Page 8 of Pirate

Maria blinked and shifted uncomfortably. “Oh, um, sorry to hear that,” she stammered awkwardly.

Sophia chuckled. “I’m just kidding. He’ll take a Manhattan please.”

Maria nodded and then scurried off.

Pirate rounded on her. “Why did you say I lost my leg to a shark?”

“Did you?” she asked innocently.

“You know I didn’t.”

“So it was a bear then?”

He just stared at her.

Sophia lifted her hands and made bear claws. “Rwarr!”

His eyebrows lifted—but she also saw his mouth twitch. “Are you drunk?”

“Not yet,” Sophia smiled wickedly. She caught sight of Maria returning with their drinks on a small serving tray. “You know,”she said a bit louder, “it was really brave of you to save that baby from that crocodile. It really was too bad it took your leg.”

Maria paused, as if she was trying to piece together if Pirate was missing his other leg too. Sophia had to concentrate to school her face so she didn’t burst out laughing. After handing over their drinks, she asked them which dish they wanted for their dinner.

“Beef for me,” Sophia answered before Pirate could. “Vegetarian meal for my friend here,” she patted Pirate’s knee. “He doesn’t eat meat after getting mauled by a tiger on the last safari we took.”

Maria’s confusion only increased. Poor girl. It was a good thing Sophia had gotten cash out of the ATM to leave her a good tip.

“Why do you keep saying I’ve been attacked by animals?” Pirate asked her as soon as Maria was away.

Sophia shrugged. “I don’t actually know how you lost your leg. So I’m just making guesses until I get it right.”

“And you thought your best choices were shark, crocodile, tiger, or bear?”

Sophia smiled at him and took a sip of her champagne. “Oh my!”

Pirate wasn’ta vegetarian by any stretch of the imagination, but he had to admit that the creamy mushroom and pasta dish he was served was very good. Thankfully Sophia took pity on him and they swapped plates halfway through the meal. Her beef bourguignon was a little salty for Pirate’s taste but still delicious.

For some reason, he was surprised Sophia knew he liked Manhattans. It was his father’s drink of choice too. Since theydidn’t keep alcohol in the apartment, Pirate usually drank at the club’s bar,Demon on the Rocks, or at the clubhouse. He couldn’t recall having a Manhattan in front of Sophia before and wondered how she’d known.

It couldn’t have been a guess.

If she thought a bear attack was more likely for how he’d lost his leg than an IED in the Middle East then she was obviously not that good at guessing.

They talked on and off for a bit before Sophia requested a pillow and blanket for both of them. Normally Pirate took his leg off to sleep, but he wasn’t comfortable removing it on the plane or in public. Not with Sophia around.

He didn’t believe she would take his leg or do something to it. He wasn’t even uncomfortable removing it where she would see his stump. But the idea of being so vulnerable in public where he might need to protect her prevented him from removing the fake limb.

He was a Marine, missing leg or not. Pirate felt better knowing she was by the window. It placed him between her and any potential danger. Prior to 2001, one might have considered an airplane to be one of the safest places one could be. Jasmine was entrusting him to escort Sophia safely to and from this random endeavor and Pirate was not going to let his new little sister down. Not when she’d given so much back to his brother.

Regardless of the fact that this little excursion was going to dip greatly into his savings. He worked as a security guard for a small town high school barely making minimum wage. He wasn’t exactly rolling in riches. Not like Sophia.

From the cost of the ticket to paying half of the rental car, not to mention whatever random hotel Sophia planned on going to, he might have to wait on getting that new gaming console he’d had his eye on.

“What’s wrong?”

Pirate looked over at Sophia. She was curled up against the window with her pillow and blanket. She shifted slightly and stretched out to place her feet over his knees. Part of the blanket rolled up, exposing her bare foot. Pirate fixed the blanket.

“Nothing,” he muttered. He didn’t want to talk about money right now. “Go to sleep.”

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