Page 65 of Army
Chapter Thirteen
Mia sneaked apeek at her phone and groaned inwardly.Only thirty minutes has gone by?
“Do you gotta go somewhere?” Noe asked, staring at her.
“I’m trying to get a long workout in today. I’m thinking of competing and the fight’s a month away. I have a lot of work to do.”
“Is that guy gonna be there?”
“Army?” Just saying his name sent an excited flip through her stomach, making her fork clank against her plate.
“Yeah … that asshole.”
“Pretty strong word for someone you don’t know.” She picked up the knife and cut a piece of steak then looked up at him. “He’s not a member, so he won’t be there.”But I wish he was.
“You dating him?”
Mia popped the morsel of food in her mouth and chewed slowly as she thought about the answer. On one hand she wanted to tell him they were dating, but on the other, she didn’t want Vic to get too nosy about Army. It would spell disaster for both of them if Vic ever found out he was a Night Rebel. She swallowed. “No.”
“He acted like it.”
Mia shrugged slightly and looked back down at her plate. “You grabbed my hand when we walked in here. That’s the way men are.”
“But you pulled away from me. I didn’t see you do that with him.”
Shaking her head lightly, she gave a tight laugh. “With all the questions, you’re acting more like you’re my brother instead of his friend.” She picked up the glass and drank; the bubbles from the carbonation tickled her nose.
“I hope you see me as more than just Shark’s friend.”
“Did you finish with your business in town?” She avoided his stare and concentrated on scooping up a hazelnut on the fork.
“Yeah. I’m thinking of heading back tomorrow unless there’s a reason for me to stay.” His gaze pierced through her.
“I won’t be able to hang out. I’m just too busy at work and with training.” She gave a small laugh. “That’s really my life in a nutshell.”
He pressed his lips together to form a straight line and stared at her for several seconds. “Yeah … right.” He ran his finger over the beer bottle, his gaze still fixed on her. “I can stop by the gym and watch you train later tonight.”
I shouldn’t have called Noe back after Army canceled on me.She’d procrastinated in doing it but finally made the call figuring it was easier to just go out with him than to go through Vic’s interrogation as to why she’d canceled. Also, Army telling hernotto go was presumptuous, and it pissed her off. However, at that moment, she was afraid Noe was reading too much into their lunch. Earlier that day, two of her clients had rescheduled so she’d called him and suggested meeting up for a late lunch that afternoon rather than on Sunday, and Noe readily agreed.
“I’ll be in a private room with my personal trainer,” she lied, hoping he didn’t know squat about Champion.
“Then what about dinner after?”
“Another time. After a long workout, I’m not good for anyone.” She laughed, trying to make light of the situation even though Noe’s eyes pierced through her and his brows knitted together. “Speaking of training, I have to go. My trainer gets mad if I’m even five minutes late.” Mia opened her wallet and pulled out a twenty. “That should cover my share.”
“I invited you,” Noe growled. “Put your fuckin’ money away.”
Taken aback, Mia shoved the bill back in her wallet. “I didn’t mean to offend you. I just thought we’d go Dutch since we’re just friends, you know?”
Ignoring her, Noe threw down the money on the bill tray and pushed back on the chair; it made angry scraping sounds on the tiled floor. “You coming?” he gritted as he walked away from the table.
Mia quickly slipped out of the chair and followed him to the car. From the corner of her eye, she saw a red sports car across the street and sitting in it was the same man she’d seen in front of the salon the week before. After opening the car door, she turned and looked straight on at the guy. There was no expression on his face, but his hands gripped the steering wheel, and he had a menacing presence. An electric chill ran down her spine as she slid into the seat and closed the door. As Noe drove away, she stared out the passenger mirror, seeing the sports car pulling out and falling behind them. Panic pricked at her skin as her gaze fixed on the vehicle.
“What’re you looking at?” Noe asked.
“I think that red car is following us. No … actually, Iknowit is.”
Noe glanced in the rearview mirror. “Why do you think that?”
