“I get what this looks like.” Joey held his hands in the air.
Stefanie’s annoyance had morphed into full-blown irritation. “It looks like you’re acting like a creep.”
Joey winced. “Yeah, that’s a fair hit. I’m sorry. That wasn’t my intention.”
“Were you just checking on me to see if I can handle the pressure? Your team already did that.” Stefanie glared. “Do you have a trust problem, Joey?” She turned on a heel and stalked to the kitchen.
“That feels like a loaded question.” Not knowing if he was stepping into dangerous territory, he followed her.
She pulled an electric kettle off of its base and turned to face him. “My friends call me Stef. Quinn assures me that despite the evidence to the contrary, you are a nice person, so I’ll let you do that too. For now. Also, for the record, I don’t mind that you wanted to test me. I’d have done the same. I do mind that you came to my front door with no warning. Next time, send a girl a text before you take a year off her life, huh?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She poured some water into a mug and looked up at him. “Tea?”
Joey eyed her. “I’m having a hard time reconciling the person who just about kicked my ass two hours ago literally, two minutes ago metaphorically, with the person currently offering me tea.”
Stefanie lifted an eyebrow. “I’m a complicated woman. Now, do you want tea or not?”
Joey laughed. “As long as you promise not to poison it.”
“There’s those trust issues again.” Stefanie dunked a tea bag in each cup and slid one across to him.
Joey considered how to pitch his concerns without confirming her accusations of trust issues. Then, he quickly recalibrated. If he hadn’t learned that Stefanie Ryland didn’t need to be coddled in the last couple of hours, then he should probably be fired. “Any idea if this house is being watched?”
Stefanie stilled. “I haven’t seen anything. But I’m not sure I’d know what to look for.” She began to pace around the compact kitchen, mug in hand.
Joey tensed. Maybe he did need to ease into his approach after all. She was more scared than she was letting on. He closed his eyes for a moment and made a mental note to talk to Quinn about that later. “Do you have any security equipment installed?”
Stefanie put down her tea, then left the room. She brought back a box filled with several smaller boxes. “Your friends sent me this. I did want to wait until you got here to do the outside cameras and the front door locks, though. I was getting a little nervous turning my back to the street after meeting with your team. Hope that’s not a problem.”
“Not at all.” Now that he was sure he hadn’t pissed off Stefanie in a way that was unrecoverable, he finally took in the interior of the house. A combination of personal photos and metal sculptures littered the wall. They weren’t overdone or gigantic, they were just precise and beautiful. And he finally noticed the security sensors she’d installed. They were almost impossible to see if he didn’t know what he was looking for. If he’d taken in his surroundings, he’d probably be making better decisions. Time to recover. He ran a hand over his head. “Did you make those?”
Stefanie nodded. “Every one.”
Joey studied one a little closer. “You could sell those for a fortune at an art fair. They’re incredible. Aren’t you some kind of marine biologist?”
“Yep. And a businesswoman when the situation requires it.” Stefanie pulled a tiny camera out of its box. She quickly assembled the small camera and mount, putting it together perfectly without a glance at the instructions. When he just stared after her, she placed it in his palm. “What? Did I do it wrong?”
“Nope.” He studied the results. “It’s just that one always gives me trouble.”
“It’s because they have two holes. They should have a slot and a hole to make assembly easier.” She pointed to the camera bracket. “It’s not your fault it’s hard to put together, the design just needs to be tweaked.” He stared at her incredulously. She shrugged. “I like mechanical things. I’m just saying it’s designed sub-optimally for assembly. It gets the job done, but you probably have to fiddle with it to get it just right.”
“That’s exactly it. I’ll pass along your feedback to the tech team. That wouldn’t be tough to change.” He quickly installed the cameras outside while she kept watch. The door lock took a little longer, but soon, her security system was fully upgraded. He pulled up the camera feeds on his phone and entered the code Quinn had provided. Moments later, he did the same to hers.
Stefanie breathed a sigh of relief at almost the exact time he did. She took her phone back, then tilted her head to study him. She gave a small nod of satisfaction. “Looks like you’re feeling better too. Which makes me like you just a little bit more than when I thought you were creeping on me after class.”
Joey cringed. “I couldn’t exactly introduce myself fully in that environment.”
“That’s fair.” Stefanie tapped the phone in her palm. “And sorry I didn’t cut you much slack. I have a tendency to just come out and say what I’m thinking. My brain-to-mouth filter is pretty porous.”
“Fine by me. I’d rather be around people who say what they think versus having to guess.” He took a sip of his now almost room temperature tea. “So, now that I know you’ll tell me, how do you feel about having the CIA invading your lab?”
Stefanie began to clean up her dishes from making tea without making direct eye contact. “I mean, it’s better than not having someone there and wondering
