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Most of them were easy enough to answer, but as always, there were a couple of tricky ones.
“You’ve long been known as a staunch ally of the LGBT+ community. What made you decide to champion this cause in particular?”
Elizabeth kept her expression carefully neutral. She couldn’t say that she was a lesbian. That would cause chaos and likely throw a huge wrench in the works of her career. She didn’t want to lie, though, so she delivered her answer carefully, saying nothing untrue, but avoiding the full truth all the same.
“I believe strongly in equal rights for everyone, no matter their gender, sexuality, race, religion, or any other factors. I’ve seen how the LGBT+ community suffers from discrimination, and I want to fix that. There are too many problems in this world for me to solve all of them; I’m only one person, after all.
“However, I can choose a cause I feel particularly passionate about and champion that cause, which is what I do every day in my service to my country.”
“I see you’ve hired a bodyguard. How long do you think that’ll be necessary?”
Elizabeth had wondered how long it would be before Alex got pulled into this. “I honestly don’t know. A lot of it depends on when the police catch the man who shot at me. For now, I’m accepting this as my new reality. I’m not going to allow any more of my staff to get hurt protecting me.”
“What would you say to those people who accuse you of favoritism for selecting your assistant’s sister as your bodyguard?”
Elizabeth supposed she should have expected that at least one person would have dug up that piece of information. Fortunately, she was pretty good at thinking on her feet.
“They would be right. I did choose Alex in part because she is James’ sister. He has sacrificed his health for months of physical therapy in order to save me. I can think of no better way to honor that sacrifice than supporting Alex’s business to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.
“However, to say I hired her solely because of her connection to James would be incorrect. Alex’s time with the U.S. marines has given her both the skills and experience to be an effective bodyguard. She has served her country before, and now she is doing so again by protecting me as I do the same. I am sure that she will perform her duties admirably.”
Elizabeth braced herself for questions about her and Alex’s rocky start, but thankfully, news of that didn’t seem to have filtered down to the press yet. Hopefully they would settle into a pattern soon enough and it wouldn’t be big news anymore.
She finally put a stop to the questions, knowing that they would never end until she did so.
“Are we leaving?”
“Soon. I’m not going to dash out the minute I’m finished speaking. We should mingle some more.”
“I don’t like the look of some of these people,” Alex grumbled.
Had she always been this grumpy, or was it Elizabeth bringing it out in her? “Most of the people here support me and my work. You’d do well not to alienate them.”
Alex sighed. “If they support your work, I suppose they can’t be that bad.”
It was the closest thing to a compliment she’d gotten from Alex so far. Elizabeth would take it.
Alex seemed relieved when Elizabeth finally said they could return home. She did a quick check of the house before letting Elizabeth retire to her bedroom.
“Tomorrow, I’ll call in people to start putting in some proper security measures.”
“That sounds good, Alex.” At least this was one thing they could agree on. There was no harm in having her property a bit more secure.
“Goodnight, then.Wakeme when you’re up.”
“Do I need your permission to go to the bathroom if I wake up at night?” Elizabeth immediately regretted her sarcastic tone, but Alex didn’t rise to the bait.
“No,” she said flatly. “Goodnight, Elizabeth.”
Elizabeth stared after her as Alex went to the guest room. She couldn’t figure Alex out. One minute, they’d be getting on just fine, and the next, they’d be screaming at each other. The palpable sexual tension between them certainly didn’t help matters.
Elizabeth wondered if Alex felt it too. As far as Alex knew—as far as anyone knew—Elizabeth was straight, but as much as she had tried to shut down her lust for her angry bodyguard, it was most certainly bubbling just under the surface. Could Alex see that?
She lay down in bed, but this time, sleep didn’t come so easily. She imagined Alex coming into her room at night and slipping into bed with her. They’d go under the covers and exchange soft kisses until they were both breathless with desire.
They would—
No. Elizabeth stopped herself right there. Giving in to this kind of fantasy was only going to get her into trouble, making being in Alex’s presence awkward and difficult, when more difficulty was the last thing they needed in their relationship.
