Close To Danger (Westen #4)(13)

As he shrugged into his own coat he’d left hanging in her office, Wes grinned inwardly. She might be pissed at him for treating her like a piece of the furniture to make a point to the other man, but she knew he’d also given her an excuse to leave without stepping on her employer’s toes.

“Of course.” Napier glanced at his watch as if he suddenly remembered he had somewhere else to be. “I should be heading home, too.”

They followed him out of her office. Chloe turned off the lights and closed the door before addressing Napier once more. “As I told you earlier, Justin and I hammered out the details, final figures and wording of the Richardson contract. He should have it on your desk first thing in the morning. Plenty of time before you’re meeting with them.”

“Perfect. I’ll let you two go then.” He stepped back.

“Nice to have met you, Dale,” Wes said, grasping Chloe by the elbow in yet another male proprietary—yeah, dude, the woman’s going with me and not you—maneuver as they walked to the elevator. She even let him keep hold of her until the doors closed with them inside.

“Seriously?” she asked, pulling her arm loose and turning to confront him.

Wes leaned back against the elevator wall, enjoying the fireworks headed his way. “I take protecting you very seriously.”

She focused her gaze on him and took a step forward, pointing a finger into his chest. “That battle of testosterone back there wasn’t about protecting me. It was about seeing who had the biggest dick.”

“It was about letting your boss know he needed to back off,” he said quietly, ignoring the spicy scent of her perfume swirling around them.

She swallowed hard. “I can handle Dale.”

“Really?” It was his turn to sound incredulous. “Seems to me like he had you cornered in your office after most of the staff had left, thinking no one could see him threatening you.”

“You can’t possibly have seen that through the frosted glass.” She lowered her eyes, the fire in them replaced by a wariness.

“Two things I knew when I entered your office,” he said and paused, slipping a finger under her chin and gently forcing her to look at him once more.

“What?”

“I’d seen him touching you in a suggestive way before I got to the door.”

“And?”

“You were pale and terrified when I walked in.”

Before she could respond, the elevator door opened. He grasped her elbow again as they exited into the parking garage, recognizing her BMW parked three spots from the stairwell. Interesting.

“I parked on the street,” he said. “Why don’t you give me a ride to my car and I’ll follow you to wherever you want to have dinner.”

“I thought you said that just to give me an excuse to interrupt Dale.” She pulled her car keys from her handbag as they approached her car and clicked the electronic lock button.

“I’m hungry. You’re probably hungry,” he said, already knowing the woman had a healthy appetite from the short time they’d spent together in Westen last month. “Might as well eat while we talk.”

“I could just leave you stranded here and drive off,” she said opening her door.

He moved slightly closer. “You could, but you won’t.”

She arched one delicately shaped eyebrow at him. “Why do you think that?”

“Because you’re tired of being scared.”

She opened her mouth as if to say something then slammed her lips together. With a nod, she climbed into the driver’s side. Wes hustled around to the passenger side, slightly surprised she didn’t want to argue further. Apparently the lawyer had some sense after all.

As they exited the parking garage, she waved at the large security guard. Wes directed her to turn right and two blocks up to the parking meter where he’d parked his SUV, slightly covered in a light dusting of the snow that had fallen off and on all afternoon.

“Did you add money to the meter all afternoon?” she asked, pulling into the open spot in front.

“No. I paid for the entire day.”

“How did you know I wouldn’t leave early?”

He tilted his head in a yeah-right move, then shrugged. “Then I would have left and some lucky SOB would’ve had free parking.”

Climbing out of her car, he held the door open a moment to lean in. “Wait until I’m in my car. I’ll blink the lights and follow you to wherever you want to eat.”

“What if I just want to go home?”

“We can do that. You have anything to eat there?”

She twisted her lips sideways, her eyes traveling over his body, warming him more than his coat. “Not enough to feed both of us.”

“Dinner out it is.”

Closing the door before she could argue further, he headed to his own vehicle, thankful it started up despite sitting out in the below freezing temps all afternoon. The heater quickly warmed the inside and the wiper blades clearing the windshield. He blinked his lights at her then followed her out into the late evening traffic. She bypassed the interstate and headed up route 22 past the area where he knew her home was situated.

When she finally pulled into the parking lot of a Skyline Chili franchise, he laughed. Most women that were as willowy as Chloe would avoid a night time meal of chili and coneys, but not her. He met her at the door, holding it for her to proceed him inside.