“Yes, sir.” She gave him a mock salute then held out several takeout menus. “What do you want? Pizza, subs, or Chinese?”
“Where’d you find those?” Hunter asked.
“In the drawer over there. Why?”
“No reason. They must be leftover from a previous mission here.” Most likely from Loki, who had a penchant for junk food and tended to eat when he was stressed. He stared at the menus in her hand. “I honestly don’t care. You pick.” She handed him the menu from a place called the Double Dragon and he picked out his usual. “Kung Pao Chick
en and an eggroll.”
“Spicy, huh?” She grinned. “No problem. I’ll call it in and have it delivered.”
“Thanks. And make sure you tell your limo driver to take off now. I don’t want that sex boss to send thugs over here to check it out ahead of time and find a limo parked out front. We’re taking enough chances with you going to your film sets every day. Why make it any easier for them to connect your dots?”
She nodded and wandered into the living room to call the restaurant while he kept busy setting out plates and silverware and napkins. Alex eventually walked back in and set her phone on the counter to charge. “I don’t think I said it before, but thanks.”
“For what?” Hunter looked up at her from setting the table.
“For setting this up.” Her voice was uncharacteristically demure. “And for earlier. I like that you told me about you getting bullied as a kid. It makes us seem closer somehow.”
“Hmm.” Embarrassed heat prickled up from beneath the collar of his gray T-shirt. He’d not meant to spill his guts like that and tell her about his issues growing up, but he’d been upset and she’d been there and there was something about Alex that made it so easy for him to talk to her. He turned away to grab a couple glasses from the cabinet. “Whatever.”
“Not whatever,” she protested. “That was obviously a defining moment for you, an incident that hurt you deeply and helped form the man you are now. I feel like I can relate to you better.”
“Perfect.” He plunked the glasses down on the table, not wanting to get into all that again. Not now when they had that asshole from the club about to show up in a few hours and pollute the place. “How long until the food gets here?”
“Twenty minutes.”
“Cool. I’m going to go take a shower and change for tonight.” He stalked out of the kitchen, barking orders as he went. “Don’t let anyone in and don’t answer the landline if it rings. Wait until I’m back out here before you shower or change. Understand?”
When she didn’t say anything, Hunter turned around to see her giving him another salute, this one of the one-fingered variety. He hurried into his bedroom to hide his smile. She didn’t take any shit from him, and damn if he didn’t like that. After he stripped, showered and shaved, he pulled on a clean pair of faded jeans and another black T-shirt, same uniform as the night before for consistency’s sake. He ran his fingers through his damp, short hair then headed back out into the living room to wait for the food while Alex got ready.
She barely said two words to him as she passed and he hated to admit that he missed that tiny glimpse of intimacy they’d shared earlier in the kitchen. Had she really liked that emotional crap he’d spewed that afternoon? As an ex-SEAL, he was used to keeping all his feelings bottled up inside. Spouting off about being picked on and feeling sad was a fast trip to an ass whooping in the military. And it wasn’t like he and the guys at Norse Security sat around all day talking about their emotions. Loki would have him sent for a psych eval if that ever happened. He slumped down on the sofa and pulled out his phone to check his emails. Mostly junk and a few new baby pics from Cam and Everly.
Little Annika Rose was so stinkin’ cute. Instead of fluffy pink bows, Evelry had her decked out in a tiny set of gray flannel overalls with embroidered tools on them. Next to her in the pic was one of the many tiny stuffed toys with tech inside that Cam had made for her, saying that babies learned at an exponential rate. Their little minds absorbed information like sponges and the earlier you started teaching them the better. That little girl was one lucky kid.
Alex walked out just as the doorbell rang with their food. Seeing her in the cat suit, with the brunette wig and glasses, brought back all his fiery reactions from the night before and Hunter pushed to his feet, heading for the door to distract himself before he did something stupid like sweep her up into his arms and carry her to the bedroom, strip off that leather inch by delectable inch and make love to Alex all night long.
“Uh, go on into the kitchen,” he said, his words emerging harsher than he’d intended. “I got this.”
10
“Tell me about your family,” Alex said, making small talk as they dug into their food. She usually didn’t indulge in all this high-sodium, high-fat goodness so this dinner was a special treat. As Hunter bit off half of his eggroll in one bite, she guessed it must be one for him too. Funny, in the few days they’d been working together, she’d not seen him go to the gym once. She’d assumed a guy like him with a killer physique would spend a lot of time looking after it, but it appeared he came by his bulk naturally, just like his good looks. She picked up her chopsticks and took a bite of her spicy pork with noodles. Flavors of cinnamon, brown sugar, and garlic filled her mouth and she couldn’t help doing a little squirm of happiness in her chair. “This is fantastic. So, do you have brothers, sisters? Parents?”
He swallowed his bite of food and swiped a paper napkin across his mouth before answering. “Two brothers, one older, one younger. And yes, I have parents. I wasn’t born in a test tube.”
“Are they still alive?”
“Are you always this nosy?” He gave her a narrowed stare. “Yeah. Both alive.”
When he didn’t continue, she prodded some more, wanting to keep the conversation going and, honestly, to learn more about him. He was surprisingly quiet and self-effacing, way different than most of the ego-maniacs she met around Hollywood. It was refreshing and sweet and intrigued her to no end. “Tell me about them.”
“All of them?” he asked, scrunching his nose. “Seriously?”
She shrugged and nodded.
“Okay, then. Well, my mom’s the perfect suburban housewife. Kind, caring, was always ready with fresh-baked cookies when I got home from school. But she could go full Momma Bear too if needed, like when I got bullied. She told me that if I was just myself around the other kids, they’d like me more and I’d have more friends.” He took another bite of his chicken and fried rice. “She’s still my top supporter, no matter what I’m doing. It means a lot to me, her unwavering confidence in me, even if I don’t always deserve it. Her name’s Rebecca.”
Alex tilted her head, wanting to ask why he felt he didn’t deserve her support and confidence, but not wanting to break the sense of intimacy that had formed between them now. “Go on. What about your dad?”