Chapter 53

“We will have two and a half hours between the time we are supposed to be at the cafe and when the movie starts. That should be enough, right?” Hunter asked me.

“Plenty enough. I don’t think we need to stay that long. We’ll just stay long enough to ensure everything is okay, then we can leave if we want to. Should we wear a disguise?” I said. Hunter looked at me and I could see he did his best to contain his laughter. “What?”

“I just pictured you in a trench coat and a fake moustache, adorable. The best way to get caught is to stand out. I think we will blend in better if we go as ourselves,” he teased me.

“Well excuse me for not being an expert, that is why I have you,” I told him. He laughed.

“I will be at your service. I will teach you everything I know about stakeouts.”

“This will be so much, I have never been to one,” I said.

“It sounds like you are more excited to go on a stakeout than to go on our date,” Hunter pointed out with a chuckle.

“I wouldn’t get that far, I would say it’s about the same.” We both laughed. We spent the rest of the morning working. It was Saturday, but Hunter needed to go over some contracts and I had finally got my permit for my new business, so I was in planning mode. We sat opposite each other in Hunter’s office and worked. We had a light lunch and then got ready to head out. I was looking forward to being out and about in the real world. I wore my favourite summer dress with small pink and lilac roses all over it and a blue cardigan.

“You look beautiful, sweetness,” Hunter told me as I walked down the stairs. He was dressed in jeans and a blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the top buttons unbuttoned. He looked hot.

“Thank you. You look very handsome,” I said.

“We could just stay home,” he suggested and kissed me.

“We could, but then I would be letting Wictor down.”

“Then it’s best we get going. Do you want me to drive or should we take a cab?” he asked.

“How about we take a cab, that way you can relax as well,” I suggested.

“I’ll order one for us,” he said. It took ten minutes for the cab to get to us and ten minutes for us to get to the cafe. “The best thing to do for a stake out is to arrive earlier than the people you are watching so you can find a good spot to sit in,” Hunter told me as he had ordered for both of us and we were waiting.

“Okay,” I said with a nod.

“It should be somewhere hidden, but with a good view of most of the space so it wouldn’t matter where they sit. Which place should we choose?” he asked me. I looked around and finally decided on a table that stood against the back wall. There was a pot of decorative bamboo placed not too far from it. The plants shielded the table but still made it possible to see through.

“Not a bad place,” Hunter agreed, grabbed our order and walked over to the table with me in tow. He was holding out the chair for me when the door to the cafe opened and Anthony stepped inside. Instead of taking the seat opposite me, Hunter moved one of the chairs to be right next to me and sat down, I gave him a look. “It’s fine, we will look like one of those annoying couples that can’t be apart. And this way, I can see as well,” he explained, draping his arm around my shoulders. I didn’t mind the role we were playing and relaxed into him. We talked about other things as we kept an eye on Anthony as he ordered and sat down at a table. The table he chose was a little to the side and offered some privacy, but clearly visible from where we sat.

“He looks nervous,” I said to Hunter.

“He does,” he agreed as he played with my hair. It was very distracting but I didn’t tell him to stop.

“I’m going to take it as a positive sign,” I decided.

“Really? What is the thought behind that?” Hunter asked, sounding amused.

“If he didn’t care, he wouldn’t be nervous. It’s a good sign that he at least cares.”

“You are by far the most ‘glass half full’ person I have ever met. It’s one of my favourite things about you,” Hunter told me and gave me a kiss. I blushed as I wasn’t used to public shows of affection.

“Thank you,” I said. Then I saw Wictor walking in through the door, I nudged Hunter and discreetly pointed to my friend. He nodded to let me know he understood. I didn’t look away from Wictor as he searched the room, Anthony spotted Wictor before Wictor spotted him. He raised his hand in a greeting and Wictor’s eyes shot to him. I could see the smile Wictor put on. A mixture of excitement and nerves. He raised his hand to mirror Anthony and then pointed towards the counter to say he would just order. Anthony nodded and I could see he was twisting a napkin in his hands.

“Let the fun begin,” Hunter whispered to me.

“Are you enjoying this?” I asked.

“Of course I am. It’s like a live soap opera moment. Are you telling me you’re not?”

“Well, okay, maybe a little. Okay, a lot. This is so exciting,” I told him, almost unable to keep from jumping up and down in my seat. Hunter chuckled and kissed my cheek.

“Should I take offence that you aren’t paying attention to me on our date?” he teased me.

“Look who’s talking. It was you that told me how much you were enjoying this,” I pointed out.

“Oh no, sweetness. I always have my eyes on you,” he whispered in my ear and I was close to swooning. How could he be this sweet and wonderful?

“You are distracting me. I need to focus, the good part is about to start,” I told him and gave him a quick kiss as I saw Wictor heading towards Anthony’s table with a coffee in his hand. The two of us watched as Wictor and Anthony said hi and Wictor took his seat. There looked to be a silent stretch of time where they both awkwardly sipped their coffee and just looked at each other.

“That looks almost painful,” Hunter commented.

“Shh, give them time,” I hushed him. Finally Anthony made the first move and started talking. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but after a while Wictor joined in and soon they were looking more relaxed. “Are you seeing this?” I hissed at Hunter. He chuckled, kissed my temple and fed me a piece of his cake.

“I am. I am also realising you have spoiled me with your baking. This cake wasn’t half as good as it looked,” he told me.

“There is nothing wrong with it,” I said.

“No, but it’s not what I’m used to nowadays,” he sighed.

“We can bake something tomorrow,” I suggested.

“I would like that. Can we have the same break time activity as last time we baked?” he asked and kissed my neck. I felt myself turn bright red at the thought and I both heard and felt Hunter chuckle against my skin. I decided I had to be brave or I would never get over this.

“Maybe it is my turn to offer the oral break time activity,” I whispered and felt lucky I was already blushing. Hunter stopped chuckling.

“Fuck, sweetness. You can’t tell me things like that when we are out in public,” he whispered back in a dark voice.

“It wasn’t me that started it,” I pointed out. I was momentarily distracted by Wictor laughing. I looked over and I saw both men at the table were smiling and laughing. Somewhere during Hunter distracting me, the last awkwardness had disappeared between them. I smiled and nudged Hunter to make him pay attention. “Look, that looks good. Right?” I asked. He gave my neck a final kiss and sat up to focus on Wictor and Anthony.

“It looks like they are getting along,” he confirmed. I watched the two men for a moment and then finished my coffee.

“I think your next lesson is to teach me how we get out of here without getting caught,” I told Hunter. He turned back to me.

“You want to leave?” he asked. The surprised look on his face made me smile.

“I don’t want to sit here and spy on them. We were only here in case things went bad and Wictor needed saving. I’m confident that he won’t need that. So we can leave, unless you want to stay,” I said.

“Nope, I’m done,” he told me, emptying his coffee and taking my hand. “To avoid getting caught we just need to walk out of here without drawing attention to ourselves. That means acting natural. It’s a bonus if we don’t show our faces, but it needs to be natural, so no hand in front of the face,” he told me as he stood up and held out my chair.

“And how do we do that?” I asked and got a brilliant smile from him. He put his arm around me, securing me to the side that faced away from where Wictor and Anthony sat. He then curled himself down over me to place kisses over my neck and shoulder.

“For this to work, you actually need to walk forward, sweetness,” he reminded me after a moment. I had been so wrapped up in him, I had forgotten what we were doing. I just nodded and started walking. Wictor and Anthony were too distracted by each other to pay us any attention. But I caught the eye of a woman sitting at the table closer to the door with a man that was looking at his phone. The jealousy in her eyes as she looked at Hunter and then at me. I gave her a compassionate smile as we left. Hunter may have dressed it as a way to get out of the cafe, but I knew that his lips were skimming my neck because he wanted them to.