Blindsided (Sentinel Securities) (6 page)

"No. It's good as new. I came here to ask you to have lunch with me."

"Lunch?"

"You know that meal we eat in the middle of the day…"

"I…ah."

"You
do
get a lunch break don't you?"

"Of course, I get a lunch break. It's just that I normally have it here."

"I promise you'll like it."

That's just the problem buddy
, she thought with a weary sigh.
I might like it too much
.  She wrestled her wayward emotions back into place and straightened her shoulders, she was going to keep away from bad influences in her life and that included men like Jason Nash. Steven was a much safer prospect and far more sensible for her. "Okay."
Okay?
Where the hell had that come from?

"Great. What time is your lunch break?"

"Twenty minutes," she stammered, still in shock that she'd agreed—she hadn't
meant
to. She wasn't
supposed
to!

"I'll wait for you downstairs."

She watched him walk back toward the lift, still in shock. What had she done?

At twelve she pressed the ground floor button on the elevator with a slightly unsteady hand and felt a battle of butterflies rage within her stomach. He was standing beside his shiny, sleek, somewhat mean, looking bike and even
it
seemed to be daring her to find it irresistible.
Was it possible for a machine to take on its owner's personality? 

"Up for a ride?" he asked, retrieving a second helmet and holding it out to her.

"Are you crazy?"

"What? You strike me as a girl who can handle a little excitement in her life. Come on Brie—let yourself have some fun for a few minutes."

His words should have angered her, but for some reason they didn't. Her guarded gaze locked with his smiling one and she felt something blaze to life deep down low, something she'd thought she'd buried a long time ago. She should have walked away from him then and there…but she didn't, instead, she found herself slowly extending her hand to reach for the helmet.

She pulled on the helmet and watched as he straddled the big bike to start it. His gaze locked with hers the entire time as she clasped the buckle beneath her chin and slid her small handbag across her chest. He reached out a hand to help her climb onto the seat behind him and settle herself. Tentatively, she placed her hands on his waist, but he reached back, taking hold of her hands and wrapped them tightly around his middle, forcing her body into greater contact with his. There was no time to squirm away as he took off, forcing her to hold on for dear life.

Even though they were in city traffic the ride was still exhilarating as they weaved their way through the traffic, the wind on her face and the feeling of nothing but the piece of metal and a motor beneath her.

He glided to a stop in front of a small, inner city park and helped her dismount. Taking her helmet off, Briella ran her fingers through her flattened hair and handed Jason her helmet, watching as he secured them to the bike before beckoning her to follow him.

"You've ridden on a bike before?"

She didn't bother looking at him
;
she could hear the curiosity in his voice. "Once or twice. A long time
ago
."

"Nothing like it is there?"

"I out grew it."

His chuckle made her glance over at him with a frown.

"Is that a polite way of telling me I need to grow up?" he asked.

She kept her tone casual as she shook her head briefly. "I don't know you well enough to pass that kind of judgement. I was simply giving you my take on it."

He gave a small chuckle but didn’t comment further, instead, sweeping his hand out before him. "Here we are."

Briella stopped and stared at the small picnic blanket that had been laid and covered with platters of food. She watched Jason walk over to a man in a white apron and chef hat, handing him some money and thanking him before he turned and invited her to take a seat on the picnic rug.

"There's so much food," she all but breathed the words, her gaze trying to take in the spread before her. There was everything from prawns and seafood to dainty sandwiches, exotic fruit platters and a plate of decedent looking deserts.

"Yeah, well I wasn't sure what you liked to eat. So I got a bit of everything."

"Are you crazy? What if I'd said no? All this money not to mention,
food
, you'd have wasted."

His shrug seemed nonchalant, "Then it's a good thing you said yes, isn't it. Come on dig in, I have to get you back to work soon."

She hesitated for maybe a millisecond, before slowly taking a seat on the edge of the blanket and finding herself suddenly famished. It all looked so good. She had a hard time choosing what to eat first. Taking a sandwich triangle, she decided to start safe and work her way up.

****

Nash watched in fascination as Briella munched her way through the bounty of food before them. He bit back a grin as she delicately bit into the food, polishing it off in record time. He wasn't used to women actually
eating
when he took them on a date. If there was one thing that bugged him, it was women who picked at food and barely ate anything just because they might get something stuck in their teeth or heaven forbid, put on weight! If he’d bothered to take a woman out to a meal, he'd at least like to know she enjoyed it. Briella Matheson, seemed to have no problem enjoying food.

She looked up and caught him watching her. He saw her chew and swallow the mouthful of food she'd been eating before self-consciously wiping at her mouth. "What?"

"Nothing," he assured her with a smile, reaching over to snag a prawn and dip it into the accompanying seafood sauce.

"Why were you staring at me then?"

He gave a soft chuckle at her frown,
man she was cute when she did that
. "It's just that I've never seen someone eat so fast before. You're like a human locus plague working your way through that food." Her frown changed to a look of horror and instantly he knew he'd said the wrong thing and quickly backtracked. "No, I'm impressed."

"I'm not used to eating out…I tend to eat fast because I have to keep up with an energetic toddler. Sorry about that," she murmured and gave an embarrassed shrug.

"I didn't mean it as a criticism. Please keep eating, I really like that you're enjoying this. Makes me feel good that I can do something for you. Here," he said passing her a plate of fruit, try the rock melon." He watched as she eventually reached out and took a slice of the bright orange melon and breathed a sigh of relief that a mini crisis had narrowly been averted. "So, can I ask about your little girl’s father?"

"No."

"Why?"

She sent him another frown and he resisted the urge to retract the question. He wished he could, he hated that he was pushing, but they really needed to find that info before the bikers caught up with her. Time was running out.

"Because he's got nothing to do with Lucy and me."

"He doesn't see her?"

"He's only seen her once in the last three years. Great role model
,
huh?"

"When was the last time he saw her?" Nash asked, reaching for a sandwich casually.

"A
few weeks
back, look, can we not discuss this? My ex is not my most favourite topic to discuss."

"Sorry. Just curious." This was both good and bad news. The fact Declan had seen Briella recently supported the theory that maybe he
had
given her the recipe…the bad news was that this meant he could also turn up at any moment and get it back.

How far was Briella involved in all this? Did she willingly agree to hold onto this secret recipe for her ex, or did he hide it someplace in her home without her knowledge? He wanted to believe she was just an innocent pawn in all this, but experience told him that people could let you
down
if you gave them the benefit of the doubt too quickly. It paid to be cautious and believe the worst—it saved you from disappointment in the long run.

He needed to back off from this line of questioning for a bit or he'd spook her, so instead he concentrated on getting to know about her past.

"What made you go into nursing?"

He saw the tension in her shoulders leave a little as she pondered his question. "I was always the bossy one who took care of other kids at school. I could never walk past a sad face or a scraped knee," she shrugged off hand with a slight smile. "When I turned 17, my mum had a stroke; my parents were both a lot older than any of my friend’s parents. I’d been about to start University, but instead I spent the next 18 months taking care of her until she passed away. By then, Dad was on a downward spiral health wise as well." She studied her plate of food before continuing softly. "At 21, I became an orphan. We'd had to sell off the house and land to move closer to hospitals with Mum, and then by the time Dad passed, I kind of didn't have much of a choice but to move to the city, since I no longer had a home to go to."

"That was pretty tough."

He watched Briella glance up and a sad smile touched her lips. "No, I've seen and heard far worse stories than mine since I began nursing. I was lucky to have a great childhood and parents I adored. Anyway, I had enough money left over to use towards Uni and here I am."

Nash was sure she was brushing over a hell of a lot of heartache and pain in the retelling of the years prior to her becoming a nurse but he didn't push her any further. He respected the quiet pride in her voice and envied the gentle softening of her features as she'd mentioned her parents. His own childhood had been far from the loving one Briella had.

A quick glance at her watch and Nash fought off a frustrated sigh that he'd barely cracked the surface of this woman before him. "I better get back. Thank you for going to all this trouble, I hope the rest of it won't go to waste."

Nash thought about the feeding frenzy that would take place once the left overs were delivered back to the office for the boys to polish off and shook his head. "Trust me; they'll be put to good use."

From out of now where a man appeared and began packing away their picnic. Briella wasn’t sure if she was impressed or alarmed that the whole time she hadn’t even been aware he’d been hanging around nearby.

Back at the hospital, Briella slid off the bike and took off her helmet, quickly undoing her pony tail and finger-combing it back into a hasty simile of its previous state. She'd just go for the messy look this afternoon and hope no one noticed.

Jason reached back and secured her helmet to the back of the bike, before straightening to remove his own helmet. When he made to climb off the bike, she quickly put her hand on his arm and stopped him.

"No, don't bother getting off; I've got to get back inside." She wasn't sure what he was planning on doing, but the last thing she wanted was for any of her workmates to see her saying goodbye to some strange guy inside the hospital.

"Thanks for having lunch with me."

"Are you kidding? Thank
you
for going to all that trouble and inviting
me
. I don't think I'll be able to eat for a week after all that."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." His steady gaze held her in place, even as she knew she should be moving away. She was still standing close to the bike, his denim clad thigh brushed hers, and his dark eyes seemed to tether her to him without even trying.

“Can I have your number, so I can give you a call later,” he asked, the low, gravelly tone of his voice sending a shiver of something suspiciously like attraction up her spine and she ran suddenly damp hands down her thighs nervously. “I don’t have a pen,” she patted her pocket where she
always
carried one…anytime other than the moment she desperately needed one that is!

“I don’t need it written down—I’m good with numbers—just tell me.”

She eyed him doubtfully,
sure you’ll call buddy…whatever!
But she rattled off her number and watched as he smiled and nodded. “Got it.”

He must have read the sceptical look on her face, as his grin melted into something far too sexy for this time of the day. “You don’t believe me
,
huh?”

“Maybe just because I struggle to remember my own number—
let alone
someone else’s,” she told him dryly.

"Briella?"

As though a bucket of cold water had been tipped over her head, the sound of Steven's voice calling her name for a second time that day jerked her back to reality. Spinning around, she found him standing on the curb staring at her uncertainly.

"Steven. Hi."

"I was looking for you."

"I was…"

"On a date, with me," Jason supplied, easily cutting in on her explanation without a bat of his eyelid.

"Oh. A date." Steven frowned, his gaze fixed upon Jason's angrily.