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He gave her a boyish grin, and the change in his appearance captivated her. His entire demeanor lifted, like he’d lost a decade of stress. She wanted to see more of that on him.
Their food arrived, and they tucked in. Lesley didn’t realize how hungry she was until the server placed the enormous pile of meat in front of her. She grabbed her fork and speared a chunk, swirling it around in some sauce before diving in.
“Oh my, you weren’t lying,” she moaned around a mouthful.
Antony could see a glint of light reflecting off her mostly closed eyes. She licked a bit of sauce off her fork before stabbing another piece of meat. He felt a tightening low in his belly as he watched her indulge in the meal. Her eyelids fluttered closed with each bite and the sounds she made gave him some inappropriate thoughts that he had to get under control, and fast. But damn, she was a sight.
He cleared his throat and took a drink. “I need to question you about the other night,” he said.
Lesley swallowed and nodded. “Okay.”
“There was a man sitting at the table with you,” Antony said. He described him from the video.
“Yeah, I remember him,” she said. “He wasn’t with the group, though.”
“No?”
She shook her head. “No. He just came up right after we got there. I figured he knew some of the people with us. Seemed to, anyway. Honestly, I didn’t pay him much attention. Is he the one who drugged your friend?” A shimmer of unease ran through her.
“He’s at least involved somehow, yeah,” Antony confirmed. He reached over and put his hand on hers. “It’s okay. We got him on video, and I got a good look at him.” He ran his thumb over the top of her hand slowly.
Lesley looked up at him. His eyes were warm, like his hand. “I’m glad. I just hope that there aren’t any others he’s tried this with.” She flipped her hand over and squeezed his. “I’m glad you were there for your friend. What’s her name?”
“Charlie. She’s also an agent. Teaches combatives, too.”
“Nice. I’ve wanted to take that but getting released is a pain.” Lesley dragged a fry through some of the sauce on her plate and popped it into her mouth. “Maybe someday.”
“You ever do, I’ll come over and help.” Antony grinned at her before releasing her hand to pick up his own fork.
“I don’t fight fair.”
“I noticed,” he said, looking down at her lips. He reached out and ran his thumb across the edge of her lower lip and raised his eyes to hers. “Neither do I.”
Lesley’s cheeks heated, and she huffed out a laugh. She was out of practice with the verbal sparring. And the looks Antony had been shooting her way reminded her of everything else she was out of practice with.
Antony leaned back and crossed his legs. “I’m gonna need a nap after this.” He stretched and his arms flexed.
Lesley looked him over. His shirt clung to him nicely. When she looked back at his face, the corner of his mouth turned up. What a shit. She nodded toward his leg. “Which theater?”
“Afghanistan. Couple years ago.” He remained still.
The shift was subtle, but Lesley noted the slight tensing of his muscles and the clench of his jaw. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Doesn’t bother you, does it?”
She frowned. “No, why would it?”
Antony shrugged. “You’d be surprised.”
“Unfortunately, I probably wouldn’t.” She tilted her head and leaned a little to catch his attention. “It doesn’t bother me, Antony. Just surprised me, is all. You’re a smooth dancer.”
He smiled. “I—” he started, but his phone started buzzing loudly. He gave her a rueful look and pulled it out of his pocket, glancing at it.
“Ah. The files are ready for pickup,” he said. “Guess I should get you back. But first, I need your number.” He grinned. “Not just for the case. I was serious about a date.”
A date. Lesley tried to think of the last time she’d gone on a date, and mentally groaned. It’d been at her last assignment. Somehow, she didn’t think that a date with Antony would be as pleasantly dull as her date with...Mitch? Yeah, Mitch, had been.
“Ready to copy?” she asked, waiting for his nod before she rattled off her number. He entered it in his phone and a couple of seconds later, crickets chirped from Lesley’s sleeve pocket on her blouse. Antony stood and waited for her, lightly resting his hand on her waist as they walked out of the restaurant.
