Page 24 of Her Noble Protector

“Why did you get so much food?” she asked.

“If you don’t like it, you can throw it away,” he said. “But I was hoping it might tempt you. I want to take care of you.”

“Oh.”

She didn’t say anything else, so he was ready to go for the gusto. “Lisa, I really hate eating by myself.”

“Oh.”

“Do you think you could open your blinds and we could have breakfast together?”

Even from where he was sitting he could hear the big breath of air she sucked in. He knew he was pushing, but he needed to. The sooner he could get her out of her house and into counseling the better off she would be.

“I don’t think I can, Raiden.”

“How about if you just pulled back your blinds just a little bit, maybe six inches or so, just so that I can see your beautiful eyes, how about that?”

“I… I…”

“Honey, I just want to see you while we have breakfast together. Nothing else. Nothing scary, just see you while we talk and share a meal. Is that okay?”

For the longest time, she didn’t respond and Raiden was sure he’d overplayed his hand, then he saw the blinds move. He grinned as he saw them pull back almost a foot. Thank the good Lord.

“You really can’t see me from the couch, so I have to move. Wait a minute.”

“Okay, do what you have to do,” Raiden encouraged.

The blinds opened a little more, then through the gloom inside the house, he saw Lisa was sitting in a dining room chair beside the open blinds. She was leaning over the breakfast sandwich in her lap and the milk carton was on the floor in front of her. Finally, she looked up at him. Then she gave him a small smile and he felt like he had won the gold at the Olympics.

“Hi, honey.”

“Hi, Raiden.”

“It’s good to see you. I’ve been really worried about you.”

“Can we not talk about that?”

“Sure, let’s just eat our breakfast,” he agreed. As he took a big bite out of his sandwich he watched her take a dainty bite out of hers. She followed it by taking a sip of milk. She didn’t go for another bite, which made sense; her body probably wasn’t used to food. She looked gaunt. She’d really lost weight, at least fifteen pounds since he’d seen her in Miami. He’d taken note of her back then, five foot nine, toned body but still with curves. Now even in the shapeless pajamas, he could see that she had lost those curves. What’s more, her face looked too damned thin.

Lisa took another bite of her sandwich.

“Do you like your food?” he asked.

“Yeah. This has always been one of my favorites, but then I started eating huevos rancheros at the dude ranch and McDonald’s breakfast started coming in second place.”

Raiden made a mental note to get that for her tomorrow morning.

“Honey, with you sitting back there, I’m having a little trouble hearing you. Is there any way you might consider opening the sliding glass door just an inch?”

Her eyes shot to his. He could see the fear and he hated it.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but I won’t try to come into your house. You can trust me. I just want to be able to hear you while we have breakfast together.”

She gave him a long considering look, then set down her sandwich, got up, and inched to the door. After unlocking the door she opened it just a little. “Is this enough?” she asked.

“Yeah, Lisa, it is. I can hear you much better now.”

She nodded, then backed on up toward her chair. He could tell she didn’t want to turn her back on him. When she was settled he gave her a warm smile. He waited until she smiled back, then he asked his first question.