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Hawk slid into the booth and got comfortable. Remy sipped her tea and waited for him to speak.
“Sorry about that.” He tipped his head toward Connor. “I made arrangements for us to stay here tonight.”
“Here?”
“Upstairs. I thought about a hotel, but too many eyes and ears. If people really are on the lookout for you, then someone will have contacts at the hotels. We might get away with it for a night or two, but most likely we’d get found out pretty quick. No one will find us here.”
She shrugged. “Okay. You were going to explain a few things.”
Hawk took a sip of his beer and swallowed. “I’m not exactly sure—"
“How did you know there was trouble at your place before those guys shouted at us?”
Hawk dragged his finger through the condensation on his glass, avoiding her gaze. “When I was in the SEALs, I had to live on instinct a lot of the time. I sort of developed a sixth sense that tells me when there’s immediate danger. When I stepped off the elevator, I knew there was trouble.”
She nodded slowly. “I bet that kept you alive more times than you can count.”
“Yeah.”
“That’s a big burden to carry.” She took another sip of tea.
“How do you mean?”
She shrugged. “Lacy said you were responsible for your own team. I would imagine you relied on that instinct to keep everyone alive. That’s a lot of responsibility. A lot of pressure.”
He sat back stunned. In all the years, no one else had ever put that together. Not one person. Remy was smart, but more than that, she was observant. Her mind was quick. He liked that about her.
He cleared his throat. “Yeah, to be honest, it was one of the reasons I got out. I needed a break. It’s difficult to rely on something you can’t really explain all the time.”
“The fear that it would suddenly not work one day would be enough to drive anyone over the edge.”
He stared at her. Wasshereadinghismind now?
She took a sip of her tea and sighed. “I’m kind of an anxious person. I would be constantly living in fear of losing my touch. I think you’re probably a bit like me.”
He relaxed against the banquette. “That’s it exactly.”
She touched his hand. “Thank you for all of your help. I know I’m putting you in a bad place. If I had other options, I would… But I just…”
“No, I’m okay. I want to help you.” He smiled at her, and she smiled back.
He liked the way her eyes crinkled slightly at the corners when she smiled. He also liked the way her lips looked. Definitely made for kissing. He let that thought go. This wasn’t the time or place for those types of thoughts.
Remy removed her hand, and he immediately missed her touch.
“So how did you end up in a building like that? I didn’t even know buildings in New York City had cars, let alone armed security.”
“After I left the SEALs and started law school, I was still a bit…high strung. It took me a long time to come back down to normal. I was always very careful, very security conscious. I wouldn’t say I had PSTD, but probably pretty close.” He’d never admitted that to anyone before. “I was a bit on edge. Not seeing danger everywhere but making sure it wasn’t there.
“Anyway, I burned through law school as quickly as possible. Knowing my military background made Jameson Drake offer me a job me even before graduation. I had a lot of job opportunities and a few firms chasing me.”
"You must have gone to a good school. I graduated from Columbia and the top people share some of that experience. But I decided pretty quickly that studying law wasn’t for me.”
“Harvard.” He shrugged. “Drake has connections there. He told them to keep an eye out for the best and the brightest students so he could have the first crack at hiring them.” It sounded like he was tooting his own horn, but facts were facts. “In my case, it worked. He offered me a large signing bonus and helped me get into that building. He understood that I needed a place where I knew I would be completely safe and could relax. He vouched for me. I had to pay more than I could afford, but I worked my ass off and earned enough in bonuses to make it work.”
“Huh. Are there a lot of buildings like that in the city?” She drank the last of her tea and refilled her cup from the small pot on the table.
“I don’t know abouta lot, but if you stop and think about it, it makes sense. There’s a lot of money in New York, not to mention very important businesspeople from all over the world. There must be a few buildings like mine that offer security services as well as a car.”
