this?” Dozens of conversations and the clatter of utensils filled the air.
“Yes.”
She glanced at the guards. “I have to admit, it was pretty cool the way they entered first and fanned out around the place… as if you were the president and they were your Secret Service detail.”
He laughed. “I wish.”
When she glanced down at her watch to check the time, her eyes widened. “Has it been an hour?”
He nodded.
No wonder the guards’ stomachs were rumbling. “I’d better go, too.”
They bused their trays, then strolled over to the entrance together. There they paused as Todd and the other guards approached.
“It was nice to meet you, Emma,” Cliff said with a faint smile.
“Nice to meet you, too, Cliff.”
Turning, he headed for the elevator as the heavily armed guards closed in around him.
That had sounded a little too final for her liking.
She would see him again. Wouldn’t she?
Chapter Seven
Cliff carefully restrained his pace to a casual stroll and kept his face impassive as Todd and the other guards escorted him to the cafeteria the following week. Would Emma be there, already sitting at what he had come to think of as their table?
Their table, as if they were a couple with regular reservations at their favorite restaurant.
He shook his head at himself.
She had joined him for lunch every day the previous week. And just that quickly, he had come to crave her company so much that he had felt ridiculously disappointed—considering the brevity of their acquaintance—when he hadn’t seen her on Saturday or Sunday.
He didn’t think he had ever greeted a Monday with such eager anticipation before.
Todd kept up a rambling conversation as they walked, one that fortunately only required Cliff to nod here or there while he searched the faces they passed. A few smiled and nodded. Most just stared like a toddler seeing a larger-than-life mall Santa for the first time.
“If it helps,” Todd said, “they do the same thing when an immortal is on-site.”
The other guards nodded.
Cliff arched a brow. “You mean Bastien?”
Several men issued derisive snorts.
Todd laughed. “No. When he’s on-site, they shake in their boots and lock themselves in their offices.”
Cliff scowled, pissed on his friend’s behalf.
“He did make a pretty bad impression when he breached network security and broke a lot of guards’ limbs that time.”
He had a point. But Bastien wouldn’t have done that if Reordon hadn’t been a dick and refused to let him see Vince.
“Bastien scares them,” Todd continued. “But Seth, David, and some of the other immortals intimidate the hell out of them. So they look at Immortal Guardians the same way they’re gawking at you.” He shrugged. “Just thought I’d put that out there.”
Knowing that did help a little. “Thanks.”
When they reached the cafeteria, most of the guards entered ahead of him and spread out around the room.
That grated a lot less when he recalled Emma’s Secret Service comparison.
And there she was, the woman he spent far too much time thinking about, sitting at their table, head down while she read a book on her phone. She wore a yellow dress that looked fantastic against her beautiful brown skin. It hugged her slender torso and flared out into a loose skirt beneath the table, hiding most of her lovely legs.
Her hair was pulled back into a puffball ponytail that managed to look both cute and alluring at the same time, baring a smooth neck he had pressed his lips to in a dream last night. As far as he could tell, she wore no makeup beyond something that made her lips shimmer temptingly.
Silence continued to fall whenever Cliff entered the room.
When it did, Emma glanced up. Amusement twinkled in her eyes as she watched what she now called his entourage take up their usual positions.
Cliff’s pulse picked up, but he gave no indication of it. Offering the room in general his standard abrupt nod, he headed over to the lunch counter where Mason grinned and bellowed another boisterous greeting. Damn, he appreciated that. Whetsman was being a dick again, so it was nice to not be treated like an ax murderer.
After receiving another tray heaped with scrumptious food, he crossed to Emma.
Her pretty face lit with another smile as she turned her phone off and gave him her full attention. “Hi.”
“How’s it going?”
“Same old, same old. Care to join me?”
“Yes, thank you.”
Whispers erupted as he seated himself across from her.
“What about you? How’s your day been so far?”
He shrugged. “About the same. What are you reading?”