She grumbled something unintelligible, but it was followed by a low laugh that ended in a long sigh. “What now?”
“Coffee. Muffins. Office. The PID will have loaded your in-box by now with threats that need to be chased down. We work. We prepare for the president’s visit. We encase you in Bubble Wrap and don’t let you go anywhere alone until we figure out what’s happening.”
Tessa made a show of tapping the weapon at her waist, but whatever she was planning to say was interrupted by Toby yelling across the shop. “Got your order ready, Special Agent Reed.”
Zane stood and hauled her up beside him, then took two of the carrying trays loaded with coffee, leaving her one tray and a bag of pastries.
“Did you get coffees for the DC guys too?”
“Yeah. Had Leslie ask them for their order yesterday.”
“They’ll love you forever.”
They kept their own coffees, and Zane rummaged through the bag to find his muffin top before they placed the remaining beverages in the back of Tessa’s SUV. Tessa did the coffee run so often, she had special boxes that held the coffee in place while she drove. When they were on the road, she tapped her steering wheel and asked, “What do you think of Rodriguez?”
“Not much.” He made it a point not to badmouth his fellow agents, but this was Tess. He wasn’t going to lie to her. Not about this. Not about anything.
“Hmm.”
A dreadful suspicion curled in his gut. “Why?”
She didn’t respond immediately. “He has my number. I gave it to him and Carver yesterday so they could reach me.”
“Yeah.”
“He asked me out.”
“What? When?”
10
TESSA TRIED NOT TO LAUGHat Zane’s blatant aggravation. He didn’t like Rodriguez. She could tell when she watched them interact yesterday.
“Are you messing with me?” Zane had way too much hope in his voice for him to be truly teasing her.
“Nope. Asked me out last night. When I declined, he put forth several reasons I should reconsider.”
“What did you do?”
She tapped her phone. “See for yourself.”
The tension flowed out of him as he grabbed her phone and scrolled. She kept her eyes firmly on the road, but she didn’t need to see him to know when he got to the pertinent texts.
“He’s an idiot.”
“Is he dating anyone?”
“The correct question is, ‘How many women is he currently dating?’ or you could go with, ‘How many women did he date last week?’ or—”
“I get the picture. But this still surprises me.”
Zane put the phone back on the console. “You’re surprised he asked you out? Or you’re surprised he didn’t take no for an answer?”
“Both.”
“Please. Tess, you get asked out all the time.”
He wasn’t wrong. But... “Not by coworkers.”
