AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What?” Suzanna glanced at the alarm clock for the first time since waking. Sure enough, he was right. 12:38 p.m.
“Okay, then. I guess I can eat.” She took a sip of OJ and looked into his face. “Aren’t you going to have some?”
“I already had something to eat.” He grinned. “It was very tasty, too.”
“Besides that.” Licking her to orgasm didn’t qualify as a meal.
“I ate earlier with Gabriel. He had to go take care of something at the auto shop.”
“With my car?” She hadn’t even asked how much that would cost her yet. She had some funds, but likely her credit card was about to take a sizable hit. And she’d just about fully paid it down, too.
“No. Something else. Speaking of something else, will you tell me about why you wanted to hire me as your bodyguard?”
She shrugged and chewed on a piece of toast. She was uncomfortable talking about her dreadful past with men, and especially the most recent humiliation that sent her running. “It’s not important.”
His piercing gaze didn’t move from her face. “I have plenty of time to listen. I’d really like to know.” His gaze went to her eye again. She’d reapplied the concealer, but it wasn’t like he didn’t know the mark was there.
Suzanna picked up a piece of bacon and took two bites while he patiently waited before asking, “What if I don’t want to tell you?”
“Then I’d want to know why.”
She pushed out a sigh. “Because I feel foolish about it.”
“Do not blame yourself for what that prick did to you. Not ever. I mean it.”
She smiled at the ferocity of his statement. “Okay. I’ll just give you the quick synopsis.”
One eyebrow quirked, but he said, “Proceed.”
She shook her head, resigned to tell him a vague story with no details of what had transpired in her past. “I had a very possessive boyfriend in college…” She stopped speaking and looked up at the ceiling. “No, that isn’t accurate. He was never my boyfriend. I went on one blind date with this guy, turned him down for any further dates, and ultimately he refused to take no for an answer.”
“A stalker?” he asked.
She nodded. “There were those who termed him a stalker. That time in my life was very trying for me.” She didn’t elaborate any further, but continued without revealing the ultimate end to that tragic part of her past. “Once I finally got rid of him, I spent quite a long time alone. Years, in fact.
“Recently, I became…” She paused for the right word. Disheartened? Despondent? Melancholy? Completely pessimistic about life? “Well, I guess I was lonely. I was tired of doing everything all by myself. Everywhere I went there were couples in love or groups of happy friends, and meanwhile, I sat alone. Always. So one day, I let my guard down and went out with a guy who I knew had been interested in me. He seemed so…” She shrugged. “Nice. My asshole man detector must have been off line, if I ever even had one, because I was totally mistaken about him being in any way a nice guy.
“And truthfully, he did start out very charming. Unfortunately, he also accused me of infidelity, slapping me in the face hard enough to put me on the ground when I wanted to end things. An hour’s worth of tearful sorrow and regret later, he finally left after I agreed to meet him for lunch the next day. Instead, an hour after he left my apartment, I packed my laptop and a bag and left town. I hopped in my ancient car and ran it into the ground trying to get far enough away for him to lose interest. I’m hoping he doesn’t also have any stalker-like qualities, or the money to chase after me. Or else I’m screwed.”
“Why the drastic run-away scenario? Why not just call the police? He assaulted you.”
“Been there, done that. The restraining order I had was useless to keep the college guy from following me. He just pursued and waited patiently at the minimum distance allowed by the order. Whenever I moved to a new place, the restraining order had to be reissued. Personally, I felt like unless he beat me up in front of a solid, indisputable witness, like the local police commissioner, or killed me and left a boatload of evidence behind, there wasn’t much they could do.”
