Her green eyes stared right into his, defiantly waiting for him to pass judgment on her. She expected him to think less of her because she wouldn’t be able to keep up with a physically fit man. That much was written all over her face. She hadn’t wanted to use her inhaler in front of him when he’d walked her home from the bar. That hadn’t made sense to him.
“How terrible for a child to be trapped like that, especially one already having breathing problems. I don’t have the excuse of breathing problems, and I have trouble with claustrophobia. I can control it, but it takes an extreme amount of concentration and discipline.”
Her gaze didn’t leave his, not even when the waiter placed their food in front of them. He cursed himself silently for giving too much away. She was waiting for more. If he gave her more, that could lead to even more, and just about everything about his adult life was classified now. He couldn’t share that with her. He wanted her in his life. He wanted to hook her deep, draw her in. Keep her. Again, that red flag went up because the connection between them, the chemistry, was growing stronger and stronger, but he chose to ignore the warning.
Gideon sighed. “I told you, I grew up on the streets. I didn’t have the best childhood. Things happened when I was a kid.” How best to blend the past and present? He said it fast. “I joined the military. Got my school paid for. When I served, I was taken prisoner. Tortured. Kept in a box and buried to my neck. Bad things happened. Luckily, I had my family. They came for me.”
Her eyes instantly went liquid. Her lashes fluttered and wentdown, concealing her reaction. “How terrible. I didn’t mean to bring up such a bad memory, Gideon.”
“It isn’t one I ever forget, Rory.” He indicated her soup with his fork. “We’re getting to know one another. These are things we’re going to run into. My past isn’t always pleasant. Getting accidentally locked in attics and nearly dying isn’t either.”
“You’re very fit.”
“I do security work. It’s in my best interest to be able to move fast when needed.”
“I’m never going to be able to run.”
He could hear the warning in her voice. He arched an eyebrow at her. “My woman isn’t required to do security work with me, which means she never has to run if she doesn’t want to. In fact, I’m one of those overprotective men who prefers to know she’s safe bartending and having fun with her friends while I’m on assignment.”
That earned him a smile. Not a huge one, but still a smile. He could tell she was into him. He didn’t know why she would be, but he’d take it. He’d take anything he could get from her. The chemistry between them was intense. He wasn’t the only one feeling it. The heat flared strong.
He’d managed to brush his fingers against hers twice, and both times, every nerve ending in his body jolted alive. Little sparks of electricity crackled between them. Each time they did, her vivid green gaze would jump to his and a hint of color would steal into her cheeks. Her breathing changed, and those lashes of hers fluttered irresistibly.
He wasn’t going to make any mistakes with her. She was leery, feeling her way with him, expecting him to reject her. He didn’t understand how a woman as beautiful and intelligent as she obviously was could possibly expect rejection from men.
“I hate to break it to you, but bartending isn’t always the safest profession.” There was a teasing note now.
He gave her a real Gideon growl. “I saw that for myself the other night when half the men in the bar were hitting on you. I worried that you might have stalkers.” He gave her a little frown. “You don’t have stalkers, do you?”
“Not that I know of. When I say bartending isn’t the safest profession, it’s more because fights break out. Or sometimes we spot jerks putting something in a woman’s drink—or even a man’s drink—and we intervene. That’s always risky. We try to be discreet, but if we’re found out, the consequences can be ugly.”
“Have those things happened?”
She nodded. “This isgreatfood. How come I didn’t know about this place?”
She clearly wanted to change the subject. Gideon debated and then allowed her to get away with it. He looked around the restaurant, keeping it casual. He spotted the man watching Rory right away. He was dressed in a suit and was sitting at one of the smaller tables for two situated against the far wall of the patio in the shade. He was in the darker shadows, but Gideon took in every detail of his appearance and filed it away.
The man was close to forty, or maybe he’d already crossed that mark. He was fit, rough looking. Nervous but trying not to show it. Looking around, not just fixating on Rory. He didn’t have his phone out, taking pictures. He just sat in the shadows, watching her. Watching Gideon. Studying him. Looking around as if he might be in danger.
Was it possible the man was watching over Rory? Shadowing her for a reason other than stalking her for his own purposes? He seemed more interested in the people around him and those coming onto the patio rather than Rory. He waited until Rory wasstudying the rolling sea again and the antics of the seagulls before he signaled to Brian and Ethan the various possibilities.
Using telepathy was easier and safer than code, but not everyone on their team was able to have the natural pathways without a strong bridge. Gideon was a strong telepath, but practicing code was something they did to keep sharp, so they could use the form of communication out in the open anywhere and never be seen.
“I imagine it looks like a hole-in-the-wall outside. You barely notice it when you walk past it,” he said aloud. “Living here, I started noticing the locals hit it hard for lunches and dinners. I just followed them.” He flashed another grin. “When you’re a man and you’re hungry, you tend to do that kind of thing.”
She looked back at him and sent him another small smile, reaching for the bread. He pushed the butter closer to her, and she didn’t hesitate to slather the salted garlic butter onto the warm slice of freshly made bread. He liked that about her too. She ate real food and enjoyed it. He liked watching her enjoy eating.
The wind tugged at her hair as if trying to pull at those dark cherry strands she’d insisted on taming. She’d gathered her hair into a knot and then twisted it, tried her best to flatten it with two decorative combs against her scalp at the back of her head so that only the top of the knot showed the waves of cherry red shining in the sun. The more the tendrils escaped, the more he found he liked it.
“I’m going to have to bring my friends here,” Rory said. “Cindy was just telling me the other day that she couldn’t find anywhere close with decent food the boys would eat. She’s a single mom with two children. She would love this restaurant, and it could be a place she could occasionally bring the kids when she was too tired to cook. It isn’t that far from the apartments either. Thank you so much, Gideon.”
He’d been concerned that she might expect him to bring her to a nicer place, an expensive place, but she hadn’t batted an eyelash when he’d brought her to what appeared to be a dive from the outside. She’d looked up at him with that killer smile that had the potential for giving him a heart attack and had gone right on in with him.
“How bad were you injured on the last mission—or whatever you want to call it—you went on before you took your leave?”
She asked the question quietly, almost casually. She pushed food around on her plate, but her green eyes were steady on his face. He didn’t want to start off their relationship by lying to her.
“Was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Got tagged in a couple of places.” He moved to ease his body and realized he’d probably done so a couple of times, just as he’d done in the bar and when they talked together in the Koi Garden. He gave her a self-deprecating smile. “I told you I wasn’t good at this. Give me a little time. I’ll get better at it. You weren’t supposed to notice. I’m not healed yet. Everything’s tight. I would normally hole up on my rooftop, but I wasn’t taking the chance that someone else was going to swoop in behind my back and steal you out from under me.”
