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“Sure.” The light turned green, and Kyle eased the accelerator down. “Stick with me, Duchess. I’ll show you a real good time.”
They drove on into the heart of the small town, and he found a parking spot in front of the small diner. From the full parking lot off to the side, the place appeared to be doing a brisk business—always a good sign. Kyle jogged around the white sedan to open Natalie’s door for her, and she shaded her eyes with one hand as she gazed up at the huge neon coffee cup above them. “Pretty sure I’ve died and gone to heaven.”
“Heaven is a greasy spoon in the middle of nowhere?”
“Nope.” They walked inside, and Natalie pointed at a hand-drawn flyer taped to the register. “Heaven is an all-you-can-eat brunch buffet and a bottomless mug of joe.”
“You’re easy to please, aren’t you?” Kyle grinned as a hostess showed them to a tiny booth for two. “I like that in a woman.”
“Not always easy to please.” They both ordered coffee and water from the waitress and then took refuge behind their enormous menus. Natalie peeked over the top of hers at him, the challenge in her eyes unmistakable. “But I’m so worth it.”
* * *
“You want us to enter through the ventilation tunnel?” The disapproval in Kyle’s tone set Natalie’s teeth on edge.
She gave him her best back-off-asshole look. “Maybe you’d prefer walking in the front door and saying hello to the security guards as we pass by.”
“I could take them.”
“That’s not the point.” In the span of one hour, she’d gotten one of the best homestyle Southern meals she’d had in years. But she hadn’t been able to fully focus on the food, thanks to Kyle. They’d gone from flirting to being at each other’s throats. “The point is, my way would be quicker and far less bloody.”
Kyle gave her a long-suffering stare, then sighed. “Let me look at the schematic again.”
“Sure.” She passed the phone back to him. “I’m sure your man eyes will see all sorts of ways into that building that my poor little womanly gaze missed.”
“Jesus, I never said anything like that.” He wrinkled his nose. “All I wanted to do was look at the map. Maybe you need another cup of coffee.”
“What I need is for us to get our crap together.” She sat back and crossed her arms, the knots in her gut tightening. “I don’t like heading in without a solid plan.”
“Don’t worry. I told you I do my best thinking at the last minute.”
“How comforting.”
“Sarcasm doesn’t become you, Duchess.”
“And being a dick isn’t a good look for you.”
“Can I get you folks anything else?” the waitress asked.
“How about a new partner?” Natalie said, glaring at Kyle.
“Just the check,” he replied, giving the older lady a charming smile. “Thanks so much.”
“Sure thing, sweetie.” The waitress practically floated away, obviously as besotted with Kyle as every other woman on earth seemed to be. It only irked Natalie more.
“Do tell me what you’ve come up with, oh wise one,” she said, crossing her legs under the table and kicking him in the shin by accident—sort of. Maybe the bottomless coffee had been a bad idea. She was a bundle of nervous, twitchy energy over here, and he looked as cool and calm and as unruffled as always. It made her itch to mess him up a little bit, preferably with her fingers and lips and tongue and…
Oh, no. Not going there.She shifted in her seat. “Find any new ways in?”
“No, dammit.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Unfortunately, I think you’re right.”
“I’m sorry?” She sat forward, eyes wide in exaggerated shock. “Could you repeat that, please?”
“You heard me.” He shoved the phone back into his pocket.
“Yeah, but it sounded so sweet.”
“Can we can get down to business? What’s your problem, anyway?”
