Page 69 of Protecting Hailey

He chuckled. “I had no doubt.” Then, he added, “I’ll lay off Frankie if it makes you feel better. But I will keep my eye on him.”

“Thank you.” I smiled. “I like how we fight.”

Then he crossed his arms and tilted his head. “How would you feel if I told you something that bothers me?”

Huh.

“I don’t know. Why don’t you try it and we’ll both find out.”

He nodded and inhaled a large breath and released it slowly. “I’m a jealous man, Hailey.”

“Okay. What does that mean, exactly?”

He arched his brow. “When you were with Trey, you went dancing with Victor. I know he’s your dance instructor, but I don’t want you bumping and grinding with anyone else but me. If you’re going to grind those hips, I want you to grind them on me.”

I blinked.

“How does that make you feel? Smothered? Uncomfortable? I want you to tell me the truth. I’m being very honest with you right now.”

I licked my lips, trying to find the right words. “Well. My first instinct was to say, ‘You don’t trust me’, and that I would never do anything to disrespect you. But, when I turn the tables around, I wouldn’t want you dancing and grinding with another woman, either. So, yeah, I think that’s fair play for both of us.”

He grinned. “Good.”

Okay, that wasn’t too bad. “Is there anything else?”

“Yeah,” he lowered his voice. “I want you in my bed every night, wearing nothing but a smile.”

My lips twitched. “Well, that sounds like a ‘you’ problem.”

He raised his chin. “What do you mean?”

“The way I see it, the onus is on you to put a smile on my face.”

He bit his bottom lip. “It will be my pleasure, sweetheart.”

He kissed me and I fought back a smile already.

19

Hailey

The smile remained on my face until the sun went down. I was cleaning up the kitchen after Christian had made us something to eat when darkness fell. A noise caught my attention. My muscles tensed and I thought I’d heard someone sneaking up behind me. I whipped my head around, but there was no one there.

“Hailey? What is it?”

I didn’t respond. Instead, I ran and switched on the extra set of lights in the kitchen and stood there with my arms crossed and my chest heaving.

Christian checked his phone. “I’ll be right back.”

I was terrified someone was in the house. It felt as though someone was watching me. I knew it sounded silly, but I couldn’t help feeling this way, especially after being pushed into that closet.

Christian returned. “There are no motion alerts, and the cameras are all online. There’s no one here.” He pulled me into his arms and held me.

“What if I never get over the feeling?” I murmured into his chest.

“It will get easier. I promise.”

He squeezed his arms tighter, and I breathed easier. I knew I would feel safe with him around, but what would I feel like when he wasn’t here? We talked a bit about having a long-distance relationship until he figured things out back home. He would hire another bodyguard he trusted while he was away. It sounded fine when we had discussed it, but now I wasn’t too sure I could handle it.

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