Page 14 of Redemption

I supposed I should’ve anticipated that my bodyguard would be a man. I’d always assumed it was a male-dominated industry, though I knew there were women in the profession. Still…in my head, I hadn’t envisioned spending two months on a sailboat with a man. With Jackson. Whom I’d have to trust, and vice versa.

“It’s not up to Edward,” Nate said. “And if he cares about you as much as he claims to, he’ll be more concerned with your safety than the man ensuring it.”

I wasn’t so sure about that. Time and again, Edward had insisted that I’d be safer if I moved in with him. Now, he was annoyed with me for leaving for two months. He didn’t seem to understand that I needed this trip. The fact that he didn’t get that—didn’t get me—grated.

“Just…” Nate dragged a hand down his face. “Give Jackson a chance, will you? I think if you got to know him, you’d like him.”

That was the problem. I already knew how much I could like him. And I couldn’t put my heart through that kind of pain ever again. Losing Jackson, then my grandparents… I swallowed hard, ignoring the way the bridge of my nose stung.

I would not go there. I would not think of what could’ve been. What almost was…

I let out a shaky exhale.

“Sloan.” Nate tilted his head, evaluating me. “Is there something you’re not telling me? Some other reason you’re opposed to Jackson?”

“I—” I paused, not even sure what to say. The past was in the past, and that was where it needed to stay. So I swallowed back my protests. “No.”

I knew Jackson was more than qualified to sail with me. Hell, maybe I should’ve been happy with this turn of events. And maybe under different circumstances or a decade ago, I would’ve been. Jackson was a damn good sailor—instinctual. It was something we’d bonded over. Something we’d always dreamed of doing together—taking an extended trip on a boat, just the two of us.

Oh, what a cruel sense of irony the universe had.

“I know you’re not happy about this intrusion,” Nate said. “But Jackson has always been discreet, respectful, and professional.”

I was completely at a loss for words.

“Let’s just spend some time with him and talk about the trip. ’Kay?”

I swallowed hard. “Mm. Yep.”

Because what else could I do at this point? I’d run out of excuses.

Had Jackson known that I was his new client? He hadn’t seemed as surprised to see me as I’d been to see him. But it wouldn’t be the first time I’d been wrong about him or the situation.

I straightened, telling myself this was just like any other meeting I attended. I was in charge. I was the boss. His boss.

God, that was weird.

This whole situation was weird. I tried to imagine spending the next two months with him on my boat and failed.

Jackson had once been the oxygen I breathed. Now, he was going to be working for me, protecting me. The prospect of my sailing trip was beginning to seem less like freedom and more like torture.

CHAPTER FOUR

Istood in the hallway outside the presidential suite of the Huxley Grand New York while Nate and Sloan chatted inside. It made me think of my sister’s wedding day. God, that day had been so fucked up. I’d barely held it together.

I paused before the door to the penthouse suite, tugging at my collar. My dress uniform felt as if it were strangling me, but I knew it was merely the idea of seeing Sloan again after so long. We’d promised not to let whatever happened between us affect our relationship with Greer, and I had to trust that Sloan would keep her word as she always had. Even though I knew today—my sister’s wedding day—would be trying.

I smoothed my hands down my pants and straightened, knocking on the door. A butler, a freaking butler, answered.

And this was the world Sloan lived in. The world she’d grown up in and the world that she’d be expected to command when she was older. It was so far removed from my own, she might as well have lived on a different planet.

“Sir?” he asked.

I cleared my throat. Right. “I’m here to walk my sister down the aisle. Could you let my mom know I’m here?”

He stepped aside, inviting me in. “Of course. Would you like a drink?”

I shook my head, though the idea was tempting. “No. Thank you.”

---