The more education I got, the less it seemed geared toward my small family business. That was most likely my frustration talking, though. Someone cleared their throat and I was startled to see that Bigfoot stood close enough that he could have reached out and touched me before I even knew he was there. I gasped and jumped back a little.
“Now, I know I’m tired,” I whispered.
“You were pretty lost in whatever this is that you’re doing.” He hoisted me up from my chair and wrapped his arms around me and it never occurred to me to fight his hold, even though I still wasn’t sure it was the wisest move on my part to get involved with a man whose kid’s mother was so close to him that she felt entitled to run other women off. It just didn’t seem like a situation I wanted to be involved in, even if part of me did regret that decision.
“This is Kingston,” Bigfoot announced. The young guy who had been following me around for a good chunk of the morning stood there with his face tinged slightly pink in embarrassment.
“Don’t worry, I’m especially observant, except for when I’m knee deep in a case study.”
“Taking my girl for a break, stay here and watch over her stuff. Do not leave unless the building is on fire.”
“You got it, Prez,” the kid announced. The way he did it made me believe that Bigfoot was not only important to him, but someone the kid respected. The fact that his boss hadn’t reamed him out in front of me for failing to go unnoticed in his babysitting duties went a long way to gaining my respect, as well. I had spent a good amount of time wondering what it must be like to run a motorcycle club and what kind of management style a person running one might have.
“Where are we headed?” I finally asked him when we made our way out of the library.
“I thought maybe Jennika’s Diner, you know, since we have so many choices here.”
I giggled at that because he wasn’t wrong. We had two restaurants in our little town, that didn’t include the two bars that were owned by the club. One of those restaurants was Smiley’s restaurant, which was only open for dinner. Then there was Jennika’s Diner, which opened for breakfast and lunch most days and brunch on Sundays. It suited the people of Violence, New Mexico just fine. If we wanted a change of pace, we would drive to a larger town and get our fill of too many bad choices before we headed back to our little space and the just-right options that made us all happy.
It was something I had missed dearly while I was gone in the Army. The other thing that had been missed was the ability to walk from one end of our little town to the other without breaking a sweat. Our climate in Violence was fairly mild year-round and didn’t lend itself to the extreme back and forth you got in the desert thanks, in part, to our elevation.
“You do realize that stalking is a crime and we’re about to pass the jail, right?” I teased Bigfoot.
“It’s not stalking.” I could almost hear laughter in his voice as he explained that to me, like it was a familiar conversation. “It’s protection.”
“Did you rehearse that in the mirror back home?”
Bigfoot swatted my ass. “Quit being a brat.” After a minute he shook his head and then chuckled before he put his good arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer to him. “As a matter of fact, I might have had a similar conversation with my VP and Sgt. at Arms earlier.”
“Oh! So, I’m not the only person who thinks you’re a stalking stalker who stalks me?”
“Okay, brat. You know why I need to keep you safe.”
“I know, and while I can joke about it, I appreciate you making sure I don’t have to up my body count.” His eyes flicked to mine and there was a smolder to them that made me uncomfortable in places I didn’t want to mention as we passed Smiley’s.
“We’re going to up your body count, Sammy. Not the one you were referencing, but I promise you any others before me won’t even compare.”
“Well, someone’s full of themselves.” Suddenly, the temperature outside didn’t seem mild at all. I might have had my reservations about dating the local MC’s president, but that didn’t mean I was immune to how he affected me.
As we walked into Jennika’s Diner, I decided to deflect back to the original topic of conversation. “I’m not saying I don’t appreciate a person looking out for me, but you have to admit it’s a little pervy of you to always be lurking outside my bedroom window at night. You might as well be wearing a trench coat with your hands stuffed in the pockets ready to flash me all the goods the minute I look outside.”
I hadn’t realized that the hostess-slash-waitress had been standing close enough to overhear me until she burst out laughing. “Oh my God! I am so going to tell Lis about that!” She was nearly doubled over from laughing so hard, so I grabbed us a couple menus. “Sorry,” the woman managed to get out. “I don’t think I’ll ever get that flasher image out of my head now.” She made sure her attention was on me before she added, “Good luck with this one, especially if he’s so fascinated that he’s stalking you. You’ll never get clear of him now, even if that’s what you really wanted.”
“Great,” Bigfoot grumbled as the woman showed us to our table. “Bring us a couple waters, would ya?” His question was obviously meant to dismiss the woman who was laughing at him, but I had to admire the fact that he did it respectfully. The minute she walked away, I moved to sit down on the side of the table that put my back to the wall and the door in my line of sight.
“Sweetheart, I’m going to need you to trade me places,” Bigfoot stated evenly as he stared down at me with a puzzled look on his face.
“Why?”
“It’s my job to keep you safe. Part of doing that requires me to be able to see all the entrances, exits, and everyone in the room.”
I shook my head as my eyes tracked each window, door, and the people at each table. There was a hallway that led back to another dining area where there were more doors. It was something I would have to keep my eye on.
“I need you to trust me with your safety, Sam.”
I turned my gaze up to his. “In order to earn that trust, you need to know what will make me feel comfortable in certain situations. Then, you’ll do your best to see that I am afforded that comfort because it is what I need to feel safe. The fact is that I don’t trust you yet because you haven’t earned it. Forcing me to put my back to the crowd and the doors will keep me on edge the whole time we’re here. I won’t trust that you have my best interest at heart, and you will not see my best side because I will be too concerned with who might approach on my six.”
Bigfoot blew out a breath and then gave one quick nod of his head. Then, he took a seat on the chair beside mine and shimmied the table around just enough that we sat catty-corner facing out toward the rest of the room together. We were both able to see the entire restaurant and have our backs to the wall. “Better?”
