Stella
It was a long, long day at work. But Nate's presence at his table, silent and watchful, was comforting. Stella glanced over at him often, reminding herself that he was there, and it gave her energy every time.
Often, he was looking back, and when he was, he'd give her a small nod. Every time, it warmed her somewhere deep in her chest. Made her lynx purr.
Like him, her lynx thought. Like him very much.
Agreed, Stella thought back.
It was funny. Her lynx usually didn't react like that with men—usually she either ignored them, or got on board with Stella's physical desire. They were both happy to climb a man like a tree, but her lynx usually stopped there. She hardly ever paid attention to them.
Well, that was just another sign that Nate was a really good man. A cut above the guys Stella usually dated.
On her break, she hesitated over what to do, before finally just giving in and joining Nate at his table with her lunch. “Is it okay if I sit with you? Or do you need to pay attention?”
Nate shook his head, smiling. “If you're here, I'm paying plenty of attention.”
Stella blushed. “Okay, well—I brought you a sandwich. On me.”
Nate took the plate, but said, “I can pay for my food. I'm taking up a table all day long, I might as well make it worth it.”
“Are you kidding?” Stella said. “I don't even know how much this kind of personal protection would usually run, but I bet it's more than a turkey club and a Coke.”
Nate glanced down at his lunch. “Well. I suppose it is more than a turkey club and Coke, yes.”
“So go ahead and eat.” Stella sat down across from him.
“Thanks,” he said in surrender, and they focused on their food for a few minutes. Until something occurred to Stella.
“I'm not taking you away from real work, am I?” The idea sprang fully-formed into her head, and suddenly it seemed like she must be. “Are there paying customers that you should be protecting?”
Nate shook his head immediately. “No, no. I'm just management these days. My team are all out on jobs, and I was just back in the office taking care of all the paperwork. It's a relief to get out, believe me.”
Stella cautiously decided to accept that. “Okay. And the paperwork is okay to wait? You're not going to run into any kind of...payroll problems, or what-have-you?” She had only the vaguest idea of how businesses were run, she had to admit. She'd never lasted long in any kind of office job.
“No, my assistant can take care of it for a little while. Connie. She's very competent—could do my job, probably. Probably better than I could.” He sighed.
Stella frowned. “Well...if you'd rather be out in the field, and she could do your job...why don't you pay her to do your job?”
Probably it was more complicated than that. But it had been like a black cloud had just appeared over his head at the very thought of all his paperwork. It was obvious he didn't like it.
Nate laughed a little. “I wish. But—well, I built this company from the ground up. I feel some responsibility for it. Besides, I wouldn't actually want to go back to full-time fieldwork at my age. I'm getting to the point where it's smarter to let the young, fit guys do all the running around and getting shot at.”
Stella eyed him. “You look pretty fit.” He did: lean and muscular, with a hint of gray in his hair, but no indication of being slow or creaky at all. He was probably around her age or a bit older—mid-forties, maybe?—but she had no doubt that he could outrun and outfight plenty of guys in their twenties.
His blue eyes snapped up to meet hers. Oops, that had been a little flirty.
“I mean,” she said hastily, “you wouldn't have volunteered for this job if you couldn't do it, right? I bet you're just fine in the field.”
He tilted his head, looking at her with a contemplative expression. Stella wasn't sure what to make of it.
“You're right,” he said finally. “I suppose...I've had enough of making my living through violence. I like doing the puzzle side of things. On-site inspections, revamping people's security procedures, tightening places up when they're expecting break-ins or attempts at corporate espionage. If I could only do that...well, maybe.”
Stella hoped he'd think it over. If he really had built his whole security company from the ground up like he said, he deserved to be doing whatever job he wanted to. Especially if it was as successful as Ken seemed to think it was. After all, what was the point of doing it at all, if you didn't get what you wanted at the end of it?
Of course, it wasn't any of her business. And really, she didn't know a thing about
running a company, so probably it was a lot more complicated than she realized.