Page 15 of Better Watch Out
Her head spun to the right, her long hair whipping him in the face. “What? Why—”
“Keep walking.” He smiled through gritted teeth as pain radiated from his side. Did she hit a kidney?
Of course, the second the direction left his mouth Frannie pulled up short, causing a woman to run into the back of him. She muttered something he hoped Frannie didn’t hear as she and several other inconvenienced New Yorkers moved around them.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m helping you get to your destination.” His gaze flicked over his shoulder, searching for the man in the leather jacket, but he wasn’t there. “Where are you headed?”
Without touching her, Andrew moved in such a way that he guided Frannie toward a mailbox rental place and out of the crowd. He needed to check their surroundings again for the man.
“I don’t need your help, I know where I’m going.” As if to prove her point, Frannie held up her phone. “You can tell my brother I’m fine.”
Sure she was. Andrew scanned the faces around them but couldn’t find the man. Maybe his plan had worked. To be sure, Andrew pulled out his cell phone and tapped the app for Uber.
“Where are you going?” he repeated and when her silence answered him, he glanced up to find her piercing blue eyes staring at him. “What?”
“Did you hear me when I said I don’t need help?”
“I did.” For a split second he contemplated telling her that up until a minute ago she was being shadowed by a man for a purpose Andrew could only guess wasn’t good. “But I thought maybe I could help you get there.”
Her features softened and Andrew dipped his chin when his thoughts went to how pretty she was. It wasn’t like he’d never seen a beautiful woman before but he wasn’t used to them running away from him. Actually, it was the opposite. His time as a professional hockey player introduced him to women who threw themselves at him and his teammates all the time, waiting outside the locker room or scouting the hotels where the team would be staying. He became skilled at dodging the ladies. So, Frannie’s open attempt to ditch him only intrigued him more. Which probably wasn’t a good thing.
Yep. Good to remember that. Last thing he’d want to do was get on an FBI agent’s bad side.
“I’m headed to the West Village,” Frannie finally said. “A stroll through the quintessential neighborhood of stately brownstones is magical this time of year.”
Andrew lifted a brow. “Is that from a visitor’s brochure or something?”
“No. It’s one of the stops on my list.”
“What list?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Determination filled her expression. “It’s just a couple of miles.”
“You’re going to walk to the West Village? From here?”
Frannie put her hands on her hips, probably assuming her pose was intimidating when in fact it was adorable. “Yes.”
If Andrew hadn’t just caught some guy targeting her, he probably would’ve agreed to let her leave, but as it stood he’d made a promise to Ryan to make sure his sister was safe—the other half of that promise he’d try negotiating inside the back seat of the Uber he’d just requested.
“Is Levain’s on your list?”
Frannie frowned. “What?”
“They have the best hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies in the city.” Andrew had no idea if that was true but one of his ex-girlfriends would always take her family there when they came to visit. “If you’re going to stroll through the West Side you should have a cup of hot cocoa. Isn’t that what they do in ridiculous Christmas movies?”
A flash of pink colored her cheeks and he caught the slight flare in her eyes before whatever battle she was about to engage him in melted away. “Frozen hot chocolate from Serendipity’s is already on my list.”
Just then a blue Corolla, their Uber, pulled up to the curb.
“Okay, so at least try the cookie.” He gestured to the idling car. “Best in the city and my treat.”
Frannie hesitated but a serendipitous gust of icy wind barreled over them, causing her hair to whip around her face. She shivered, hunching her shoulders against the harsh cold weather.
“Fine.” She stepped past him as he held the door open for her. “But only because I forgot my hat and my ears are freezing.”
Inside the warmth of the Corolla’s back seat, Andrew checked his phone again to see if Joey had texted him with any updates on his end. Nothing. Hopefully that meant everything onhisend was going as planned.
