“Are you free for lunch?”
Faith glanced at her watch. It was 10:30 a.m. “Now?”
“No.” She could hear the amusement in Luke’s voice. “Unless you didn’t eat breakfast and want to make it brunch.”
She hadn’t eaten much, but she wouldn’t mention it.
“We need to talk.”
Was this about last night? About the case? Both? Neither? “Okay. My office or yours?”
“I can come to you. But we need to be able to talk in private.”
She considered her options. If Luke came to the FBI offices, he would attract attention. If she went to his office, the only place with any privacy was the conference room, and that was minimal. “Why don’t I come pick you up and we’ll eat in the car?”
Luke didn’t respond right away.
“Is that a problem?”
“No.” Luke drew out the word. “I’m just trying to decide how much risk you would be in, driving around with me.”
Well, that was . . . chivalric. And depressing.
“I think we’ll be fine as long as we stay unpredictable.”
“Maybe.”
“I’ll pick you up in an hour.”
“Okay. Call me when you get here, and I’ll come out. I don’t want you to get out of the car.”
“Why not?”
“We don’t know if he’s watching our office. You can’t be hurt or caught or...”
“I’m not a helpless little girl, Luke.”
“Gil isn’t helpless either. Neither is Zane. Neither am I. And I can assure you, Michael and Jared were two of the toughest men on the planet.”
Coming from a man who worked in an organization known for attracting alpha males, his point couldn’t be missed.
“This has nothing to do with your femininity, and I never said it did. This isn’t a commentary on your skill or any perceived weakness. I’m tired of losing people I love, and I’m not willing to risk you in any way.”
Faith almost dropped the phone. What? No. He hadn’t meant that he loved her. Just that he was tired of losing people he loved. Right? “Luke—”
“Besides, Hope’s kind of scary, and I don’t need her on my case forever.”
“Okay.” Faith recognized Luke’s attempt to pull the conversation away from a dangerous ledge. That was a jump they simply couldn’t make. “I’ll see you in an hour.”
When she pulled into the parking lot, Luke was nowhere to be seen. But when she rolled to a stop by the curb, he darted outfrom behind a low wall. He dodged a few puddles, climbed in, and tapped the dash. “Go!”
She floored it, tires spinning on the wet pavement, and didn’t ask any questions until they had cleared the parking lot and were back on the road. “Um, what was that about?”
“Sorry. Paranoia. I have this image of our shooter waiting to pick us off as we leave the office.”
“And by we, you mean you.”
“Well, Zane came in about ten minutes ago and no one shot him, but yes, mostly I mean me.”
