joint. It looked dark, like the kind of place where secret meetings happened or where D.C.’s citizens went to drink when they didn’t want anyone they gave a damn about to know. It was definitely the kind of place where a fairy would need an escort.
His world.
“We can talk while I grab a beer.”
She stared at the door like it might be an opening to hell. “I think we can have a very quick talk out here.”
So she intended to back out of their arrangement. Connor couldn’t allow that to happen. He let the door close and looked down at her. What tack to take? He played out a few strategies in his mind but quickly settled on guilt. Anyone who gave as much of a damn about dolphins as Lara must have a well-developed sense of guilt. He could definitely use that.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I’m being selfish. I’m just really tired after that long trip. I should have taken the flight straight to D.C. from L.A., but I wanted to see my mother. She’s in a home in the Bronx and I rarely have the money to get back there, you know what I mean? I didn’t mean to inconvenience you.”
Just like that, those blue eyes went wide with sympathy. “Oh, you didn’t. Not at all.”
His mother was likely fucking her way through some Southern Florida trailer park. The last time he’d seen her she’d had the temerity to ask him for money. He’d given her two hundred in cash and told her to never contact him again. Ah, the joys of family.
“Niall said you were a really busy lady.” He grimaced like he knew he’d done wrong.
The minute he said Niall’s name, she flushed. “No. I mean, I am busy, but I’m definitely not too busy for a friend of his.”
“He really thinks a lot of you.”
Another flush and he could tell she was feeling guilty about staring at him. What had she been thinking to get her to blush like that? He could play on that as well.
“I think the world of him, too. He’s really the smartest guy I’ve met in a long time. So emotionally intelligent. Um, maybe we should get that drink.” She straightened her shoulders again. Mentally, Connor added that gesture as another one of her tells.
Life was a lot like a poker game. A smart man didn’t play his cards. Instead, he played the players. Lara Armstrong would be a horrible card player. She telegraphed everything she was feeling, held nothing back. Oh, she probably thought she was good at hiding her emotions. Most people did. And most people were wrong. That little shoulder shake told him she was doing something she thought unpleasant for the sake of the overall good.
If she thought for a second that he was letting her slip out of his carefully laid trap, she was so wrong. He was close to figuring out her part in this mystery. Through her, he would locate Deep Throat and the mysterious Natalia. He needed to find her, talk to her, convince her not to talk to the press.
He would protect Zack one way or another.
“You don’t mind?” He opened the door again.
Her chin came up. “Not at all. It looks lovely.”
He had to smile as she strode through the door because it looked skanky, but he could see she was going to pretend this dark bar was perfectly respectable. She held her head high as she moved past him.
Then he got his first view of her backside.
Lush. Round. Perfect. Maybe this job wouldn’t be so bad after all. His palms itched to cup that sweet ass and force her flush against his body. He would bet any sex she’d had was polite and deadly dull.Intellectual.
There, dear, I’ve had my requisite physical release. Now you may have yours, then we’ll take tea.
Connor held in a chuckle. He would bet she’d never had a man hold her down and eat her pussy until she screamed, begged, and pleaded for him to give her his cock.
Damn. He was getting hard. He moved into the darkness where he hoped she wouldn’t notice he was suddenly sporting some serious wood.
The corner of the bar he led them to was surprisingly quiet, with the