“You know her?” he blurted out, causing me to pause with my ass halfway to the bench.
“Excuse me?”
He blinked and sat back, “Sorry, guess the doorman had me a little flustered.”
I let out a heavy breath and smiled, “Seems to be the day for flustering, I guess.”
“It was, but it’s better now that I’m sitting down with you.”
His tender words caused me to fix my gaze on him rather than the menu I’d picked up. His ability to go from hot to cold was a little overwhelming.
“You said you lost work because of me?” He pressed.
I clicked my tongue and pointed to the mark he left on my throat. “My boss wasn’t amused.”
“Your boss is your pimp?”
“What? No?” I spat, my face contorting.
“You fucking him?” his tone sharpened a bit.
I dropped the menu on the table and debated throwing his own drink in his face.
“Gross. What…the…fuck?”
“I’m saying,” He laughed, rolling his neck slowly, “Why does he care?”
I stared at him, unsure of when the last time I’d been so offended in a five-minute span.
“Yeah… This is a bad idea. I should go.” I scooted along my bench.
His boot planted in front of my foot’s path beneath the table and his hand blanketed mine, “Stay.”
“Yeah, I don’t–” I shook my head, even as the placatory smile, my greatest defense mechanism began to grimace its way across my face as we both awkwardly found our feet in a hurry.
Chapter Nine
Too Far
Anthony
The fear in her pretty, blue eyes killed me. The sight of it was what made me fall back, once we were both on our feet. She swallowed hard, and relief flooded her features before she darted out of the diner.
Fuck.
Man, fuck.
I dropped a fifty-dollar bill to cover the coffee and tip, not even in my right mind as I scrambled to see which way she’d gone. I saw the blur of her grey-and-black-checkered flannel and hurried across the lot. She was fast for being a short, little thing. I was half winded by the time I caught up.
“Damn girl, you’re fast as fuck. Hold on.” I grabbed her shoulder and forced her to turn. My hand fell away the minute she pivoted, confronting me with vivid-blue eyes and barely restrained tears.
“Guess I move a little easier when I’m not strapped into stilettos and straddling a pole.”
She wasn’t sassing, her voice was meek, almost apologetic.
“Hey. Come on, stop. Where you goin’ anyhow?” I raised my head and glanced around the parking lot, like I expected there to be some clue as to which vehicle was hers. She sniffed and shifted, scanning the lot without committing to a direction.
“Where is your cage?”
