Recluse Protection

Chapter 32

"Are you sure you should order that?" Hunter asks, making me glance up at him; the simple fish dinner with sides of steamed broccoli and pilaf. He looks at the waiter and smiles a toothy grin. "Can we change that to a house salad? I want to make sure she has room for dessert." The man glances between us before smiling, clueless to his true intentions.

"Of course, ranch or our house vinaigrette." He looks at me and I offer a slight smile.

"The house vinaigrette will be fine, thank you." He nods, grinning, turning away.

"Are you smiling at him? It's a bit rude considering we are on a date." Stunned, I stared at him; a soft stutter slips from my lips as I shake my head.

"I - I'm sorry, I just wanted to be polite." A harsh gleam appears in his eyes; he shakes his head with a heavy sigh.

"You know Casey, I'm disappointed, I really thought you were better than that." Don't fuck this up, you idiot! How stupid are you? I glance down and a heavy blush covering my cheeks and I nod slowly.

"You're right." I speak softly, staring at my lap as I force myself to believe what I'm saying. "I shouldn't have done that; it was disrespectful to smile at him." I'm met with silence before a deep chuckle resonates deep in his chest.

"You can make it up to me later." He pauses and I look up at him, watching as a smirk appears on his face. "In your room." No, no, no, it's happening. I force a nervous smile and nod shakily.

"I don't want to lose you." The words make my stomach churn violently. It's a lie. The whispered thought makes me try to cling to it. Right? It's a lie, I don't want to lose him; or do I? The confusing thought makes my head hurt. Why am I doing this?

"Good, I don't think you could find someone near as good as me to keep you in line. I'm amazed Raymond kept you around as long as he did. I don't think you would do this type of thing with him." He arches a brow and I shake my head glancing down embarrassed. Don't let him play you at the game, he's fucking with your head, be smart about it.

"No, he didn't take me out. I wasn't good enough for that luxury." Shrugging, I glance at him. Play him, not the other way around. "I was never good enough for him or you." Sighing softly, I offer a pitiful smile. "I'm lucky that you are sparing this much time." Hunter smirks and leans back in his chair with a nod, the waiter setting out plates of food down. A house salad for me and a juicy steak for him. Asshole is rubbing it in.

"Remember that Casey, I could walk away at any moment." He cuts into his steak and takes a bite greedily. Play the game, beat him. I look down at the bowl of greenery on my plate, not enthused with the meal that faces me. You will win, don't lose sight of the objective. I stare at the vinaigrette before setting the vessel aside to eat the salad plain. Don't need the extra poison. I take a bite and keep my silence, giving him a slight nod in acknowledgement. "How did you meet Timothy?"

The question makes me glance up at him and shrug softly. "We met in high school, on and off again communication. I recently heard from him that he lived here and that he knew that I wanted to learn some lessons in self defense. Said he could help me." I sigh and poke at my plate of salad. "I guess it was too good to be true, I thought I was going to see him after all of these years." I shrug once more, taking another bite of my salad bitter at the rabbits dinner. How typical, condescending asshole ordering a salad for his woman.

I want to freeze as the wording registers. I'm not his woman. I'm not anyone's woman, right? "Look on the bright side, you have me now. I think we'll make great friends." He enunciates friends like it has a double meaning and I offer a smile, more unsure then ever.