The Men with the Golden Cuffs (Masters and Mercenaries #2)(79)

He looked back at her in the rearview mirror, and for the briefest of seconds, he’d seen a startled hurt on her face, her eyes flaring in pain. She shut it down in an instant and went right back to her friend.

She was the client. He was the guard. It was far past time to start doing his job. Guarding her life and his dumbass heart.





Chapter Sixteen


Serena nearly ran into the restaurant. Bridget and Chris were at their customary table in the back room of the small Mexican food place. When they saw her, they stood and walked to meet her, concern written on their faces.

Thank god she wasn’t alone. Bridget rushed to hug her, pulling her close.

“Hey, sweetie. Are you all right? I know you aren’t, but that’s just something stupid I feel like I should say. I’m so sorry. We’ve both decided to fire Lara.”

Serena sniffled. She couldn’t seem to stop crying today. “Don’t fire her. At least let’s really talk about this before you guys make a decision. I haven’t fired her yet.”

She’d meant to, but things had moved so fast, and then she just hadn’t been able to make herself say the words to cut the relationship off. Lara had looked so miserable, and the truth of the matter was she didn’t have many people in her life who truly claimed to love her. She could at least give Lara a day or two.

“That’s a rational thing to do. Too bad you refuse to give the same courtesy to your lovers.” Jake was standing beside her with a grim expression on his face.

He was going to be trouble. Adam, at least, seemed to just want to get through the day.

“Hello, Bridget. You seem to have gotten rid of the extra chairs.” Jake eyed the small table. Sure enough, the table for four had only three seats.

Bridget faced Jake and gave him her happy middle finger. “Talk to the hand, *.”

“It’s really more of a finger,” Jake pointed out.

Chris was infinitely more polite. He held a hand out, though there was a stony, blank expression on his face. “Sorry, she’s a little upset. We both are, actually.”

Jake took the offered hand and gave Chris a bright smile. Way brighter than she’d ever seen him have before. It was a charming smile, a smile that made him sigh worthy. Asshole. “I can understand why, Chris. I hope you give us a chance to explain at some point. For now, we’ll just take this table next to the three of you. I would give you a little more privacy, but obviously that’s not a good idea. We both take her health and welfare very seriously and not just because she’s our client. We care about her. I know you understand.”

Serena wanted to vomit. Jake had figured out exactly how to handle Chris. He’d said he was the one who didn’t know how to deal with people, but that had been another in a long list of lies. Well, she admitted, Chris wasn’t just a person. He was in the lifestyle, and Jake had probably figured it out by taking one look at him. Chris was a big old bottom, and he was already smiling up at the big bad Dom.

“We could get another couple of chairs,” Chris offered.

“No we can’t.” Bridget didn’t even come close to being submissive. “The * table is that way. Come on, Serena. I ordered you a swirl. And you better remember where your loyalties lie, Chris. Just because Hottie McHot Ass walks in with his super metro hot best friend, and all those like muscles and shit, doesn’t mean you get to turn into a pile of goo. We hate them.”

Chris sighed, staring at Jake’s chest. He was wearing a T-shirt, but it was easy to see that he was covered in amazing muscles. Jake nodded to Chris, and then Adam after him, as they made their way to the back of the room and settled down at their table.

Bridget slapped Chris across the chest. “What is wrong with you?”

Chris’s mouth was hanging slightly open. She couldn’t blame him. They looked just as good from the back as they did from the front. They both had amazingly hot asses.

“I…holy crap, Serena. You really did both of them?”

Bridget narrowed her eyes at him. “Yes, she did terribly slutty things and then they treated her like trash, so we hate them.”

“I do. I hate them. But holy crap.” Chris looked back over their way. “Did you see them?” He reached for Serena’s hand and held it to his heart. “I’m so sorry, baby. I really am. Are you sure they’re not gay? Because he seemed really gay to me.”

Serena couldn’t help it. She laughed. Chris thought every man with a half-decent body was gay, so Adam and Jake must have set his faulty gaydar in a tailspin. “I assure you—one hundred percent not gay. At least they didn’t feel gay in bed.”

“So they could be gay.” Chris sighed. “But really, we hate them.”

“Yes, we hate them.” Serena said the words. She just wished she could feel them deep down in her soul. She didn’t hate them. She was still crazy about them, but she could never trust them again. She followed Chris and Bridget back to their seats where Bridget started talking loudly about all the men she would set Serena up with when she was ready to date again.

She was never going to date again.

She listened as Adam and Jake ordered lunch. She played with the straw of her swirl margarita. Bridget and Chris started talking about work, normal, everyday things. It was the same as every lunch before except she was a completely different human being.