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Sometimes Kylie would talk to him if she happened to get off her shift while he was there, but no one else dared to brave hisdon’t talk to mevibe.
“Please tell me you plan on sleeping with him,” Kylie muttered while dropping my smoothie at my table. I wasn’t working today, but I was here anyway, catching up on some reading and not wanting to be alone in the apartment with Nathaniel.
I shot Kylie a glare. “It’s not going to happen.”
“Then you’re screwed, because no other guy is ever going to approach you while he’s hanging around you.”
I wanted to deny that, but I could see her point. I wasn’t blind. Nathaniel looked like God’s gift to women. It could be the angelic blood, or maybe he was just that gorgeous all on his own. I didn’t have many angels to compare him to.
But beyond his intimidatingly good looks, there was also a possessiveness in the way he looked at me. I knew it was because of his job, because I was his to protect, but from the outside, I had a feeling it looked like I was justhis.
“Thank you for pointing out that depressing piece of information,” I muttered.
“You’re welcome.” Kylie turned and walked back to the kitchen to make more drink orders.
I glanced over the top of my e-reader at Nathaniel as I took a sip of my smoothie.
He wasn’t looking at me. His eyes were focused somewhere above my head—the lights that hung from the ceiling maybe?—and his mind seemed to be somewhere else. That was a blessing since I wasn’t sure Kylie and I had been talking low enough that he couldn’t eavesdrop if he were so inclined.
I wondered what he was thinking about. Was he bored yet? He never brought anything to do when he came here.
He’d stopped fighting me about going out, though we mostly only went to Fountain of Youth and the grocery store. It was a relief and also not. Without the fighting, he was just a silent bodyguard—constantly around but not really present. I felt bad for reducing him to this.
I wanted to ask if there was somewhere he wanted to go, but I figured sightseeing and nightlife wouldn’t be on his list of safe things I could do while there was a target on my back.
“We should get you a cell phone,” I blurted out, breaking nearly a week of silence besides the necessary things that people said when living under the same roof.
“I don’t have anyone to call,” he said tonelessly.
“I meant so that I’d have a way to call you.”
His gaze slowly moved to meet mine. “You don’t need to call me. I’m always with you.”
“But then you—”
“No.” He cut me off flatly. “There’s no reason for me to have a phone. I’m not going to leave you alone with nothing but a number to call. You’re stuck with me. Get used to it.”
I hadn’t even been thinking about my own freedom. I’d been thinking of his. But the desire to explain that shriveled up and died at the cold look he gave me.
If he wanted to give up his life to be my shadow, fine. That was his problem. I wasn’t going to waste any more time feeling guilty about it.
I returned my focus to my book, sipping at my drink and generally ignoring my bodyguard.
A couple of chapters later, I turned off my e-reader and headed behind the counter to check in with Kylie and Merida.
“I’m taking off. See you guys later.”
“You’re okay with working the morning shifts this week, right?” Merida asked, breezing by me.
“Yeah. I’ll see you Monday.” I wasn’t going to say I was thrilled about working at five in the morning, but it did come with the perk that I’d be done with work by early afternoon.
The sun was shining as Nathaniel and I walked back to the apartment. It was a nice afternoon, warm for September, and I really wasn’t looking forward to sitting inside for the rest of the day.
We’d just turned in to the complex, walking down the empty street that led to the apartment building, when Nathaniel slipped his hand into mine. His palm was warm and rough with calluses, and I’d swear his skin thrummed with energy.
I frowned up at him. He hadn’t made physical contact with me in days. Hand-holding was so far from normal I didn’t even think to pull away at first. Okay, so I kind of didn’t want to because his hand felt nice, but the surprise was real.
He leaned down, his lips brushing my ear as he whispered, “We’re being followed.”
