Page 51 of Bad Enough

She was just trying to figure out how to stop Kai’s temper tantrum when there was silence except for angrily clicking heels down the hallway. TB entered the lounge looking for all the world like he had not just had a run-in with Devil-Kai.

“Waters has assigned me to protect you from your secret admirer. I’ll be staying with you until he’s caught.”

Stunned, Sylvan’s mouth opened and closed several times like a fish, no sound coming out. No kind remarks asking if she was feeling better. No illusion, even, of her being involved in the decision-making process. Just threw the information at her like she would go along with it, no questions asked. “What do you mean, ‘staying with’ me? Like guarding the outside of the house?”

“No, Nemo will be outside at night, watching the house so that I can get some sleep. I will be inside the house. Twenty-four seven.”

“But you can’t do that!” she exclaimed. “I have work to do. I have a deadline, which I am severely behind schedule on. I can’t have you underfoot, in my space, and interfering with that.”

“I won’t be in your way. I’ll leave you alone to your deadline. I just need to be inside to protect you in case the fucker manages to sneak inside.”

“But aren’t you busy looking for Kai’s brother? She told me that’s part of how she met all of you. That’s far more important than my problem.”

“If I’m needed, I’ll be pulled, but right now, we’re in a holding pattern with that. If I have to leave, then you’ll come stay in an apartment at Tribe where we can lock you down.”

She scrambled for another excuse. “But my deadline?—”

“Flame, you work from home. A laptop is all you really need, and you’d have one here if need be. But admit it. You’ll be much more comfortable at home around your own things.”

I hate being talked about instead of to!

“Why was all of this discussed without my input?”

“I wasn’t there for the initial conversation, so I can’t say. Apparently, it’s been determined that my judgment on what’s best in this situation is cloudy.”

“But it’s okay for you with your cloudy judgement to protect me? That doesn’t make sense.”

He rolled his eyes. “I’m the best choice for a number of reasons. One, we have an established relationship. Your stalker has been watching you, and he already thinks we’re a couple. So it wouldn’t surprise him.

“Two, we think my presence could provoke him into acting. When guys like this get angry or upset, they tend to make mistakes, making them easier to catch.

“Three…”

She prodded him. “Three?”

He looked pained that he’d gotten himself caught in something he didn’t want to talk about.

“You said earlier that there was something you’d talk to me about later. Does that have to do with number three?”

He turned his head and looked out the window. “Yes,” he finally answered. “But that’s probably a discussion best left for a time when you’re less overwhelmed, and I?—”

There was an awkward silence before she asked, “Won’t staying with me be uncomfortable for you?”

“I’m not any happier about this than you are, princess.”

Well, that wasn’t what I wanted to hear.

After a moment, she nodded and looked down at her hands. “I get it. I’m sorry you all got dragged into this. I should never have called Kai and just sucked it up and not acted like such a ninny.”

“His behavior is escalating. No one enjoys their privacy being invaded. And besides, there’s no possible way you could have known that calling Kubrick would have put you back in my orbit.”

Her eyes searched TB’s, then she took a deep breath.

“Tell me the truth. Was it all nothing? Was it just teaching me BDSM language and philosophy? Or was there something else there? Because it felt like there was something there.”

His lips pressed tightly together as if he was trying to keep words inside. She swore she saw a flare of regret in his eyes, but then it was like a shield dropped down over them.

Avoidance. If he says nothing, he neither admits nor denies. But really, it tells me exactly what I need to know, doesn’t it?

---