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SHE STILL HATES ME
NATHAN
No one ever questioned Mr. Vasiliev’s choice.
Yet, here I was doing exactly that. I might have agreed to the assignment a week ago, but that didn’t mean I was happy about it. Monitoring Karina was more difficult of a task than making sure she was safe. I could have easily done that from afar, which I had been doing, but her father wanted us close and I didn’t exactly make it easy for us to get along from the start. She hated me and I just needed to keep it that way until her physical appearance was no longer a problem.
Even as I watched Karina from the back porch, I could make out her curves from the oversized shirt she hid under. It should have been a crime for me to remember the shape. Or at least for my mind to make assumptions about what she was hiding under it.
Nathan knows not to stray from the mission at hand.
But if that were true, why was it so hard for me to focus?
A pair of footsteps stopped beside me. “James.”
Adam Theodore Prince made it easy for me to recognize him without even looking. His greetings were formal. He never called me by my first name, but he didn’t respect me enough to call Mr. James. It was just James while everyone else was Mr. or Miss.
I took one last look at Karina by the poolside before I glanced over at him, nodding in acknowledgment.
He stood tall with his hands placed behind his back. His chestnut brown hair was slicked back. He kept his blue eyes focus in her direction. “Miss Karina is quite the sight, isn’t she?”
She was. But I wouldn’t let him know that. He’d run off and tell Mr. Vasiliev, not that it should have mattered to him.
Mr. Prince was only around when needed. Before I knew him, he was supposedly a bodyguard. But ever since I started, Mr. Prince became one of Mr. Vasiliev’s partners. He helped with contracts and legal documents. Though sometimes it seemed as if he forgot where he came from.
I shrugged my shoulders. “She’s not exactly happy with the arrangements.”
A smile twitched at the corner of his lips. “Miss Karina never is. She’s quite the independent one. Distant as well.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I pity the guard stuck with her.”
I shifted my gaze back out to Karina as she slipped her shirt over her head, revealing a pink high waist polka-dotted bikini.
“She’s surprisingly modest for a lingerie model.” The thought slipped from my mouth. “You know,” I tried to recover. “I feel like most would flaunt everything they have, show skin.”
“Miss Karina is a sophisticated lady and knows the difference between business and pleasure.”
I glanced back at him just as a smile formed on his lips.
He was right, but there was definitely more to her than that. Though I was sure he didn’t know that. It seemed as if Karina had many faces and the one she tried to hide came out whenever I was around, but I could have been wrong. After all, we still didn’t know each other well.
“When you were a bodyguard, did you ever have to watch her?”
“I’ve never been assigned to her, but I’ve been around for the stories.” Mr. Prince chose his words wisely. Maybe that was for the best. He looked over at me from the corner of his eye. “Mr. Vasiliev chooses who he sees fit for the job.”
Did that mean he didn’t know? I decided to play along and nodded. “Who do you think that’s going to be?”
Mr. Prince shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not quite sure. We have a meeting in a few hours to discuss some contracts and legal documents.” He dropped his arms and fiddled with his cufflinks. “I’m sure it will come up at some point.”
“Who knows? Maybe you’ll be the lucky bodyguard.” I grinned, putting on my best fake smile.
He held his head high, attempting to seem bigger than he was when, in reality, we were the same height. He always needed to feel like he was the best person out there. A satisfying smile formed on his face.
The movement of the hedges caught my attention. It was far too big to be just the wind, especially when there was no breeze. I took action, walking over towards Karina.
Her arms crossed over her chest as I got closer, with Mr. Prince following a step behind me.
“Adam, it’s so nice to see you again.” Karina smiled, ignoring my presence. I chuckled.
“Am I missing something here?” His eye twitched as he glanced back at me, as if he suspected there was more going on between us.
“Nothing at all. She still hates me from our first encounter.”
Mr. Prince raised an eyebrow. So, he didn’t know, which meant Mr. Vasiliev didn’t tell Mr. Prince everything. I smiled. “Yeah, Miss Vasiliev and I met last year when she was in town.”
“And what brings you here this time around?” Mr. Prince asked the question I should have from the start.
Karina tilted her head. “You don’t know?”
“Should I?” He raised an eyebrow at her.
“Someone kidnapped me.” She looked with suspicion. “On the ride here, the cab driver said it was all over the news.”
It wasn’t. Mr. Prince and I exchanged looks of confusion and concern for her.
“How far up did he take you?” I asked.
“We got to the gate. What does it matter?”
“It doesn’t Miss Karina. Mr. James and I will go now.” Mr. Prince cleared his throat and took a step to the side.
Another movement came from the hedges. I grabbed Karina, shoving her towards the house. I knew something was coming, and my gut told me it wasn’t good.
My gut was right.
A moment later, a man sprang forth, a big smile on his face as he located Karina. I yelled at her to get into the house, switching my focus to the man. His smile dropped as he noticed Mr. Prince and me.
Mr. Prince rushed the man before I could, gripping the man by the collar firmly, pushing him to the ground.
“I only did as I was asked!” I could hear the man cry as Mr. Prince dragged his body towards the front of the house.
I took a deep breath and glanced behind my shoulder. Mr. Prince wasn’t the type of guy to get his hands dirty. Not anymore, at least, which only led me to believe he had a soft spot for her.
Karina, who unsurprisingly did not run into the house, stood behind me. She blinked twice as her eyes followed Mr. Prince.
“What’s going on in that head of yours?” I asked.
“That was the cab driver,” she said in a hushed tone.
“I’m not surprised. He’s the same guy who drove us home earlier that same day. I think he’s some crazed fan or something.”
“Yeah, but how did he get in?”
I had that same question, but I shrugged my shoulders, hoping to keep her from worrying too much. “Sometimes security slips up. Hence why your father always has someone guarding him at all times.”
“I guess so,” she muttered.
Stepping forward, I reached down to pick up her oversized shirt laid in a heap on the grass. I turned halfway and held it out to her. “Put this back on.” My eyes trailed over her body before snapping back up to her face. “We don’t need you distracting everyone.”
Her eyes flickered to mine, a smirk hinting at her lips. “Are you sure it’s just not distracting you?”
I scoffed. “I’m not easily distracted, Princess. Besides, you’re not really my type.”
Her smirk grew larger, as if she knew I was lying. “That’s what everyone says.”
I ignored her comment, my attention drifting to the figure approaching us. I lifted my chin, watching Mr. Prince stop a foot behind Karina. “He’s taken care of.”
I nodded, “Good.”
Karina turned, facing Mr. Prince. “Thank you. I hope my outfit hasn’t distracted you.”
Mr. Prince raised an eyebrow, glancing in my direction before looking back down at Karina. “I don’t understand.”
“Mr. James here believes I will divert attention from the tasks everyone has.”
He scrunched his face, taking his time to figure out how to respond. I snickered, knowing damn well he didn’t know what to say. “As beautiful of a woman such as yourself is, I believe we are all capable of doing our jobs.”
He was smooth. I’d give him that.
“I would hope so, especially since my father would throw out anyone who couldn’t.” She turned her attention to me. I tilted my head and smiled at her.
“Is there something that I am not aware of?” Mr. Prince questioned, looking between the both of us.
“Unless you weren’t aware of Mr. James here being my new bodyguard, no.”
Mr. Prince’s eyes turned cold as his lips flattened. “James is your new bodyguard?”
Karina nodded.
“That’s… wonderful.” Mr. Prince hesitated.
“Isn’t it?” I grinned, wrapping my arm around her shoulder, testing to see if it would tick him off further. But Karina had immediately brushed it off with a scoff.
“Well,” He cleared his throat. “I should be getting to my meeting with your father. Take care, Miss Karina.” Without another word, Mr. Prince headed back in the direction of the mansion.
I followed his movements until he was out of sight before looking back at Karina. “Did you two ever date?”
Her forehead wrinkled as her eyes drew together. “No. We’ve known each other practically all my life.”
“So? That never stopped friends from dating,” I said.
“I was never interested, and neither was he.”
Something told me that possibly wasn’t the case, but I’d investigate it on my own time.
“Why jealous?” she asked, a mischievous glint in her eye.
I stifled a laugh. “Not one bit, Princess.” Her eyes narrowed a touch at my response. “So, someone kidnapped you?”
Karina nodded her head. “Did my father not tell you?”
“He didn’t go into detail,” I lied. Mr. Vasiliev never told me. He only stated he wanted me to watch over her, that she needed to be protected, not that she’d been kidnapped. “I think he feels guilty about it.”
“Well, it is his fault. They wanted to get to him, so they used me.”
“You didn’t throw that in his face, did you?”
She rolled her eyes. “Of course not. I mean, I would have before but now, but there’s no point. He’s trying and as much as I don’t want to be in his shadow, I am. I just have to accept it.”
“Just because he’s a big name doesn’t mean you can’t have your own life.”
“It does. You don’t know what it’s like to try and live up to other people’s expectations. You’ve never had a family.”
I scrunched my face in confusion, though quickly recovered, almost forgetting everyone but Mr. Vasiliev thought I was an orphan. She must have heard from one of the other bodyguards. “You don’t need a family to feel that way.”
Placing my hand on her shoulder, I gently led her in the direction of the house. “Let’s get you inside. We don’t need any more cab drivers trying to find you… or worse.”
