Page 33 of The Tycoon

“I don’t.I usually eat out.A little hole-in-the-wall diner, two blocks west, has the best breakfast in town.You game to try it?It’s close enough to walk there.”

“I’m game.Let’s go before I change my mind.”

Cole stepped toward the door and grabbed his keys from the bowl on the table just outside the foyer.“Okay, I’m ready.Are you armed, on the off chance we get attacked?”

“Of course, but I don’t need a gun…in case you’ve forgotten.”

“I haven’t forgotten.You were magnificent.”

Her cheeks heated under his praise.“Thank you.”

He suddenly looked down for a moment before gazing back at her.“Shall we go?”

“Yes, I’m starving.You wouldn’t think so after dinner last night, but I am.”

He chuckled.“You did decimate almost an entire cow.”

“I did not!You take that back!”She paused, put her hands on her hips, and then started laughing.“You have quite the sense of humor.Must be from being raised with all those siblings.Your sister is probably the reason you needed a sense of humor.”

“Actually…” He grinned and opened the door.“It was having a twin, a fraternal twin, that made us both have to take everything with a grain of salt and a smile.In our house, if you took anything too seriously, you usually ended up talking to Mom and Dad.No one wanted that to happen, so we discovered laughter and developed a tough hide.”

Regan scooted around him and pressed the button for the elevator.She was prepared when the doors opened, just in case another intruder was present, but it was empty.

Cole entered after her.

“Which floor?Since we’re walking, I know it’s not the basement-slash-garage.”

“First floor.”

She pressed the button for the first floor.“So, tell me more about this place.”

“It’s a little diner.Only the locals know about it.The tourists haven’t found it…yet.And I hope they never do.We’d never find a table.It’s hard enough as it is.”

The elevator doors opened onto a wide expanse of gleaming black granite tile.The floor sparkled so much she was sure it had just been buffed.

Regan walked beside Cole across the atrium that was the first floor.A FedEx and a beauty salon were the only businesses she saw before they walked through the revolving door to the sidewalk outside.

People scurried to their jobs or out to breakfast, like they were.

Cole turned right out of the door and walked up to the corner.They waited for the light to change before turning left and crossing the street along with twenty or thirty other people going the same direction.

She grabbed Cole’s hand, so they didn’t get separated in the shuffle of humanity crossing the street.She was aware of everyone around them, how close they got to Cole, where their hands were, and what they carried in those hands.She was hyper vigilant, checking each person near Cole for a weapon.Regan hoped they were all going to work and the crowd would thin out as they came to the next crosswalk and took a right, away from the office buildings.

Cole kept walking.

Not until they reached the diner did she realize she was still holding his hand.She let go, her cheeks burning, and looked at him.

He chuckled.“I wondered how long before you realized you were holding my hand.You took longer than I expected.”

“I wasn’t paying attention to anything except all the people.I’m still not used to seeing so many people all at once.Rangers tend to shy away from heavily populated areas.”

He sobered.“Yeah, the jobs they sent you on weren’t usually in urban areas, were they?Same with the Seals.”

“Yeah, not hardly.”

He turned and crossed a parking lot so small, it could only hold five cars.The building was the size of a two-car garage.

As she entered, she saw only five tables present.The rest of the building was the kitchen and a single bathroom.