“Do you play in a band?”
“I have three brothers—more like foster brothers; we were raised together. We all play instruments, and we get together and gig sometimes in bars. I go to piano bars and play. Music is soothing to me.”
“If you only play occasionally, that clearly isn’t your regularjob. You said you worked security. Is that what you do full-time?”
She felt very brave asking. He wasn’t a man who would want anyone prying into his business. She must have sounded hesitant because he glanced at her, sending a reassuring smile.
“Solnyshkuh, we’re getting to know one another. I’ll let you know if I would prefer not to answer a question. You have every right to do the same. I’m very interested in pursuing a relationship. We can’t do that if we don’t know each other.”
She sent him a tentative smile. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable with questions.”
His eyes warmed, going from that piercing, intense silvery color to a softer gray. Her answer, as sincere as it was, meant something to him.
“I own a construction company along with those three brothers. I enjoy working with my hands. Sometimes I design furniture just because the wood speaks to me.”
“I’d love to see something you created,” she said. “Music and designing furniture. You have the soul of an artist. Security must be your fill-in work.”
She’d made that a statement, so he didn’t correct her. In any case, finding human traffickers was more on Code. The rest of them just went on the rescue missions.
“Are you concerned about asking me questions because you don’t like to answer them?”
Azelie frowned, thinking it over. Eventually, she shook her head. “It isn’t that, although I don’t tell very many people my business.” She hesitated, but he shot her a look that told her he knew she was hedging. “I don’t talk to anyone about my business,” she admitted. “After my family was killed, there were so many reporters and cops coming around. I’d been shot multiple times and was in the hospital. I couldn’t get away from them. I just kept my mouth shut, hoping they would eventually give up and go away.”
“You didn’t have anyone to protect you?”
His voice had dropped another octave, sending a shiver of awareness down her spine. He wasn’t happy that she’d been alone, and no one had watched over her. His voice hadn’t really changed, just seemed more intimate, more intense. She wasn’t even certain how he did it, but she knew with absolute certainty that her simple explanation had sent a wave of anger through him.
“No. I have no other family. Janine and the children were everything to me.” She twisted her fingers together in her lap to keep her hands from shaking. She didn’t like thinking about that time in her life, let alone talking about it.
“I can understand why you wouldn’t want to disclose your past to just anyone. It must hurt to talk about it.” He dropped one large hand over her hands, stilling them. “Do you have nightmares?”
Azelie pressed her lips together, debating whether she wanted to answer that question. He was a man filled with confidence. She felt she appeared weak beside him. She wasn’t weak. That was an illusion. Others took her quiet nature for weakness, not strength. She believed there was strength in silence. In getting others to talk while she listened—and remembered. She had an excellent memory. Too good. It was impossible for her to forget the smallest detail of the night her brother-in-law had murdered her family.
“Zelie?”
Again, his voice was velvet soft, but when he looked at her, there was the merest hint of disappointment in his eyes. She detested disappointing him. It made no sense that she seemed to need to please him.
“Yes, I have nightmares.”
“Often?”
She bit her lower lip and then forced herself to answer. “Yes.”
“Every night?” he pressed as he turned into the parking lot of the Waterfront Restaurant.
The Waterfront building was located at Pier 7. Renovated from an old longshoremen’s bar, the building dated back to1894. It was very San Francisco with its old beams and wood.
The valet parking allowed Andrii to open the car door and help Azelie out. The restaurant had spectacular views of the bay, Bay Bridge, and Treasure Island. The atmosphere inside the restaurant was old, eclectic and comfortable. They were seated immediately at a table for two in a more secluded location with a stunning view of the water.
Andrii helped her out of the coat, although a part of her wanted to cling to it. The only thing that made giving up the warmth and comfort of the coat worth it was seeing the way his gaze drifted over her. The way his expression changed, softening the hard edges yet carving sensual lines deeper. The way his eyes heated with desire and what she identified as pride in her.
Andrii handed her beloved coat to the host as he held out her chair for her. She sat carefully. The dress was shorter than she had ever worn before, and when she sat, the tops of the garters showed. It looked sexy, but she wasn’t certain if she liked the way several men in the restaurant looked at her so openly. She wasn’t used to male attention.
Nothing escaped Andrii’s watchful gaze. He noticed her trembling hand as she picked up the menu. Immediately, he placed his hand over hers. “What is it?”
It took a moment to decide whether to answer honestly. He waited for her, not attempting to hurry her. “I’m not used to so many men looking at me the way they are.” The admission came out low and a little unsteady. Again, she maintained eye contact, waiting for his reaction.
“You’re a beautiful woman, Zelie. Men are going to look, and they’re bound to have reactions to the sight of your body. How could they not? It shouldn’t bother you. It’s natural. I’m pleased to be the man escorting you.”
