This would do.
When his gaze found her amused expression, he quirked a brow.“What?”
She bit her lips together, making them a thin line of a mischievous grin.
Sure, it hugged his frame, and the bottom was shorter than he liked, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.Why was she looking at him like that?
Glancing down, he read the shirt.
On the front, in an arching red and orange font, it read, They didn’t burn witches.They burned women.
Apparently, Sydney was a feminist.Interesting.
When he met her eyes again, she held her hands up and covered her mouth.
“Are you ready?”he asked as he grabbed his keys from the shelf by the television.
“You don’t mind?”
He knitted his brow together.“That it’s tight?”
She walked over to the table and grabbed her purse off the back of the chair.“The message?”
He shrugged.“It’s true.”
With a bit of a hum, she slid her bag over her shoulder.“Let’s go.”
19
Fink
TwoDays Later
The detectives hadn’t been back.Forty-eight hours had passed.The safe assumption was Fink and Sydney were in the clear.The cops had looked to someone else.He didn’t have a clue who was under their microscope, but as long as it wasn’t him, he was happy.
The money for the contract hit his account, and he was set.
Nothing kept him there.He could take off and continue with his life.
Yet he remained.
Using gift cards he’d purchased months ago, he’d gotten the essentials delivered to Sydney’s apartment.Socks, underwear, sweatpants, two hoodies, a couple of T-shirts, and toiletries.He was set for a few more days.
Sitting across from Sydney, enjoying a plate of pasta and chicken, he studied her.He couldn’t recall the last occasion he’d been in the presence of anyone continuously for this long.Maybe his childhood?Though that would’ve been entirely involuntary—and unpleasant.
As an adult, he hadn’t been one to enjoy the company of others.Though he couldn’t rule out the other way around either.He was an acquired taste—one most hadn’t acquired.Which was why AJ, his longest friend and associate, kept his distance.
Whatever it was, his tolerance of others was limited.
Except when it came to Sydney.
Bringing a bottle of water to his lips, he considered what that meant.Would he be able to leave when the time came?If it came?He had to.
He couldn’t stay there forever.If he did, it would be considered settling down.Another liability.The more predictable the routine, the easier it was to figure him out.He prided himself on being an enigma.A guy who had a stable life with a woman certainly wasn’t a puzzle.
“I should probably get going soon,” he said as he stabbed at a chunk of chicken nestled in a nest of spaghetti.
“To bed?”she asked without looking up from her plate.
