Page 60 of Guarding the Singer

She'd asked him the question, but he took his time with the answer.

"Is there something wrong?"

She felt her skin flush a little.

She wasn't sure what he was looking at specifically or what he was waiting for.

She didn't like feeling off-balance.

"I'm hungry," he told her, his gaze unmoving from her face, "but I'm curious what happened just now."

She moved another menu toward him on the top of the table. "I thought we were picking somewhere to order from."

He shook his head. "Before that. We were talking about Ares staying home to help Heather with the baby."

She smiled and nodded, wanting to get off of theconversation as quickly as she could. "And now, we're talking about food."

He looked back at her and she turned her eyes away.

"I'm a girl who's serious about her food. You don't want me to get hangry."

He smiled at her. "No. Hangry is not a good idea." He tapped the menu she'd put in front of him. "Thai food?"

She nodded, almost desperate to get food. Food that meant they could curb the conversation.

He nodded, almost copying her movements. "Why don't you order a bunch of stuff? I can pretty much eat anything. I can jump into the shower. I'll let Badger know I'm going to be out of reach for a few minutes."

He reached into his back pants pocket, and she found herself frowning at him.

"What are you doing?"

He took a card out of his wallet and held it out to her. "Here. Use this for the payment."

She shook her head. "I can get dinner. In fact," she gave him what was likely a smirking smile, "I'll get all the food while you're here. We can get stuff for Badger, too."

William took a step back in her direction, his card held out. "We have expense reports."

"And you're taking care of me, Will. The least I can do is feed you."

He gave her a look that said he wasn't going to argue. And then he put his card down beside the menu. "Please, Selene. Use the card."

The look she gave him back said she was going to do what she was going to do.

She saw his reaction to it.

A shake of his head and a smile.

He left the room a moment later and she moved over to the door that led down to the ground floor apartment.

The panel beside the door had a set of numbered keys but it also had a microphone and speaker. She tapped it and waited to hear if Badger picked up.

"Badger here."

She smiled. "Okay, Honey Badger. I wanted to know if you wanted something to eat from the Thai restaurant?"

"I just started eating. Thanks for asking."

"Oh?" She leaned in closer. "What are you eating?"