Race for the Gold by Dana Mentink

Author:Dana Mentink
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi, epub
Tags: Romance, Suspense, Christian, Fiction
ISBN: 9780373445806
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-01-07T08:54:58.852000+00:00

THIRTEEN

Laney felt Max’s arms tighten around her. “Ancho’s here,” he breathed into her ear. The name started tremors rushing through her body. “Lean against me. We’ll hope he doesn’t notice you.”

He couldn’t hurt her in this very public place, yet her heart still pounded as she sneaked a peek. Ancho was dressed in jeans and a jacket, a knit cap on his head. He made genial small talk with the barista, whom he knew by name, and paid for his coffee—large, black, with room. As he stopped to pour in milk and stir the drink, he gazed around the crowded shop. Was it her imagination that his attention landed on Tanya, Beth and Jackie for a moment longer? Lingering there with something more than casual interest? Slowly, nonchalantly, he turned toward the booth where Max and Laney sat huddled.

Raising the coffee to his mouth, a smile curved across his face as he looked at them. Fear shifted abruptly to something else and she sat up, tossed her hair away from her eyes and looked straight back at him, as if he was a competitor she was ready to defeat on the ice. Mind games—she was plenty familiar with those. He beamed a genial smile at her, making no move to either approach or leave.

“I’m going to go talk to him,” Max muttered angrily.

“No.” She clamped a hand on his arm. “He’s well-known here, and we’re the strangers. No one will believe he’s doing anything but enjoying a cup of coffee in his favorite shop.”

Max’s nostrils flared, his jaw tight. “He’s taunting you.”

“Let him bring his A game, then,” she said, not releasing him. “I’ve been baited by competitors from all over the world. He hasn’t got anything on them.”

“Way to go, Birdie,” he murmured, the sheen of admiration in his glance making her warm inside. “I knew that training was worth something.”

She continued to watch as a skinny man in a black apron approached to tidy up the milk station. Ancho greeted him with a slap on the back and a warm smile. They talked quietly, Ancho seeming to listen attentively as the man wiped the counter and left.

Ancho once again turned his attention to Laney. One more sip, another enigmatic smile over the rim of his mug. He winked at her.

I’m watching you.

So watch. Watch me beat you at your own game.

Ancho greeted a few more of the seated customers as he headed back to the door. Pausing on the threshold, he took a last lazy sip and left. She heaved a sigh of relief, and Max’s rigid posture relaxed.

“Sizing us up?” Max suggested.

“Not sure.” She stretched as she stood, muscles complaining from her earlier training. “I’m going to visit the little skater’s room and then we’d better go.”

“All right. I’ll check outside and see if Ancho has really left.” He got up, lips still pursed in that way that meant he was turning over the interview with Peterson in his mind. On impulse she got on tiptoe and kissed the frown line on his forehead, not caring if Beth or the others saw her do it.

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