"Breathless"
Chapter 2
...
Ranger sat quietly in a red vinyl booth in the back of the restaurant. He positioned himself so he could survey the room and keep his back to the wall. He stretched an arm across the back of the seat to appear more casual, more relaxed. There was never anything relaxed about him. Ranger was always on alert.
The waitress approached his table yet again. Her appearance had changed slightly. Her blouse was loosened to reveal more and to attract the eye. Her lips now a seductive shade of red.
"Are you sure I can't get you anything besides water while you wait for your friend?" She smiled and leaned forward a little, giving him a better view of her cleavage. "Anything." She bit her bottom lip slightly.
He gave her an unmistakable look of disinterest, and she straightened up and walked away. This time without the abundant swing in her hips. Ranger sighed slightly and scanned the room again before checking his watch. His contact should be arriving in ten minutes, but of course Ranger had arrived early. He was at the restaurant thirty minutes before their scheduled meeting. In an unfamiliar city in search of a high bond FTA and his back up not scheduled to arrive till tomorrow, he tried to collect all the information he could. As he looked out the big picture window across the room, he caught a glimpse of a young woman walking towards the entrance with her family. Her curly brown hair moved with the wind, and reminded him of the woman he met this morning. The comparisons stopped at the curls, though. It wasn't her. She didn't carry herself the same way. He let his mind wander back to this morning at the gym. She was determined, hard headed, really. She was self confident. In truth, she reminded him of himself. He held the image of her in his arms, held tight against his body. When she pushed him away, turned down his advances... It turned him on all the more.
Ranger gave his head a slight shake trying to clear his mind. He reminded himself to focus on his surroundings. His contact had picked a family oriented home cooking restaurant, but that didn't mean he could let his guard down. Glancing at his watch again, he noted he still had two minutes. That's when he spotted him through the window. Ranger watched as the man entered and scanned the room, and gave a slight nod when he spotted Ranger before making his way to the table. When seated, a waitress appeared. A different woman this time. Apparently, Ranger had scared the first one off. He smiled slightly at the thought.
"Well, hello there. I'm Debbie. I'll be your severer." She almost sang with a heavy southern drawl. "What can I get you gentlemen to drink?" She smiled brightly at them.
"Hi there, Debbie. Too early for a beer?" The contact asked with a flirty smile.
"Afraid so, hun. We don't serve till noon."
He nodded and order a sweet tea while Ranger stayed with his water.
"Good to see you, Ranger. Been awhile."
Ranger nodded. "I was surprised to hear you were in this area, Dave. They run you out of Georgia?"
"Something like that."
Debbie returned with the tea and took their order. When she had left again, Ranger got down to business.
"Tell me what you know about Hank Brown."
…...
Thank you for reading!
Special thanks to The Captain for his Beta work on this chapter, and to my anonymous friend who helped me with some very juicy lines.