Rising (Anderson Special Ops #2) - Melody Anne Page 0,27

chance to have a back and forth conversation. She sealed her lips and waited. She didn’t say anything, afraid if she started speaking again, she wouldn’t stop and let him answer anything.

“First and foremost, I absolutely hate fighting. But, when people like those idiots cross a certain line, there’s no way I can be the man I am and not step up to the plate. I won’t allow them to get away with that kind of behavior.”

“What makes you the person who decides?” she asked. It wasn’t a mean question, it was curiosity.

“I was in the military for a lot of years. I received the best of the best of training in hand-to-hand combat though in my position I didn’t have to use much of that skill. I still wanted to stay sharp just in case.” His grin grew before he paused to take another bite of his pie. She waited. “Though I didn’t need my military training with those guys. Even a blindfolded monkey could’ve taken the drunk jackasses out.”

Erin laughed. “I wouldn’t have been able to,” she said. But he had a point. They’d barely been able to stand they’d been so inebriated.

“I think you’re a hell of a lot tougher than you think. You handled the entire situation quite impressively.”

“Thanks,” she said, her cheeks heating. It wasn’t easy for her to take a compliment. She wasn’t sure why.

“As for why I didn’t allow help from my friends” — his grin grew — “maybe it was a bit of ego stroking. I know those four men are better fighters than I am, and will always have my back, but I took what the drunks were saying personally, and I wanted to handle it. If it would’ve looked as if any patrons in here were going to be injured, it would’ve changed the dynamics and they wouldn’t have hesitated to step in. None of us would put innocent bystanders in jeopardy just to prove a point.”

“You’re all big. The five of you sitting together is a bit of an intimidating sight,” she said.

He emptied his cup and she refilled it. “I’m not a humble man at all. I know what I’m capable of. But I know what they are all capable of as well. If I would’ve gotten into any kind of trouble, they would’ve made it look like Godzilla had just ripped through a house of cards. But those are truly my brothers and we have a code among us. We trust each other fully and we listen. I asked them to let me handle it and they respected that.”

“Do you guys work together? What’s your job?”

He didn’t even blink. “We’re just super tight friends. We also do some odd jobs together sometimes.” Then he utterly distracted her as he took her hand again, his thumb rubbing over the pulse in her wrist, which jumped up a few beats. She completely forgot she’d asked about his job.

“You’re very lucky to have such good friends,” she told him, her voice slightly breathless.

“Yes, I am. Now, that’s enough talk about other men. I want to focus on you and me,” he told her. She was trying to play it cool, but it wasn’t easy to do with him touching her.

There were a few other diners in the place, but they might as well have been in there alone. She saw no one but this man in front of her.

“You and me?” she asked with what she hoped was a convincing nonchalance. “I didn’t know there was a you and me.”

“Erin, I like you, and I’m about to ask you out,” he told her with a wink. “So, prepare yourself because there’s only one right answer.”

She loved how much this man made her smile. It was such a strange feeling. He was certainly an alpha male, which usually turned her off. But he did it with confidence and humor, not attitude and arrogance. There was a difference between confidence and a jackass attitude.

“Then you better make it good because I’m not easy to impress,” she said, testing what this man was made of.

“So, you’re telling me if I asked you to dinner and a movie you wouldn’t jump at it?”

“I’d tell you to try again,” she said.

He laughed hard at those words, and she found herself unable to look away from him.

“Erin, I’m going to take you on the best date of your life,” he said, confidence shining through his eyes. She had no doubt it would be the best date