Page 10 of The Monster’s Weakness

He had a gun on him, a couple in fact, and a knife, and for the way he had just talked to Gemma, he would gladly use one of them. Only, his cover would be blown, and he’d have a lot of explaining to do with Gemma. For now, he liked this identity hidden.

“She pushed in.”

“I was waiting for her,” Caleb said. “Are you asking me to move to the back of the line?”

The man sized him up. Caleb was taller, bigger, and the man clearly knew he could fucking take him.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize she was with you.”

Caleb nodded, and when the man averted his gaze, he then checked to see if anyone else wanted to have a private word with him. They all bowed their heads and went about looking at their cell phones, which suddenly had their undivided attention.

“I’m so sorry,” Gemma said. “Perhaps I should go to the back of the line. I don’t want to make this awkward for anyone.”

He slid his arm through hers, and they moved forward. The line was long, but it was moving. This food truck was fast and knew what his customers wanted.

“You’re fine where you are. People meet each other all the time and never have a bad word to say.” He let go of her arm and chose to wrap it around her waist, putting his hand on her hip to keep her close. “Don’t you worry about them.”

She felt good in his arms, and he didn’t want to let her go.

“How have you been?” he asked.

“Busy.”

“You got the job?”

“Yeah, I got the job. Don’t ask me what it’s all about, because I don’t have a clue. There’s like a working artist, I think, and he or she creates logos. I don’t see many people but I have a lot of emails to write up, numbers to crunch, and also analysis to do.” She took a deep breath. “Did I bore you?”

He was the artist. Not only did he kill people, he liked to create with his hands as well when he was bored. He only took on small businesses. There were a few companies that wanted his expertise, and he made sure they paid the price accordingly. The rest of it was a front for the gray areas of his life. Meyer’s Designs was an actual, genuine business for the most part. It was his baby. But it wasn’t his bread-and-butter by a long shot, and he could certainly afford to employ Gemma.

She got a good salary, and it was actually a reputable job, with a mixture of everything she liked. He made sure of that. She did all of the admin work he couldn’t fucking stand to do. That was her job, and she’d been dealing with a lot of stuff that had been gathering up, that he’d left to the last minute. He was not a paperwork kind of guy. And she was amazing with numbers and analytics.

“Sounds like fun,” he said.

There would come a time when she would meet him, but for now, he liked the mystery between the two of them. He liked getting to know her, and this was a breath of a fresh air.

They made it to the truck and he put his order in. Gemma did the same, only she ordered the spicy chicken instead of the beef. Within minutes, they had their wrapped packages as well as cups of coffee. Their coffee was also pretty decent.

Good food, good coffee, and good company.

Chapter Five

He’d asked her out on a date. A real date.

Well, it was a text, but it was still scary and exciting at the same time. He was going to pick her up at the front of her apartment at seven. They were going out for dinner to some fancy restaurant she’d never heard of. She’d spent the last hour trying on variations of all her clothes. This was a huge deal for her.

She definitely had a crush on Caleb. In fact, she thought any woman who’d ever met him probably had a crush on him. The fact something might evolve between them was surreal.

Gemma finally chose to ditch comfort and wear something flattering. It was a black slimming skirt with built-in tummy support and a burgundy shirt that had a sheer layer over satin. It was the fanciest top she owned. She looked at herself in the mirror, finding it hard to take a deep breath with the tightness of the skirt, but she didn’t care because she looked good. Tonight was their first real date. Everything had to be perfect. After looking at herself too long, she wondered if the burgundy of her top clashed with the orange of her hair.

Her cell phone dinged.

Caleb: I’m out front.

She took a breath, grabbed her purse, and headed out of her apartment. Caleb was parked right in front of the main door. The tint on the windows made it impossible to see inside, but he was standing against the passenger door.

“Wow.” He stepped toward her.

He wore a dark suit and the way it fit his body was unreal.