Page 32 of Behind the Scenes

He looked up at her in the mirror. “This is the Garden State Parkway. You’re not going to find a four star restaurant here.”

She shrugged and then shook her head. “I don’t care. I don’t need that anyway. Just a burger would be great.”

On the side of the road he saw a sign for the Forked River exit. “Two miles ahead we might be able to find something.”

“Thank you, Hunter,” she said softly.

She sounded so tiny he wondered if she was really okay after what happened back at the beach. As much as he wanted to know, though, he didn’t ask.

He parked the car in the service plaza and turned around to face her. “It looks like you can have a hamburger, hot dogs, or pizza. They’ve got a Starbucks if you want coffee too. I’ll get you whatever you want. Just stay here with the doors locked.”

Alexis gave him a faint smile. “You don’t have to worry. I’m not going anywhere.”

“It’s not you I’m worried about. It’s everyone out here. Keep the doors locked while I’m gone, and I’ll be right back. What do you want me to get you?”

“Just a burger, but tell them no pickles and no lettuce, please,” she said after thinking about it for a moment.

“Do you want fries?”

“Oh, yeah. Definitely fries. I’m dying for French fries.”

The way she sounded so thrilled to have fast food seemed almost charming. Hunter guessed she didn’t get to enjoy things like that much, likely because if she ate like that all the time, she wouldn’t have a gorgeous body like hers. Whatever the reason, the way her eyes lit up at the mention of fries made him smile.

“Anything to drink?” he asked with a chuckle.

“Just a diet soda, please.”

“Okay. I’ll be right back with all that. Don’t open the doors for anyone but me.”

And just as quickly as her mood had brightened, it darkened again. With a frown, she nodded. “I won’t. Don’t worry.”

He didn’t like seeing her sad like that, although he didn’t know why it bothered him like it did. He barely knew her. Why should he give a damn how she felt?

“This is just a job,” he said as he headed into the service plaza building. “She’s a client, and no matter what Persephone seems to think, my job isn’t making people happy.”

A busload of senior citizens milled around the doors, blocking access to the restaurants and making Hunter nervous. Alexis had already bolted one time that day. What was to stop her from doing it a second time?

In truth, he doubted she’d leave without someone to go with her. He’d had a sense from the moment he met her that being alone wasn’t something she liked. If Lauren was sitting in that backseat with her, he’d have bet money on them taking off again, but alone?

No way. She wasn’t stupid or even thoughtless. He had a feeling she was just tired of feeling trapped by her life. He could understand that, even if it pissed him off to no end that she’d forced an entire household of people to drop everything and search for her for hours.

As he pushed through the crowd of old people, he kept his eye on the doors. He may not have believed she’d run, but he put nothing past her. The woman had a free spirit he suspected didn’t take to being caged like her life demanded.

Ten minutes later, he returned to the car with all she’d asked for and something for himself. Before he could hand her the food, she climbed into the front seat and sat down next to him.

Shyly, she said, “I thought it might be nice if I sat up here to eat.”

She wouldn’t look at him now, avoiding his gaze. Confused, he didn’t give it much thought and handed her the burger, fries, and diet soda. “Bon appétit.”

“Do you know French?” she asked as she unwrapped the burger and took a bite.

Hunter laughed. “No. I just know all the foreign words everyone else does and a few curses in Spanish. Well, more than just curses, but nothing I’d use around you.”

“I’m not sheltered or ignorant, Hunter. You don’t have to watch what you say around me. I’m a grown woman.”

He took a bite of a French fry and washed it down with some soda. “I wouldn’t say the things I know around you because it’s not something a man should say around a woman.”

His explanation stopped her talking until she finished her burger. After she crumpled up the wrapper into a tight ball and stuck it in the bag, she quietly said, “I’m sorry, Hunter. I shouldn’t have run off like I did.”

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