Johan's Joy (Heroes for Hire #22) - Dale Mayer Page 0,32
a lot of people.”
“So we’re out in the middle of a park? Doesn’t that mean people are out here too?”
“There’s the potential for a lot of people,” Johan said, “but it doesn’t mean they will be within earshot of us here.”
She shot him a look and stepped a few feet away from him and caught Kai’s knowing glance. She winced at that.
One of Kai’s eyebrows shot up as she glanced between Joy and Johan, and a half smile formed.
Joy glared at her friend. “No,” she stated.
Kai’s grin widened, but she nodded. “If you say so,” she murmured.
Joy turned to look and saw the three men standing together, talking.
Kai immediately stepped closer. “So what’s going on between the two of you?”
“Nothing,” Joy snapped.
“Well, obviously not nothing,” Kai said with a big grin.
Knowing there was no way she could explain away or dissuade her friend from her current train of thought, Joy tried to change the conversation. “So what is really going on here? Why are we meeting in a park?”
“After hearing that your predecessor at work was killed in a hit-and-run,” Kai said worriedly, “I want to convince you to leave the company.”
Immediately Joy frowned. “Leaving is one thing, but leaving right now is another.”
“Leaving right now would be best,” Kai argued. “It would keep you safe.”
Joy turned her gaze to the sky. How could she explain how she felt to Kai? Up above was a bright blue sky dotted with white clouds that moved swiftly across, as if propelled by the winds. Maybe that’s how she felt too. “I feel like I need to stay and to figure out what happened.”
“It’s obviously dangerous,” Kai said. “We don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“Neither do I,” Joy said. “But, once that investigation opened up, all it did was make things more dangerous for me.”
“Exactly,” Kai said. “And we don’t want that. Yet we do need to figure out what’s going on.”
“But it’s too late now to shield me,” Joy said gently, “short of me leaving the city, which I really don’t want to do. Even if I leave the company and stay here in Houston, they would know where I live, and they could still run me down. Even if I do move, that could happen regardless.”
“We can protect you,” Kai said instantly.
Joy stared down at her friend and smiled. “I get that you believe you can,” she said, “but honestly it won’t be that easy. I’m not letting you chain me to my apartment, and I don’t want to have a chaperone every time I go out. So, in truth, you can’t protect me all the time, and, if somebody really wanted to come after me, you know they’d find a way. The same as you would, if that were your job.”
“Possibly,” Kai said with a slight nod. “But you could stay safer. At work, you’re a sitting duck.”
“At work,” she said, “I’m under Galen’s and Johan’s watchful eyes and hardly in any danger there.”
Kai just stared at her in growing frustration.
Joy reached out to her worried friend, stole a quick hug, and said, “I’m fine. But I’m not one to walk away from trouble.”
“I wish you would,” Kai said. “You don’t even have any self-defense knowledge.”
“I have a little,” she said, “but, no, nothing like you.” She turned, looked around at the picnic table, then walked over, hopped up, so she sat on the tabletop with her feet on the bench. “Are we planning on eating? I don’t know about anybody else, but I’m really hungry,” she complained.
“We ate lunch,” Johan said. “Did you not get enough?”
“I had enough lunch to get me to dinner,” she said. “But now it’s dinnertime, and I’m really hungry.”
At that, Kai laughed. “We have food in the vehicle,” she said. “Come on. Let’s go get it.”
“So it’s a picnic then?” Joy asked.
“To a certain extent, yes,” Kai said. “It’s a nice sunny day out, but did you want to go somewhere else instead?”
Immediately feeling guilty, Joy knew it was rude to be so churlish, especially since they had obviously made these plans. “Oh, no, it’s fine,” she said. “If I want something afterward, I can always go get a coffee.”
“We all can,” Tyson said, and he nodded toward Kai. “Stay here and visit. I’ll get the baskets.”
She nodded brightly, watching him as he strode away.
“You look like you’re still really happy with him,” Joy said.
“I am,” she whispered, and she held up her hand, proudly displaying an engagement ring.