Chapter Five

“So, is she single?”

Griff grinned. He’d been waiting for this. He’d seen the way that Luke had checked out Selena and he’d seen her studied indifference, which was always the surest sign that she was, actually, interested.

“You interested?” Griff asked as he poured some more coffee.

“Hell, man.” Luke ran his hand through his hair. “A woman that stunning? Of course I’m interested.”

“Yeah, well. Take a number, Rhodes.”

Luke looked supremely unconcerned. “What number?”

“Huh?”

“I mean, how many guys do I have to beat off to get my chance with her?”

Griff laughed, a deep, rolling sound from his broad chest. “Oh, I figure there are about three guys hanging around with hopes.”

“And they’ve got them? Hopes?”

“Nah.” Griff shook his blond head. “Selena’s hard on men, but that ain’t no surprise.”

“Hard how?”

Griff shrugged. “The woman is tough as hell, and most guys can’t handle it. She’s a bodyguard and she’s hardcore, and I think she could take down most guys without any effort at all. She needs someone strong – and not just physically.”

“She’s a tough character too, huh?”

“Oh, yeah.” Luke heard the affection in his friend’s voice. “She’s smart, man, and she’s strong mentally and emotionally.”

“And she hasn’t found a guy who can handle all of that?”

“I guess not, because of all the guys hanging around and asking her to dinner, she ain’t anything like serious about any of them. Barely gives them the time of day, actually. Especially lately.”

Something in Griff’s tone caught Luke’s attention fully. “Why lately? What’s going on?”

“Honestly? I don’t know, but she hasn’t been herself for the past couple of months. Like, not at all.”

Luke leaned back a bit, really looked at his friend’s face. He knew John Griffin well, he’d seen him keep his cool when the shit had hit the fan, and Luke had placed his life and trust in those capable hands while in battle and more than once. Luke had rarely seen Griff reticent, though, and the fact that he was holding back now was a major red flag. Griff was worried about Selena, maybe even really worried. Luke proceeded with caution.

“What do you think’s happened to her?” Luke said, asking the one question that he knew Griff had to be pondering.

Griff was silent, turning his cup of coffee around and around in his large hands. Finally, he sighed.

“No fucking clue,” he said slowly. “I mean, not a one. She ain’t talking.”

“But you think something happened.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yeah. For sure.”

The two men stared grimly at each other for a few seconds.

Luke glanced down the hallway to make sure that Selena wasn’t coming back yet. “So you’re saying that now may not be the best time for me to invite her for a beer?”

“Actually, no,” Griff said, surprising his friend. “I think now’s the perfect time for you to ask her for a drink.”

Luke cocked his head. “Huh?”

“Look, man. I know you. I’ve known you a long time, and I’ve seen how you are with people and how you are with women.”

Luke grinned. “Yeah? And?”

“And you’re a good guy, OK, and even though you adore women, you ain’t some fucking prick with the ladies. You don’t screw around and you don’t do one-nighters. I think she’d respond to your… ummm… particular brand of charm. She may not know it, but I think she needs someone who can stand up to her a bit, not kiss her ass. If you can reach her, I think she’d maybe even open up to you. Trust you with what’s going on with her.”

“Yeah, well, I’m a bartender so I’m a good listener, but I’m no psychologist," Luke said. "If she needs real help, I’m not it and to be honest, man, I don’t want to be her shrink. I want to be a guy that she wants to be with and get to know – and I mean that in every sense of the word. I want to date her, not psychoanalyze her.”

“I’m not saying that you're a therapist. I’m saying that you’re a decent guy, and I think she’d be into you.”

Luke’s dark blue eyes lit up bright at that. “You think?”

“Yep.”

“And you two?” Luke asked bluntly. “Nothing between you?”

“Nothing.”

“Not ever? Not even once after a few beers?”

“Never.”

“How come?”

“Because she’s my partner, and she’s a damn good one. Probably the best person I’ve ever worked with… notice that I said ‘person’, right, not ‘woman’. Selena’s fucking kick-ass, man, and when she’s got my back, I’m safe and I know it. It’s the perfect working relationship, and if we threw in romance and sex, it’d all go to hell at warp-speed, I think. I ain’t taking that risk. No professional bodyguard would.”

“But you’re attracted to her?” Luke said.

Griff shrugged. “I see how hot she is, ‘cause I’m not fucking blind. But beyond that? No.”

“OK, then.” Luke turned to the kitchen; his nose told him that it was time to plate up the food. “So, I’ll ask her.”

“Don’t be surprised if she says no,” Griff warned him. "She always says no."

Just then, they heard the bathroom door open and saw Selena’s tall, curvy shape emerge. Luke glanced at his friend, his eyes twinkling under the curly dark hair falling over his forehead.

“Yeah, I fully expect her to say no the first time,” Luke said in a low voice. “Maybe even the first three times. But the thing about me, man, is that I don’t give up so easy.”

“You need to get a hobby, Rhodes.”

“Or maybe some women are just worth waiting on.”

“Yeah.” Griff thought about Selena’s teasing humor, her amazing smile, her sweet toughness – none of which he’d seen for weeks and weeks now. He’d give or do almost anything for her to come on back to him, and if Luke could help with that, Griff was on board. “Maybe they are.”