We were in the back of one of my cars with the partition rolled up. Only inches of space separated Christie and myself. But the tension was thick. Palpable. I could breathe it as my driver rode down the road, away from the restaurant that had tainted our entire evening.

I would have been a lot happier if she wasn’t obviously upset. The way she stood up for herself showcased her strength, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t hurt. I didn’t know what to say to her that wouldn’t cross a line. I didn’t know what I could do to make her smile without feeling like I was confessing how badly I wanted her. A low rumble filled the space between us and I tried to spare her the embarrassment of glancing over at her. Of course, she was still hungry. She hadn’t eaten after her soup.

What the hell was wrong with those people?

It was a hot fucking cup. Anyone would have fumbled it. But they had to make a scene of it. They had to go out of their way to chastise a beautiful woman for their own sickening entertainment. And those comments. I had to steel myself. Sebastian had planted his foot on top of mine underneath the booth to keep me from moving towards their table. To keep me seated when I should’ve gotten up and wrapped my hands around their throats. It took all I had not to lose my nerve in that restaurant. Those pathetic assholes were lucky I had more self-control than that despite my brother’s foot. If I hadn’t, they would have seen the business end of the gun I kept on my hip.

They would have learned the lesson I wanted to teach them.

All Christie had all night were the few spoonfuls of soup left in her cup. She canceled the order of her quail dish, and even after I had ordered the table a round of desserts she simply sat there and stared at it. Refused to eat it and kept telling us she was full from the soup.

But I knew better. And the rumbling of her stomach that filled my car knew better as well.

I chanced a glance at her and the sight made me irate. She looked spaced out, her eyes turned out the window but not registering anything. Her body faced away from me. Tilted towards the door. Like she was trying to take up as little space as possible. Or get away from me. Or conceal the sound emanating from her stomach.

It made me seethe with anger.

I wanted to worship every curve and inch of her that made up her luxurious body. I wanted to blossom the confidence and strength she had showcased when she stuck up for herself. I wanted to give fuel to the attitude she walked with whenever she came into the office. She held herself with a grace and a poise that couldn’t be taught to someone, and watching her look as defeated as she did only stoked the fire of retribution in my gut. What I wouldn’t give to walk back into that restaurant and toss those fuckers across the room.

What I wouldn’t have given to shoulder her pain.

She was probably replaying what those assholes said. Pressing repeat on a reel that wasn’t important in the grand scheme of things. I wished I could take my hands and pull those memories from her mind. Discard them and start over by implanting memories of my face between her thighs. Of my hands curled into the mounds of excess on her hips. She didn’t deserve to feel the way she did. Christie didn’t deserve the inner turmoil she was so obviously fighting behind her eyes.

But there was one thing that did make sense in all this. One thing I was going to do for her, whether she wanted me to or not. So, I reached out and pushed a button that rolled the partition down, hoping that anger I saw in the restaurant wouldn’t get turned on me.

“Pull over at the next drive-thru you see,” I said.

“Yes sir.”

“Why are we stopping?” Christie asked as I rolled up the partition.

“I’m getting dinner for you.”

“We just ate, Mr. Abbott. I’m fine.”

“I can hear your stomach growling,” I said. “I’m going to get you some food since you didn’t take the chance to eat.”

“I’m not hungry, really. I’m fine, but thank you for the offer.”

“It isn’t a choice,” I said.

“You don’t give me much of those, do you?”

My eyes looked over at her before I felt the car come to a stop. I rolled down the window and came face to face with a menu and a crackling speaker box. Not a place I’d ever catch myself dead eating at, but it would do for the spontaneity of the moment.

“What’ll it be?” the voice through the box asked.

“A number one,” I said. “Large, with a soda.”

“What kind?”

“Surprise me.”

“Maximus, it’s fine. Please stop,” she said.

How I wished my name dripped off her lips for another reason entirely. I saw the embarrassment in her features when I looked over at her. She’d never called me by my first name until that moment. And I saw why. She was thoroughly red and begging me with her eyes to stop it. But I wasn’t going to. She was hungry, and she wasn’t going home that way. Not when she was out with me. Not on my watch.

Though I didn’t enjoy the fact that it couldn’t be fixed without embarrassing her a little first.

“You don’t have to eat it now,” I said. “Take it home. But you will take it, and you will eat it.”

I slid my wallet out of my pocket and leaned up, giving the driver my card so he could pay. He passed back the bag of food and the large surprise soda and I passed it off to Christie. But she refused to reach out and take it.

“Christie, you have a body that could start wars between ruling nations.”

Her eyes whipped over to me and widened as my driver handed my card back to me.

“Eat,” I said.

She sighed and took the bag from me so I could reach for my card. Then, I slid my wallet back into my pocket as my driver pulled away from the ‘restaurant’. I didn’t want any other fuss from her. We weren’t turning this into some sort of sparring match. What I said went when it came to what I felt was best for my company and for those in my presence, and she was part of that. In numerous ways. I handed her the drink and she gave me a look I couldn’t read. Then she put her drink between those thick thighs of her and squeezed it, her dress rolling up slightly to bare her succulent skin to my sight.

She began to open the bag, and I forced my gaze away from her delectable form.

“We’re taking her back to her home from here,” I said to the driver.

“Thank you,” Christie said.

I looked over at her and watched her pull some fries from the bag, her lips parting to accept the food. She stifled a moan, obviously still trying to hide herself from me. But if I did my job right, she wouldn’t have to do that for long. She was the kind of woman that showed her confidence around people she was comfortable with. The kind of woman that stood on her own two feet but cowered in the presence of men she found intimidating. And there was no doubt that she found me intimidating. I made every effort to come off as such. But before I was done with her, that confidence she had with Scarlet and even Sebastian would fly freely with me.

And until then, the next time someone attempted to hurt her, I wouldn’t let it slide. I’d protect her the way I protected any asset in my company, whether she wanted me to or not. No one would get away with making her feel the way she did at that moment ever again.

I’d make sure of it.