believe that they’re safe. I also think that it’s really important to keep your location top secret.”
“A need-to-know basis, huh?” She leaned forward too and lifted an eyebrow. “It seems pretty dramatic if you ask me.”
He scanned the restaurant behind her, then leveled her with hard, serious eyes. “The shooting at the Sporties wasn’t dramatic? The sniper at the party and that car bomb at your house weren’t dramatic?”
Point made. “Touché.” She studied him, wanted to take his hands in hers, but didn’t. “When exactly did you quit working for Ari?”
He didn’t answer immediately. He just twirled the pepper shaker. “Does it matter?”
“Yeah. It does.” She had so many questions for this man, but this one topped the list.
“Right after you called me when the bomb exploded.” He didn’t bat an eye.
She processed this. “You just dropped him off, said, ‘I quit’ and came to me.”
“Something like that.”
Julie leaned back as the server set down her salad. The college-age girl kept a shy gaze on Troy, which didn’t surprise Julie since he filled out his navy T-shirt with broad shoulders and a muscled chest. Her glance at Julie turned into a double take. Julie knew the look well. “Billy Joe Bob, if I catch you lookin’ at another woman again, I’m gonna hit you so hard your mama’s gonna feel it.”
Troy’s brows lifted and Julie mirrored the move. He glanced at the server staring at her and caught on like the astute man he was. “Now, calm down, Irma Jean. I’m not staring at anybody. You know I love you, sugarplum.”
Her lips curved in a half smile and she glanced at the waitress, who finished setting Troy’s burger in front of him. “Let me give you some advice, Ginny,” Julie said, reading the girl’s nametag. “You can only trust a man about as far as you can throw him.” She shook her head. “It just ain’t enough.”
Ginny gave her a weak smile and bustled away. The toddler finally stopped crying when his mother handed him a glass of milk.
“Having fun?” Troy asked before taking a bite from his burger.
“Not especially. I still think she might figure it out. Ask me if I care.” She stuffed her fork with wilted lettuce and stuck it in her mouth. Nothing like diner food. She washed it down with weak iced tea. “So you quit working for Ari. Does this mean I’ve hired you? I mean I know I offered the other night and I was serious, but it’s not like I even know what Ari was paying you. Not that I can’t match it or beat it, but I should probably know what I’m going to be paying you.” Boy, none of that came out the way she wanted it to. Jeez.
“I’m not on your payroll,” he growled before taking another bite of his lunch.
“Why not?”
He raised a hand in the air as if she should know the answer to that question. When he finally swallowed his bite, he wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I slept with you,” he whispered fiercely. “I’m not taking your money. I’d feel like you were paying me for...for...”
“For services rendered?” She worked to keep a smile off her face.
“Yes,” he said sharply.
Maybe things were looking up. She liked the taste of victory. It sure beat the salad she was trying to force down. “So...if I’m not paying you, does that mean we’re still sleeping together?” At his deer-in-the-headlights expression she continued, “I’ll take that as a maybe.”
Glass shattered and Julie jumped. The toddler started wailing again because he’d dropped his milk. She’d seen that coming a mile away and wasn’t even a parent. Yet. But someday...
“First of all,” Troy said, taking her attention away from the mother scrambling to clean up the spill. “I can’t sleep with you while you’re hurt. I’d be scared to make you worse. Second, I really wasn’t sure you wanted...to... I wasn’t sure you wanted...”
Sex? She couldn’t believe it. “After a whole night of crazy amazing sex, you weren’t sure if I wanted to do it again? Are you out of your mind? Who wouldn’t want a repeat performance of that night? It was, it was...”
A slow smile spread across his face. “Outstanding.”
“Yeah. Outstanding.” She liked that word. She also liked the heat in his eyes. Thinking about that night brought a definite flush to her cheeks and she concentrated on her salad.
They ate in silence for another few minutes, getting used to the idea. As far as Julie was concerned