Page 13 of Kane

“The military?” She perks up at this, curiosity apparent. “What kind of military? What did you do?”

“Army. I was Rangers.”

“I do not know what is this Rangers.”

“Army Special Forces.”

“Oh.” Her eyes are wide. “So you are more than just a soldier.”

I smirk, shrug. “I guess so.”

“Was it very dangerous?”

I laugh. “Yeah, babe. It was dangerous.”

“Can you tell me more about it? I am very curious.” Her big dark eyes are wide and innocent, openly curious.

Fuck, she’s killing me.

I tip my head to one side and back upright. “Some stuff. A lot of what I did is classified. Most of it, honestly.”

This only makes her eyes go even wider. I’ve never used my spec ops status to snag a chick, because honesty I’ve never had to, since my looks alone usually do the trick. This girl, though? I’ll take it.

“Classified?” She breathes. “You were aspy?”

I laugh loud at that. “Nah, babe. Just means the missions I went on were secret. Only top brass—meanin’ high-up officers, like the executives of the Army, basically—knew about it.”

“Why would there be secret missions?”

I shrug. “Because shit goes down that they don’t want everyone knowin’ about. Taking down drug lords, arms dealers, terrorists, shit like that.”

“Taking down—you meankillingthem?”

Again, I have to laugh. “Yeah, babe. Guys like that, you don’t just walk up and arrest ‘em.’

“Have you ever been shot?”

I nod. “Sure. Few times.”

“Really?” Her eyes are about to pop out of her skull. “Did it hurt very badly?”

“Actually, not till later, usually. When you first get hit, it’s just a hot impact, likebam!” I smack the table hard, and she jumps backward, squealing, covers her mouth with her hands; I ignore the looks from other diners, focus on Anjalee, her big black eyes and her blatant, attracted fascination. “Then when the shock wears off, yeah, it hurts like a motherfucker.”

“Oh my. You must beverystrong.”

I can only shake my head. “It’s the job. You go into it knowin’ the risks. And then you just do the job. You get it done, no matter what.”

She’s finished with her food; I’ve been done for a minute. She just looks at me, and I can’t read her thoughts. “You are really something, do you know?”

I just laugh again. “Nah.” I slap some bills on the table to cover the food and a generous tip.

I notice she doesn’t even blink at letting me pay. Not that she could, seeing as she doesn’t seem to have so much as a cell phone. I also just get a definite sense that she’s used to things being paid for her.

I stand up, hold my hand out to her. Her small brown hand fits into mine, her eyes searching, intimidated, elusive. “Ready to hit the road?”

She bites her lower lip. “I must use the restroom first. Is that okay?”

I keep a straight face. “Nope. Gotta hold it till we get to LA.”