Bought His Life by Aleka Nakis Tia Fanning

her and took the keys from her hand as they reached the door, then pushed it open and motioned for her to go first.
    He locked the door and dropped the keys into her palm. He took hold of her extended fingers and looked straight into her eyes. “We’ll talk while I see you home, Emily.” She was about to protest when he shook his head. “It’s really too dark for you to walk alone. Does your husband work nights? Can’t he meet you?”
    Wow! First, he’d fixed the shoddy fridge hinges without her asking, then the door thing, and now he was concerned for her safety because it was dark. She’d thought chivalry had disappeared years ago, but apparently, Jack hadn’t gotten the memo. Not only was he good on the eyes, he had manners, too. What planet did he come from?
    After being on her own for over a decade, Emily wasn’t accustomed to being catered to or looked after like those women in the black and white TV shows she’d watched after school. She wasn’t sure how to respond.
    “Your husband won’t be angry, will he?”
    “No.” This time, she laughed at the thought. “It’s nothing like that.” It was weird answering to a stranger, but she guessed he was being polite again. “I’m not married. I just don’t want to impose or take you out of your way.”
    “No imposition. It’ll be my pleasure.” His voice sounded lighter, possibly relieved, and she turned to look at him. He flashed a large smile and placed his hand in the small of her back. “Which way, beautiful?”
    She pointed to the right.
    Beautiful? How’d they get from ma’am to beautiful so fast? Maybe he wasn’t a gentleman? Just an arrogant control freak that wanted to feel important. Jamming her hands into her pants pockets, she raised her shoulders, answering her own questions.
    Who cares? Let him walk you home. It wouldn’t hurt not to look behind the hibiscuses for someone hiding in them tonight.
    “Down that street, and make a right. And thanks.”
    “It’s the least I could do. You gave me a job, on a temporary basis, and I appreciate it.”
    “I appreciate honesty. You didn’t try to snow me like every other busboy, and say this was the career of your lifetime and Emy’s Plac e was where you wanted your ashes to be strewn.”
    Jack’s rich laughter tickled her insides. “Sorry, not my life’s ambition. But honest work is nothing to spit at, and I do what’s needed to get the mission accomplished.”
    “Well, I was kind of stuck, too. You came in at the perfect time.” She walked a little closer beside him as they turned down the dark, palm-lined road, amazed at how comfortable it felt to be with him, as if she’d known him for years. “So, why can you work for only two weeks?”
    “As I explained earlier, I have to complete something I started before I came here. I never leave an assignment unfinished or do it halfway.”
    “What is it with you, Jack? So prim and proper, motivated and honest, even focused on your special mission. What are you? Ex-military or a NASA wannabe?”
    He didn’t answer, but his stride grew stiff. She must have struck a sour note with the eye candy. With a body like his, he must’ve been in a line of work that required discipline. Maybe he was a veteran and didn’t like talking about the service? What was it called? Post Traumatic Stress?
    “Don’t worry. Two weeks will be a great help,” Emily said. “It’ll give me time to find decent help. Don’t forget, you promised two weeks.”
    “They’re yours.” He said in an assuring tone. “Or until you find a replacement and are ready to let me go. Besides, after having me around for a few days, you’d get bored.”
    “I don’t know about that. I might get used to it. You’re pretty good with your hands.” She drew out her words as his fingers grazed just above her hip and below her waist.
    “That I am,” he said, pulling a little on his hold. “Which way now?”
    Geez, he was just trying to see which direction they were