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Some men name their cars. Others name their reading chairs. Look it up. It’s a thing.
Topher shakes his head. “Only you, man. Only you would dare sit in Franny in your sweaty clothing. I should throw you in the dungeon for this.”
“Topher.” I tsk. “We all know this place doesn’t have a dungeon.”
“Not yet.”
I stand and hold up my hands in surrender. “Fine. I’ll leave Franny alone. But can you please tell me why I’ve hurried over here?” Then I clap a hand over my bicep and flex. “Muscles like these don’t just appear out of thin air, you know.”
But Topher doesn’t smile back. Instead, he frowns. “It’s Chloe.”
My entire body stiffens, and I stride forward. “Is she all right?” I try—and am fairly certainfail—to keep the panic from my voice. “What’s wrong?”
“She’s fine, mate. I mean, she’s gone mad, but what else is new?”
His words jumble in my brain, and I try to sort them out. “What’s she done?” Chloe is beautiful and bold and unafraid, and she charms the absolute trousers off everyone she meets. And yes, she was once reckless, but she’s older now. More mature. But of course Topher worries for her. He’s her older brother, and it’s his prerogative to do so.
“She’s come up with a scheme to get Lauren and I secretly married off before the wedding in Kentonia.” He explains Chloe’s plan—and ridiculously short timeline.
I shake my head and laugh, because it’s perfectly her. “So how can I help? Other than travel with you to your first of two weddings?” My lips quirk at the thought.
“Apparently Tia left her yesterday, which is when she decided last minute to drive the eight hours from San Diego to Hallmark Beach alone, so I need you—”
“Wait, what?” Now I’m the one pacing. Tia’s a good agent—one of our best—but why would she knowingly put the princess in danger like that?
“I know. I got Tia on the phone after talking with Chloe. She apologized profusely, said her mum was in a car accident and she had to rush home to London.”
“But to not even tell us?” I rub my left eye, which is twitching. “I’ll have her head for this.”
Topher quirks an eyebrow and takes me in. “While I appreciate your concern for Chloe’s safety, that’s my job, mate. I’ll handle Tia.”
I halt in my tracks. What am I thinking, showing him how upset I am over this? I force my body to relax one muscle group at a time. “Sure, right. I just can’t believe one of ours would be so irresponsible.”
“I understand. That’s why I need you to go on ahead of the wedding and be my sister’s temporary bodyguard.”
If I hadn’t already stopped, I’d be doing so now. As it is, I can hardly keep myself upright. Me, guard Chloe? Alone? I mean, I know he trusts me above anyone else. But this … it’s impossible. “I’m needed here.”
“Chloe needs you more than I do. She’s out there, where anyone might hurt her. Meanwhile, I’m stuck here, buried under a pile of paperwork every day. All you’ll protect me from here is a paper cut.”
“That’s giving me way too much credit,” I joke, still internally processing his request of me. “With the amount of reading you do, no one on earth can keep you from getting paper cuts.”
He chuckles. “How true, how true.” A quiet falls between us. Then, he continues. “So, will you go?”
My mouth opens to agree, because what other choice do I have? But if Topher knew how hard this was going to be, he’d never ask it of me. Maybe it would be better for everyone if I came clean of my admiration for the princess. Though simply calling itadmirationfeels like a betrayal of her somehow.
So instead of immediately acquiescing, I ask another question. “Why me?”
Topher doesn’t hesitate to reply. “First, I know you loved California when we were there in November, and you hate the cold here. Here’s a chance for you to see some sunshine.”
I school my features, but his words are a surprise. Did he really notice how happy I was to be in California last year for American Thanksgiving—and the winter before that, when he met Lauren in the first place? It’s my job to study him and know everything about him, but I suppose this is a good reminder that he knows me too. That we are friends first, and employer and employee second.
That’s what Topher told me when I first became his bodyguard, and I guess he meant it.
After all, he knows how I devour travel books, and he’s seen the map I’ve got plastered to my wall with pins in the places I long to travel. What’s funny is that I’ve traveled more as a bodyguard than I did in the armed forces—ironic since one of the main reasons I enlisted was to see the world. Well, that and it fit the plan my father had already laid out for me.
But even the travel I get to do these days is minimal. So having this chance to catch some fresh air, to experience a non-Kentonian spring … it’s everything.
“And second?”
