The Dance

Chapter 150 You, Again?

The walk back to the hotel was only hastened by the anticipation of what was to come...more dessert. Jill entertained Matt by naming all her favorite desserts as they made their way through downtown Anchorage. "Matt Ala Mode, Matt Creme Pie, Matt Tartlets, Brownies."

"I think we may have to send you to bed without dessert for misbehaving." Matt laughed when Jill punched his arm.

"Ouch! I was only kidding!" Matt looped his arm through hers and sped up their pace.

They entered the lobby and ducked into the bar to grab a bottle of sparkling cider for later. Matt left Jill unattended for a few minutes while he disappeared to the lavatory.

The voice came from behind her. "Alone again?"

Jill whipped around to see him again,  the man, who earlier, couldn't take a hint. "You, again. I'm not alone."

"You look alone to me." He looked from the left to the right and didn't see Matt. "I would never leave you alone."

Jill didn't particular care for the up and down stare he gave her as if she were a piece of meat. "Alone....is how I would like to be if you don't mind." Jill turned away from him but felt his hand grab her waist. "I think you may want to reconsider where you just placed your hand." She quickly removed his hand from around her waist and dropped it back to his side.

"Darling, I was just getting friendly. Don't you want to be my friend?" He was intoxicated, heavily.

"I think I've made it abundantly clear that I'm married and happily at that."

"He won't mind sharing." His words now slurred. No sooner had the words left his mouth, he felt the point of a sharp object against his chest. It was Matt and he wasn't happy. He had grabbed a knife from where the bartender stood slicing orange wedges and held it close to the other man's chest.

"I think my wife has been more than polite to you but I'm not so polite." The man took a step backwards away from Matt as he moved Jill behind him. "If you make another advance on my wife, I will gut you like a deer." The man raised his arms halfway to his sides to indicate a surrender.

"I don't want any trouble."

"Then I suggest you apologize to my wife." Matt raised his hand to his ear. "I don't hear you."

The man choked out an apology to Jill. "I'm sorry. I won't bother you again." Jill nodded and pulled at Matt's arm dragging him out of the bar.

"I was handling it, Matthew." She was aggravated with him. "There was no need to be that extreme."

"You didn't look like you were handling it." Matt snapped back. "This is Alaska, not Georgia. I don't appreciate another man laying a hand on you, especially one that I have warned before."

"I'm not a baby." She stomped her heel to the floor trying to make a point.

"You're right, you're not a baby. He wasn't interested in you as a baby and that's my problem."

"Why are we even fighting over this right now?" She stopped dead in her tracks just outside the elevator doors.

Matt placed his hands on her shoulders and made sure she was looking directly at him when he spoke. "Jill, my job." He paused for emphasis. "My one and only job is to protect you at all costs whether the threat is from a bear in the woods or a smarmy guy in a bar. It's always going to be like that and I'm not going to make any excuses for it."

He was right and she knew it. He had been raised to expect all nature of threats at all times, after all growing up in the remote parts of Alaska made him like that. The threats from the unexpected were constant for him and it was natural for him to respond in a manner without thinking.

"How about we forget about what just happened, go upstairs and check out the room service menu. I understand that cheesecake is on the menu."

Jill threw her head backwards laughing at his invitation. "Hmmm...I do have an appetite for some beef cake and stud muffins."