She sat down opposite, took a sip of her martini, and smiled brightly. Harry was blond, his hair immaculately cut and his dark eyes held a wicked gleam as they wandered over her. She tried to imagine him in a compromising position, down an alley or in the back of a limo, but the image refused to gel in her brain.
“So tell me, Harry, why does a man like you use a dating site?”
He grinned. “A man like me?”
She studied him for a moment. He really was quite gorgeous. “You’re good-looking, have a great job”—she waved a hand around their surroundings—“excellent taste.”
“My job takes up most of my time. This is a good way to meet women who want the same things. And what about you? You’re beautiful. I’m betting you have no problem getting dates.”
She twirled her olive. “Actually, I tend to intimidate most men.”
He smiled. “I’m not most men. So tell me what you like to do in your spare time, Jess.”
She opened her mouth to answer something romantic and totally untrue, like walking hand in hand in the rain, when ice trickled down her spine and she snapped her lips together. She’d felt the exact same thing when she’d been in the sights of a sniper’s rifle in Afghanistan. She stiffened, ready to dive for cover. Then Harry looked at someone over her shoulder. He frowned, then relaxed and smiled in welcome.
“May I join you?”
No.
The word hovered on her tongue.
“Of course,” Harry said.
Traitor.
Shifting in her chair, she twisted around so she could see the man standing at her shoulder. He was wearing his usual suit, but his tie was loosened and faint stubble shadowed his jawline. Not so perfect. She liked it, and hated that she liked it. Declan’s expression was bland but his eyes held humor, probably at her disgruntled expression. Behind him, Steve shifted from foot to foot, and she gave him a narrowed-eyed glare.
Declan turned and spoke quietly to him. A look of relief flashed across his face and he backed away. Taking a seat beside her and opposite Harry, Declan gave them both a charming smile. “What a coincidence. Do you come here often?”
“No,” she snapped.
Harry glanced between the two of them, a small frown forming between his brows. “Do you two know each other?” She could add “not blind” and “not stupid” to Harry’s list of accomplishments.
“Actually, Jess is one of my bodyguards.” Declan smiled. “Dedicated to preserving my safety at all times.”
“I’m off duty,” she growled.
“Of course,” Harry said. “I heard that you’d been shot. Have they not caught them yet?”
“Not yet. But I’m confident Jess will keep me safe.” He shifted his chair a little closer, and Jess gritted her teeth.
A waitress placed a glass of scotch in front of him, and Jess took the opportunity to order another martini. She had a feeling she’d need it. Sitting back in her seat, she sipped her drink while Harry and Declan chatted about the shooting, the business, his father’s birthday party, which apparently Harry had been invited to.
She jumped when Declan’s free hand came to rest on her thigh and shot him her dirtiest glance, but left it there, hidden under the table. The hand slid up until it hovered at the top of her thigh and need flashed through her.
A cell phone went off. She jumped as Harry reached into his pocket, pulled out a phone, and read the screen. “I have to take this.”
“What a pity,” Declan murmured. “I’ll look after Jess for you.”
Harry cast him an amused glance. “I’m sure you will. I’ll be right back,” he added to her, and she watched as he strolled out of the bar, phone held to his ear.
Declan squeezed her leg.
“Did you arrange that?” she asked.
“The phone call? No, that was purely good luck.”
“But you admit this is no coincidence. And how come you didn’t mention you know Harry?”
“I thought I’d surprise you.” He shrugged and looked around them. “At least Harry’s got some class.”
“What are you doing here, Declan?”
“Just passing.”
“Yeah, right.”
He removed his hand, and turned in his chair so he was facing her. Beneath the amusement, anger flickered in his eyes. “Absolutely nothing is going to happen between you and Harry. So don’t pretend otherwise.”
“And why’s that?”
“Because you’re mine. You’re just too stubborn to admit it.” He gave her a long slow look and all of a sudden her skin was tingly and that pulse was beating frantically between her thighs.
She hated that. Why was he the one man who could do this to her? Why couldn’t Harry have made her all tingly? Was Declan hardwired into her system? But no way was she his. And no way did she want to be. But how to convince Declan of that.
She shifted her chair so she could watch him as she spoke. “I’ve been thinking this through,” she said. “You want to keep me around because you’re bored with your perfect life and I make you feel alive. But I won’t be used like that.”
His brows drew together. “It wouldn’t be using you.”
“No? If there’s something wrong with your life, Declan, you need to work out what and make some changes. Not just keep doing the same shit and having sex with me to brighten up the dull moments.” She pushed her chair back and stood up. “I’m leaving. I’ll say my good-byes to Harry on the way out.”
For a second, she thought he would try and stop her, but then he sat back. “Okay, I’ll let you go…this time. But Jess, be in no doubt. While you might not be ready to accept you’re mine, you’re certainly not going to be any other man’s. Forget the dates.”
She wanted to say or else? But decided, maybe this time, discretion was a better idea. She turned around and walked away, his eyes burning into her back the whole way out.
Chapter Eleven
“Are you avoiding me?” Declan lounged back in his big leather seat, but he felt far from relaxed. His hand gripped the phone, his fingers tightening at the silence on the other end of the call.
“Yes,” she finally answered.
He hadn’t seen her alone in the five days since he’d gatecrashed her date with Harry. She kept to her word, and she was part of the job; she’d accompanied him to two dinners in the last week, and she’d been the perfect girlfriend as long as she was in company. But she always managed to slip away before he could maneuver her somewhere alone. And the guys followed her like hawks. They were doing a better job guarding her than they were him.