An Act of Persuasion - By Stephanie Doyle Page 0,23
of your concern.”
“And my relationship with her and her future career here is none of your concern. I can tell you this, she’s one stubborn girl. That’s easy enough to see. Push her to quit this job and you’ll only be playing into my hands.”
Ben waited a beat until the rush of anger he felt subsided. “You’ve known her eight weeks. I’ve known her six years.”
“But you know I’m right.”
He did. He also knew that Mark Sharpe was a risk taker and, as he said, the bigger the challenge the bigger the high for him. She would be taking on cases that involved potentially dangerous people and the idea of her out there alone, unprotected by Ben, sent a chill through him he wasn’t totally willing to acknowledge.
“We’re done with this conversation. Stay out of my way.”
It was an old command. One he’d used with many operators working under him when he was on a particular mission. He didn’t want their help, he didn’t want their input, he wanted them out of his way so he could do what he did best.
Before that meant hunting down known terrorists.
Today it meant hunting down Anna.
CHAPTER SIX
ANNA LEANED AGAINST the passenger door of Ben’s car waiting for him to exit the building. Not much past six o’clock and the afternoon rush was nearly finished in the city. Everybody was already heading home to the burbs in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Only a few cars passed by occasionally and Anna had no doubt Ben would see her immediately upon leaving the building.
She was right. He was looking at his phone, then stopped in his tracks. Glancing around, he spotted her quickly. The yellow sundress helped. She lifted her hand and waved, happier than she would admit at having gotten the better of him.
He jogged across the street in a blatant act of jaywalking.
“I guess I didn’t fool anybody,” he said, frowning.
She knew he hated when he was predictable. She imagined when he’d been working for the government nothing about him had ever been predictable. But being in the states, starting his own business and settling into a normal life, he’d grown completely banal. She thought it suited him. She hadn’t known him in his old life, but she imagined there would have been an intensity about him, a barrier that no one could penetrate. Given he’d never married or never mentioned any other significant relationship he’d had back then, she suspected she was right.
“What are you doing here, Ben?”
“Sharpe and I were getting reacquainted.”
“I’ll bet. Look, I knew you would pull this move. Mark told me enough about your past together for me to know you wouldn’t be happy with me working for him. I get that it sucks for you. But it’s a good job. I like it. And I’m not leaving. So can we get that out of the way and move on.”
“I’m supposed to be okay with the idea that you might be in danger?”
She had to struggle not to roll her eyes. “The only thing I’m in danger of right now is getting carpel tunnel syndrome. Am I stupid?”
“No.”
“Do I look like someone who would take unnecessary risks, especially in my condition?”
“No.”
“No,” she repeated. “For the next six months, and probably well after that, the closest I’m going to get to any of Mark’s cases is via my computer. I’m going to be a single mom. I respect the responsibility of that.”
He ducked his head and she could see she’d made her point. She could also see she’d annoyed him.
“He used to take extreme risks. Unnecessary ones. I worried about you being in that environment.”
“But you’re conceding I can make my own decisions in this.”
It took a moment, but eventually he nodded.
“And you won’t give Mark any more trouble?”
“As long as he stays out of my way...no.”
Since Anna couldn’t imagine a scenario where Mark would need to get in Ben’s way, she figured that provisional agreement had to be good enough.
“Okay. Then that’s settled.” She pushed her bottom against the car, using the momentum to set her in motion. She was stopped by his hand circling her wrist. “So close to a clean getaway.”
“Not really. I tagged your car. I knew you had returned and parked in the building. I was hoping we could talk.”
“Ben.” She sighed.
“Back left bumper. You can remove it, but please give it back. It’s a rather expensive one.”