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“Anything else?” The waitress seemed cooled off this time, her smile forced as she stared at Mendez.
“Thanks, this is fine,” Mendez said in an affable tone before she walked away.
“What is your problem?” Jack asked as he shoved at his bodyguard. “Did you just hip bump me out of the way? For what? Afraid the pretty waitress was going to attack me?”
Jack should be thankful. He really didn’t want to flirt again. It was his fault. He never should have started the game in the first place. It had been harmless, but she seemed to have taken him seriously. He was also pissed off that Mendez would take such a high hand with him. He should have voiced his objection or concerns, not just knocked Jack out of the way.
He was also pissed off that his body had reacted so strongly to Mendez touching him. That was what it was like every single time. Even when they’d first met and shaken hands, Jack had felt it, that instant attraction, that spark that shot through his entire body.
“You looked uncomfortable the last time she came over.” Mendez got up and moved to his own seat. “My job is to protect you, especially from fangirls you’ve given a false sense of hope to.”
Jack frowned, still fuming. “Who said it was a false sense of hope?”
The game had stopped being harmless a half an hour ago, but Jack wasn’t going to admit that. He also wasn’t going to admit how heated his body was, how hard his cock throbbed, when Mendez looked at him so intensely. Then Mendez’s expression went blank as he nodded at Jack’s plate.
“Eat up.”
That order only made Jack gnash his teeth, but he ate. Not because Mendez had told him but because he really was hungry. After they were done, Jack pushing his half-eaten food aside, as if that had been their cue, a few people came to his table.
At least they’d waited for him to eat. He signed some autographs, took some pictures, then the two headed out after paying for their meal. He noticed how Mendez kept his frame next to Jack, making sure no one else approached as they walked out.
Bodyguards were supposed to be a part of the background. That was their job, to be there, but not. Blending in. It was clear someone had forgotten to give Mendez the memo. Instead of going for the passenger door, Jack slipped into the backseat. He needed space, but you really couldn’t get much in the confines of a car, so this was the second-best thing.
Mendez slipped into the driver’s side and started the Mercedes, then pulled from the parking lot. As he drove, Jack began to wonder if making this trip had been a mistake.
* * * *
Mendez ground his teeth as he drove, jealous as fuck that Jack had been flirting with that waitress. One, Mendez would prefer no one recognized the guy, which would make their trip easier. Also, whoever had been sending those letters wouldn’t have a blueprint of Jack’s whereabouts. No doubt the pictures he’d taken in the diner were already on social media.
Second… fuck. Mendez clenched his jaw. It was hard as hell to have his mate sitting across from him, his very straight mate, and watch him chase tail. Mendez had had to stop himself from attacking that poor female.
Normally, when working with a client, Mendez was calm and cool, observant, but he blended in so he was forgotten. A part of the wallpaper but ready to jump in and do his job if trouble arose. Jack was making that impossible, testing Mendez’s careful control. Thank fuck he hadn’t claimed Jack, because Mendez would be a deadly beast if anyone, especially amorous fans, approached him.
As soon as Mendez realized what Jack was to him, found out his mate wasn’t gay, he should have asked to be reassigned. That would have been the smart thing to do. Just, Mendez didn’t have it in him to walk away.
He was pissed and tried his best not to show it, though he’d failed miserably.
When he looked in the rearview mirror, he saw Jack dozing. They’d already driven eight hours. It was about time they got a hotel room so his mate could rest instead of dozing in the backseat where his head lolled to one side.
Jack hadn’t slept well last night in the passenger’s seat, tossing and turning back and forth, waking up for a few hours then dozing again.
As soon as Mendez saw the exit for a Ritz Carlton, he took it, pulling into a slot near the door. Jack jerked awake and looked around. “Where are we now?”
“Thought you’d like to stretch out in a bed.” Mendez tried to force his thoughts not to go there. Then he saw the tick in Jack’s jaw. Was the guy still pissed at him? “Got a warning text from one of my apps that we’ll be heading into a storm soon, so I thought this the perfect time to rest.”
Complete lie, but Jack loved to argue, and Mendez didn’t want to argue with him. Jack considered himself down to earth, but the truth was, he’d grown accustomed to getting his way. Mendez saw that the first day he’d worked for the country singer. Oh, he was polite about it, using his manners when he ordered people around, but everyone still jumped to do his bidding.
Mendez wasn’t going to do that. Not when it came to taking care of his mate. He would do what was best for Jack, even if he had to trick they guy into it. Like sleeping in a bed instead of the back seat. Jack looked weary, his eyes bloodshot, and he still appeared a bit pale.
It must have taken a lot out of him to do a world tour. Mendez couldn’t even fathom what went into that. He’d been hired the last week of the tour, when Jack was still in Italy. They’d flown out afterward, and Mendez had watched his mate bark orders at everyone, clearly exhausted and done with the spotlight.
They’d ended up in Vegas because that was where Huck Waterman had planned the flight to end so he could talk Jack into doing Vegas shows. That had pissed Mendez off. The guy had just finished an exhausting tour that had lasted for six months, and Huck had been on Jack the moment they’d landed.
Jack yawned. “I didn’t even book a room here.”
Mendez rolled his eyes. “Like they’d turn you away.”
His mate cut his eyes to Mendez in the rearview mirror. “Maybe you should check us in under your name. The point of this hiatus is not to be seen.”
