Page 18 of Protecting Bianca

“You didn’t know?”

He shook his head. “No, uh…” He glanced at my brother and rubbed his mouth. “River and I don’t usually talk about you.”

Huh.

Well, that stung. But at the same time, I wasn’t surprised.

“Of course. Well…” I looked around for my purse. Where the heck did I leave it? “I’ll be going soon, so don’t let me interrupt you two.”

I turned to search for my purse in my room when his voice stopped me. “Where are you going?”

“Out,” my brother replied rather quickly. Jager had noticed his eagerness as well and didn’t ask anything further.

“I think I left my purse in my bedroom. I’m just going to go and grab it.”

There was an awkwardness in the room that I couldn’t wait to escape. Luckily, I found my purse on my bed and fixed the strap on my shoulder before heading out. I decided to wait for Stewart on the porch. I couldn’t explain why, only that having him inside would only add to the awkwardness. I wasn’t sure if Jager remembered Stewart, and if he did, I wasn’t sure how he’d react to me going out with him.

I preferred to keep Jager out of my personal life as much as possible and keep our conversations and interactions to the office.

It was easier that way. I preferred not to think of the past, and Stewart would certainly conjure it up.

But when I walked out of my bedroom, Stewart was already there. He rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet with his hands in his pocket as Jager stared him down. My brother was no longer on the couch but in the kitchen, grabbing something from the refrigerator.

Stewart noticed me first. “Oh, hey. There you are!” His toothy smile was one of the biggest I’d seen so far. The relief on his face was obvious and the tension in the room was palpable.

Jager didn’t look away, though. He stared at Stewart; his gaze measured him from the black patent leather shoes on his feet to the brown fedora on his head.

I cringed. Stewart had terrible fashion sense, but tonight’s ensemble was particularly hideous. At first, I thought it was quirky, but having gotten to know him better, I was starting to think he just put on whatever he saw first in his closet.

“Ready?” I asked.

“Definitely.” I nearly expected Stewart to wipe his brow after that statement.

I wondered if Jager had said something to intimidate him like this. But when I looked at Jager’s six-foot-two frame, bulging biceps, and chiseled jaw, I realized he probably didn’t have to say a word.

I grabbed my coat and waved to Jager and River. “Have a good night and I’ll see you both tomorrow.”

“You mean tonight,” said Jager, but he continued to stare at Stewart although I’d been the one talking.

“Pardon?” I asked.

“You’ll see me tomorrow, but you’ll see your brother tonight. When you get back from your date.”

I furrowed my brow. “Yeah. I guess so. If he’s still up.”

“He’ll be up,” replied Jager without as much as a glance in my brother’s direction to confirm the statement.

River stepped out of the kitchen with two cans of beer in his hand. “Have fun, kid.”

“Thanks, River.”

Stewart shut the door behind us and exhaled. “Geez, when did Jager Payne get so huge?”

I shrugged. “I think he was always muscular.”

“Muscular, yes, but in a Bruce Lee kind of way. Now he looks more like Bruce Banner.”

I sputtered out a laugh and covered my mouth. “I wouldn’t call him the Incredible Hulk, Stewart.”

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