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He was still trying to figure out what to say when Maxi placed both hands on his chest and pushed. Hard.
“Stop it!” she raised her voice.
Since he was six foot two, two hundred and ten pounds of muscle and she stood a hair under five-four and weighed about a buck-twenty soaking wet, her efforts didn’t go far. He remained planted in place.
“Stop what?!” he asked, more defensively than he’d meant to.
Not that she cared. An accusatory finger poked where her palm had just pushed. “Stop walking on eggshells around me. Don’t treat me like some fragile thing that might break. I’m not fragile. I won’t break. Just…be normal.”
In Billy’s life he’d been accused of a lot of things. Being an asshole. Being immature. Being cocky. Being a man-whore. But by far, the thing that he heard the most, usually in the form of a complaint from the fairer sex, was that he said what was on his mind. He didn’t sugarcoat things. He’d never seen the point. Before now, that is.
Now, he was so in his own head and emotions, so scared and angry, so filled with fear and rage, that he wasn’t himself. But as he looked into Maxi’s eyes, he realized that, from the time he’d seen her in Jessie’s office until now, the only moment he’d seen the sparkle in her eyes that he’d grown addicted to—the sparkle that was a window into the fire that burned just below the surface of the always calm, cool and collected Maxi Rizzo—was when he teased her in the hall at SPC after Martin had left. For a few seconds, she was just Maxi and he was just Billy.
In the ring, he was known for reading his opponents. Their body language. Their tells. On the job, he was known for reading potential threats. Their body language. Their tells. In the bedroom, he was known for reading women. Their body language. Their tells.
So how in the world had he missed Maxi’s body language? Maxi’s tells?
Shaking his head slightly, he tried to clear the black cloud that had taken up residence in his head since the second he’d stepped into Seth’s office this afternoon. He needed to put his personal shit aside and be there for Maxi. Not just to protect her physically, but also to give her what she needed emotionally.
She wanted normal, he’d give her normal.
A small smirk lifted on his mouth as he held her gaze for a long beat before making her an offer that—unlike the Godfather—he knew she would refuse. “Those are the only cameras up now. But I have video on my phone. If you want, we can make our own movie. That dress is giving me all kinds of creative inspiration.”
Her full red lips twitched, but she didn’t give in to the broad smile that he knew his comment was straining to put on her face. Before the grin had a chance to reach its full potential, his phone buzzed. Glancing down, he saw a message from Nate, their tech guy.
Man. Early 30s. Approaching door.
“Someone’s here,” Billy told her just before there was a knock at the door.
With a start, she jumped slightly.
“Stay,” he commanded as he turned to answer it.
Slender fingers wrapped around his forearm, gripping him firmly. “No. I’ll get it. It’s my door. My date.”
Instead of arguing with her, which he knew was a waste of time, he let her pass by him and followed behind her.
She stopped up short and turned her head, looking back at him over her shoulder. “What are you doing?”
“My job.”
“Opening the door is not your job.” Her left brow raised.
“Keeping you safe is.”
Letting out a sigh of frustration she ran her hands down her dress, then explained with a heaping dose of attitude. “I seriously doubt me answering the door for my date, who I’m expecting, is going to put me in the danger zone.”
“Where you go, I go.”
“Hold on…” She held up her hand as realization dawned on her. “You are not going on my date with me.”
“Yes I am.”
Another knock sounded, this one louder than the last. Maxi poked her finger into Billy’s chest. “Wait here.”
Never one to obey orders being barked at him, Billy fell in step behind her. Chances were she was right, it was only her date, and there was no real threat—but Billy never left anything to chance. He was primed and ready to pull her to safety if need be.
After looking through the peephole, which Billy appreciated, Maxi pulled the door open only about six inches. Billy wondered if she was trying to hide her date from him or vice versa.
