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Oh.
Oh, God.
It should really be illegal for someone to look this sexy first thing in the morning.
Zane rises from his seat and steps over. “Ms. Doe. It’s a pleasure to see you again.”
I grip the edge of my table, more than aware of all the eyes on me. I can’t very well make a scene, so I settle for being aloofly polite. “Uh… Yeah. You, too?”
The woman at the table—a busty strawberry blonde with bright red lipstick—smiles wide. “Who’s your friend, Zane?”
The man she has her arms around, Heath, gives Zane a smug pump of the eyebrows. “Is this the reason you disappeared for an hour last night? Didn’t know you had it in you.”
“Don’t be crass,” Zane warns.
“Why don’t you join us?” Darlene asks me, her invitation feeling genuine and sweet.
I shake my head. “Oh, that’s okay. I really wouldn’t want to impose.”
“Nonsense!” Heath explains. “Come on over. Nobody should have to eat alone. There’s a reason they make these booths extra wide.”
“You’re making her feel awkward,” the other man, Knox, says with a roll of the eyes.
“You’re welcome to join us,” Zane tells me. He hasn’t looked away once. The intensity of his gaze makes my cheeks fill with heat, his attention equal parts thrilling and confusing.
The voice screaming at me from the back of my brain wants to decline, to leave. I can shove whatever I haven’t managed to eat into my backpack and find a ride out of Nevada.
But my heart begs me to stay. I don’t know what it is about him, but Zane makes me feel…protected.
“I guess I could join you for a little bit,” I mumble.
I vacate my own table and sit next to Zane on the outside of the booth. I wonder if this is a conscious decision on his part, a silent reassurance that I have a way out should I need it. Either way, it settles my nerves knowing I can escape at a moment’s notice.
“So, how’d you meet your new friend, Zane?” Darlene asks as she pops a slice of apple into her mouth. There’s a relaxed lean to her body language, pressing against Heath with comfortable familiarity. One glance at her giant diamond engagement ring and her prior discussion of wedding cakes tells me everything I need to know.
“I got a little lost,” I say, hoping to control the narrative. “I was, um… applying for a job at the casino. Got a little turned around on my way out of the interview.”
“Oh, are you a local?” Darlene asks sweetly.
“Yes,” I lie.
“What job are you hoping to land?” Heath questions.
“Honestly, anything. You know how it is in this economy. Beggars can’t be choosers.”
Knox huffs. “I couldn't agree more.”
“I bumped into Zane on my fourth loop around the casino floor. He was kind enough to give me directions.”
“It took you a whole hour to give directions?” Heath says to Zane with a light chuckle.
“I saw her to where she needed to go,” Zane lies fluidly. “In case she got lost again.”
Darlene giggles. “Can’t help but get a little bit of bodyguarding practice, huh?”
I tilt my chin up to look at him. “Bodyguarding?”
“My brothers and I,” he says without any ounce of showboating, “we’re in the personal protection business.”
