Page 51 of Dangerous Pursuit

“I’m good, Mia. Come on in.” I chuckle at hearing the hopefulness that I was too busy. Is she worried I won’t like Walker or that he won’t like me?

I’m coming around the desk when the door opens to Mia with Walker trailing behind. I meet them halfway, noticing the look of trepidation on Mia’s face, and reach out to shake his hand.

“You must be Walker. I’m Jackson. It’s good to finally meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

His grip is firm in return as he looks me in the eyes. “Yeah, likewise.”

“Mia, would you mind giving Walker and I a few minutes to talk? Man to man.”

She scrunches her eyes as if my request is crazy and then narrows them in accusation like she’s got me figured out.

“I’ll be good. Just thought I’d give him a chance to grill me without you here.”

“It’s fine, Mia. I’ll only be a few minutes, and then we’ll go,” Walker says and gives her a wink. If I didn’t already know he was gay from my prior conversation with Mia, we’d be having a different kind of talk.

“Fine. Hurry up, though. I’m hungry. And you,” she points to me, “be nice.” I give her the Scout’s honor sign before she leaves.

“So, you and Mia, huh?” Walker starts in right away.

“Yeah, I guess it sort of snuck up on us.”

“Well, from what I’ve heard, you’ve treated her like shit until last week. What’s your angle? She’s eighteen today, so what? You think you’re free to get in her pants now?” He stands with his arms crossed, accusation written all over his face.

“That’s a fair question, and I deserve it,” I said, then proceeded to explain the same as I did for Mia.

I sigh before continuing. “Listen, Walker, I like her a lot. As in, I’m all in at this point. I’ve been fighting it for weeks, but everything seemed to fall into place when I finally stopped resisting. I’m not just trying to get laid. Hell, I’ve been trying not to.” I laugh at my internal joke. “I’ll do whatever Mia wants, and if that’s to take things slow, then that’s what we’ll do.”

“Look, Mia’s my best friend, and I don’t want to see her taken advantage of. I haven’t seen her this into anyone, so I’m only going to say this once: if you hurt her, I’ll hurt you.” That’s as good an opening as any.

“Glad to hear she has someone in her corner, but it won’t come to that. Speaking of hurting her, do you know about anyone who might be trying to do that?”

He narrows his eyes. “No. Why?”

“I don’t know exactly, but I’ve been noticing things. Like the poker games she’s attending. They’re not safe. Why is she putting herself in those situations when she has a good-paying job?”

“Mia’s been playing poker for as long as I remember, but only online until last year when she started with live ones. That’s for her to say why she’s playing. I haven’t noticed anything unusual other than what happened on Friday. She was lucky you were there to step in. So, howdidyou know where she was?”

Mia opens the door, halting our conversation. “Seriously, can we go now? Geez, you’ve been in here forever. Are you all caught up on the last eighteen years or what?”

Walker turns back to me. “We’ll have to finish that conversation next time,” he says pointedly.

Or we won’t.“Sure. It was nice meeting you, Walker. Enjoy lunch, you two.”

“Oh yeah, can I steal Mia for an extra half hour today? We have someshoppingto do.” He smirks as she punches him in the arm.

“Sure, don’t rush. Take all the time you need. Mia, I may be out when you get back, but I’ll leave a note if I need anything.”

“Oh. Okay. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” she says dejectedly. Her disappointment kills me, but I remind myself it’ll be worth it later.

“Happy birthday, Mia. Enjoy dinner with your mom. Oh, and text me if anything comes up this afternoon?” I say, half tempted to give in and tell her that I’ll see her later.

“Yeah, okay,” she says before walking out.

Walker’s eyeing me curiously, and I smirk, giving him a wink to indicate there’s something up my sleeve.

With a dawn of understanding and a nod of his head, he follows her out.

As soon as they leave, I clean up my desk and grab my keys to head out. After a meeting with some potential investors, I’m picking up a few more things for tonight. I want it to be perfect—not only because it’s her birthday but because tonight is important. It’s time to take this to the next level but also prove how special she is.

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