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Max looked away, out of her window, as Noah keyed in the pin to her gate.
“Max, it wasn’t like that. It’s never like that. In all the years I’ve been doing this, you are the only client I’ve ever…touched. It goes completely against the grain. My ethos is simple – professional distance. I do my job most effectively when I see my client as an object and nothing more. Over time, I came to feel sympathy for Marina’s predicament – only an automaton wouldn’t have felt sorry for her – but I stayed out of it and kept her safe, as I was being paid to do.”
Max nodded slowly. “I’m not paying you though.”
“That doesn’t change my desire to keep you safe.” He reached over, putting a hand on her knee so her lips parted on a husky breath of welcome. “You get that, right?”
His eyes moved quickly beyond her, as though yanked by an individual string, and suddenly he reminded her of a cat ready to pounce.
“What? What is it?”
His hand moved to his pistol and was raising, his eyes moving from her window to the gate, so Max turned automatically, looking out of her own window.
“Don’t shoot,” she urged, when she saw what he was reacting to. “That’s just Edward, it’s okay.”
“Edward?” He lowered the gun to his lap, his eyes still on the sauntering figure of a man.
“He’s my neighbour’s grandson. He’s harmless.”
“Hiya,” Edward grinned as he approached the car. “How’s things?”
Max dredged deep and pulled up her best ‘everything’s fine’ smile. “Not too bad. And you?”
“Just dropping off some supplies.”
“How’s Norma?”
“Grumpy today,” Edward said with an affectionate roll of his eyes. “Apparently I got the wrong apples.”
“Oh dear.” Max found a laugh of her own. “Off to get more then?”
“Yeah. I’ll see you later.” Edward disappeared around the car and down the street.
“How do you know him?”
Something shifted inside Max.
“Are you asking as my bodyguard, or…?”
“Or?”
“Or as a guy I kissed last night?”
His expression was inscrutable as he drove through the gate. “For the reasons we’ve discussed, your bodyguard.”
Despite his answer, a small smile flickered on her lips. “I see. Well, I know him as well as you know any neighbour.”
“I don’t know my neighbour at all.”
Curiosity sparked inside of her.
“He’s at his grandma’s once a week or so. We usually chat, if I happen to be home at the same time. I always go to Norma’s birthday parties, her Christmas drinks, so I see him then too.” She leaned forward. “He’s not the guy, I promise you.”
Noah’s smile might have been designed to reassure but she could see the wheels turning behind his eyes and almost felt sorry for Edward. He was likely to be the subject of a background check without even realizing it.
“Please don’t start harassing Norma. She’s eighty four and deaf in one ear. Plus, she’s super crotchety.”
He watched as the gate shut behind them, then eased the car into the garage.
