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I’d been adventurous for far too long.
And though I hadn’t exactly been bold when it came to hopping into bed with men—I’d only ever been with two guys, one who happened to be my boyfriend in high school—I’d certainly become a woman who took charge of going after what she wanted.
Even if I’d just met him, I felt no reservations about having Forrest here with me, alone in my room. He was caring for me the way I imagined a man in love with his girlfriend would. He’d helped me get settled on the couch in my room, and he didn’t hesitate to bring me a stack of pillows to place beneath my foot, so it would be elevated to help reduce the swelling. Once he had me there, Forrest grabbed some ice from the freezer and carefully placed it on my swollen ankle.
Watching that, experiencing it, I was quickly wavering in my resolve to tread cautiously.
Holding myself back in a situation like this, particularly with a man who was treating me the way Forrest was, felt odd. It felt wrong.
Unfortunately, I’d learned some harsh lessons, and I refused to fall victim to something so terrible again.
So, I needed to find a way to get my mind away from the naughty thoughts about Forrest. Maybe learning more about him wasn’t going to ultimately help in the long term—especially if I liked what he had to say—but if he was talking, I had to believe I’d be courteous enough to listen instead of attacking him.
“I’m a bodyguard,” he shared after he sat down on the opposite end of the couch near my elevated foot.
“I’m sorry. What?”
“I work for a company called Harper Security Ops in Steel Ridge,” he started. “The company employs members of the military—most who are no longer active duty or are reservists. We offer a variety of services, including things like private investigation or self-defense training. I work in our bodyguard and private security unit.”
I’d gotten it all wrong.
For some strange reason, I had assumed he was going to tell me he worked a job in an office doing something on a computer. Maybe something in banking or finance. Or perhaps he was a project manager for a construction company or something like that.
But a bodyguard?
Nope. That was nowhere in my thoughts.
“I don’t understand.”
Forrest tilted his head to the side, his eyes roaming curiously over my face. “What are you confused about? You know what a bodyguard does, right?”
I held my hand out in front of me, palm up, and answered, “Yes, but I… well, you just don’t seem like the bodyguard type.”
“What does that mean?”
Thankfully, Forrest didn’t seem the least bit offended. If anything, he was amused and genuinely curious about my assessment of him.
“What I meant to say was, physically speaking, you clearly fit the bill for a bodyguard. If I needed to hire a bodyguard, I’d imagine your physique would make you a desirable candidate. But you’re so kind, and you don’t have an intimidating face.”
“I don’t have an intimidating face?” he questioned me, his lips twitching.
Yep. Definitely amused.
Shaking my head, I replied, “No. In fact, I remember when you took your goggles off and pulled your mask down when we first met. The specific thought I had was that you had been so incredibly kind to me, and your face matched that trait. Your body is a different story, though.”
Forrest tipped his chin up and out to the side as he lifted a brow. There were questions lingering in his gaze, but that wasn’t all. He was reacting to the things I’d said, and he clearly couldn’t work out which part of it he wanted to address.
I didn’t mind telling him whatever he wanted to know. It didn’t bother me that I’d shared the truth with him about his body. Even if I hadn’t seen him naked, there wasn’t a doubt in my mind he had a gorgeous physique. I also believed he had to know that was the case, too. If I worked as hard as he had to have worked to look the way he did, I didn’t think I’d ever tire of hearing someone compliment me on it.
Since he made no move to speak, I did.
“Look, Forrest, you’ve got to know you’re in phenomenal shape,” I began, stating it matter-of-factly. “You carried me from the lodge to your truck and from your truck into the clinic like it was no big deal, like I weighed nothing. I’m not going to pretend it’s not impressive. It is, and if the roles were reversed, I could never do the same for you. All I’m saying is that you’ve got a face that is one of the sweetest I’ve ever seen. Now that I know what you do for a living, I’m just a little surprised by it, because while your body screams intimidation, your face is the very opposite.”
The silence stretched between us for a bit longer. “I think I’m supposed to take all of that as a compliment.”
“That’s exactly what you should do, because that’s precisely what it’s meant to be,” I told him, beaming at him and liking that he’d gotten what I wanted him to get out of it. I was so happy about it; I swore I could feel the twinkle in my own eyes. “I’m still blown away, though. You’re really a bodyguard?”
The corners of his mouth tipped up as a smile spread across his face, something softening in his features. “Yes, I’m really a bodyguard.”
