“To… me,” she said, and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Her shoulders sagged a bit, as if that confession somehow took a load off.
Placing his glass on the table, he leaned closer, and erased some of the distance between them. “How could it be intimidating to you?”
“They meant well, but they almost made me feel like not dating. They always wanted to get some dirt on whomever I dated, or threatened them on the first date. Not a lot of guys asked me on a second date after they met my brothers.” A nervous smile spread over her face, and she rolled her eyes.
“Then they were fools. I’m sure you were worth the trouble,” he said, and dipped down his head to stare at her. The air shifted, and a zingy energy swirled between them. It was as invisible as it was powerful. Her eyes widened, pupils dilated. They were beautiful—she was beautiful. Too beautiful.
“I…need to go to the restroom.” She placed her napkin on the table.
“Of course.” He watched her go, and the way she walked, a bit faster than necessary, as if she were running from a ghost.
Well, better this way. He reached for her bag, and although snooping in women’s bags wasn’t his deal, he had to know what she was up to. Hell, she searched in his computer, didn’t she? And she would have found his personal files—had he not been diligent from the beginning.
Glancing around, to make sure no one paid attention to him, he plunged his hand into her shoulder bag. He looked down, and found some make up, gum, a couple of post-it notes with a grocery list, and—AHA—her cell phone.
He checked her recent calls, but nothing caught his attention. Even her contact list seemed suspiciously short. A couple slides on the main screen showed him several harmless apps. Besides, of course, Cyber Dust. The one she could use to text whomever, and keep it a secret. Not good. He knew he wouldn’t find any messages, as they self-deleted after a few seconds, but he clicked on her user info anyway. And… His heart skipped a beat. Horseracer7861. That had been the nickname he heard a family member refer to Matthew as a child. Apparently his half-brother dreamed of being a Cowboy when he was eight. Most importantly, why the fuck was Matthew on her contact list whose messages had to be secret? At work, he never saw them chat. Truth to be told, he never noticed Matthew giving her a second glance.
If she wanted to steal from the company, why would she need Matthew’s help? And why on Earth would he jeopardize everything he worked so hard for? Hhmmm…didn’t make sense. Something was off.
Unless…she and Matthew were having an affair.
