Page 23 of Reluctantly His

Turning, he selected a Rolex GMT Master II Ice from the spinning watch caddy on top of his valet station. As he latched the watch around his wrist and adjusted his cuffs, I kept silent.

Patiently waiting. A necessary skill when navigating any engagement with my father. And that’s what they were—tactical, almost military, engagements, never casual father daughter moments.

Without bothering to face me as he made his way out of the dressing room, he tossed over his shoulders, “Consider it done. This is for the best. It was a waste of resources to have my head of security holding your bags while you shopped anyway.”

And there it was again.

Love you too, Dad.

Sigh.

I lingered for several moments after he left.

Checking to make sure there weren’t any staff nearby, I kept to the far corner of the room and pushed several wooden hangers to the side to reveal a black dress bag.

Lifting up the zipper, I pulled out a small bit of the champagne cream lace and silk. Rubbing the familiar fabric between my fingertips, I leaned down and inhaled the faint, lingering scent of rose perfume.

My mother’s wedding dress.

I’d discovered it as a child one day when I used this place during a game of hide-and-seek.

Since then, I’d had a fantasy of wearing it one day for my own wedding.

A vision of Reid waiting for me at the altar dressed in a tuxedo flashed across my mind. I could even envision a hint of a smile on his stern face as he watched me approach down the aisle in my mother’s gown.

A strange sadness settled over me.

Stuffing the bit of dress back into the darkness, I wrenched the zipper back down and shoved the hangers back into place.

I flicked the light off as I left.

Romantic fantasies were stupid.

Besides, it was done.

Reid would no longer be my bodyguard.

CHAPTER 10

REID

If she mouthed off to me one more time, I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off her.

She was one snide look away from being on her knees, choking on my cock, before I… I shook the thought out of my head.

I couldn’t think like that while I was on the job. It was a distraction.

I would talk to Lucian in the morning and tell him that he needed to assign someone else—anyone else—to her detail.

If he insisted, I would offer to supervise.

But I could not be left alone with her again, that much was clear.

I had crossed a line today.

Definitely professional, and probably moral and ethical as well.

She was in my charge, my protectee, and my boss’ daughter.

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