“I’m not allowed to discuss the case outside of the task force.” Even though he was HRT and had been with them in Houston, he wasn’t assigned to the joint task force.

“Did you figure it out? How he got into your computer?”

Yael tilted her head to one side. Then she put her forefinger and thumb together and drew it across her lips, mimicking the way he had last week.

Heat flickered in his gaze for a moment and then was gone. Or maybe she imagined it or was mistaking humor for lust.

You look pale.

Ha.

She looked like crap. No way would this guy find her attractive—not that she was looking to start anything anyway. She wasn’t. Her phone dinged with a text and she checked the screen. Then spun around.

“Your friend and her date left a couple of minutes ago.” Shane had obviously recognized Laura from Houston.

“What?” Yael blinked stupidly at their empty seats. Laura and suit guy had gone somewhere else and she’d been so completely absorbed with this man she hadn’t even noticed. “She doesn’t even know the guy.”

Yael opened the message on her phone.

Laura: Didn’t want to interrupt you and the hunky beefcake…

A row of emojis suggested Yael was going to get very lucky with a whole array of vegetable matter this evening.

Laura: Owen and I are going to find somewhere quieter to talk and then I’m going to head home to DC. Enjoy!

Yael gritted her teeth, then realized Shane was reading the messages too. Her gaze swept to his and heat blazed in her cheeks. She decided to ignore the obvious.

“She literally met this guy tonight off of a dating app.” She slipped the phone into her jeans back pocket.

“She often hook up with guys off the internet?”

Yael shrugged. She didn’t want to come off seeming puritanical or judgmental. Not everyone shared her trust issues nor her emotional hang-ups. “She likes meeting new people and says sex should be more of a workout than an intimate moment.”

Shane choked on his beer then wiped his mouth. “Well, I guess if you do it right, it should be both.”

The air between them suddenly charged.

Yael broke eye contact and drained the last of her beer. Her cheeks felt singed with heat and she avoided looking at her reflection in the mirror.

“Well, I was here as her wing woman tonight in case the guy turned out to be a total jerk, but I guess she doesn’t need me anymore.” She placed the empty bottle on the bar. “I may as well head home.”