Page 6 of My Temptation

“Never?” My eyebrows rose. I found that odd, considering Beth’s father and brother, Danny, had a lot of money before their deaths. They’d made most of it illegally, but I assumed that would’ve allowed her some luxuries, like traveling. “How old are you, Beth?”

“Twenty-eight.”

I smiled in an effort to conceal my surprise. Beth seemed a lot younger, but I guess that had more to do with her limited experiences than I’d known. “Okay, well, you definitely deserve this vacation.”

She nodded slowly. “When do we leave?”

“Whenever you’re ready.” Picking up the cup, I took another sip of coffee, satisfied that it was cooler. “How much time do you need to pack?”

“Umm…” She hesitated. “I don’t know. What do I take?”

“We’ll only be gone a few days, and it’ll be casual, so jeans and shirts or whatever you’re comfortable in.”

“Okay.” She gestured toward the hallway. “I’ll go pack now.”

I was starting to feel uneasy about taking her out of town without knowing more about her relationship with Striker. I knew they had feelings for each other—neither had been concealing that—but I never thought anything had come from it. Striker stopped at the apartment last night, and I’d left to take a phone call. When I returned, they were standing close together and Beth was flushed, but as far as I knew, nothing had happened. I needed to be sure before I whisked her away without telling him.

I held up my hand. “Before you do that, do you mind if I ask you a question?”

“No, I don’t mind.”

I took another slow sip of coffee and considered my words, but in the end, I decided to just be clear and concise with my question. “What’s your relationship with Striker?”

She slowly closed her laptop and leaned on her elbows. “He’s been my bodyguard since Danny was killed.”

I tilted my head to the side. “Is that all?”

She dropped her hands to her lap. “Yeah.”

“Have you become friends?”

Sadness filled her expression. “No. He’s very serious about doing his job. I’ve always had the feeling he didn’t want to be friends.”

“Hmm…” I lifted my cup and took another drink. She didn’t know. I underestimated her experience because if she had any, she would see the interest in his eyes every time he looked at her. “Has he actually said that?”

“No, but he doesn’t want to protect me anymore.”

My eyebrows drew together. “Why do you think that?”

“Because I have you now.”

She was under the impression Striker decided to step away from protecting her. That was interesting to me, and I wondered if he told her that or she just assumed, but in either case, I intended to clear things up. “You have me because Jax and Brody thought you’d be more comfortable living with a woman, but Striker was not happy we received those orders.”

Her eyes widened. “He wasn’t?”

“No.” I smiled at the combination of surprise and hope flickering through her eyes. “And he doesn’t like me, so that made it worse.”

Her eyebrows drew together. “Why doesn’t he like you?”

I didn’t have a good answer to that question; they were the only things I’d picked up on during the meetings at Elite, but I decided to share my thoughts. “I think he’s had some bad experiences working with women, affecting his ability to trust them. In our business, trusting your team is the key to survival and success.”

“Sometimes I don’t think he thinks much of me either,” she admitted.

I took another drink of my coffee. “Why do you say that?”

She shrugged. “Just a feeling. Like yesterday, I mentioned that I'd been considering getting a job until I found out Max was released from prison.”

“What did he say?”

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