Tempting Fate by Carla Neggers

Author:Carla Neggers [Neggers, Carla]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MIRA
Published: 1990-12-12T23:00:00+00:00

Zeke turned down Dani’s offer to cook on the grounds that he’d seen her kitchen, but agreed to ride with her in her car to town. She was a good driver. Even as distracted as she was, she concentrated on what she was doing. She found a parking space on Broadway in front of an attractive downtown restaurant with sidewalk tables that were tempting on such a beautiful day. But Dani led the way to a table inside, where it was quieter, pleasantly informal. A waitress brought them a small, steaming loaf of bread and dots of herbed butter.

“Is this all right?” Dani asked.

“It’s fine.”

She ordered a glass of the house red wine, and he did the same, watching her make a show out of examining the menu. She probably knew every item on it and had already decided what she wanted, but he figured she needed something to do besides look at him. He had no problem at all looking at her.

Their wine arrived. Dani immediately took a big drink of hers, then held on to the glass. “You don’t mind having a blocked view of the entrance?”

It was an obstructed view, not blocked, but he didn’t argue the point. “No, do you?”

She shrugged. “I’m just trying to figure out what kinds of things security consultants know, what they look out for. If I were to hire you, what would you tell me?”

Oh, sweetheart, he thought, if you only knew.

But he tried his wine and decided to take her question relatively seriously, even if it was intended to distract him. “I would teach you the basics of personal safety.”

“Which are?”

“First you have to know what personal safety is. To my way of thinking, it’s providing yourself with a stable environment in which you can pursue the activities and lifestyle you enjoy with limited fear of harm.”

“Does that mean you’d make me stop rock climbing?”

He shook his head. “That’s an activity you enjoy. I’m talking about ensuring yourself the kind of environment in which you can do your rock climbing, or whatever else you do for fun, without fear of intrusion.”

“You mean like burglars and kidnappers and such?”

“I mean,” he said, not especially appreciating her cheeky tone, “that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

She drank more of her wine; he noticed that her eyes were as black as Mattie’s and maybe even more dazzling. “Give me some examples.”

“I encourage common sense and reasonable precautions—”

“For rich girls?”

“And boys. And men and women. And the poor, the middle-class, the downtrodden. I give the same basic instructions to everyone, regardless of gender, position or wealth. I encourage common sense and reasonable precautions,” he repeated.

Their waitress returned and took their order, a cold pasta salad for Dani, lasagna for Zeke. He tore off a piece of bread and buttered it, then took a bite with a swallow of wine. He wondered if she was deliberately provoking him or if she just had a knack for it.

“An egalitarian bodyguard,” she said.

He decided it was deliberate.

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