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She nods and walks to the door, her shoulders hanging. I follow. London flies out the front door and wraps her in a hug. Holland exits next and wraps her arms around the other two.
I wait until London and Holland finish doting on Penelope before I follow them inside. Safe or not, I’m not leaving Penelope outside on her own.
The girls talk all the way through the house and out the back door. They take a seat in the patio area where a group of chairs has been moved into a triangle.
In the kitchen, Jacobi’s on a barstool. Kase is leaning against the island. I ignore them and go to the wall of windows that overlooks the courtyard. I scan the shadows and along the beach. Mostly, I study the delicate curve of Penelope’s neck and the way her high ponytail strokes her nape and her bare shoulders.
I got an up-close-and-personal view of the scattering of freckles along her shoulders. They’re faint, and the largest is probably hidden by her costumes or bra straps. It’s in the perfect spot to drop my head down and graze my lips over it—
“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Kase says to Jacobi.
“I think I am,” Jacobi says. “Did you suspect it?”
“Oh, most definitely.”
I spin and shoot them each a glare. Kase’s lips curve upward, and mischief dances in his dark-brown eyes. Jacobi folds his arms and waits for my reaction.
“Fuck both of you.” I can’t have them thinking I’m less than qualified for this job. Lusting after my client is a good way to undermine my work.
Jacobi snorts. “I don’t think it’s us you want to fuck.”
Kase wiggles a finger from me to outside. “And I think from your mood, you’re not fucking the one you want. What’s it like?”
I narrow my gaze. It’s not an innocent question, but I take the bait. “What’s what like?”
“Having a girl blue ball you for a while?”
I grind my teeth. These two don’t need to know that while I’m blue balled all right, I’m not as deprived as I should be. “Can we get to business?”
Jacobi’s grin doesn’t fade. He’s all about business, but I’m going to be here for hours and he’s clearly not missing his chance to mess with me.
Kase stuffs his hands into his pockets. “Look at him. He’s cranky.”
“He is cranky,” Jacobi agrees. “I think we’re finally seeing the real Cannon.”
“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” I shouldn’t be surprised these two see right through me, but his reaction makes me feel like I got busted with a Nixon mask and a rubber gun.
“You know what it means,” Jacobi says. “With the clothes and the car and the job—I just didn’t know if you were hiding from yourself or all of us.”
I scowl. I’m not hiding from myself. I’m hiding myself from the world. I cultivated Cannon Lannister’s identity for so many years, maybe I’m the only one who was fooled. Does that mean Roman’s not buying my act either?
Jacobi pushes off his stool, saving me from having to explain. “I found some information after Kase did some digging.”
I follow him upstairs to his office, grateful to be moving on to a topic I can do something about instead of my fixation on Penelope. It’s fine if they suspect. They don’t need to know how little I can control myself around her.
* * *
Penelope
Holland and Londonfawn all over me, and I hate to admit how much I enjoy their attention. They care about me. My mother was worried, but she’s afraid to smother me after our talk. My friends have no such concerns or restraint.
Holland secures her platinum-blonde hair off her face with a red bandanna. “Tell me how the bodyguard thing is going. What’s Cannon really like?”
Katy Perry’s song “Hot N Cold” runs through my head. The title describes last night versus this morning. “He’s a hard man to get to know.”
And he is. He answers in vague responses. I’ve slept on worse. No details. No specifics. But I feel like I know him. He’s loyal. He has a strong moral code, even if he’s the only one who knows what it is. He doesn’t lose his temper. He’s not demeaning. He’s respectful.
He’s also upset with himself about last night, but it didn’t stop him from sleeping in my bed so I could sleep. He should make my head spin, but I’ve never been more centered.
