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"It's just…unexpected. I thought you only knew how to use hammers and saws. I didn't know you could…" She waved her hand at him. "This."
He grinned. "I made a deal, and I stick with my deals. You basically hired me to be your career bodyguard, and I'm a damned good bodyguard."
"Have you been a bodyguard before?" She looked intrigued, which made something coil in his gut.
He liked how she was looking at him. "Yeah. I've helped out a few times."
"Everyone still alive?"
"Hell, yeah." He reached the front door and pulled it open, holding it for her. "Let's go, my love."
Piper gave him a wary look as she squeezed past him. "I feel like an alien possessed my antisocial, sweaty landlord. It's kind of alarming."
He laughed out loud then. "I'm a scary guy. Just ask all the drug dealers. They run for cover when I show up."
"Do you kiss them into confessing all their crimes?"
"Something like that." He was still grinning as they reached the maître d's table. He'd called ahead for a reservation, and they were soon escorted outside to a corner table. He scanned the patrons as they walked in, and his gaze landed on a table of four twenty-something women at the table by the bar. They were wearing expensive jewelry, tailored clothes, and had that vibe he'd seen too many times at his mom's events growing up.
Not his kind of women.
It was the kind of woman that Piper was trying to be, but shedidn't quite pull it off, he realized. That was why he wasn't bothered by her fancy-assed sass. Because shewasn'tthose women. She might be wearing the clothes, putting on the attitude, but she was nothing like them. Was it her irreverence? Her sass? Something in her past? He wasn't sure.
But he wanted to know.
Piper touched his arm. "Green dress," she whispered.
As Piper sat down, his gaze fell on the only brunette at the table, who was wearing an emerald-green dress. She was taller than the others, fit, and elegant. She held herself with a poise that said she knew what she wanted, deserved it, and would settle for nothing less.
He slid in beside Piper, taking his gaze off the women. He turned his back toward them to focus on Piper, who was facing them. "You don't need her," he said softly, as he bent in and began to nibble on her shoulder.
Shit. Her shoulder tasted amazing.
Piper sucked in her breath. "I do need her," she said.
"Forget her." He trailed his fingertips down Piper's bare arm. "And the others. Whatever the rumors are, whatever people are saying about you…forget it. They don't matter. They never do."
Piper put her hand on his cheek, her touch so soft and tender that it hit him right in the gut. "But they do matter," she said quietly. "April, her friends, and everyone like her, hold my future in their hands."
Declan met her gaze. "Don't let them."
Something flashed across her face, an emotion so raw and ragged that he sucked in his breath. "It's not that easy."
He immediately regretted pushing at her, realizing that he had no business challenging her when he had no idea what she was dealing with, what her stories were that she hadn't shared with him. "Yeah, I guess so. Never mind." He took a breath. "What now?"
"I don't know. I was thinking that she'd notice us and comeover." Her gaze flicked to the women. "But they seem completely absorbed."
"Want me to dance naked on the bar?"
She snorted. "No, please, I can't have my fiancé engaging in such behaviors."
He cocked his brow. "You spend a lot of effort trying to manage what people think of you."
"Because I'm in a career where it matters."
"Don't you get tired of it?"
She shrugged. "It doesn't matter if I do or not. It's how the game is played, and I'm going to get what I want."
