Page 34 of Protecting Bianca

A few minutes later, Sandro returned, and he concurred with our menu selections. “If I may suggest tonight’s special. We have oysters.”

He tilted his head in Jager’s direction, but Jager gave him a shake. “Ah, that’s a pity,” said Sandro softly and walked away.

I sipped the white wine Sandro had brought to our table and closed my eyes at the tartness. “Mmm, this is delicious.”

“The grapes are from my vineyard.”

“You have a vineyard. Jesus, Jager. Who the hell are you now?”

“I’m not the same guy you knew back in high school.”

“Yeah, that’s quite obvious. The question is,” I said, swiveling in the booth to look at him. “Who are you now?”

He licked his lips and stared back at me. The wine must have been strong because an intense heat climbed up my neck. He lowered his voice, “A soldier and a bodyguard. A protector. A—” he swallowed, and I watched his Adam’s apple tremble in his throat. But he didn’t finish his thought because the food had arrived.

“Buon appetito,” one of the servers said after placing a steaming lasagna dish in front of me. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “This smells incredible.”

“Dig in.”

I looked over at Jager’s plate. “What did you order again?”

“Chicken Cacciatore.”

I leaned over and inhaled his dish. “I don’t think I’ve ever had that before.”

“If you play your cards right, I might give you some of mine.”

I laughed. “Deal.”

I cut into the lasagna with the side of my fork and pulled it toward me. Several strings of cheese held on as I brought the morsel to my mouth.

“Oh God, this is sooo good.”

Jager blinked, but his eyes fell to my lips. That intense heat crawled up my neck and filled my cheeks. There was no air between us as he watched me eat my pasta.

“Aren’t you going to take a bite of yours?”

He nodded and cut into his chicken.

After a few bites, he turned to me. “You know, I just don’t get it. I’ve been trying all night to understand how a girl like you goes out with a guy like Stewart or that jerk from earlier. You should be with someone who treats you like a queen.”

The doughy pasta lodged in my throat, and I had a hard time swallowing it. I grabbed the glass of wine and took a sip. “Stewart isn’t so bad, but I agree John was a big mistake.”

“You should never have agreed to go out with him.”

“It wasn’t my finest moment, but I had my reasons,” I mumbled.

“What could have possibly induced you to go out with him?”

My leg shook underneath the table, and I took a longer sip of my wine. “I don’t really want to talk about it.”

“You could have any guy you want. You could have a line of men wanting to go out with you.”

I snorted. “Yeah. Right. I don’t think so.”

“Why not? Why don’t you see who you are and what you’re capable of?”

Because the one man I wanted left without a word.

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