Siren in the Wind Book One of the MIT Series

Chapter Nine

It was a casual date, and casual was the keyword. Abby messaged Max, telling him that she only had time to grab a quick bite. Grocery shopping was on her list for the day, aside from the design work needing her attention.

Abby refused to do the candles and roses thing with Max or any other man for that matter. Casual was her new favorite word. Casual dates, casual necking on the sofa, casual sex, especially when it came to a man as intense as Max. Hell, one more glance from those laser eyes and she'd climb all over that rock-hard body.

Casual dating had never been Abby's thing, and that was why she was staring at the third outfit she'd tried on in the space of five minutes. Her new neon-orange-and-white Nike sneakers were paired with dark blue jeans and a white Taylor Swift 1989 T-Shirt. The soft, worn T-shirt was one of her favorites, her lacy white bra subtly peeked through the thin white material, giving a hint of girl-next-door naughtiness.

"It'll do," Abby muttered as she threw a lipstick and deodorant into a worn leather bag.

The ring tone from the front gate indicated that Max had arrived. Abby gave security the green light and jogged through to the front sitting room to grab her keys. Stop acting like a freak. You can do this. You're casual Abby. Just chilling and hanging loose.

By the time Max opened the front gate, Abby felt more in control, until she saw him in a navy-blue Henley shirt matched with blue jeans. He wore the jeans well. The sweatshirt, molding his hard chest in all the right places. Abby swallowed. Holy crumpets. She could thoroughly watch him walk to her gate and back over and damn over. And then she spotted the small bouquet of wildflowers held so carefully in those capable hands. That kicked the casual vibe to the curb. Damn.

"Hey, Abs. Are you okay?"

Abs. He called her Abs. Nope. She was not okay. Just a puddle of pudding melting all over her sitting room floor.

"Hi."

"I know they're not much compared to the flowers in your garden, but I thought of you when I saw them." He thrust the bouquet forward.

Oh no, you don't, mister. It's not going down like this. Just two people, hanging out, grabbing some grub, even if one of them looked like he'd been sculpted from quartz.

She hadn't said anything and Max stared at her oddly. Abby lunged for the flowers, muttering her thanks while racing for the kitchen and flinging them into a vase in record time. Max stood awkwardly in the other room, and Abby took three calming breaths before rejoining him.

"Ready to go?" she asked.

"You look pretty."

"Thanks. Just doing my normal day-thing, you know how it goes. Chores, errands, chores..." She sounded like a chump, Max still offered her a smile as he led her to his car.

***

She was adorable and clearly nervous. He kept reminding himself that this was a job and not a first date. Never a first date with a woman like her. One who might be planning on eradicating innocents with the blink of an eye. There was no doubt that Abby was hiding something and there was no denying that she was a person of interest on the militant network, but his gut said that this was more complicated than simply uncovering a sleeper. The more he investigated her, the more complicated she became. The puzzle pieces were getting jammed up. Were they wasting time? No, Abby was involved with Khalid Al Juhani; it was just a question of how.

As Max drove the new rental they'd acquired, he deliberately stretched out his free hand and ran a thumb over her ear before playing with her shirt sleeve, running his fingers along the fabric and brushing the top of her arm with the back of his hand. "I can see you as a Taylor Swift fan. That shirt looks damn good on you." Max ran his hand down her side before returning it to the wheel. "Abs, where are we heading? Edengate Mall?"