JUSTICE SAID, “UM...”
Hell, he felt like he’d just gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar. In truth, Fallon had probably saved him because he’d been close to asking questions that had nothing to do with the job, and had everything to do with the odd protectiveness he felt toward Fallon as a woman.
It went beyond work ethic and nudged into...territorial.
Assignment, assignment, assignment. He’d remind himself as many times as necessary.
Being much smoother, Mr. Wade pasted on a tempered smile. “We were just passing the time until you finished getting ready, honey.”
Fallon wasn’t buying it. Her doubt showed in the way she looked at Justice out of the corner of her eye.
He grinned at her.
That seemed to confuse her. “I would have been ready if Marcus hadn’t dropped in. I’m sorry for making you wait.”
“Does he do that often?” Shut up, Justice.
“Um, no.” She looked between him and her father. “But it did put me just a little behind.”
“Not a problem,” Justice promised. “I’m on your schedule, remember.”
“And it gave us a chance to chat and get better acquainted.” Mr. Wade pulled his daughter into an embrace, hugging her close. He looked at Justice over her head while he said, “Have fun, and be safe.”
Next he offered his hand to Justice.
Huh. Maybe they really had smoothed over the rough waters. “Right. Better acquainted.” Justice accepted the olive branch.
“I’m trusting you to take care of her.” After that quiet acceptance, Mr. Wade went in.
Fallon scowled up at Justice. “What was that all about?”
Today she wore slim ankle-length jeans with flat shoes and a loose, blue striped sweater. She looked incredibly cute. “Just talking man to man.” Rather than go into detail, Justice gestured for her to precede him to the car. “Where to tonight?”
“I checked out local attractions and found that there’s a street fair nearby. It’s open for a few more hours.”
Justice tripped over his own feet. Damn it, he’d checked everything he could think of, but he hadn’t even known about the fair. “Where?”
“It’s downtown. Lots of crowds expected.”
He grabbed for the door handle right before she could.
Once again, she sat up front.
Like déjà vu, he got behind the wheel but didn’t pull away. “Will you need me tomorrow, too?”
She tipped her head. “Is that a problem?”
“Nope. But I’m thinking we save the fair till then.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know anything about it.”
“It’s a fair,” she said. “There will be vendors, things to buy, food to try.”
Justice figured it was past time they made some ground rules. “You need to understand, it’s my job to make you secure. I gotta know what’s happening a little beforehand, otherwise it’s impossible. And when it’s impossible, your dad gets pissed and I could end up canned again.”
Not giving in, Fallon asked, “What could happen at a fair?”
No idea, but he knew better than to take chances. “Anything, I guess.” He tugged at his ear. “See, what I do is figure out how to proceed in case anything does go wrong. Like, I need to know the quickest way out, the best route to take, the neighborhoods we’ll go through—”
“You’re taking this all too seriously.”
“Yeah, says the girl who got shit-faced, had to be carried in, got me fired—”
“Stop!” Barely suppressing a laugh, she pressed her palms to her reddened cheeks. “That’s not who I usually am.”
Justice noticed how cute she looked with a blush. “Too bad, because that girl was fun.”
She blinked at him. “Really?”
Too late to call back the words, Justice said, “I mean—”
“You don’t think I was...pathetic?” So much heat now colored her cheeks, she looked scalded.
Bracing a forearm on the steering wheel, Justice turned to face her. The vulnerability in her dark eyes nearly broke his heart. Softly, he asked, “Why would you think that?”
She looked away, hesitated, then changed the subject. “Maybe we could do the art museum then. There’s a special exhibit—”
He cut her off. “Same problem. I’d need to check it out first.”
Disappointed, she clutched her hands in her lap. “So then what are we going to do? I’m not anxious to visit another bar.”
That surprised him. “I thought you had fun.” But maybe her daddy had put the kibosh on drinking.
“I did,” she admitted. “But then I woke up this morning and remembered that no one had danced with me. Not that I expected guys to rush over or anything, but...not a single one?”
The smile tugged at his mouth. “You know why, right?”
Her shoulders sagged. “I assume—”
Justice took her hand. It was small in his, delicate. Hell, her dad was right—she was fragile.
Taboo, dude. Knock that shit off.
He retreated, but explained, “Guys tried, honey. More than a few. My job was to keep them away, so that’s what I did.”
Comprehension came slowly. “You’re serious?”
Justice nodded. “Any guy who looked too long, or tried to cozy up, got my best ‘back the ef off’ stare. You were busy dancing—” and turning me on in the process “—so I guess you didn’t notice.”
She dropped back in her seat. “You actually warned men away?”
“With a mean stare, yeah.” In his defense, Justice said, “They weren’t your usual refined aristocrats, you know.”
A slow simmering anger straightened her shoulders, tightened that soft mouth and narrowed her amazing eyes. “I didn’t want to dance with an aristocrat. That’s why I went to a local bar.”
She said it like she spoke to an idiot. Amused by the show of temper, Justice grinned. “Tell you what, if you have enough free time tonight, how about I take you to Rowdy’s? I’m already familiar with it and I’m betting the guys I know will be around. If you want to dance with them, no sweat.”
She looked tempted, and still riled. “I don’t want you coercing anyone to do you a favor. I’m not a charity case.”
“Far from it.” Hell, he’d probably still have to read the riot act to any man—friend or not—who got too close. “So what do you say?” To help convince her, he added, “You can try another beer, but this time just one.”
She stewed a minute more before finally nodding. “Well...all right. But, Justice, you have to trust me to do my own fending off, okay?”
Now that he had a destination, he started the car and pulled away. “That’s a no-go. It’s my job to—”
“You