Free GirlMostLikelyTo by Barbara Elsborg Page B

unsettled him.
    He tipped back on his stool and glanced around the pub only
to bring the legs crashing to the floor when his gaze locked onto Adam. What
the fuck? He sat at a table with two women, one of whom was Wren.
    “Excuse me,” Tomas said and pushed to his feet. “I need
speak to someone.” What the hell was Adam doing in here?
    Adam looked up as he reached his side. The surprise on his
face seemed genuine before he blanked his expression. Too late, Tomas realized
he’d hardly be pleased to see him.
    “Hello.” Adam’s voice was cool.
    Tomas nodded. The arctic tone both disappointed and
reassured. He didn’t deal well with coincidence. Of all the pubs in Leeds, Adam
happened to choose this one? Of all the women in Leeds, he happened to know
Wren?
    “You two know one another?” Wren glanced between them.
    “We meet yesterday. We neighbors. Adam just move in.”
    “And you’re both Ezispeke students? That’s a coincidence.”
Wren shot a smile at Adam.
    Tomas was confused. A student? Hadn’t he said he was only in
Leeds for three weeks? Could still be a fluke but—
    “And I’m Sylvie,” said the other woman at the table.
    “Sorry, Sylvie,” Wren said. “This is Tomas. He’s in my
English conversation class. Tomas meet Sylvie. She teaches English and
Japanese.”
    Sylvie held his hand a little too tightly and looked into
his eyes a little too long. He pulled up a chair and sat on the other side of
the table between Adam and Wren. His distrustful brain filed this whole
encounter under something to check on . When had Adam booked his course?
Was he even who he said he was? Was Wren? Christ, working undercover made him
suspicious of everyone.
    “There you are.” A hand tapped his shoulder and he turned to
find his French leech.
    Monique put her glass of champagne on the table and dragged
a stool over, forcing it into the space between him and Adam. Tomas didn’t miss
the glare Sylvie aimed at Monique, nor the roll of the eyes from Adam. Wren
made no attempt to disguise her amusement and his interest piqued again. There
was little Tomas loved more than a challenging woman. Except perhaps a
challenging guy. Not that he could take a relationship anywhere at this point
in his life. The worse thing he could do right now was get attached to anyone,
but if he needed info on Ezispeke, he’d rather squeeze it out of Wren than
Sylvie.
    “What you study?” he asked Adam.
    “Italian.”
    Wren stiffened. Ah, she wasn’t aware of that? If the
two hadn’t met each other in the class she’d just taught, when had they
met?
    “What about you?” Adam asked.
    “English conversation and Italian,” Tomas said. Well, he
would be studying Italian once he’d registered for Wren’s class.
    Sylvie put her hand on his arm. “Why don’t you try Japanese?
I can squeeze you in. It’d be a pleasure.” She all but fluttered her eyelashes
at him. “I’m planning a really interesting field trip. Somewhere we can take
our clothes off and have fun.”
    Tomas gaped at her.
    Wren sighed. “Swimming pool again?”
    “The changing room at Harvey Nicks,” Sylvie said.
    Monique all but moaned. “Very beautiful store.”
    Sylvie grinned. “I figure I can talk Olive into it if I
include an expensive meal in their café.”
    “Probably.” Wren pushed her empty plate away.
    “I like shopping,” Monique said.
    Wren turned to her. “We can talk about that tomorrow. What
you like to buy and where you prefer to shop. Maybe we can go for a walk around
Leeds next week.”
    Monique clapped her hands together.
    “Fancy learning Japanese?” Sylvie pleaded. “Any of you?”
    “No thanks. I’ll stick to Italian.” Adam glanced at Wren.
    Tomas shook his head. “I need English for work. Italian for
love. I don’t need Japanese.” He took a drink of beer, remembering a split
second too late that it was Adam’s. Christ. He’d never done that before.
It was the sort of thing that got you a black eye in Yorkshire. He heard