“You don’t date much, do you?”
I stared at her, unsure of what to do next. “Do you need a jacket or something?”
“And mess up the look?” She batted her eyelashes dramatically.
Definitely didn’t want to mess up the look. “I’ll give you mine if you get cold.”
“No, you leave your jacket on. Any bodyguard worth his salt is going to be carrying.”
“I don’t have a weapon. I don’t need one.”
“I realize that you’re He-Man sized and all, but your role in this little drama is to act as my bodyguard. If something bad goes down and you aren’t armed, we’re both in trouble.” She sighed, dug around in her bag, and shoved a stun gun into my hands.
I stared at it. “I have no idea what to even do with this thing.”
“Just make sure the safety’s on so you don’t tase your nuts off.”
As I often found with Hallie, I had no idea how to respond.
“I’m not going to lie and say that most often I find it disgusting when men can’t look above my shoulders. But above my shoulders is where you usually look.”
“That’s where your eyes are.” I sounded like an idiot.
“Do you know anyone who has eyes elsewhere?”
“I mean that’s where your intelligence is. I can see it there. I like that part of you.”
“I know. And that might be where your focus is right now, but I have to be honest. After our earlier conversation, I’m hoping your thoughts are somewhere else entirely.”
Chapter 11
Hallie
I needed to be 100 percent to do a job, and I had to do this one well to keep Dune in my father’s employ. Now he had my thoughts spinning, and other parts of me aching. We were alone in a hotel. I’d thought there was something happening between us beyond a working relationship, but I couldn’t even convince him to stray a smidge into moral ambiguity. All he could think about was the job. I just wanted a kiss. So I would have an answer.
Not that I knew the question.
“Ready?” Dune asked.
“Unless you’ve changed your mind about the kissing.”
He put his hand on the doorknob.
“Fine. Now is the perfect time to go down, anyway. People will be leaving for dinner, checking in, and there’s some sort of reception in the lobby.”
“Why do you want more people instead of less people?
Shouldn’t you wait until the dead of night?”
“No.” I checked my lipstick one more time in the mirror, and caught Dune checking out my bare back. “Too much security camera action if we do it that way.”
“Why does that matter? You can change your appearance.” He picked up the key card and dropped it into his pocket.
“Right. But you can’t. If you were Poe, this would’ve been simpler.”
“I’m sorry to disappoint.” He sounded so touchy I had to grin.
“I didn’t mean it that way, and you know it.”