Page 9 of Love’s Strongest Soldier

“Have them bring the truck around. I want to go to lunch.”

“Okay.”

The call disconnected, and I powered off my iMac and then gathered my belongings. When I exited the office, Ghost was standing by the elevator, waiting for me. He pressed the down button and continued to stare at me as I stopped at Brielle’s desk.

“Hold all my calls. I’m going to lunch. I’ll probably be gone about an hour.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Brielle nodded.

Ghost held the elevator for me. I stepped underneath his arm, getting a whiff of his cologne. That man knew he always smelled excellent whenever he came around me. Probably the best smelling man that I’d ever seen in my life. I’d been wanting to ask him what he wore, but I also didn’t want him to know how much his scent impacted me. Ghost seemed like the type that would get bigheaded after a compliment.

He stood in front of me, towering over me as we rode the elevator down to the first floor. My eyes shut as I deeply inhaled his scent. It should be a crime to smell this damn good and be this fine. Lord.

The dinging of the elevator was what brought me from my thoughts. We stepped off, passing everyone in the lobby as we made our way to the exit. The truck was waiting for us at the door when we got outside.

“Luxe?” I heard someone call my name. By the time I turned around, a box was shoved into my arms. The guy kept walking down the sidewalk. Ghost looked back and snatched the box away from me. He opened the back passenger door of the truck and shoved me inside. Before I could even blink, Ghost had shut the door and crossed the street to the other side before opening the box.

From the softness of his facial expression, I could sense that it wasn’t that much of a threat. Ghost jogged back across the street and got in the driver’s seat. He exhaled before turning to me and said, “It’s just flowers.”

“Flowers?” My brow arched to my hairline. I hadn’t been talking to anyone for someone to go out their way to give me flowers. “Is there a note?”

“No.”

“Strange.”

“Where are you going for food?”

“I was actually thinking about Water Works. I have a taste for one of their burgers.”

Ghost nodded and pulled away from the curb.

Water Works was this rooftop restaurant at the top of the Trilogy Hotel. A few months ago, I stumbled across the place when I was walking downtown. I liked to come at night so that I could enjoy the view, but it was cool in the daytime as well.

Valet grabbed the truck while we went inside.

“How many?” the hostess asked soon as we stepped off the elevator.

“One,” I responded.

She looked from me and Ghost and then grabbed one menu. That was normally the reaction that people had whenever we went to a restaurant. Ghost wasn’t there for leisure. He always stood off to keep an eye on our surroundings while I ate.

“Dining inside or out?”

“Outside, please.”

I followed her out onto the rooftop, and she took me to one of the tables near the back. I took my seat, and Ghost stood tall behind me while I stared at the menu. It wasn’t like I didn’t already know what I was about to eat.

“Your waitress will be right over to take your order.” Her eyes bounced back to Ghost. I just know she was trying to figure out who I was supposed to be since I had security with me. Most people from our world knew exactly who I was whenever we crossed paths, but then there were the random people who just assumed that I was someone important to be walking around with a bodyguard.

“You not hungry?” I asked Ghost over my shoulder.

“I’m good,” was the only response I got. I’d never seen Ghost eat anything since he’d been around me. It was like he was just surviving off air and saliva.

“You really need to start eating something. It’s not healthy to be going all day on an empty stomach.”

“Hi, I’m Whitney,” the waitress said, interrupting me. I hadn’t even noticed that she walked up to the table. “What can I get started for you today?”

“Bring me a lemonade, and I want to get the burger with everything on it. Make sure that it’s cooked medium rare.”