Page 13 of Smoke After Hours

“You know what I mean.” She angled herself in the seat and tucked one leg beneath her so that she was facing me. “When we were at that café in the airport, I saw the man who was watching me over his newspaper. Everyone else was on their phones, but he had his eyes on me from the minute we arrived, which was why you suggested we take our food back to our gate. When we landed in Detroit, I saw the woman who was wearing headphones while pretending to clean out the outdoor trashcans. I don’t think she worked there, and she was waiting for me to toss my empty water bottle, which was why you took it from me and put it in your backpack. No water bottle, no DNA.”

Shit.I had no idea she caught all that.

“That’s why you mentioned we’ll drive from now on, isn’t it?” she asked. “I remember you telling me last year about this AI technology that will allow people to enter your name in a search engine and find every flight you have currently booked and what you’ve flown in the past. You feel like whoever has been following us knows my flight schedule. They’re using the airports to track me, and whomever popped up at the movie theater tonight had clearly followed us from the airport this morning.”

I frowned, my fists clenching the steering wheel as I decided not to keep it from her anymore. “I know Toasted is important to you and I didn’t want to stress you out. Yes, everything you observed is true. I actually know Elias Hood, the owner of Greek Gawds Ink here in Summerland, through his brother, Evander. Neither one of them are in town right now, but Evander and Istarted with Crowne Security around the same time. The Hoods are good people, and I texted Evander when we arrived at the theater. We’re headed to his place to stay the night. It’s secure and a bit off the grid. Only Wade, the man we met earlier at the tattoo shop, will know we’re there because he has property not far from Evander’s.”

“Wait, so you knew all the guys that run Greek Gawds Ink already?” she asked, her eyes wide in surprise.

“Nah, I only met Wade through Evander a couple years back. Definitely not those other muthafuckas who were in your face all day.”

She tried to mask her smirk and failed miserably. The rest of the ride was a bit quiet, and it took us an hour to get to Evander’s place.

Once we arrived, I surveyed the area and reached out to Evander, letting him know we made it. I hadn’t been to his farmhouse before because the Evander I knew wouldn’t be caught dead outside of the city. But after his divorce, he’d gone through a rough patch and moved out into the Michigan countryside to try and get his life together.

“We’ll be staying in the guest bedrooms across from each other,” I told Bentley.

“What about our bags?” she asked, glancing around the kitchen that was way too large for a bachelor.

“They’re in the truck. After we checked in, I went back and packed everything up during the workshop.”

She nodded. “I had a feeling you were gone for too long to just be in the bathroom.”

I snorted. “I’m shocked you even noticed with homeboy wanting all of your attention.”

After opening the refrigerator, I took out two bottles of water and tossed one to Bentley before unscrewing mine and letting the cool liquid slide down my throat.

Bentley did the same as she watched me over her bottle and took a few long sips. I leaned against the sink, wondering if there would ever be a time in my life when I didn’t think every single thing she did was sexy as fuck.

“How can I make it up to you?” she purred, letting her lashes flutter over her dark brown eyes that opened and closed slowly just the way I liked it. “You know, for flirting with the guys today.”

“Don’t test me,” I warned, finishing off my bottle and hoping it did the trick to cool my dick down. “My priority is?—.”

“My safety,” she finished. “Yeah, yeah. I know that.” Placing her bottle on the counter, she came to stand in front of me. “But you know we’re out of time.”

“What do you mean?” I questioned, the air around us crackling with awareness.

“Your assignment to guard me is over at the end of the month, but obviously, I’m not safe at the moment and someone has probably figured out my true identity.” Her hands played with the buckle on my jeans. “If you have to be my guard for another ten years, do you honestly think we can continue ignoring the fact that we’re into each other.”

I swallowed, my heart pounding with adrenaline-fueled anticipation. “Even if my assignment is extended, you’ve always known you were more than that to me.”

She shrugged. “Maybe, but that’s not what I asked you.” Without warning, she dropped down into a squatted position, her head tilted to the side as her shoulder-length hair brushed against the outside of my jeans.

“Like I said,” she murmured in a sexy, sultry voice, “I’m sorry for my behavior, so let me know how I can make it up to you.”

Shit.I dragged my hands down my face, wondering if I closed my eyes if she’d still be in the same squatted position.She is,I noted when I opened my eyes again.

I was at a crossroads, my mind reminding my heart that I was still on the clock. I was still her protector. Her guard. The man who vowed to step into the line of fire till death if it meant keeping her safe.

Yet, if I crossed this line with her after all this time, there would be no going back. No locking away our obvious attraction. It wasn’t so much that Jackie D was a stickler for not fucking clients. He honestly had surprised me when I went to him for advice and he’d told me the opposite.

“Always respect her,” he said. “But if she consents and she wants to be fucked by you as badly as you want to fuck her, I ain’t firing you for that shit. You’ve been on the same job longer than most of my men have been required before. Just don’t knock her up because I don’t want to deal with her father.”

It was after that conversation that I realized why I kept my friendship with Bentley at the forefront of my mind instead. Having sex with Bentley wasn’t as simple as fucking. She already consumed my mind and my heart. But if she let me into her body, my dick was taking up residence and never moving out of her pussy. It would probably scare her if she knew how much I ached for her. Wasstarvingfor her.

“You don’t know what you’re asking,” I voiced. “You only know the focused and restrained version of me. The man who always accommodates you and ensures you feel comfortable.” I gripped the back of her head, keeping her steady and close to my crotch. “But if we take this further, you’ll learn that I ain’t always that man.”

Without giving it another moment’s thought, I unbuckled my pants, her eyes widening in disbelief when I pulled my dick out of my jeans, plopping him out in front of her in a way I never had throughout the entire time we’d been friends.

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