Final Surrender by Jennifer Kacey Page A

gave a small snort and said, “You are a Texan, huh?”
    “Born and branded,” Clay admitted with no humor whatsoever.
    “Meli Melo is a restaurant with the best food.”
    “That’s what you say about every restaurant in New York.”
    “Yeah, but this time it’s true. What about you, Ang, you up for it?”
    “That’s fine with me. I’m not really hungry, so just order me something little and you guys get whatever you want.”
    “Clay, what about you?” Mark asked, completely pleased he was going to get his way.
    “Sure, as long as I don’t have to eat raw fish, back home we call that bait, so other than that, I’m game.”
    “Sweet, head over between 29th and 30th on Madison.”
    While the cabbie maneuvered through traffic, Angela glanced at the clock and couldn’t see where the time had gone.
    Clay had already been there more than five hours.
    As they pulled up in front of the restaurant, Mark asked, “You guys coming in?” as they all exited the cab.
    Angela paid, before Mark could even get his wallet out then said, “No, just order me a salad and some crepes.”
    “Clay?”
    “Just order me something that’s not rabbit food. I’ll stay with Angela.”
    His eyes raked over, but she kept her gaze on the passing traffic, trying not to notice.
    “’Kay, see you guys in a few,” Mark agreed as he entered the restaurant, more or less drooling on the patrons trying to leave.
    Angela took a deep breath, trying to calm her still racing heart.
    Unable to help herself any longer, she stole a glance in Clay’s direction.
    He caught her looking and smirked.
    Being taunted really wasn’t what she needed, so she turned and faced him head-on. She may have added a little bit more sass to her walk as she sauntered in his direction. Let’s see how he felt if he was put on stage to answer personal questions.
    “So when did you get the scar on your cheek, Clay?”
    The instant scowl on his face was all she needed to know.
    She looked at the ground before glancing back at his gorgeous face. “You don’t have to answer if it’s private.”
    “We’re a bit past private at this point, don’t you think, Angela?”
    The rhetorical question hung in the air as they glared at each other, no more than two feet apart.
    “It’s been a long time,” she admitted.
    A lifetime , she almost said out loud.
    He reached out and brushed the hair past her shoulder, barely grazing her bare skin, but sending tendrils of desire through her body.
    “Not long enough to forget,” he replied as he took another step closer.
    After a minute of tense silence he surprised her by answering her rude question. “Before an IED went off in the middle of a house we were clearing, I realized we were walking into a trap. I had all of my men evac, but it was too late for me when the house blew. Everyone got out with minimal damage except…” Instead of continuing he just ran a finger down his scar.
    “We made our way to our pick-up location and then a second one blew directly in the middle of us. I was in the lead…I’ll never forget what it sounded like.” He closed his eyes and continued stroking her shoulder. “We got everybody to the choppers then I lost consciousness.”
    “What happened? Your injuries, I mean?”
    “Several broken ribs, an arm, mostly soft tissue, but they put Humpty Dumpty back together again.” He looked up into her face and she hoped it wasn’t just the surgeons that had pulled him through. That maybe someone else had a hand in it as well.
    She looked around as he approached, nervously glancing to see who was watching.
    “What, don’t want to be seen with me?” Clay barked at her when she stiffened.
    “No, I don’t want to be photographed with you at the moment,” she clarified.
    “Why not, will it hurt your career?” he asked caustically.
    “Not that I know of, but I’ll let you know if that becomes a concern,” she replied with just enough nonchalance to hopefully get under his skin.
    “Then,