Chapter 23

Gabe led us to an open booth, and to my amusement, let me slide in one side before sitting right next to me.  Now, the closest George could get to me would be across the table.  The waitress came to the table, her expression bright as if she loved her job.  A smile of my own curled onto my lips, until she kept her eyes on Gabe the entire time she talked.  Gabe didn’t even glance towards her, and that was the only reason why I didn’t outright glare at the woman.  His eyes were on the door, his body was slightly tense, and I knew that he was waiting for George to walk through them.

“Two bacon cheddar burgers,” I said, interrupting the girl’s talk of their specials of the day.  “An order of fries and two Root Beers.”

Her eyes drifted from Gabe to me, but the smile on her face didn’t dim the slightest, and all my earlier thoughts made me feel ridiculous.  “What size fries?  Would you like anything on them?”

“Large,” Gabe mumbled, “and just salt.”

The waitress’s hand scribbled on the pad in her hand as she nodded.  “I’ll be right back with your drinks.”

“Why’d you get me a Root Beer?” he asked, finally taking his attention off the doors to smile at me. 

I shrugged.  “Heard you mumble something about it while you were eating earlier.”

“I’ve had two burgers already.”

My teeth bit into the side of my cheek.  I knew that he had already had two burgers, which was why I had ordered one for me and one for George. I knew the type of food he liked.  It was hard not to when you worked with someone for so long.  The only reason why I hadn’t ordered George a drink was that the man ordered something different almost every place he went.  I didn’t tell Gabe this.  Instead, I just smiled at him.  “I figure you’d have something to stuff your mouth with while I talk.  It’d keep you from saying anything stupid.”

He laughed, making my small lie worth it.  Lying to him wasn’t something that I wanted, but when he had looked at me with that small smile on his face as if he found something slightly amusing, but cute at the same time, I couldn’t crush his mood. 

“What about ordering just one fry?  You didn’t think I’d want any?” 

“After three burgers?” I joked before shaking my head at him.  “I share with the table.  By the time I’m done with these overly large burgers, I can usually only eat a little bit of my fries.”  This part was all truth.  As much as I loved my calorie-filled food, I could only eat so much before I was full. 

Gabe opened his mouth, but as the diner’s doors opened, he snapped it closed and glanced towards the doors.  If anyone were to look at George, they wouldn’t think that the man owned his own organization of professionally trained killers; they probably wouldn’t believe me if I told them that he had blood on his hands himself. 

His body movements were relaxed, but graceful.  The blonde hair he sported was never combed down.  No matter how much product they tried to put in it, George’s hair never did what they wanted.  His now blue eyes sparkled with amusement and the smile on his face was always flirty.  The jeans he had on looked so worn in that I wouldn’t doubt he had them since he was in college, and the t-shirt he wore was a plain blue that brought out his eyes even more than the contacts I knew he wore.  His eyes weren’t the only thing that the shirt brought out though.  Every time he swung his arms with his steps, his arms tightened slightly, showing me that even if he wasn’t working with Mitch any longer, he kept in shape.

I made a move to push out of my seat, but didn’t get very far as I hit Gabe.  Turning towards him, I stared at him until he finally let out a sigh and stood.  As soon as Gabe was out of the way, arms were around me, pulling me off the ground.  With a laugh, I tightened my grip on George while he rocked us slightly. 

“God I missed you,” he whispered in my ear.

Pulling back, I wiggled slightly until he let me stand on my own two feet again.  He still didn’t release me, just smiled down at me with that genuine smile that had taken me weeks to get out of him when we first partnered up on the job.  “I missed you too,” I mumbled before hugging him again.

Someone cleared their throat, making me pull back.  The waitress stood there, her hands both holding a drink and a smile on her face.  “I brought you your drinks,” she said in a happy tone. 

George pulled away from me, and his smile turned back to the flirty one he seemed to show everyone.  “I’ll take those.”  He eased them from the woman’s hand, and I had to bite my lip to keep my laughter in.  She stood there, with wide eyes; her smile had dropped and was now replaced with an open mouth.  George held one out to Gabe, who took it from him before he sipped the other.  With a nod, he handed me the drink before speaking.  “I’ll take one of those too.”

I rolled my eyes at his actions as the waitress bounced off to get his drink.  The man was a constant flirt.  It was one of the reasons why he was so good to work with.  If there was a female who needed questioned, no matter how old or young, George could have them talking with just one smile. 

“Let’s sit down,” I said, when neither of the men standing there made a move.  They just stood there, staring at me in expectation, but what they expected me to do, I had no idea. 

With a sigh, I slipped back into my seat and was slightly relieved when Gabe slid in next to me without a problem.  I had almost expected George to argue, demand that he sit next to me because we hadn’t seen each other in a year.  I watched as George slipped into his seat across from me while I reached under the table to grab Gabe’s hand.  I didn’t know why, but for some reason it felt like the right thing to do.  When Gabe squeezed my hand in an assuring way, and George gave the man a slight nod, I knew that I had somehow made the right move.

“He’s been taking care of you?” George asked, his eyes narrowing on Gabe. 

I smiled over at Gabe before turning the same look onto George.  “Yeah.  He actually has.  A lot of things have happened in the past few days and having him here helps.”

George took a deep breath, before letting it out.  Glancing at me, the narrowed eyes were replaced with a soft smile.  “Good, because I’d hate to kill one of my best men.”

I laughed at him, but Gabe stayed quiet beside me.  It went unsaid that George was being serious.  In all the years that I’ve known him, he had always kept true to his words, even if he did deliver them with a smile.  “I like the hair and the eyes,” I said while raising an eyebrow in accusation.

He ran a hand through his messy blonde hair.  “Let’s just say that I was missing you.  If I couldn’t see you, I had to have something to remember you by.”

“Yeah right,” I said, calling him on his lie.  “You just finally took my advice.  Red hair is too memorable, and you do look less frightening with blue eyes.”

“You think?” he asked, his soft smile turning into one of amusement.

“Definitely,” I agreed just as the waitress set down another drink. 

She lingered, and I bit my lip again to keep from looking too amused.  “Can I get you anything else?” she asked, her eyes not wavering from George.

He sent the woman a grin, darting his eyes towards me before answering.  “What are they having?”

“Two bacon cheddar burgers and a large order of fries,” she recited, “only salt.”

George chuckled slightly, his eyes looking towards me.  I glared at him, hoping he wouldn’t say a word.  He knew I had ordered him that burger, knew that the exact order she recited to George was the one him and I used to get anytime we went somewhere that sold burgers.  “I’ll take a bacon cheddar burger, no fries.  She never finishes hers anyway,” he said, his eyes set on me.

The waitress let out a disappointed sigh as she ambled off.  The bounce was no longer in her step, but I knew that when she came back, George would flirt enough to get her back to her bubbly self.

“You made her sad,” I accused with a small amount of amusement in my voice.

He glanced towards the waitress, watching for a moment too long.  “Don’t worry,” he drawled. “When she gets back, I’ll put that pep back in her step.”

Gabe let out a chuckle that I knew he was trying to hold in.  I glanced at the man, a smile wide on my face, but that smile quickly turned into a frown when I remembered exactly what his face looked like.  There was a large bruise on one side, and even though I promised not to, when I got back to the house, I was going to kill that gardener.

“Let’s get down to business,” I said, moving my eyes from Gabe and onto George.

He stared at me for a moment, a thoughtful look on his face, before nodding.  “You saved my life,” he laughed.  “Well, you helped me fake my death.  Same thing, and now seeing you after a year, I realize that you going with me wasn’t what you needed at that time.”  He paused for a moment, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat as he swallowed.  “You really believe me now?  You believe what I said back then?”

My eyes watered slightly before I quickly blinked back any tears that threatened to run down my cheeks.  “Yeah, George.  I believe you, and I’m sorry I didn’t then.”

“It’s okay.  I knew you would believe me one day,” he said, and I knew he told the truth.  “Count me in, Sweetie.  Anything you need, anything you want, I’ll get it for you.”

I shook my head at him with a small smile.  “You don’t even know what this is about yet.”

“Doesn’t matter,” he whispered.  “I’ll do anything for you.”

Gabe’s grip on my hand tightened before releasing, and I knew he didn’t like George’s words.  I knew that I’d have to assure him that while George and I were close in the past, the two of us weren’t meant for each other anymore.  Now, I had to view Gabe in my future, and I’d tell him that later.  Right now, I nodded at George, happy that he was on my side, because for this to happen as I wanted, I was going to need his help.