She laughed. “I lied.”
“Of course you did. Nate said he briefed you about tonight. Any questions?”
“Only one. Do you want me to pay more attention to you or to our bad guy?”
It was a good question, and one he hadn’t considered. “We’ll play it by ear. Ramon will be with his cousin, and he has an unnatural attraction to her.” He held open the door, following her into the Flamingo Bar. “We’re headed up to the rooftop,” he told the hostess.
“Does she return these unnatural tendencies?” Taylor asked when they entered the elevator.
“No. I don’t know the family’s dynamics other than her mother and Ramon’s father are twins. From what I’ve gathered, Madison’s mother puts pressure on Madison to spend time with her cousin. I think there’s more to it, but what that is, I don’t know.” Yet. But he was sure going to find out.
“So if he gets too familiar with her . . . that’s disgusting by the way, maybe I should try to divert his attention?”
“I think she would appreciate that.” The assessing look Taylor gave him made him uncomfortable, but he kept his face blank.
When they reached the rooftop, he scanned the area and, locating Ramon and Madison, he said, “There’s our target, along the rail, third table from the left.”
“Good-looking man.”
“And he knows it. If he makes you feel at all uncomfortable, kick me under the table, and I’ll knock out one or two of his teeth. Won’t be so good-looking then.” Ever since he’d pulled Ramon off Madison, he’d been itching to rearrange the man’s face.
She slipped her hand around his arm as they approached the table. “Tell me this isn’t personal for you, Alex,” she said quietly.
He’d said too much. “No, just can’t abide a man going where he’s not welcome, that’s all. Let’s walk by them first, see if he’ll call us over. Make him think it’s his idea we join them.” He turned his attention on her as they passed. “Laugh at something I said.”
She laughed as she leaned her head toward him, her cheek brushing his shoulder. “You’re such a funny man, Alex. You know what they say, a hot guy who can make a girl laugh is a deadly combination.”
Her words were spoken softly so that only he could hear, and to an observer, it would appear as if they couldn’t take their eyes off each other. That there was no sexual chemistry between them, he found interesting. Actually, he’d not picked up on any of his fellow FBI cohorts thinking of her as anything but one of the team.
She was a woman who turned the heads of every male she walked by, though, and he didn’t miss the envious looks directed his way. If she had a steady man in her life, no one knew, although being the gossipy men they were, they’d often speculated about her private life.
Just when he thought they were going to have to pretend to notice Ramon and Madison, he heard his name called. “Showtime,” he whispered. He put an arm around Taylor and led her to the table. “Ramon, dude, didn’t know you were back in town.”
Ramon stood, his eyes on Taylor’s chest. “Just got back today. Have a seat and catch me up on what I’ve been missing.”
The bastard pulled out the seat next to him, clearly wanting Taylor close to him. Alex let go of her and sat next to Madison. Her lemony scent was the first thing to hit him. It reminded him of the hot summer days when his mother would bring him an ice-cold glass of lemonade to make the chores his father had assigned him tolerable. He hadn’t thought of those times until recently, when he was close enough to Madison to catch her scent.
Shaking off the direction his thoughts had veered, he said, “Ramon, you devil, you try to steal my date, we’re gonna have words.” As expected, Ramon’s eyes lit with pleasure that he’d been challenged. The fool. If anyone could best Ramon at his own game, it was Taylor.
“Introduce us,” Ramon said, his head bent, giving him a better view of the cleavage showing above the low cut of Taylor’s dress.
Alex would have killed him then and there if he’d leered at Madison like that. You gotta stop thinking of Madison as yours, dude.
“Ramon, this is Taylor. Taylor, my friend Ramon Alonzo.” He nodded at Madison. “This is Madison Parker, Ramon’s cousin.” He’d intentionally left off Taylor’s last name. If asked, they would tell Ramon it was Crawford, an alias already set up if anyone was curious enough to check.
Ramon, being the ass that he was, slipped his hand under Taylor’s and brought her fingers to his lips. While Ramon’s attention was on Alex’s partner, Alex slanted his head and gave Madison an eye roll. She smiled back, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Had Ramon already acted inappropriately with her?