I couldn't think of a place I'd rather be. I shook my head. "No, not really."
"Well, then I won't take no for an answer."
"How can I argue with that?"
"You can't," he said trying to be serious, but failing as the smile never left his face.
"Well, I haven't eaten yet so why not?"
I let him buy me a blueberry muffin and a decaf coffee. For himself he got a bagel and a black coffee. We sat down and began eating. He handed me a napkin and as our hands touched we locked gazes. I felt an instant attraction but it was more than that, a connection something I had never felt.
"So, bad morning? I mean . . . I don't mean to pry . . . you just seemed upset when you first walked into James' office . . . and sorry I shouldn't have asked. It's none of my business." He shook his head and I smiled. He was so cute.
"Was it that obvious?" Could he read me that well already? He nodded. "It wasn't a big deal and I don't really care anymore. But, thanks for asking . . ." Amy was right I just needed to move on and I didn't think that was going to a problem any longer.
"That's good." He smiled and took a bite of his bagel.
Time to change the subject before I blurt out my entire life story. "So, where'd you transfer from?" I tore off a small piece of the muffin and popped it into my mouth.
"FBI. I want to be more hands on. There's more investigating there, and here you get action."
I bit my lip. "Yeah, there's plenty of that here."
"So, what's a typical day here?" He asked as he added more cream cheese to his bagel and then took another bite.
"Well on a good day we work eight hours and just track leads and assess threats. On a bad one we work almost sixteen hours with a lot of that time out in the field taking down the hostile and preventing attacks."
"So, is it going to be a good day or bad?"
"Too early to tell. But if we get a lead on the Anthrax who knows?"
He nodded. "Anything else?"
I laughed quietly when I saw a smudge of cream cheese on the side of his lip.
"What?" He asked. I handed him a napkin. He wiped off the wrong side of his face and I giggled. "This right here is why you don't eat bagels when you're trying to get to know someone." I grabbed another napkin and gently wiped the other side of his face.