Guarding His Body. A.C. Arthur
you hungry?” he asked while he perused the menu.
“No.”
He peeped at her above his menu and took note of the folded arms and bored expression. She was angry with him. Funny how he’d only known her three days and her moods were already as transparent to him as if they’d known each other forever. What was even funnier was the way her anger affected him. He didn’t like it, to put it simply. He didn’t like when she wasn’t smiling, when her eyes were brewing instead of smoldering or sparkling. He didn’t like when she folded her arms, effectively closing him out of her world.
“You haven’t eaten all day, Sabrina. How about a hamburger?”
“I said I’m not hungry.”
He expelled a deep breath. “How do you propose to protect anybody when you’re weak from malnourishment?”
She cut her eyes at him, released her arms and placed her palms flat on the table. “I’m getting sick of you using my position to your advantage.”
He feigned innocence. “Would I do something like that?” He lifted his menu to hide his smirk. Sabrina was very serious about her job. The mere mention of her not being able to do it to the best of her ability had her agreeing to almost anything. He’d have to remember that in the future. “I’m going to have a bacon cheeseburger with everything on it, French fries and whatever you have on tap,” Renny told the waiter who’d mysteriously appeared.
Bree picked up her menu and scanned the contents. When she looked up the waiter was standing in front of her, pen poised and waiting for her order. “I’ll have a bacon cheeseburger with mustard only, French fries and a glass of water. And the gentleman doesn’t want onions on his burger.”
The waiter looked at Renny in question and Renny looked at Bree in the same way.
“I’m not smelling onion breath for the rest of the night. How do you expect me to protect you if I can’t stand being near you?” she said smugly.
It was back, that sparkle in her eyes he was quickly becoming used to. “No onions, please.”
They talked amicably after that, in which time Bree learned more about the infamous Lorenzo Bennett. He wasn’t shallow like his reputation painted him. Instead he was very passionate about his work and about his family. She watched him as he spoke of his younger sisters and their future, of his brothers and their childhood escapades, of his parents and how much they loved each other. As she ate, she found herself wishing for just a moment that he was her man. She could tell he’d love her and cherish her, he was just that way. Too bad she wasn’t looking for a man right now. If she’d met him two years ago, maybe…no, she would still be Sabrina the tomboy and he’d still be the gorgeous millionaire with his pick of the world’s most beautiful women.
“Sabrina?”
He touched her hand as he said her name and she focused on his mouth.
“Are you okay?”
“Uh, yeah. I’m fine. What were you saying?”
“I was asking about your life as a soldier. How was it for you personally? Did you date?”
She stuck a fry into her mouth to give herself a moment to think about the question. “We had personal time to do with as we pleased, if that’s what you mean.”
He’d finished his food and was actually enjoying watching her eat. She didn’t pick like the other women he’d dated. She hadn’t ordered a salad and then acted as if those bits of leaves and vegetables had filled her up. No, she tackled that burger with as much enthusiasm as she tackled everything else she did. “I meant were you seeing anyone special?”
She’d figured as much. “Then why didn’t you just say that?”
“I just did.”
“Why do you want to know?”
“I’m curious.”
She picked up her napkin, wiped her mouth and sat back against the chair. “It’s really none of your business.”
“Look, we’re two adults sharing a meal. We’re going to be working together until this merger is wrapped up. We might as well have some type of friendship between us.” She wasn’t budging. “Okay, if you answer me, then you can ask me a really personal question in return. Deal?”
She drummed her blunt fingernails on the table. “Fine. Yes, I dated. And once I had a serious relationship.”
He’d thought as much. “Was he a soldier, too?”
“Uh-uh, I answered you. Now it’s my turn.”
He nodded in compliance. He was enjoying his time with her, more so than he’d enjoyed an evening with a woman in a long time. “Go ahead.”
“Why do you use women?”
“Who told you I use women?”
She shook her head. “You can’t answer a question with a question.”
“Okay. I don’t use women. At least I don’t think I do. I see a woman I like, I ask her out. We may or may not sleep together and then it’s done. That doesn’t sound like using to me.”
“Why do you sleep with them if you don’t want a relationship with them?”
That was two questions, but he was going to answer her; it would indebt her to him in the future. Sabrina was nothing if not honorable. “I don’t sleep with every woman I go out with. And I make my limitations perfectly clear from the get-go. It’s their choice whether to proceed or not.”
“How long do you plan on sleeping with women and dumping them?” She’d leaned forward now, her arms folded on the table in front of her.
“Until I find the right one.” He didn’t know why he said it. He’d already decided that there was no right one for him, that a committed relationship was simply not in the cards of his life. Yet the answer had come so quickly, so honestly that he thought there might be some semblance of truth to it.
That wasn’t the answer she expected. She blinked and tried to retrain her thoughts.
His cell phone rang, effectively ending the conversation. She sat back against the chair piecing together all that she’d just learned. Renny Bennett was one hell of a man and she suspected she was being treated to something people outside his family rarely saw—the real him.
“I’ll be right there,” she heard him say before disconnecting his phone and putting it back into his pocket. He pulled out some bills and stood.
“Adriana is stranded. I have to go and get her. I’ll call you a cab.”
Bree stood, looked at her watch. “No, you won’t. As long as you’re out, I’m on duty. I’m going with you.”
Renny started to argue, then thought better of it. She would remind him it was her job, and he didn’t really feel like spoiling the camaraderie they’d just forged. “Let’s go. It’s getting dark and I don’t like the idea of her stranded on some side road by herself.”
They trudged out of the restaurant and toward his car.
“Why is she by herself? Gary is supposed to be guarding her,” Bree said as she climbed into his car.
“I’m not sure. She just said she was stranded and told me where to meet her.”
They drove through the city until they hit the rural roads. Streetlights were a good distance apart and like Renny said, it was getting dark. “Why would she be out here? Does she know people out this way?” They were miles away from the city and even farther away from the Bennett estate where Adriana lived. Adriana was a grown woman, so she could go about as she pleased, but Bree sensed something wasn’t right.
She kept looking out the windows memorizing her surroundings even as she mentally went down her checklist. Her gun was holstered