Page 75 of Her Noble Protector

He slid her a sideways glance. “You never told me why you quit it all and became a tour guide down in Mexico. Seems like kind of a come-down.”

She adjusted her position in her seat so she could look at him fully. “Let’s save that conversation for dinner, okay?”

“Sure,” he acquiesced easily.

She was silent for a bit.

“You can’t talk about your missions, can you? That’s what Cami told me, but I wanted to ask you.”

“She’s right, I can’t.”

“She also said that you leave at the drop of a hat. No warning. Sometimes in the middle of the night. Is that right?”

Again, Raiden’s eyes cut over to her. “Yeah, that happens.”

“Oh.”

“Lisa, why are you asking?”

There was a long silence.

“Lisa?”

“It seems to me that Cami, A.J., and the others have to be pretty special women to be able to cope with that from their men,” she whispered.

Raiden’s entire body clenched and his fingers tightened on his steering wheel. He couldn’t believe that Lisa had been thinking that deeply about his job. That was something he could have hoped to have talked to her months from now, but the fact that she was even giving it the slightest bit of thought now, amazed him.

“Yeah, honey. They’re special,” he said softly. “Remarkable, even.”

He felt her body jerk. She got what he was saying.

Holy hell, he needed to kiss this woman. He saw the exit coming up and he took it. They were quiet all the rest of the way to the restaurant. As soon as he opened the passenger door, the breeze hit them.

“Let me help you into your coat,” he murmured. She nodded her head. She wasn’t looking up at him. Damn, they were back in the shy zone. He needed to get them back on track. He guided them into the restaurant and the hostess immediately seated them.

Lisa gripped the menu with both hands and he could see her knuckles had turned white. He reached across the table and tugged at the menu, pulling it down so he could see her face. “Are you okay?”

She looked up at him and gave him a scared look. “I said too much in the car, didn’t I?”

He pulled the menu out of her hands and put it down on the table. “Lisa, I’m not sure where we’re headed, but I laid my cards on the table back in Arizona, remember?”

She slowly nodded her head.

“I told you that you were one of life’s special people, and I was bound and determined to be there for you. I told you that after only being with you for two and a half days. Does that sound familiar?” he asked fiercely.

Her eyes were wide and she nodded.

“Laid it out for you.”

She nodded again.

“Just now in the car, you told me you were thinking about me. About us, right?”

She nodded again.

“So you laid it out for me, right?”

She nodded, and he smiled. “Lisa you can actually use words. As a matter of fact, it would make me feel really good if you did.”