Page 49 of Under His Guard

I take a step forward, getting right into Clara’s personal space, and lean toward her ear to whisper in it.

“Of course, darlin’. Just need my goodbye kiss.”

Before she can say a word, I pull back enough to plant one on her cheek and then give Clara my best impression of a sweet boyfriend.

“Don’t work too hard, doc.” I tuck some hair behind her ear. “I’ll see you later.”

I can feel Clara seething behind me. It’s way too much fun, and I just walk past the nurse’s station again and wave.

“Thanks for your help—” I look at her name tag “—Melody. You’ve been a peach.”

She smiles, clearly flustered, and I almost feel bad for working the entire area into a tizzy, especially the likely twentysomething nurse.

Almost.

My phone buzzes in my pocket as I walk to the elevators, and I pull it up to see a message from Clara.

Exchanging numbers was such a good idea, until right about now.

Flipping open the text screen, I’m greeted with Clara’s all-caps screaming message.

I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU DID THAT. AND PLEASE STOP FLIRTING WITH MELODY. SHE’S 19.

“Whoops.”

Internally cringing a bit, I sigh at the overestimation of the nurse's age. She must still be in school.

Well, too late now. And I’m not about to stop teasing Clara, so…

DO WHAT? HAVE TO GO. TALK TONIGHT…DARLIN’.

I laugh to myself about the reply and then start my journey back downtown to my office.

When I arrive, I pull up my emails and start working through them.

Most are people looking to be represented by Diamond PR. Unfortunately for them, we can’t handle another client.

Wrapping that up, there are the two accounts that need promotion trajectory timelines. Lucky for me, one is just my brother.

“Diedra!” I just yell for her since I’ve left my door open.

I hear the gentle click of her heels against the wood floor.

“Yes, Mr. Shaw?”

As Diedra comes in, I smile. It’s nice to see her even after the short break.

I know she has my back, and honestly, I wouldn’t have taken the time off if she wasn’t here.

“Hey. Where are we with Dom’s PR timeline and the one for Clearwater?”

Coming to sit in the chair in front of my desk, Diedra leans forward, her elbows on her knees.

“Well—” she talks with her hands, and I get a kick out of watching it, like a puppet show “—Dom would like to remind you that it’s a lakeside restaurant, not a club. So I think he’s not feeling the theme for the grand opening.”

“Just can’t take a joke, huh? Well, I shouldn’t be surprised he thought I was serious about the wet T-shirt contest. Send him the plans for the actual reveal party. The fireside chat one.”

Diedra nods. “Can do. As for Clearwater, I’ve got the timeline drawn up, as you requested. I just need your final approval to send it out.”

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