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“I’m sure that you have a job to go to and a life to get back to,” she insisted. Yeah, it felt as though she was giving him the brush off again, and that hurt a bit, but he wasn’t about to let her push him away—not when she was in danger.
“You don’t know this about me, but I’m in the security business,” he admitted. Once Owen got out of the Army, he came home and tried to figure out his next step in life. He struggled for a while, even thinking about going to medical school, but his heart just wasn’t in it. Maverick and Steel sat him down and talked to him about having to make some hard and fast decisions because there was no way that either of them was going to let him just sit around and rot. That’s when he decided to start his own business. He started a security firm and honestly, he was surprised at how many clients he had. He even had to turn some away.
“Um, I hate to tell you this, but I’m broke, and now, I’m pretty sure that I’m out of a job. I would never be able to hire you, Owen,” she said.
“Well, I wasn’t asking you to pay me,” he said. “I want to help you and I can. Sometimes, it’s okay to let people help you out in life without giving them anything in return,” Owen said.
“You wouldn’t expect anything from me?” she asked. Tilly stared him down and he could tell exactly what she was thinking. He had hit on her just hours ago, at the bar. Why wouldn’t she think he was doing this because he wanted to get into her pants?
“Nothing,” he said firmly. “I know that I asked to buy you a beer, but our relationship going forward will be strictly professional. I’ll be your security guard and you’ll be my client.”
“I can’t exactly be your client if I’m not paying you to do the job, Owen,” she insisted.
“Fine, my fee is twenty dollars. Do you have twenty dollars, Tilly?” he asked.
“Um, I do,” she said.
“Great, then, you have yourself a bodyguard.” The thought of guarding her body made him hot, but there was no way that he’d tell her that. For now, he’d keep his promise to keep her safe, because he had a feeling that her asshole boss wasn’t going to stop coming for Tilly, even if she had no idea what he wanted from her.
Tilly
Tilly woke from a dead sleep and looked around, trying to figure out where she was. “Oh, yeah—the hospital,” she croaked. She tried to sit up and groaned when her head started throbbing again.
“Your cell phone has been going crazy,” Owen said. He was still sitting in the uncomfortable-looking chair next to her bed. A part of her wanted to ask him why he was still hanging around, but then she remembered that he had agreed to be her security guard—as if she needed one. Honestly, the more time that passed without Nate showing up at the hospital, the sillier she felt. What if this whole thing was just a giant misunderstanding? What if she was blowing things out of proportion and her boss wasn’t really up to no good? That was a lot of what-ifs, even for her.
Tilly was always good at second-guessing herself. Ever since she was a kid, she was constantly making a decision and then, changing her mind. The problem was, that she never felt good enough to make the right decisions, even in her own life.
“It must be my sister,” she said, “she’s the only one who really calls my phone. Well, her and Nate, but I’m guessing that he’s not going to call me again.”
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to happen, especially since I’m planning on having the guy put in jail for what he did to you. The cops are coming by this morning and will want to talk to you if you’re up to it,” he said.
“I’m ready to talk to them. I just want this nightmare to be over. Will I be able to leave the hospital today?” she asked.
“They said that I should be able to take you home later today if you pass all the tests,” he said.
“Tests,” she squeaked, “what kind of tests?”
“Don’t worry, you didn’t have to study for them or anything,” Owen teased. Even rolling her eyes at him made her head hurt, but it was worth the smile he gave her.
“Good to know,” she grumbled. “Can you hand me my phone so that I can call my sister? I’m sure that Melody has a bunch of questions to ask me, and I’d like to get that part over with. Then, I’m sure she’ll slide into the whole, ‘I told you so’ speech before we end the call.”
“Why would she say that?” he asked.
“Because she warned me not to take the job. She met Nate and said that he was giving her vibes,” she said. “Which usually means that the guy’s a jerk. She was right, he was a jerk.”
“He’s more than a jerk, Tilly,” Owen said. “He’s a criminal.” She nodded, knowing that what he was saying was true, but still not wanting to admit it out loud yet.
“Would you mind giving me a little bit of privacy while I call my sister?” she asked. The hurt flashed across his face, and she almost wanted to take her request back, but she didn’t really know Owen, and telling her sister about what had happened to her was going to be hard enough.
“Sure,” he said, “if that’s what you want.” He walked out of the small hospital room and all she could do was watch him go.
Tilly sighed and concentrated on finding her sister’s number in her contacts. It was hard to focus with her throbbing head, but she found it and when her sister answered, she couldn’t help but burst into tears.
“What’s wrong, Tilly?” Melody asked. “Are you okay? Did the doctors give you bad news?”
“No, it’s just good to hear your voice,” Tilly admitted.
“It’s good to hear your voice too,” Melody said. “I’ve been so worried since you sent that big biker over here to tell me about your accident.”
