Remorse filled his eyes as he ran his hand down the back of her hair and asked, “You okay?”
Eden nodded. “Yeah. It definitely brought back some unpleasant memories, but I’m good.”
Leaning in, Alex brought his mouth to hers. He kissed her softly. Slowly. As if they had all the time in the world. It would’ve lasted longer, but a sharp knock on the door forced them apart.
“Boss wants to plan our next move,” Garrett’s muffled voice carried through the thick wood.
Alex sighed. Resting his forehead against hers, he said, “Guess we should get out there.”
“Sooner we do, the sooner we can get back to your place.”
He smiled down at her. “I like the way you think, Miss Westfield.”
Chuckling, Eden turned and opened the door. Once they were back with the others, the two waited to hear what Murphy had in mind.
After tossing around a few ideas, they decided on one they could all agree on. Well, almost all.
Alex didn’t like any of the proposed plans, because they all could potentially put Eden in danger.
Since, like Murphy had said earlier, that was kind of the idea, they finally settled on giving it a couple days to see what would happen. If Josiah didn’t make his move by then, they’d become a little more proactive.
“What do we do in the meantime?” Dan asked from behind Alex’s desk. The guy had clearly made himself at home.
Murphy glanced his way. “We wait.”
****
Chapter Twelve
Three days later…
Alex took a tiny sip of his whiskey and watched Eden carefully. Even from here, he could tell she was exhausted.
Making it seem as if he were talking to Dan, who had taken a seat on the stool next to him, Alex quietly asked, “How you holding up, sweetheart?”
Sitting at the opposite end of the crowded bar, Eden opened her mouth to answer. Instead, her hand went to her mouth to cover the large yawn that had just escaped.
“That’s it.” Alex sat his glass down and stood. “I’m calling it.”
Dan followed his lead and stood, as well. From the corner of his eye, Alex saw Garrett and Rhys set their pool sticks down while Zoe casually began shimmying her way off the dance floor.
Eden started to shake her head but stopped herself. She was supposed to be at the club alone. Pretending to yawn again, she quickly covered her mouth and said, “I’m fine.”
Alex pulled out his phone and pretended to call someone. With a finger pressed to his ear—because if he’d have a helluva time hearing a phone conversation in this noisy-as-fuck place—he said, “You’ve been at this for three days straight, Eden. You need a break. We all do.”
“He’ll find me, Alex. I know he will.”
“Maybe, but not tonight. Garrett, you and Rhys head out but hang back in your car, just in case.”
Garrett gave him a quick, “Copy that.”
“Zoe, wait thirty seconds, then you leave, too. I’ll start for the door, but then stop and pretend to text someone. Eden, once you see Zoe leave, make your way to the front. Dan and I will follow you out.”
“Got it,” Zoe acknowledged his order.
Alex ended the ‘call’, and he and his former teammate slowly walked toward the club’s entrance. As ordered, Garrett and Rhys left together, talking and laughing as though they were simply two drunk buddies calling it a night.
Checking his phone again, Alex stepped aside and began pretend-texting to buy Eden enough time to make her way through the large crowd. But instead of heading in his direction, she stood turned toward the back of the club.
