[h2]Esme Stirling[/h2]

Esme shrugged her shoulders to his comment back about the diner, but he was right. As they walked, she could feel that Cason had caught on to uneasiness and saw him look around behind them. It showed her he had been watching her more intently than she had thought, and now they were both on high alert. She felt the guy come up behind them before she heard the click from the hammer of the gun being pulled. She hardly had time to cringe before Cason spun around and pulled her behind him. 

She then heard him speak to who had come up on them, his words causing her to sigh lightly as she pulled her hands from her pockets. [i]He knows I can take care of myself, doesn’t he?[/i] she thought to herself. She then looked around Cason at the guy when he stammered. The guy was nervous, she could feel it. She was about to fire off a comment, but Cason beat her to the punch. When Cason pressed her firmly against his back, she knew he wouldn’t let her do a thing during this confrontation. She could only stand there, pressed against his back, watching everything unfold in front of her. 

She couldn’t wrap her mind around why he was so protective of her, even if he said yesterday and earlier that he owed her one. What did that have to do with feeling the need to be so protective and clingy? In an instant, the guy's emotions went from nervousness and straight to rage, giving her a bit of mental whiplash. She watched as he shoved the gun into Cason's face and screamed. It was of no surprise to see Cason not flinch and only smirk, but the guy's next words got to her and she went to move around Cason. “Why you no good son of a…….” Cason’s sudden advance on the guy cut her off. 

Esme sighed as she looked down at the now dead mugger, then looked up at Cason as he turned and smiled at her. “Umm, thanks for that.” she said as he drug the body off near a dumpster. “But do you think killing him was absolutely necessary? You could have just taught him a lesson, you know?’ Her tone was calm, even if it held a hint of anger at the guy's last comment. Sighing heavily, she turned on her heel and headed toward the diner again. “Come on, let's get to the diner before something else happens and you kill someone else today.” she called over her shoulder.