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He served some to me, on the dessert plates that been left on the table. “Angela’s desserts are amazing,” he said. “With her profiterole to bargain with, I even dare to ask you a slightly more personal question.”
I braced myself. “Let’s hear the question first,” I hedged. “I don’t buy a pig in a poke.” No way was I going to fawn on him like his other women did. No matter how gorgeous he was. I would not be so cheaply bought. Lemon profiterole, my ass.
But he just looked amused. “I want to know how you learned to fight like that.”
Fair question, but I was having a hard time answering. The effect he had on me was just hormones, I reminded myself. I couldn’t even blame myself for it. But it still made me angry, as if I’d been infiltrated. Some traitorous part of me wanted to simper at him and bat my eyes. Cross and uncross my legs. Curl my toes and giggle.
I scooped up another profiterole, grabbed a cluster of red grapes, a few slices of kiwi, and organized my unruly mind. I didn’t often let myself get so close to people that this question came up, so I wasn’t all that smooth in the telling anymore.
“I’m from San Diego, originally,” I told him. “I started studying martial arts in college. I had a knack for it.”
“What discipline?”
“The gym I attended had a lot of different disciplines, including plain old street fighting. I tried everything, but after, I specialized in karate and kung fu. Now I run my own martial arts school for women and girls. I believe in empowering girls.”
“That’s great,” he said.
“In some ways it is,” I said. “But it’s in a neighborhood where nobody has much money, so it’s not terribly profitable. That’s why you found me temping.”
“You’re a crusader and protector,” he said.
I shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. I just like teaching.”
“So, San Diego,” he said. “Parents? Brothers, sisters?”
“None. My mother was single, my dad out of the picture. She knew better than to make that mistake again, so no brothers or sisters for me.” I felt the shades of Raffi and Gabri in my mind, a streak of pain and loss, like the trail left by a falling star. Blessedly quick, as I was adept at moving on quickly.
“So you’re all alone in the world?”
I glared at him. “Maybe, but don’t get any dumb ideas.”
“Such as?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Feeling sorry for me? Don’t. I’m fine on my own. Until I get dragged into somebody’s goddamn helicopter. Then things get questionable.”
“Please don’t start,” he said. “I brought you with me because I am sure you would be killed if didn’t. I still am convinced of that.”
“I appreciate your concern, but it does not translate into authority,” I said. “If I find myself in danger, I’ll deal with it. Those motherfuckers would get a rude surprise.”
“Not anymore,” he said. “You’ve lost the element of surprise, Kat. They know what you’re capable of. They have good reason not to shoot me in the head, because they need what’s in it. But they would blow yours right off your shoulders.”
I let out a long sigh, my mind reshuffling plans, goals. “Well, shit,” I said grimly. “Maybe it’s time to disappear.”
His eyes narrowed. “You say that as if it’s no big deal. You’ve done it before?”
Damn, the guy was laser-sharp. “Not at all,” I said crisply. “I just have a practical nature. I see no reason to whine.”
“And your martial arts school?”
That did hurt. “I would hate to leave them,” I admitted. “With no warning, no explanation. It feels like a betrayal. But I tell you what, Masters—how is it any different for them, if those assholes kill me, or if you trap me up here like a cat in a tree?”
“It is not the same,” he said, through his teeth. “You would be safe.”
“I beg to differ. Anyhow. Now that we’ve cleaned up, chilled out, had some lunch, let’s just call your helicopter, or car, or teleporter, or whatever the hell you’ve got in your space-age garage, and have someone drive me straight back to Seattle, to my house. Where I live. Like a goddamn normal person. Okay?”
“To certain fucking death,” he said harshly.
“Just please, leave me to my fate,” I said, through my teeth. “My certain death is my own business, thank you very much.”
