Read Online The Protector by Gennita Low - Free Book Online Page B

that’s all very good and proper,” she said, “but what are you going to do about the situation?”
    He frowned at her. “Not sure what you mean.”
    “Well, soldier, what’s the favorite hot phrase these days—think outside the box.” Vivi stopped just in front of him. “You can’t hit them. So do you run off and ignore the situation? That’s what all the soldiers they’ve met have done, you know. They all took off.”
    His frown deepened. “Not the same thing,” he said, shaking off someone patting his butt. “I’m not taking off that way. I don’t even know them.”
    “They don’t know that. They think you’re just like the others. They believe one of them will get you sooner or later, and then you will give her money, establish the same pattern of existence she’s seen a dozen times.”
    Jazz stared back into her dark eyes, trying to read her thoughts. She was so angry. Or frustrated. For some reason, she was testing him, or goading him to do something. Fine. Think outside the box. She obviously thought all military men were alike, that they were a group that had established some sort of destructive pattern when it came to women. He looked around at the eager eyes and hands, and wondered which came first—the temptation of money from the men or the temptation of willing flesh from the women. But like many times before, he shook off the need to philosophize too much. In his profession, it was best not to think too deeply.
    Right now, he wished to make a point. His eyes met Vivi’s mocking ones again. Being a SEAL, he had been trained to think outside the box before the stupid phrase ever existed. His gaze never leaving hers, he pulled out from inside his collar the chain with the pendant his maman had given him. Her eyes narrowed as she watched him take it off, then widened as he stepped closer to her. She didn’t move as he slipped the chain over her head, the look in her eyes turningmysterious, like dark chocolate, full of sensual promise. His maman’s pendant slipped inside her blouse.
    Jazz slid his arm around Vivi’s shoulders and curled her unresisting body against his. He grinned cheerfully at the girls who were watching the entire scene. “Mine. Number one girl,” he declared, and turned to kiss the top of Vivi’s head. He murmured into her hair, sniffing appreciatively at her perfume. “Let’s go, shall we, chouchou ? I bought me some time too.”
    Now if he could buy some time to understand Vivi Verreau’s anger. For some reason, he felt compelled to know more about this woman.
     
    Vivi glared at the girls hanging on to Lieutenant Zeringue, buzzing around him like flies. It upset her. It was an irrational irritation because she understood why they were the way they were. Yet the idea of them and Jazz together made her want to go to each one of the girls and shove her out of the way.
    It couldn’t have been that long ago, could it? Not to Vivi’s mind, which was spinning with angry voices and hushed whispers. Not to her heart, which was thudding painfully at every step she took back to the car.
    She had touched a soldier like that once. He had the smile of someone who knew about life. He descended into her village like one of the ancient Asian demigods, bearing good tidings for everyone. And she had touched his sleeve for good luck. She remembered that one time when he turned to look at her, that big smile, and the piece of chocolate he had offered.
    But of course, as the years went by, she had grown to understand why there were so many orphans like her around. Abandoned by family. Outcasts. No one wanted half-breeds in the family—too obvious where they came from. Her mouth twisted. There were more enterprising families, of course. Females could be a commodity.
    Vivi recaptured her childhood every time she drove intothis kind of neighborhood. It wasn’t pleasant, a constant reminder of how she could have turned out. The tangy smell of food and trash. Burning incense from the