Cort took another look out of the large-paned window at the busy street. He read the street signs. “You know,” he said, his eyebrows furrowed in thought, “I know this place.”
Nena knew what she wanted. It was the same order every time. “Yeah? Been here before, then?”
He shook his head. “Nah. There was a killing that happened here not too long ago. Two men affiliated with a local gang were killed.”
“Are you investigating that too?” she asked innocently.
He refocused on his menu. “Nope. Doesn’t fall under my jurisdiction.” She forced herself to chuckle with him, all the while wondering again why she’d brought him there.
Playing with fire, that’s why, is what her mum would say.
Perhaps Nena was.
Or perhaps she just wanted to be a normal woman for once. Go on a lunch date in the middle of Cort’s workday with him in his business suit and talk about nothing and everything, all at the same time. She wanted to know him, and he her. First, she needed to know who she was—beyond being a killer. And she couldn’t help wondering if the woman currently on her first lunch date was the woman she might have been.
“Earth to Nena.”
She blinked away her surprise, forcing herself to return to the present, where Cort was smiling at her, and the server—Janice—was waiting with a knowing smile. Pen and paper at the ready.
“I’d be daydreaming, too, if I was sitting across from a man like that,” Janice said conspiratorially.
Her boldness flushed Nena’s cheeks with heat and made Cort look away sheepishly, as if women ogling him was new to him.
“And he’s in a suit too. Ummph,” Janice continued, swinging her long dark ponytail. Nena wondered how she could see through those extralong eyelashes. She wanted to touch them. Janice laughed at her patrons’ unease. “What are ya having?”
When Janice finally left with her inappropriate comments and their order, Nena allowed herself to relax. She was too aware of Cort’s eyes on her. They sat quietly because she didn’t know what to say. This wasn’t a job, and she was out of her element when it came to this stuff.
He said, “You’re a mystery, you know that?”
“My mum says the same thing quite a bit,” she replied, amused.
He squinted. “But I’m betting there’s a story behind it. A reason for your distance and caution when you’re around me.” He sat back in his seat, throwing an arm across the top of the bench.
“Story?”
“Yeah,” he said encouragingly. “Who are you?”
She opened her hands as if she didn’t know what to say. “Nena Knight. I explained about my family and where I’m from. There’s not much more story than that.”
They paused when Janice returned with a tray heaped with their orders. Nena’s usual of bacon cheeseburger, onion rings, and Coke—milkshake to go. Cort had decided on a grilled chicken club with fries and a Sprite. Nena judged his choice of a sandwich over a juicy burger.
“But there is a whole history I want to learn about.”
Now she knew where Georgia got her chattering from. She swallowed her bite. “Like what?”
His eyes widened as if he might have offended her. “No. I don’t mean to pry. It’s the lawyer in me, I guess. Always questioning. I’m sorry. I just . . .” He shrugged, shaking his head. “I like you is all. I just want to get to know you.”
She needed to ease up. Cort was being truthful. His questions weren’t coming from a place of suspicion. He was truly interested in knowing who she was.
“You’re very intuitive,” she said, looking at him from beneath her eyelashes. “At reading people.”
“You forgot what I do for a living?” He laughed, making her feel good inside.
She pursed her lips again. “Have you returned to Haiti?”
He shook his head. “Not since Peach was a baby. I send money every month as every good Haitian does, but I haven’t made it back like I should.”
“My parents do the same.”
“Where to?” he asked slyly.
She raised an eyebrow at him. He was slick, trying to get her to talk. He gave her a sheepish grin.
She said, “I’m adopted, but my mum is also from Ghana, and my dad is from Senegal.”
He gesticulated with his hands. Go on.
She let out a sigh, resigned to the fact Cort wouldn’t let up until she opened up, and even more, that she wanted him to know about her.
“My mum found me living on the street, and they took me in. Been with them ever since.” Nena looked intently at her plate of food. “They saved my life.”