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“Not the trip. Your wedding!” She doesn’t even try to hold back the eye roll. “I swear, sometimes you are so distracted. Where has your head been? We’ve had a thousand talks about this.”
I think about my recent secret hobby. It’s taken up a lot of my time. And to be honest, when Mom talks about marriage, I get bored and lose focus.
“I guess I’ve been distracted—Oh my God…he’s coming over.”
Talk about distracted. He’s walking over here. Still working on that shirtsleeve.
“Mom. What do I say to him? We’re pretty much strangers. Thanks for being my bodyguard?” She’s not answering. “Mom?” I look to my left to grab her arm. She’s not there. Where has she gone? I glance around. “Mom?”
She’s disappeared. Seriously? Not even going to be here with me for emotional support when I meet my bodyguard in person for the first time?
I’m alone.
I stand here, unsure what to do with my hands. I clasp them before me to keep them from shaking. He’s almost to me. What do I say? This is literally going to be the most awkward thing ever?—
Is he… frowning? Oh my God. He is. His brows are all scrunched up and those perfect lips of his are scowling. My heart drops. I mean, I’ve been told I’m a handful, but don’t come up to me all frowny-faced.
He stops about a foot away from me. His dark eyes burn into mine. “I’m sure you’ve heard?” he says.
“Yeah. Just now. I mean, I’ve known my parents were going to ask you, but it’s only just now when my mom told me that I knew for sure.” I’m rambling.
“I found out just now in the library.” He runs a hand through his perfect hair, staring down at the toes of his black dress boots.
When he finally drags his gaze back up to meet mine, he says, “I don’t do babysitting.”
His harsh words, the heat in his gaze, make my heart drop into my stomach.
“I’m not a baby,” I snap, the words sounding childish even to me.
He just eyes me, making me feel even more immature than he already has.
I start rambling again, out of annoyance this time. “I mean, I’m not asking for flowers and chocolates—though I’d kill for chocolate right now—but come on. At least don’t be rude the first time you talk to me.”
Not wanting him to know he’s getting me flustered, I make my face an emotionless, stone-cold mask. Flip my hair over my shoulder and cross my arms over my chest. Jut a silk-covered hip at him.
“I apologize. I’m happy to be the head of your security detail. It’s an honor to do this job for your father. But I don’t babysit. You do as I say, and we’ll get along fine.” He shrugs.
“I’m just saying.” I narrow my gaze. “I don’t do well having a bodyguard by my side every moment of the day.”
He nods. “I’ve heard.”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
He shrugs. “You didn’t go to college because you didn’t want bodyguards.”
“I chose online education,” I correct him, “because I thought it might be distracting to have a team of burly men surrounding me in the middle of Psych 101. I’m fine on my own. You can keep your distance.”
“Your father says otherwise,” he says. “He says you need a very close eye on you.”
A server passes with a tray of champagne. He grabs two flutes, handing one to me.
I accept with trembling fingers, knowing the announcement is getting closer.
“I think we need this.” Cockily, he holds a glass up to me. “Cheers. To our trip and your upcoming engagement.”
“Cheers,” I say. I daintily lift my glass, happy my fiancé is going to be nothing like this man. “To love.”
There’s a break in his hard façade. A momentary glimpse of something softer behind the stone wall. “Love doesn’t work like that.” He lifts the glass, tipping it back in one swallow. “It doesn’t work at all.”
