Keeper's Reach by Carla Neggers Read Free Book Online

poured the last few drops of his tea. It was the color of coffee by now. “You should feel well protected.”
    Naomi dipped a spoon into her yogurt and fruit. “Why is it that I don’t?”
    “Because you have a habit of placing your trust in the wrong people.”
    “If that were true, I’d be dead by now.” She leveled her gaze at him. “So would you.”
    “Maybe so.”
    There was no
maybe
about it, but Naomi didn’t argue with him. Kavanagh
wanted
her to have a habit of trusting the wrong people because it would help him somehow, if only to throw her off balance and get in her head.
    He glanced at a row of framed botanical prints on the side wall. Local grasses, wildflowers and herbs. “What are you up to, Naomi?” he asked, shifting back to her.
    She tried the yogurt. It was smooth and creamy, made without added pectin. With the fruit, it was perfection. “Are you following me because you think I’m up to something? As I told you in London, you’re wasting your time. I’m a crisis management consultant who met with a group of medical volunteers who are planning their deployment to a hot spot in Africa. I’m helping them assess their security needs and then take appropriate steps to meet them. That’s all I’m up to.”
    Kavanagh smirked at her. “It’s not all.”
    “I’m not arguing with you, T.K.”
    “Why this particular twee English village?”
    Naomi ate more of her yogurt and drank some of her coffee. What she wanted to do was to eat six croissants and go back to bed. She made herself smile at the FBI agent across from her. “
Twee
. I love that word. I’ve wanted to visit the Cotswolds but never could find the time. Now I have, if only for one night.”
    “That doesn’t explain why you chose this village,” Kavanagh said.
    “This place comes highly recommended by an internet travel site I trust.” It was true, as far as it went. “What about you? Did you follow my car, or did you overhear me when I told the bellman where I was going? It wasn’t a secret, but the only person I actually told is my mother.”
    “How is your mother, Naomi?”
    “Great. Sewing up a storm. Think where I could be now if I’d paid attention and let her teach me how to sew drapes and beauty-pageant dresses.”
    “Or if your father hadn’t been killed by an IED when you were a freshman at Vanderbilt,” Kavanagh said quietly.
    Naomi finished the last of her yogurt. “Yes, that, too.” She refused to let him distract her, even if she had given him the opening. “This is a good place, don’t you think? I’d love to relax here for a few nights.”
    Kavanagh leaned forward, his pale green eyes narrowed on her. “You’re giving me careful answers, Naomi.”
    “Why wouldn’t I, seeing how you’re an FBI agent?”
    Her porridge arrived. The waiter didn’t linger. Naomi didn’t blame him. Kavanagh wasn’t in full-blown FBI interrogation mode, but it was close enough.
    She decided to lighten her tone and change the subject. “Did the rooster wake you up this morning? He did me.”
    “I didn’t notice a rooster. I sleep soundly.”
    She broke off a piece of croissant and popped it in her mouth as she noticed a drizzle of the promised blackberry compote in her porridge. Breakfast was delightful, she decided, refusing to let her companion spoil the moment. “Do you know what kind of rooster has white-spotted black feathers?”
    “I’m not here to talk about roosters. Neither are you.”
    She picked up the fresh spoon that came with her porridge. It was a lot of porridge. “I’ll look it up. I’m dying to know.”
    “You’re playing with fire, Naomi. You know that, don’t you?”
    “By having yogurt and porridge with you, you mean?”
    Kavanagh’s eyes flared with anger, but he quickly got himself under control. All that FBI discipline and training, she supposed.
    Assuming he still
was
an FBI agent.
    She thought about asking to see his credentials to check if they were current, but she