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GIVE YOUR NEXT BODYGUARD A BREAK
KARINA
“No?” My father questioned my response as if I offended him for denying my newly appointed bodyguard.
We both knew that wasn’t the case. My father hadn’t heard someone refuse his demands in years. But I wouldn’t take it back. I was no longer a child, and I needed to stand my ground.
“Absolutely not.” I crossed my arms over my chest. His office was a just as I remembered: His wooden desk neatly organized with a stack of papers on one side and a computer on the other. Bookcases surrounded us, various of books I read through during my summers as a kid. Behind my father resided a floor to ceiling window, the only view needed in his space. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Nathan’s lip twitched into a smirk.
“Is there an issue with Mr. James?” My father asked.
Other than the fact that he called me Princess and the incident from our first encounter? No. Wait...
I snapped my head towards Nathan, but he refused to meet my gaze. “Have you not told him about that night?”
“You mean last year when you seduced him into your bed?” my father responded.
Seduced? My eyes widened as heat rose to my cheeks. It was not a form of seduction. “I simply told him he was sleeping with me because he had to watch over me.”
“And the kissing?” He raised an eyebrow at me. I should have known Nathan told my father. He didn’t seem like the others, keeping their dirty little secrets behind closed doors and sealed lips. No, he had a mouth and didn’t care who heard him speak the way he did.
I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath, trying to keep myself calm in front of my father. “I was drunk.”
“Not enough to not turn away in a fit,” Nathan chimed in.
My eyes shot open as I glared at him.
“Mr. Vasiliev, if your daughter doesn’t want me as her bodyguard, I’m sure another would gladly fill the position.”
“I don’t trust them,” I said, “and I definitely don’t trust you.”
“Trust is earned.” Nathan shrugged. “I never expected you to trust me.”
I clutched my fingers around the armrest, keeping myself from reaching over and slapping Nathan across the face for his smart remarks.
“Karina, Mr. James understands not to stray from the mission at hand.” My father tried to calm me, but it wasn’t working.
“He barged into my room while I was naked.”
“You had a towel on,” he corrected.
“That still counts as being naked.”
He waved off my comment, continuing, “And to be fair, I spent four hours waiting. I even walked through each terminal to look for you. Not to mention the traffic there and back, so excuse me if I was a little pissed.”
Pissed? I laughed. “Look, Jason.”
“It’s Nathan or Mr. James, Princess.”
I waved off his correction. “As you so nicely put it, if I don’t want you to be my bodyguard, we can find another, so just tell him you don’t want to do it and we’ll find another, right Papa?”
I glanced at my father, but he only looked at Nathan, waiting for his response.
“Sorry, Princess, but I already accepted the assignment.” He shrugged before turning his attention away from me. “Is that all, Mr. Vasiliev?”
My father nodded and pushed himself up from his chair. “I understand you do not want him as your bodyguard, but Mr. James is one of the best I have. He is more than capable of taking care of you.” He walked around his desk to place a hand on my shoulder. “Now, I am late for my meeting. Please, try to get along with one another.”
I took a deep breath and exhaled, my eyes following as he left the office. I turned my body in the chair and glared at Nathan. “Why?”
“Why what?” he asked, getting up from his seat as if the entire conversation we just had was wiped from his memory.
“You agreed to be my bodyguard.”
He chuckled. “Has anyone ever said no to a Vasiliev?”
“You said no to me.”
He bowed his head with a smile. “Ah yea, well, you were drunk.”
“That never stopped anyone else before you.”
“I’m not everyone else, Princess.”
Clearly, he wasn’t. No one else would have dared to call me Princess after I already made it clear not to do so. Yet, he continued.
“Is this your way of trying to get close to me, or are you kissing my dad’s ass?”
He laughed. “Your dad has plenty of people to do that.”
From bodyguards to partners, everyone wanted to be on my father’s good side and here Nathan was an asshole, but still somehow highly respected by my father.
“Besides, if I wanted to get close to you, which I don’t—” He took a step closer, leaning down inches from my face. There was a shimmer of humor in his oddly gray eyes. It was as if he was daring me to do something, but I couldn’t with my breath caught in my throat.
“There wouldn’t be a single amount of space between us.” He smirked, finishing his sentence.
I shivered, a fact that Nathan noticed, his grin widening. Standing up straight, he took a step back, putting space back between us. I exhaled, finally able to breathe.
“So, whether you like it or not, I’m your new body…” he paused, his eyes trailing over my body before he met my eyes again. “… Guard.”
I stared at him, watching as he turned on his heels and walked over to the door.
Give your next bodyguard a break for a few days.
My thoughts mocked Matthews’ words. There was no way in hell I’d give Nathan a break. If he wanted to play games, then so could I. I’d make his job a living nightmare without even opening my mouth.
“Are you coming, Princess?”
That is, if I didn’t kill him first.
