He listened for a long moment, nodding. “Sounds good. You have Madeline’s address, right?”
He listened for another moment, then said, “Great. We’ll see him then.”
He slid his phone back into his pocket and smiled across the tiny table at Julia. “Spencer Flynn is arriving tonight. He’s coming to Madeline’s and should arrive around ten-thirty or eleven.”
“All right,” Julia said slowly. “Then what?”
“He’ll stay at the restaurant tonight, then he’ll stay here during the day. So we have both places covered.”
“Not many places to sleep at Madeline’s,” Julia said, frowning.
“He can sleep on the floor,” Nico said easily. “He’s ex-military, just like me. It’ll be far more luxurious than a lot of places he’s slept.”
“Okay,” Julia said, suppressing a sigh. Her life was officially out of control. A twenty-four-hour bodyguard in Nico. Another guy to watch over her properties. But maybe they wouldn’t be necessary for much longer. Once Zoe got her program installed on the computer system, once they caught whoever was stealing from her, maybe Nico and his friend would leave.
The thought caused a pang. She’d miss Nico.
She’d miss his long, lean body crowding close. Invading her space. His sudden, stilled attention when he was on alert. She’d miss the tiny sparks that buzzed through her when their hands accidentally touched. If she was honest, she’d admit she wanted to explore the attraction that burned between them.
She doubted they’d have a chance for that. Nico would leave as soon as his job was done. He’d go back to his life, and she’d go back to hers.
A life that didn’t feel nearly as vibrant as it used to feel.
Her phone rang before she could pursue that line of thought. Pulling it out of her pocket, she saw that it was Zoe. Smiling, she answered. “Hey, Zo. You calling to set up a meeting?”
After a long moment, Zoe said, “God, Jules, I’m sorry. I wish I was, but I found a shit storm at my office when I got back here yesterday afternoon. I spent the rest of the day putting out fires, but I’ll get your program done today. I’ll meet you at Madeline’s at eleven tomorrow morning, okay?”
“That sounds great, Zo. See you then.”
Julia sighed as she tapped the phone into her pocket and turned to Nico, who’d frozen with his bagel halfway to his mouth. “Zoe couldn’t create the program yesterday. Problems at the office. So we’ll likely have another night with missing meals leaching money from Madeline’s.”