Justine Davis - Operation Alpha

He’d started to tighten up when it was clear she was mimicking him, but her last sentence disarmed him.

“And might I suggest,” she added, “that you remember that speech? It would be a great introduction to what you’re trying to teach.” She looked at Quinn then. “Was that the verbal version of that sudden strike?”

Quinn was watching them with amusement, Hayley with great interest. Too much interest. So, he realized belatedly, was Cutter. Oh, no. Uh-uh. No way.

“I’m not sure,” Quinn said. “I’ve never seen anybody get to him like that before.”

Because nobody has, Liam thought with an inward grimace, glad she was still looking at Quinn.

“Should I be flattered, or worried?” Ria asked.

“That,” Hayley said, “I think is going to be up to you to figure out.”

Liam wanted to ask which of them she meant. But he didn’t, because he was afraid she meant the both of them. Together. And being linked with that woman, even jokingly, set off alarms.

He shifted his gaze to Cutter, who was looking up at him with his most innocent expression. But the knowledge of the dog’s track record was emblazoned in his mind as if in neon. Glowing. Immutable.

Oh, no, you don’t, hound. This is not happening.

Chapter 5

Liam was a little surprised at how easily it all came together. Within two days Ria had the okay for him to utilize the school’s gym for after-school meetings starting on Monday.

He looked at her, sitting in a shaft of sunlight at the outdoor coffee stand a couple of miles down the road from the Cove Academy, where they’d met to work out the details before he arrived at the school. The plan was to spend this weekend working up his approach and to get as many tips from her about teaching as he could. It was only Saturday and he already knew he was going to regret that plan.

“That was quick,” he said when she told him things were set.

“All I had to do was ask,” she said, taking a sip of her coffee. A vanilla blend, he noted, wondering if it was significant. He hadn’t slept worth a damn, so went for a double shot of espresso.

Her hair gleamed dark and smooth, those blue eyes were thankfully—or maybe not, since he couldn’t tell where she was looking—masked with sunglasses. Since he was wearing them, as well, they could easily be staring at each other and neither of them would know it.

“Your Head of School knows I’m not really a teacher, right? Just a guy who knows some stuff?”

Ria nodded. “She knows. And she wants to meet you first, of course. But I think what really sold her was your little speech.”

He blinked. “What?”

“I quoted it to her. She was intrigued.”

“Oh.” He wasn’t sure what to say to that. Or the fact that she remembered enough to quote him. “I’d say your boss trusts you.”

“Dr. Halvorson picks instructors very carefully,” she told him. “She knows what she wants, and she generally gets it.”

No, he thought, she wouldn’t be staring at him. That seemed to be only his problem. Despite convincing himself she really wasn’t all that, and that his reaction had been a fluke. He’d even thought about calling a couple of casual female acquaintances, thinking maybe an unfussy, no-strings date would set him to rights again. But when he realized how long it had been, he discarded that idea as unwise. He wasn’t sure he was interested anyway.

“How did you end up as a teacher?” he asked, trying to divert his thoughts.

He saw her brows rise above the dark glasses. “I ended up as a teacher because that was always my goal.”

“Always?”

She nodded. “It’s all I ever wanted to be, since sixth grade and Mr. Matta. He made everything come so alive that kids ran to get to class not because they were late but because they loved it. That’s the kind of teacher I try to be.”

And if I’d had you, I might have paid more attention...

“From what Emily has said, you are.”

“I hope so. I’m lucky to be at Cove. Once we get through Dr. Halvorson’s lengthy process, we pretty much have free rein. And she’s always open to suggestions like this one.” She flashed a grin that nearly stopped his breath. Again. “And that you’re volunteering helps on the budget end.”

“Things are tight?”

“Not really, but she does have an administrative board to account to.” She took another sip of coffee. “How does Foxworth do that, anyway? Do what they do, for free?”

Glad for the ordinary question, Liam answered easily. “Quinn’s sister. Financial genius. Took the insurance money from their parents and parlayed it into enough to keep them going probably forever.”

“What a sad way to start but a wonderful tribute.”

He nodded. “They’re good people. The best.”

“How did you end up there?”

“Long story.”

She studied him silently for a moment. And he realized sunglasses didn’t matter when you could actually feel someone’s gaze on you.

“Unpleasant story?” she finally asked.

“Could have been.”

He was dodging, he knew it. How he’d come to Foxworth wasn’t something he dwelt on often. And then it struck him that this might be the perfect way to get that distance he wanted between them. Because he could already tell Ria Connelly was generally a straight-arrow sort, had probably never been in trouble in her life. If he told her the truth, she’d put the distance there herself.

If he told the full truth, she’d probably get up, walk away and never look back.

But then the whole case would be compromised. He’d be letting Foxworth down and, worse, Emily, which he had a feeling Quinn would not forget soon.

The sunglasses didn’t mask at all that she was staring at him now. It was as if her steady gaze had some sort of tangible energy, and he could feel it flowing toward him.

“Not into mutual sharing, huh?” She said it lightly, but he had a feeling there was a sting in it anyway. “Dr. Halvorson may ask, you know. She’s very thorough. Besides, once you’re there Quinn thinks it will speed things up with Dylan if he thinks we’re friends. And a friend would know that.”

He let out a breath. Went for the digest version. “I’m good with computers. Good enough to get into some trouble. I was on a wrong path. Quinn gave me a chance to go another way.”

There was more to it than that, so much more, but he couldn’t go there now. He had a job to do, Foxworth had trusted him with it and he would get it done.

“And you took it.”

“Quinn is...very convincing.”

And the thought of being locked up was pretty persuasive, too.

“He seems like a very solid guy.”

“He is. Like a rock. I owe him—” he had to unexpectedly stop, swallow, before he could finish “—everything.”

She smiled at him then, a soft, warm kind of smile that, like her stare, he felt in an almost physical way. “Obviously you justified his faith. You should be proud.”

Well, that wasn’t the result he’d intended. “I was sitting in lockup, looking at serious jail time,” he pointed out. “I’m just grateful.”

“Which also takes a certain amount of grace and class, Liam Burnett. Whether you admit it or not, it wasn’t all Quinn.”

He nearly gaped at her. How had she turned that around? He tells her he nearly went to jail—in fact, he had for a couple of days before Quinn had stepped in—and she’s complimenting him?

“You must be a heck of a teacher,” he said with a rueful quirk of his mouth.

“I’m good,” she said easily. “Very good.”

She said it with a quiet, humble sort of confidence, the kind that had nothing to prove. And he found himself smiling at her.

“I believe that.”

“I assume you hacked somebody?” she asked. “Who? Or what?”