“What is so special about it?”Why were sharks drawn to that one particular area?
“It’s isolated from people; the waters are rougher, so not many boaters go out there.The fish love it, so for sharks, it’s a buffet.”Mac turned her head to look at him.Their lips were only separated by a few inches.Her gaze rose to meet his.Barry could see her pupils were dilated, her breathing deepening.She was just as affected by their close proximity as he was.“They are simple creatures and know where an easy meal is, so they return to that spot year after year, remembering it.”
Barry shifted his focus from her beautiful eyes to the screen and its colorful dots as if the answers would suddenly appear.“So, the question remains, what’s so important to Miles that’s there?”
Mac’s eyebrows bunched together, creating a furrow he wanted to smooth out with his thumb.“You think it’s the ocean and not the land the hotel is on?”
Barry wasn’t so certain.The hotel would give him privacy to use the ocean coast, but right now, he had more questions than answers.“It may be both, but I won’t know until I can get close to Miles and find out what he’s doing.”
“You mean we,” Mac interjected.“This is my research, my sharks.I will not be left out of the loop.”Mac took a deep breath like she was trying to calm herself.“Barry, you may be more experienced in this line of work with investigating, so I won’t tell you how to do it, but I refuse to be left out.We’re partners.”
Barry agreed.He may be more experienced when it came to investigating, but she knew sharks.A knowledge he knew next to nothing about.He would need her help with this case.“Yes, partners.”
Mac beamed as if he had just handed her the moon, and he felt his heart melt and his insides flutter.No woman had ever looked at him like that before.He was dangerously close to getting attached to this woman.If he wasn’t careful, he could fall in love with her.
Chapter 18
Barry shook off the thought.He wouldn’t be thinking about love right now.He had a mission to complete and Mac to help.He had nothing against them having some fun in the meantime, but that was all he could offer her.His team was important to him.There, he felt like he belonged.He had a purpose.Outside of this mission, what could he have?He didn’t know anything about fishing, and he felt too young to retire.He knew next to nothing about shark research.
No, his life was back in Vegas and with the next mission, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t always hold a special place in his heart for Mac.
“Well, partner, you’re not going to like this next step, but I have to ask the secretary out.”Annabelle was their best chance of getting answers about what Miles was up to, or at the very least, give him access to her files stored on her phone.
Mac’s smile dropped.He could see that mask of indifference slip back on.He hated seeing it, but this was their only chance short of getting close to Miles, and with the bodyguards surrounding Miles, that would be next to impossible.“I told you before, I don’t care.”
He knew that to be a lie.He didn’t like it any more than she did.Barry left the desk to grab his laptop on the bed.
“What are you doing?”Mac asked.
“Looking up her phone number,” he replied, not looking up from his laptop as he searched Annabelle’s name in the database.
“I’m surprised she didn’t slip it into your pocket at some point,” Mac mumbled.
Barry would have noticed, wouldn’t he?He stopped mid typing and set his laptop down to grab the pants he had been wearing yesterday.He dug around in the pockets and, sure as shit, in the big cargo pocket was a business card with Annabelle’s name on it.Sneaky woman.He hadn’t even felt her do it.
He tried wracking his brain when she might have done it.The only time he could think of was when she’d called him back to grab his tools.
Barry glanced over at Mac, but she had given him her back and was working on her laptop, or most likely pretending to.He didn’t want to have this conversation in front of Mac, but the sooner he called Annabelle and set things up, the better.
Barry pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Annabelle’s number.She answered on the second ring.“Hello,” she answered sweetly.
“Annabelle, hi, this is Sean the handyman.”Mac shifted in her seat to look at him over her shoulder with confusion before looking back ahead.Now wasn’t the time to explain his fake name.
“Oh, Sean,” she purred.“I was hoping you would find my number.”
“Very clever how you did it,” he praised, still shocked that she had put her card in his pocket without him realizing.
“Well, do the unexpected and get unexpected results.”
“It got my attention that’s for sure.”Barry looked up when he heard Mac make a distressed sound, but she kept her focus ahead so he couldn’t see her reaction.“Hey, I was wondering if you would like to have dinner.”
“I’d love to.”
“How about tonight?”
“I’m afraid I’m booked tonight, but how about tomorrow?”
He’d rather get it over with, but it was what it was.“Tomorrow it is.Seven?”
