“Because if it’s not you, it would be someone else, and I’d rather have someone I know and trust.”
Drake slowly nodded. “I can’t say I’m not glad you said that. I like having an excuse to check you out.”
“Errr…”
“I like being your Mr. Fix It.”
Oh, Lord. Alyx and her big mouth always got me into trouble. “I totally don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said airily but Drake’s answering laughter made me feel sheepish. “Well, okay, I did, umm, sort of call you that. Are you mad?”
He grinned. “Of course not. I actually like it. It’s nice that you think me as your go-to guy.”
Cue for awkward silence, which honestly was happening more and more frequently in my life.
“So…” Drake was the first to speak again. “You’re not going to freak out on me, say I betrayed you for not telling you who I was?”
I rolled my eyes. “You’ve watched too many secret bodyguard movies, my friend.” I picked my chopsticks up again, nabbing a piece of sashimi on my plate and popping it into my mouth. “It’s not like you’re the first one she hired to work undercover.”
“Won’t Kastein mind about me?”
“He’ll get over it,” I said, trying to sound like I believed what I was saying.
“I could talk to him---”
“No!” I shook my head vehemently. “That’s the worst idea, ever. He’s very…” I trailed off, trying to think of a way to explain Constantijin’s behavior towards me without using the words ‘jealous’ or ‘possessive’. It just didn’t feel right to use those words myself.
Drake leaned back against his chair, causing his black business jacket to fall to the sides and revealing his striped white shirt underneath. I could feel women around us staring because he honestly looked very yummy, posed like this on the chair.
The grimness on his face unnerved me a little. “What is it?”
“It finally happened,” he said finally. “You’re with him now, aren’t you?”
It shouldn’t have mattered what my answer was. There had been nothing between us. In fact, there was even less than what I thought was there since he hadn’t been at the right time and place because he liked being my knight in shining armor. He had always been there because he had been paid to do so.
Even so, all those words simply felt like excuses in my mind. I nodded, unable to make myself speak. I only looked up when he sighed.
“If I were petty, I’d be calling your mother right now---” He smiled wryly when he saw my horrified expression. “I was just kidding.”
“Good. Because that would be really bad.” I fed myself three consecutive pieces of raw salmon, using its fresh and delicious taste to calm myself. “You know her, you’ve talked to her. She’s crazy paranoid about me.” I made a face. “You see how I didn’t even have trouble believing she hired you.”
“Touché,” Drake said, his lips breaking into a wry smile. “Her offer came at the right moment, you know. After my last mission in Iraq---”
My jaw dropped. “No way.” I shook my head. “You look more like a pacifist to me. Like, a peace-loving vegan.”
Drake’s smile turned angelic, and his voice was matter of fact when he said, “It’s why I make a good sniper. Nobody sees me coming.”
I gulped, deciding then and there I totally didn’t want to be on this man’s bad side.
“I was having trouble adjusting to having a normal life back and your mom’s assignment gave me a place to start. Plus, it came with a job here at Kastein. I always wanted to see how it was like to work for someone else who didn’t carry a gun, but I also wanted to make sure the company I was working for was clean as a whistle.”
His last words made me frown. “Clean, like, you want something with, umm, an environmentally friendly program?”
He shook his head. “Clean like they don’t do any shady deals. And Kastein Inc. was one of the few that made it to my list.”
“Oh.” I looked at him admiringly. “That’s, like, wow. You’re such a nice guy.”
“Not at all. I just didn’t want to be put in a position that I’d have to kill my boss.”
“I see.” But I didn’t really and I had a feeling I wasn’t the right person to know him that well. All I knew was that there was more to Drake Morrison than what met the eye.
“Are you scared of me now?”
Drake’s face was expressionless, but I had a feeling it took a lot for him to ask that. On impulse, I reached out to pat his arm – just twice, though, because doing so felt incredibly awkward. “No. I know you’re a good man, Drake, so…thanks. Thank you for looking after me.”
“It was the best job I had---have.”
His eyes gleamed in a way that had me say warningly, “Drake.”
He laughed. “All right, I won’t put you in an awkward position with him – for now. But I need to be honest, I’ll probably – deliberately – yank his chain once in a while.”
I groaned. “Drake.”
He sobered. “It’s a way to make sure he doesn’t take you for granted.”
Okay, this time I had to sigh his name out since I was honestly touched. “Drake.”
“Am I interrupting something?”
Shit.
This was the one instance I sort of hoped I wasn’t hearing that Dutch-accented voice. Swallowing, I looked up, almost shivering at how Constantijin’s eyes had turned into silvery ice.
Drake answered easily, “No, sir. In fact, I was just leaving.” He stood up. “It was nice talking to you, Yanna.”
“Uh, same.” My eyes darted between the two of them. I totally didn’t know who I should be looking at. Should it be Drake because it was the polite thing to do or at Constantijin because he was my boyfriend and he might think I was flirting behind his back?
Drake winked at me before drawling out, “I just have to say you look very sexy today, Yanna. 33As, right?”
God, I hated that man now – it was official. It didn’t matter if he was the army’s best sniper. I was so sniping him the moment I survived my confrontation with Constantijin – who was glaring down at me, a muscle ticking in his jaw.
“Office. Now.”
Glenda’s gaze was curious as Constantijin dragged me past her table without a word. “Hi,” I whispered just before Constantijin pulled me inside his office and slammed the door shut.