Page 97 of Saved By My Buyers

My small clutch with my card and identification is in my hand as we walk, and it’s nice to enjoy the breeze sweeping through the buildings. My hair is completely different than it was before, my eye color is as well, I should enjoy my new identity.

“Good,” Jack says. “I don’t want you to feel as if you have to hide away, baby. We’ll be careful, but you can go out and enjoy yourself. I do need to ask you something though.”

He waits to say anything else as he opens the door to the Spanish restaurant for us. The vibe reminds me of old Spaniard movies that I’ve watched, and the food appears to be the same.

I’ve never had this type of food or experience, so I’m glad I didn’t balk at going out to dinner. We’re seated fairly quickly, and then Jack is gazing at me expectantly.

“I, unfortunately, am in the public eye due to being the face of my company,” he begins. We’re in a corner, and it’s quiet enough that we don’t have to worry about speaking overly loud.

“There are events I need to attend, like networking events and sometimes charity functions. I want to keep you away from that side of things until we can figure out if Gareth is still looking for you, or if we ultimately need to eliminate him as a threat completely.”

Did he just…

“I think I’m confused,” I say. “Did you just…”

“Yep,” he says. “You can interpret that exactly the way I meant it. The last few years have been eye opening through my work. The things my partners are willing to do for our clients and their own families have definitely shown me that the law isn’t always on our side. We could go to the cops, tell them what happened to you.”

“I doubt they’d believe me,” I sigh. “I don’t know what the statute of limitations is on this.”

The waitress comes up, stopping the conversation, and we chat with her as we order. I take her recommendation, because I’m starving and I can’t choose right now. There are simply too many choices.

Once she leaves, Jack’s sharp gaze is back on me. “I had a conversation with Greg, my friend and business partner, that made me realize if Gareth is looking for you, it’s because he has an obsession that won’t stop,” he explains.

“I want you to be able to truly live, experience every damn thing you want, and not be afraid. We don’t have to make a decision now or ever if you don’t want to. I would, however, be remiss if I didn’t tell you this was an option.”

“No more coloring within the lines, Mr. Super Hero,” Bee murmurs. “I’m proud of you, baby.”

This conversation is going a very different way than I thought it would when we walked into the restaurant.

“I thought you were going to tell me you wanted to hide me away,” I say, blinking rapidly. “I didn’t think you were going to say all this.”

“Why the fuck would I do that?” Jack asks, leaning forward. Bee holds my hand next to me, surprise on her face. We had spoken a little about this at the boutique, but I guess I got the wrong impression.

“I only took you to Ann Arbor, because I could feel your anxiety and fear about staying in the city. You’re turning twenty in a little under a month, you shouldn’t have to be a prisoner to fear.”

“I’m still insecure about things,” I murmur. “I’m going to name it residual trauma and call it a day. I’m typically forgotten in most things, but you’ve never made me feel like that.”

His body language softens a little as he nods. “My only motivation for keeping you off the grid is your safety,” he says. “You have everything you need now to study and take the GED, apply to schools, and decide what you want to do with your life. Any thoughts on that?”

That’s not a hard topic at all. I shake my head with a wide smile, because holy fuck, I can actually make plans.

“That’s a big ask, Mr. Katz,” I tease him. His eyes flutter as I call him by his last name and he groans.

“Goddamn, baby girl. I didn’t think that was a kink of mine, but I was wrong,” he rasps. “These pants were not made to hide my hard-on.”

“Well this is fun,” I say, amused. Bee giggles, enjoying the sight of Jack struggling to get ahold of himself, and I have to say I’m enjoying it as well. “I honestly am not sure what I want to do.”

“You have time to decide,” Bee says. “There are a lot of options. You could even opt for some work experience before going to school, or take some classes to weed out what you don’t want.”

“Storyboard it,” Jack suggests. “Write down different ideas and work options, see how it feels. Research what they entail as well. You may find that what you want is something that doesn’t exist, which is an excuse for creating it. That’s what I did with Greg and Tierney when we created the company. We also have great connections to help if needed. You don’t have to figure it all out alone.”

“Your business partners sound pretty great,” I tell him, and he nods.

“They are both amazing. Tierney was the first to tell me I should begin taking meetings via video calls, so I wouldn’t have to travel as much,” he says. “In the beginning, it made sense for me to meet with clients face to face, but the world has changed enough that they’ll accommodate my needs. I don’t want to miss the important people in my life anymore. I’ve more than paid my dues.”

The food arrives after he says that, and I sigh. Jack spent a lot of time on the road, in different cities, and talking to clients when I was growing up. Somehow, he missed as few events as possible, and I think that speaks volumes about him.

I get lost in my thoughts as I take a bite of my food, deciding immediately that Jack and Bee are definitely in charge of dates. This is fucking incredible.

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