He was staring too intently at the menu, so I dropped my hand from his, suddenly wondering if I’d been too bold. His dark gaze flicked to mine, which made me second-guessthatworry. Maybe I should have twined my fingers through his and reassured him?—
Whoa, calm down. You’re leaving tomorrow. You have three days to come up with a story to appease your father, or you’ll be in very real danger. Try to remember that, eh?
Right.
Right.
An older woman bustled up with a notepad and a smile. “What can I get you two?”
Since she was looking at me, I pasted a polite smile on my lips, pretending I’d read the menu. In reality, I hadn’t even glanced at it; my wallet was doing that thing where if you opened it, a lonely fly buzzed out.
“I’ll just take a water and a side of fries. I’m still full from that big breakfast.” This last was directed to Garrak, laughingly.
But he frowned, and I had the horrible suspicion that he had seen through my lie. “I’ll take two Eastshore burgers,medium rare,” he rumbled in that sexy voice of his, passing the menus to the server. “And a water with lemon.”
“Got it.” She made some notes. “Fries okay for you?”
“Fries on one,” Garrak said, still looking at me, “onion rings on the other. And a large side of ranch.”
The server said something and hustled off, but I wasn’t paying attention. Icouldn’tpay attention, not with how Garrak had pinned me with that stare. He looked at me like he could see my secrets…and I didn’t hate it.
I remembered last night, when he’d calmed my panic just by forcing me to breathe steadily. How his praise had warmed me, made mewantto make him proud…
I swallowed, a warm throbbing between my thighs making me squirm. His nostrils flared, and I looked away.
“Thanks for taking me this morning,” I blurted, too loud and too fast to sound natural. “I enjoyed seeing what you’re doing. I think it’ll be perfect when it opens.”
“It’s not done yet. Even once the building is complete, I have to find funding…”
I snuck a peek at him. “You’re going to run it? It’s your idea, right?”
He snorted. “I know rocks and mining, and I can manage three shifts of miners, but I don’t know anything aboutthissort of stuff. I’m not paying for the whole thing—we did a push for donations, and I’m pretty sure my old boss is the one who matched my donations anonymously.”
“But…” I plopped my elbow on the table and planted my chin in my palm, considering what he was saying. “It was your idea, and you started the ball rolling, right? But you’re not going to run it?”
He seemed embarrassed to admit this amazing plan washis. Garrak rolled his shoulders, his attention on something outside the window I didn’t think he was actually seeing. “There’s a board and a committee, but they’re volunteer. In order to hire someone to actually oversee the center, and coordinate the employees, andpayfor those employees, even if it’s high school students or whatever…”
When he shook his head, his lips parted on a sigh. “There needs to be a fairly large endowment. I’m almost there. A few hundred thousand more. Once I get the fifty from Hendricks, there’s a game I’m going to join—” His dark gaze flashed to mine. “Your hometown, actually, in a few weeks. New Orleans.”
Oh, fuck.
Slowly, I sat back, knowing I was screwed.
Garrak was never going to accept Dad’s plan to trademefor the debt, no matter how good that kiss had felt, how goodhe’dfelt rubbing up against me. Because that fifty thousand wasn’t just a way of keeping score for this ridiculously noble male; he needed that money to open the community center he’d dreamed up for the males he protected.
“Stevie? You know anything about the poker scene in New Orleans?”
I swallowed. “Yeah,” I croaked. “A little.” Another lie. “I don’t think I’m as good a player as you, though.”
To my surprise, Garrak chuckled and shook his head. He looked as if he might say something else—Please don’t ask about Dad, please don’t ask about Dad!—when the server dropped off our waters and he busied himself squeezing lemons into his.
The water glass looked so small in his large hands, and I realized I was staring, remembering how they had felt when they’d touched me so gently.
I needed to change the subject. “Are you—” I rasped. Then, after taking a big gulp of water, I rolled an ice cube over my stud and tried again. “How about your boss? You said he had some money?”
“Some?” Garrak snorted and launched into a story about the CEO of the company who’d owned that mine, Abydos.
Apparently, he was a grumpy recluse with anger issues who’d moved to the island and hired a private chef…then married her at New Year’s. When Garrak spoke about his boss, I could hear the pride in his tone, and I would’ve wagered anything that this Abydos had been one of the guys trapped down in that mine seven years ago.
