Page 62 of Cozen

Well, then Cozen was just going to call in a favor or two, and see if they could take the ring by force. Of course, she didn’t think the Astors would like that route very much considering Pearl hired her for a purpose.

Because of how she did a job.

They didn’t want attention drawn to them, or the heist in general.

Cozen understood, but sometimes, a thief had to do what they had to do. It was rather simple. Did they want the ring, or not?

Maybe she was just panicking.

She slid up to the table who had been waiting far too long for their order to be delivered. She gave the man a quick smile, and offered the same to the scowling blonde who was likely his date. Neither of them seemed very pleased.

“We’re swamped, and I’m sorry,” Cozen said, sliding their plates in front of them. She offered the two nothing else, and suspected she wasn’t going to get a tip, either. Not that she needed it, frankly. “Enjoy your meal.”

That time, she didn’t even bother to smile.

Cozen darted back to the table with the man sitting alone. He smiled at her—a genuine smile that was not at all irritated or showed a lack of patience. “So sorry, sir. What would you like?”

The man chuckled, and waved a hand. “Could I just start with some coffee, please?”

“Sure, I’ll just—”

All at once, a feeling buzzed over her skin, and made the hair on the back of her neck prickle. A palpable feeling that had come on and off throughout her whole shift—like someone was watching her, and only her. The sensation drove over her skin like a sweet caress, and then burrowed beneath to swim through her bloodstream, too.

The man at the table gave her a curious look—seemingly having noticed her speech suddenly cut off—and smiled again. “Everything okay?”

Cozen nodded fast. “Yes, of course. Coffee?”

“Yes, thanks. I’ll order after.”

“Okay. I’ll get it right now.”

As she left the man and the table behind, Cozen’s gaze slid over the patrons, and the booths and tables hidden in the shadows. This was not even the third time today that she had felt like someone was watching her.

Of course, there were diners giving her passing looks as she made her way across the floor. One of the girls working the floor rolled her eyes upward as Cozen looked her way as if to silently say, kill me—commiserating the busy day. And Marissa, behind the bar, flashed Cozen a smile as she moved behind it to make the coffee for her patron.

No one else, though.

Not that she could see.

Cozen worked on the coffee, and checked the floor again. Some tables the other girls had been working were in more private sections, and she hadn’t even gone in those directions at all today. Her spot was the main floor for her shift.

A spot where she was visible to all.

“Oh, hey,” Marissa said.

Cozen took her gaze away from the diners to look at her coworker. “Yeah?”

“Guess what Chase told me.”

She lifted a brow—frankly, Chase could have told Marissa a lot of things. She still suspected Chase had a hard nut for Marissa, and the woman didn’t mind indulging her manager because she needed her job. And she still wasn’t all that great at math. Two screwed up liquor orders proved that big time.

“What did Chase tell you?” Cozen asked dryly.

She stirred the coffee, and went back to staring out at the crowd. She didn’t believe for a second that Marissa would tell her anything very shocking, or noteworthy. And she was still trying to find the invisible person watching her.

“Someone sent word asking for you,” the bartender said.

Cozen’s hand froze overtop the coffee mug. “What?”