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“Yes.” He nodded, flashed a brief grin, and pointed at an empty chair. “May I?”
“Please.” He sat down but didn’t sit back and relax. Just folded his big hands as he looked at her, waiting. Getting right down to it.
Damn, this was going to be hard. Emma dealt in cold hard facts – since her business was cold hard cash – but this was all so nebulous and uncertain.
But first, manners.
“Would you like something?” From what she understood, Raul Martinez was here to help her, as a favor to both Felicity and Hope. Against her wishes, there was no question of her paying for his services. She’d argued, but lost. He was going out of his way to provide free advice and counsel in what could be – probably wasn’t but stillcouldbe – a nasty situation. The least she could do was offer him a drink.
“Thanks.” He nodded. “What you’re having.”
She had ordered an espresso, realizing that she wanted caffeine this late in the day because on some level she was scared, and wanted to be alert. She lifted a finger and caught the attention of André, the waiter. Added a second finger to signal two. He nodded. André was smart and she knew he got it.
Emma lifted her eyes and met his. Oh God. A real punch to the stomach. She worked with money and money men and was used to presenting a poker face so she knew she wasn’t showing anything of what she felt. But man, this guy was walking sex.
It was dangerous for her to be so distracted right now. Unfair, too. This past year and a half that she’d been working this job in San Francisco she hadn’t met one man who attracted her. Notone. Out of principle, she’d dated, but it never went beyond drinks or, at most, dinner. No one had even faintly enticed her enough to go to bed with them. Not even close.
Pity because she’d been completely free. No big work issues, no problems, she earned very well so no money issues and she’d been free as a bird. An affair would have been a welcome addition. Something fun to occupy her time.
But no.
And now her dormant hormones woke up and were sandbagging her when she needed her wits about her.
The man exuded pheromones, like a cloud. Damn, it was like the air around his head shimmered with them.
She blinked and realized that she’d been caught up in her head. Emma tried not to do that. Hope and Felicity could, because they dealt with raw data, but Emma dealt with money and you don’t lose yourself in your thoughts with people’s livelihoods.
She looked at him, full face. Trying very hard not to notice the high cheekbones, blade of a nose, sharp jaw, beautiful dark skin. He was sitting very still, big hands clasped on the table in front of him. Professional expert waiting to hear from the client what her problem was. The only sign that he was not a robot was the gleam in his chocolate brown eyes.
That was male interest. She recognized it because she got it a lot. But that gleam of intense male interest usually went with a smarmy smile and body language that said –baby, come and get it.
Raul Martinez’s body language showed patience and nothing else. A pro.
Okay.
She was a pro, too.
Emma stifled a sigh and leaned forward slightly. There was no one around, not at nearby tables or even walking by. She knew the place and had chosen the table that would give them maximum discretion. But still, what she had to say was for his ears alone.
“I might or might not have a problem.”
He didn’t even blink. “In my world, given the two options, it’s probably door number one. You have a problem. Let’s take that as an assumption.”
She nodded. “Okay, let’s.”
She stopped because André was coming up behind Raul. He discreetly set
an espresso in front of Raul and left. Raul drank the espresso in one gulp, black and hot, and set the small cup back in its saucer. Then waited, with no signs of impatience.
“I have facts and then I have conjecture,” she warned.
He nodded. “Let’s start with the facts. But conjecture is important, too. We often notice things subliminally that are important but they don’t fit the narrative. One of my teammates stopped his team from walking into an ambush because it was too quiet.”
That made sense. “Facts. Okay. I have them but not that many.”
He just looked at her, expression unchanged. “I’m used to briefings. Sometimes there are a lot of unknowns.”
“Lot of unknowns.” She looked him straight in the eyes and tried not to notice how beautiful they were. Deep brown with tiny flecks of yellow. Highly intelligent. “Do you know what I do?”
