Page 83 of Protecting Christina

I wasn’t angry. Annoyed, maybe. I couldn’t describe the exact feeling in my gut. When I saw the woman’s name, my heart stopped. And then when I read her message, it sank. I was about to kick him out when I thought I would give him a chance to explain himself. I usually thought the worst of people and often, they proved me right. So, here I was, driving to a bar, waiting to be proven right once again.

I believed him, yes. I believed he didn’t sleep with her. I also believed that he handled her drunk boyfriend. But what I needed to see with my own eyes was the way they looked at one another. That look would tell me if he wanted to fuck her. And if he did, then I was out.

He stared out the window and sighed. He didn’t seem nervous, which was a good sign. Guilty people often gave themselves away with their body language. Whenever I examined a witness, I knew which direction to take the line of questioning based on their body’s reaction to a particular question. Right now, Will was giving off tired and frustrated.

He continued giving me directions until I pulled into a parking lot across the street from the bar. It was on the lower level, and Will walked ahead of me to open the door.

It was a typical bar. The people inside were talking loudly and laughing. I spotted two servers right away and a bartender. It wasn’t very big, but it was crowded, making it feel even smaller.

Will pulled out a seat for me closest to the bar and set up a chair for himself beside it. A server approached our table. My eyes immediately landed on the name stitched into her shirt: Faith.

“What can I get you guys?” she asked in a rushed tone.

Will looked at me expectantly. “I’ll have a gin and soda.” The server nodded. “And for you?”

“A scotch. Neat.”

“Coming right up.”

She left, and I scanned the room. “So, which one is Tina?” I asked when no one else made eye contact our way.

Will nodded toward the back. “She’s the redhead in the back.”

As though we’d called her name, Tina turned and looked our way. Or rather, she looked at Will. Her lips pursed and her head tilted.

My chest tightened as I waited for ‘the look’. She wiped her hands on her apron and said something to the customers next to her. Then she walked toward us.

Will dropped his arm onto the table and leaned back in his chair. I felt more nervous than him at this moment.

What if I was right? What if there was more between them? What would I do? Would I storm out? Would I tell her to back off? I had no idea. I prided myself on being prepared, but this was unchartered territory for me. I’d never been in this position before. Why did I do this to myself?

“Hi,” Tina said when she reached us. She stared at Will and I watched them closely. My body stiffened, preparing to feel that tension between two people who wanted each other. To feel that sexual frustration. To feel…

Anything.

But instead, I felt nothing.

“I’m glad you came back. I wanted to apologize again.”

“It’s all right. I should be the one apologizing to you,” said Will. “I was out of line. I said you could call me anytime for anything you need, and then I acted like a jerk.”

She smiled. “You did, didn’t you?”

He laughed. “Yeah. I did.”

Tina turned to me as though just now noticing me there. “Sorry, I hope I’m not interrupting something.”

She smiled and waggled her eyebrows at Will. It was such a playful gesture, sort of like a look of camaraderie.

That wasn’t the look I was expecting.

It was the look I was too jaded to even hope to see.

What the hell was wrong with me?

“No,” I said, “you’re not interrupting anything. In fact, you’re the person I came here to see.”

“I am?” Tina’s smile faltered, and she looked at Will. And I felt like the biggest asshole. I didn’t want to tell Tina that Will had told me about her situation. It would make Will look like a dick and me an even bigger one for dragging him here.

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