Page 24 of Obsessed with Her

"I don't eat anything more than a few olives at this hour. That will be my dinner."

His features change again, his jaw tightening in irritation. "Today you are going to have dinner. After the energy you've expended, you need food."

He won't let me argue. He puts his hand on the back of my neck and guides me to the exit.

The part of my neck he touches heats as if a hot iron has scorched it, and I wonder if he can tell how I'm shaking. I could ask him to let go of me, but I won't do that. Even though it's stupid, I like my guardian's touch.

He doesn't hold me loosely; it's like being trapped in the claw of a beast.

I smile at the foolish thought, and when I look to the side, I realize that he seems indifferent to me.

Stupid.

Ares is fulfilling his role, just as Mr. Van Lith did.Don't embarrass yourself, Serenity.

I barely even noticed getting into the car. Ares doesn’t say anything else until we arrive at a restaurant that looks like an old mansion.

Even though I returned to New Orleans a few months ago, I don't know anything about the city. I'm like a tourist in the place where I was born.

Like a gentleman, he helps me out of the car, and my stupid heart skips a beat because I can’t repress the thought that this is the first time I've gone out with a guy.

Notsome guy. My guardian. A real man.

A hostess guides us to a table in a deserted part of the restaurant.

"How old are you?" I ask after we sit down.

"I thought you studied at an elite school. Didn’t they teach you that it's not polite to ask people their age?"

"Is it a sensitive subject for you?" I ask, unable to stop myself. In fact, I kind of already know the answer. Ares doesn't seem to be bothered by age. Or by anything else, I guess. He is the embodiment of self-confidence.

"Thirty-four," he says.

Sixteen years older,I calculate quickly.

"I could be your father," he continues, in a serious voice, and I'm mortified that he realized I was doing math. I pray he doesn't understand the reason for these stupid calculations.

"A very old man," I say, coughing and hiding a smile to direct the conversation to something other than my humiliation.

It's not like I've never seen a handsome man in my life. In fact, I've even flirted with some. But none that come close to him.

And then, an idea occurs to me. He must be married.

I run my eyes over his hands, looking for a ring, but when I look at his face again, I feel like dying.

He saw it.

Jesus, could You make the ground open up and swallow me?

"I'm not married," he says, without concern for my embarrassment, "but let's make something clear: I'm yourguardian, not someone you're dating. I want your obedience, not to be your first crush. And even if it weren't like that, and I didn't have any responsibility towards you, I don't date girls. Believe me, you wouldn't be able to handle me, even if our roles were different."

Serenity

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

I was puttinga small piece of breaded okra in my mouth, which the waiter brought immediately after we sat down as an appetizer. Every time I came home from boarding school for the holidays, JeAnne made them for me, and I think I kind of got hooked on them. I could never resist, although afterwards I would run at least ten kilometers on the treadmill to burn off the calories.

After what Ares says, however, I stop the movement midway.

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