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Hollis groaned. “Oh, Lia...”
When Lia heard the censorious tone, she straightened up, and a coolness settled over her pretty features. She turned instantly defensive. “He’s been really sweet lately. Buying me gifts and taking me out.”
Hollis bit her tongue, not wanting to upset her friend, but, God, Tony was such a jerk. “Just be careful, okay? He knows you own half this place and he’s always looking for investors.”
Lia pursed her lips as she wiped down the bar. “Or, maybe he realizes that I’m the best thing that ever happened to him. Ever think of that?”
Hollis sighed, took another sip of her drink. “I’m sorry, Lia. I just don’t want you to get hurt again. The guy’s trouble.”
“I know. But I got this.”
With a nod and small smile, Hollis drained her glass. “I don’t know what to do now. Everything I needed to find that ship is gone. The maps, the translations, all of it.”
“Well, where did your Dad get all that to begin with?”
“Probably years of research and-” Her voice stopped abruptly and a light brightened her eyes. “Salvador! I can’t believe I didn’t think of him earlier. Lia, you’re a genius!” She hugged her best friend over the bar as best she could and they both laughed.
“That’s his friend in Cuba, right?”
“Yes! He works in the library where the original documents are kept. I bet you anything he sent the new translations to Dad.”
“So at least you can get them back then, right?”
“I hope so. I’ll email him and find out. But, I still have a problem.” Lia began to pour Hollis another drink. “I’m trying to figure out how to do this without Dylan Ford. He came to me today and offered his services.” Hollis rolled her eyes.
“Really? How did he even know?”
“I have no idea and it’s driving me crazy.”
“Maybehestole your file. I mean, he stole from you once before.” Lia took her friend’s empty glass, slid the new one over. “Hell, why don’t you just go over and ask him?”
Hollis’s head snapped up.
“He’s been over there drinking for the past hour,” Lia said and nodded to a dark corner booth where Dylan sat.
Hollis turned to see Dylan staring at her. With a frown, she tore her gaze away and back to Lia. “Shit. Why didn’t you tell me he was here?”
Dylan Ford.He always caught her off-guard and left her traitorous heart thumping madly. She couldn’t explain it. She couldn’t stand the man yet every time she came into contact with him, he left her a little more breathless than the last time.
Hollis ran a hand through her long hair, steeled herself then grabbed her drink and headed over to his table. She had some questions and it was time for Dylan Ford to answer them.
Slouched in the vinyl booth, Dylan watched Hollis’s every step toward him. And, she looked pissed, but what else was new? He took a drink of his beer, gaze never wavering.Goddamn, she was beautiful. So fiery and fierce. He felt his groin tighten beneath the table.
When she reached him, he couldn’t help the crooked smile that appeared on his tanned, unshaven face. He’d had a few too many drinks tonight and his gaze moved down her figure with lazy speculation. “Hollis Quinn. You’re looking lovely, as usual.”
An uncontrollable blush heated her cheeks, but she gave him a look that was all-business. “Cut the bullshit, Ford,” she said.
But, he ignored the harsh words. “To what do I owe this pleasure?” He patted the seat cushion next to him and she slid into the round booth, holding her glass in a white-knuckled grip.
“How did you know I had information about the 13th ship? And, that I might need your help?”
Her dark eyes flashed in the dim candlelight from the small votive in the center of the table. And, just like that, he remembered his dream from the other night. Flashes of it, anyway. When she was beneath him, stretched out over the top of a piano, and his cock was deep inside her and her sultry eyes lifted to meet his…just like now…bathed in candlelight…
Fuck.
“I had a dream about you last night,” he said, voice husky.
His confession caught her off-guard and she blinked stupidly. At that moment, she couldn’t string two words together if her life depended on it. What was it about him that put her in such a tizz?
