Page 72 of Dangerous Devotion

“Let’s go.” He climbed out and circled the car to take her hand and guide her out. Before they took a single step toward the building, he brushed his fingers over her waist. “You look gorgeous tonight. Tonight and always.”

Her eyes melted into dark pools of emotion and desire. Chest rising on a deep inhalation, she smiled up into his eyes. “You too, AJ.”

He could offer her his arm, but that felt too formal and not at all like them. Clasping her hand, he led her to a door set into the stone wall.

As he gripped the handle, May made a soft snorting sound.

“Uh, AJ? That’s the employee entrance.”

To test it, he tugged. The door was locked. The kind that led to the kitchen or offices.

Easy in. Nobody was around to witness a spectacle, and he knew how to blow doors with very little noise.

“I could get us in.”

She issued a throaty laugh and tugged on his arm. “You’re going to use the main entrance like a civilized human being.”

He rolled his eyes. “Fine.”

When they rounded the building and located what was very obviously the main entrance, complete with a grand, arched door and a black awning to shield the guests from the elements, Henner waved a hand. “My way would have been more fun.”

Determined to act the gentlemen tonight, he held the door for May. As she entered the restaurant in front of him, the warm amber lights of an impressive chandelier gleamed on the smooth strands of May’s hair.

Once inside, he reverted to what he knew. Playing the gentleman wasn’t second nature. Being a protector was.

He studied the restaurant in one quick sweep, mentally marking the exits and analyzing potential threats.

They waited to be seated, and he took a minute to drink in her appearance. She’d dressed for him, and he fucking knew it. Even though she was wearing a dress she picked up at the department store, and had already worn to dinner with the major general, somehow she made it look sophisticated tonight. Maybe it was the way she’d slicked her hair back and pinned the sides behind each ear, or the dainty necklace teasing her collarbones.

He hovered over her. “That dress is testing my patience.”

“What, this old thing?” She waved in a mock gesture of blowing off his compliment.

He couldn’t wipe the stupid smile off his face if he tried. It seemed permanently fixed there.

When she turned that knowing, heated look on him, he felt it—the tight pull in his chest that told him he wasn’t imagining things.

For May…Jesus, he was a goner.

The host returned from checking to see if their table was ready, luckily putting a halt to any mushy, lovey-dovey words Henner might have blurted out.

Their table was nestled against the far wall. As he pulled out the chair for May, she slipped into it. The host promised them their server would be with them soon and left them alone.

Henner settled across from May.

“Back to the wall,” she commented.

“Yup.” Candlelight flickered between them, casting a golden glow over her skin. The restaurant hummed with quiet conversation, along with the light clink of glasses and cutlery. The place also smelled heavenly, of homemade marinara sauce, basil, oregano and garlic.

May looked around. “This is really nice, AJ.”

“Does that mean I’ll score when we get back to our room?”

She giggled. “That depends. But yes, you did well choosing the restaurant. And I love Italian food.”

“Don’t sound so surprised.”

“Well…it’s just that you don’t get a lot of practice with taking women out to dinner.” She shrugged her narrow shoulders. “I just figured your idea of dinner was a twenty-ounce steak.”

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