But his eyes never strayed from mine. Either this man had manners or he wasn’t into women. I’d never considered that scenario in the last couple of weeks. Perhaps my attempt to get to know him would backfire. What use was having womanly charms if he preferred the c**k variety?
“I’m Javier,” he said, extending his hand with the watch on it, the rich brown leather gleaming under the lights.
Javier. He now had a name. And from the way his eyes were still cutting into mine, how his grin lit up his face like he’d just won the lottery, I knew Javier wasn’t immune to women after all.
I ignored the butterflies in my core and placed my hand in his. His shake was strong and warm with confidence.
“I’m Eden,” I said, trying to feed off his self-assurance. I was Eden now. It had taken me a while to get used to my fake name, but now it was slipping on like fine silk. Maybe pretending to be someone else would be easier than I thought.
His thumb rubbed against my knuckle, softly and sweetly, before he let go of my hand. I fought the urge to bite my lip. The young schoolgirl shit probably wouldn’t jibe with him, even though that’s really all I was. I wasn’t in school, but around men I was as green as a young filly. And this man’s touch was igniting something in me that I’d never felt before.
“Nice to meet you, Eden,” he said smoothly. I watched his mouth as he talked, feeling a blanket of warmth coat me as he pronounced my new name. Shit. I was supposed to be seducing him, wasn’t I? Not the other way around.
“So what brings you here?” he asked, leaning forward on his knees, his hands clasped together.
I swallowed hard and raised my cup at him. “Coffee?” My heart began to beat louder, whooshing in my ears.
He smirked. “I can see that. It’s just that I’ve never seen you here before. I come here every day and I think I’d remember someone as beautiful as you.”
Oh, this Javier—he was good. It didn’t surprise me, considering the way I’d seen him acting at his “job.” Or, to put it better, the way his colleagues acted around him. I should have known he’d be a smooth operator with the ladies.
I quickly recalled my story. “I just moved to Ocean Springs and thought I’d check this place out. Seems to be one of the more popular coffee shops.”
The corner of his mouth twitched and his eyes narrowed deviously as he appraised what I said. I swear, my heart could have replaced the drummer for Slayer at that moment.
“Interesting,” he commented.
Interesting, I think I’ve seen you in your truck, sitting outside my boss’s house all day? Interesting, I think you’ve used a fake name? Interesting, I think you’re lying through your teeth? I was prepared for him to elaborate by saying any of those.
But he tilted his head, a small gold chain necklace nestled in his shirt collar catching my eye, and said with a lowered voice, “Do you believe in fate, Eden?”
Well that caught me off guard. Maybe that was his intention. I frowned and straightened up, unsure how to placate this strange animal.
“Sometimes I do,” I managed to say, trying to keep the breeziness in my voice.
“I think it was fate that brought you to me today,” he said. The hairs at the back of my neck stood straight up and I knew I couldn’t blame the air conditioning on that.
“You do?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
He nodded, cool and confident. He sat back in his chair and drummed his fingers on his leg, watching me so closely, too closely.
“I think you’ll look back at this in a few years and you’ll know what I know.”
“And what’s that?” I asked, forgetting everything I’d been planning to do, just so completely and utterly enthralled.
“You’ll have to find out for yourself. Better yet, I can get you started. This Friday.”
My face must have looked blank because he went on with a wry smile, “I’m going to take you out on a date.”
Shit. That was fast. That was easy. And extremely cocky of him.
“How do you know I don’t have a boyfriend?” I asked him, wondering if my singledom and virginhood was stamped all over me.
“Because I don’t believe in accidents,” he said, licking his lips. “But I do believe you’ll say yes.”
I had half a nerve to make my lie worse, to tell him I had a boyfriend and that I didn’t want to go out with him, a total stranger. But that would defeat the whole purpose of the long con, the reason I had sought him out. Besides, those lips and those eyes, that swagger in his lilting voice, was igniting a fire in me where I’d never been burning before.
I was doomed.
“Okay,” I said shyly. He gave me that prize-winning grin again and pulled out a business card from his full wallet, handing it to me.
I turned it over in my hands, feeling the grooved paper.
“Javier Bernal,” I read out loud. “Consultant.”
And that was it. Just his phone number.
“Who do you consult?” I asked, looking up at him.
I could have sworn his face went rigid for a second, but maybe because I was looking for it. Maybe because I knew he wasn’t a consultant. Maybe because I knew who he really was, part of a drug cartel, working as a henchman for one of the most powerful drug lords on the Gulf Coast. Maybe because I knew he had more secrets to hide than I did.
But he just shrugged and said, “People who need it.”
He got out of his chair with all the ease of a panther and tapped the card with a well-manicured finger. “Call me. Soon.”
Then he left the store, tossing his tea in the wastebasket without looking.
It took a good few minutes for me to calm down and get my heartbeat back to an acceptable level. Ever since I left California and came here, I knew what I had set out to do. I had prepared for it as much as I could. I was going to find Travis, the man who scarred me as a child when my parent’s scam went wrong. I was going to get to him by seducing someone close to him, someone who could get me in close. Then I was going to have my revenge, the only thing that had kept me going over the years.
It’s just when I chose Javier as my mark, I never thought my mark would choose me. Because that’s what Javier had just done. I wanted to win over his heart so I could get what I wanted. But I had a feeling he was about to get to my heart first.
CHAPTER TWO