her full attention to the men as they wrapped up their deal and left. The second man walked out five minutes after the first and headed in the opposite direction.
They waited another five minutes after he disappeared down the street to speak. Lachlan went first.
“You look good, lass.”
Seriously? Were they really going to do this?
“I wasn’t expecting anyone today. And I really wasn’t expectingyou.”
“You weren’t? I thought my code made it obvious.”
“I assumed Jeremy told the agent what to say, not the other way around.” Only Jeremy and a tiny handful of people knew the ‘lemon code’ she’d used with Sana. But Lach had been in the room during the debriefing after she met Sana and so he was one of them.
Lachan’s eyes widened momentarily. “You’re working with Heath?”
“You didn’t know?”
Lachlan’s chair creaked as he shifted and his hand went to his shirt pocket—or rather to the pack of cigarettes inside. “This was supposed to be a double-blind.” He took the pack out, glanced at it, then at her, and put it back.
“But you knew about me, obviously.”
“Never did like going into a situation blind.” Lach grinned. “I have friends, too. Imagine my surprise when they told me who I’d be meeting.”
“Are you with the Agency now?” she asked, ignoring the way her heart sped up.
Lachlan tipped his head back and laughed. “Hell no. Never. Told you, I love my current job. I’m only loaned out. Again.”
Hope she never imagined having died quickly in her chest. Of course he loved being a SEAL. He never lied to her, never even bent the truth or told it slant, when it felt like that was all she ever did anymore.
He studied her carefully, his gaze like a physical weight. She found herself staring right back. He looked good, in the prime of life, despite his tacky tourist shirt emblazoned with a picture of King Tut. The least he could have done was show mercy and gotten an oversized shirt instead of a tee with sleeves that strained around his biceps and molded to his perfect chest.
Then again, the way he was looking at her brooked no mercy.
“Should we have followed them?” he prompted when she didn’t speak.
“No. I got what I needed just now. They’re young and cocky and didn’t think that anyone could possibly be listening in, let alone someone like me. I know where they’re meeting their contact from Qatar and when. They’ve already told their commander he’s selling them weapons for twice the price the commander agreed on. He’ll bring the weapons, they’ll pay, and then pocket half the money.”
“They’re idiots.”
“Told you. Young and cocky. If this went through, they’d be found out and killed. You’ll be saving their lives when you and your men raid the meeting. That’s what you’re here to do, right?”
“That, and a few other things.”
“Which you can’t talk about. I get it.” She took a sip of her tea and watched his hand stray to the pack of cigarettes then back down to the table. “Can I order you some tea? It’ll give you something to do with your hands that won’t kill you.”
“I don’t smoke that much,” he scoffed.
