Laura considered Akbar for a long moment. She could hear the slightly false ring of his question, but couldn’t pin down what it was. He’d made it sound gruff and macho, as if he was ready to battle a horse for her affections. It was actually one of the nicer compliments she’d ever received. “Hey babe, you’re hot,” was far more common. It was hard to believe guys actually thought that was charming.
“Mister Ed,” she answered him, “is my protector. So don’t mess with me or—”
“The horse will pull out his Jetson’s ray g*n and fry my behind. Got it.” He turned back to Mister Ed. “You must be one dangerous horse.”
She could feel her guard weakening around the man. Actually, she poked around a bit, she didn’t feel her guard was up much at all.
“What if…” Akbar trailed out the question and paid
