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She almost sighed with pleasure when he pressed closer and the heat from his hand settled against her back. Taylor mumbled quiet thanks and ducked her head to hide her blush as he pulled the restaurant doors open and ushered her inside. She tried to think back to the last time one of her dates had held open any doors and fell miserably short. The gesture was so simple and sweet, yet completely foreign. Taylor bit back a giggle. She supposed that was what you got when you hung around people who thought chugging beer and belching their names was a form of art.
They sat tucked away in a cozy corner booth a few minutes later, waiting for their drinks to arrive. Sebastian studied the menu, his expression studious and intent. Taylor watched him flip back through the pages and squirmed in her seat.
“If you don’t like it, we can go somewhere else,” she offered.
He glanced up with a startled look. “No, it’s fine. I like downhome cooking.”
She nodded and picked at the edge of her napkin. “I just picked here because it’s local. It might be a mom and pop establishment, but their food is pretty good and it’s cheap.”
He smiled and closed his menu. Laying it on the table, his intense stare locked with hers. “I wasn’t worried about the price.”
“Right,” she mumbled awkwardly. “You must make pretty good money with your job.” Pausing, she turned her attention to the cardboard coasters on the table. “What is it that you do? Are you like SWAT or BATF?”
“Not exactly,” he said. He leaned back in the booth beside her, his head lolling back to rest against the padded leather as he looked her way. “For all intents and purposes, I work for the FBI.”
“A Fed, huh?” she asked with a grin.
“More covert,” Sebastian said, returning her smile with a lazy one of his own. “It’s more like a special tactical force, and that’s all I can say.”
Taylor sighed, fighting to cover the small frown of disappointment that threatened her features. It wasn’t exactly the answer she’d expected, let alone been hoping for. If anything, it left her feeling even more curious and subdued. What kind of special tactical force? Images of the bloodied and broken bodies in the woods flashed though her mind unbidden. She tamped down a shiver. Her gaze darted to his hip, then back to the plush shield of his coat. Was he packing now? The thought chilled her. Cramped together in the tiny booth, he could pull out a gun, press it against her side, and no one would be any the wiser.
She slumped with relief when the waitress interrupted by showing up with their drinks. Sebastian’s head jerked up as the busty redhead leaned across the table with a loud snap of her gum. He forced a cool smile when she straightened and asked for their orders. Taylor bit the inside of her cheek to keep from giggling. The poor guy was so far out of his element that even Gina was a culture shock. It was a good thing she hadn’t suggested Chubby’s. The run down bar and grill had the best cheeseburgers around, but the dilapidated interior and surly crowd probably would have given him a nervous rash. That was if the menu didn’t get to him first.
“You don’t venture to this side of town too often, do you?” she asked after they’d placed their orders.
He took a drink of his sweet tea and shrugged. “I don’t venture anywhere too often. Why, is it that obvious?”
“I’m afraid so,” she admitted with a laugh. Leaning against the table, she peered over her shoulder at him. “So what are you doing here with a girl like me?”
“A girl like you,” Sebastian repeated. “The better question would be what a girl like you is doing here, Taylor.”
“I was born here.”
Her breath caught as his eyes bore into hers for a long moment. She wondered if he could hear the forceful hammer of her heart.
“That may be so, but this isn’t you,” he said softly.
Taylor’s brow twisted with confusion. “You don’t know anything about me.”
“I know that you graduated at the top of your class, but you’re stuck putting in long hours in some sleazy truck stop dive. You love cats. That battered truck out back is your third vehicle since you turned sixteen because you can’t drive worth a shit in the snow and you like to speed. Your best friend, Page, died two years ago from leukemia. You moved out of your Uncle Roy’s house last spring and have supported yourself ever since. No felonies, and despite the company you keep, you are not a heavy drinker. In fact, you’re a bit of a lightweight.” He winked. “Should I keep going?”
She blinked several times, trying to shake the numbness. When she finally did, all she could do was laugh and hang her head. “Okay, maybe you do know a little. But that hardly seems fair. You seem to know everything about me, and I don’t know anything about you.”
Sebastian brushed a wayward strand of hair off her cheek. His gaze was probing, but his expression was gentle and sincere. “Ask me anything. What do you want to know?”
“Well, you can’t talk about work…”
“No, Taylor. I can’t. I’m sorry. Ask me anything else and the answer is yours.”
“Will you ever tell me?”
“Maybe someday,” he said, “but not tonight.”
“I don’t know,” she admitted with a laugh. “Just tell me something.”
“Okay.” He reclined against the back of the booth, and splayed his hands on the table. “I enlisted in the military when I was seventeen. I served four years and two tours before I came home and enrolled in Yale. I was a year short of graduating and was working for a high profile firm specializing in data and analysis when the FBI recruited me. I finished my degree, underwent some rigorous training, and have been working for the government ever since.” He smiled at her and tilted his head back. “Let’s see. On a more personal level, I have no pets, no social life to speak of, and unlike you, no tickets.”
Taylor laughed. “I’m sure your badge has a lot to do with that.”
His eyes sparkled as he looked over at her. “Maybe I’m just smart enough not to get caught.”
“Touché,” she said, lifting her cherry Coke in mock salute. “So do you always stalk the women you ask out, or did you make a special exception in my case?” she teased.
Sebastian shrugged. “I didn’t have much choice. I have to be very careful about who I associate with, Taylor. If you’d had any felonies or sketchy involvements in the past, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
“Wow.” She frowned and trailed a finger over the beads of water coating the outside of her glass. “Lucky for me I’m a good girl.”
Sebastian pinned her with those hypnotic eyes, and she suppressed a shiver as one corner of his mouth lifted with a lazy smile. “That remains to be seen.”
After dinner, he walked her to her truck. Their conversation had been light and fun throughout the course of the meal, and she was surprised to discover such a sharply intelligent and charming man. The combination of trepidation and awe he inspired was dizzying at times, but she was reluctant to see the night end. Smoothing her hands over her hips, she watched as he reached over and opened her door. The ancient Dakota’s springs creaked with protest. Blushing, Taylor smothered a giggle as his brows popped up in surprise.
Sebastian dragged a hand through his curls and stared down at her. “Take this thing to the repair shop before you end up killing someone,” he said. “I could hear your brakes a mile away.”
She shot him a playful but indignant look. “I was planning on it. I just haven’t had the time.”
“Make time, Taylor. Take it in tomorrow. I’ll cover the cost.”
She shook her head. “I can do it on my own. I don’t want your money.”
“So stubborn,” he said, curling his fingers around her chin. Her breath caught as he tipped her face up toward his. His pale stare seemed to reach clear down to the depths of her soul. “What is it you do want?”
“I…” she swallowed, her heart fluttering in the base of her throat. “I don’t know.”
“Maybe it’s time you figured that out,” he murmured.
Taylor blinked as his lips brushed hers in the faintest of caresses. Her fingers curled at her sides as she resisted the urge to draw him closer or run her hands through those messy curls. When he pulled back, his eyes held a hint of promise.
“Next time, I pick the place.”
“There will be a next time?”
Sebastian flashed that sexy smile and, taking her hand, he guided her up into the truck. “I’ll pick you up Sunday at three.”
He shut her door, and Taylor watched as he flipped his hood up and walked away. He strode across the parking lot with speed and subtle grace. Even from a distance, it was easy to see he was a man who was as confident in himself as he was his power. An apprehensive tremble wormed through her as she touched her lips and wondered what it would be like to experience that kind of supremacy first hand, to be at his mercy, and feel the unyielding lines of his body press against hers.
Her cheeks burned with the thought and she shook her head, scolding herself beneath her breath. Who was she kidding? She didn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of being with a man like that. Sebastian could easily have his choice of women, and she was just a shy, inexperienced girl from the other side of the tracks. For all the differences between them, she might as well have hailed from the opposite side of the world.
II.
