Page 102 of Unexpected Hero

As he turns to leave, he mutters something sounding like “unfortunately.” But I’m honestly not sure whether I heard that word or merely wanted to.

The door closes behind him, essentially leaving me alone in the front lobby, except for Tim the bouncer.

Like I have lead in my shoes, I trudge around to the other side of the desk and take my seat. My broken toes are hurting from being on my feet so much today. So I cross my legs at the knees and slip off my strappy sandal. My little piggies are swollen.

Before Freya comes back, I fire off a text to Stella.

Me

James is here. We chatted. It was awkward. That is all.

A few seconds later, I add one more update.

Me

He confessed to being protective of me. But I don’t know if that changes anything.

Me

I also teased him a tiny bit by making it sound like the manager was “teaching me” about BDSM in his office. James squeezed the counter so hard he almost broke it.

When I see Freya strolling back into the lobby, I slide my phone away, shoving it under the pamphlet.

“Psh. You can be on your phone as long as you’re not ignoring members or guests.”

“I was just texting my friend to let her know all is well on my first shift.”

“Did you and James work out whatever is going on?”

My cheeks flame. “There’s nothing to work out.”

“By the look of him, I’d say there’s some sexual frustration to work out.”

“Oh. Is it that obvious?”

“Helen Keller could see it.”

“Really?”

We weren’t that obvious, were we? Besides, she was only up here for a minute, and he didn’t even speak during that time other than one sentence. How could she have noticed that fast?

She lightly taps my forearm. “I’m kidding. It wasn’t quite that bad, but I did hear some rumblings on the floor about you being off-limits.”

“What?” I screech, leaning forward with my mouth agape.

She nods and crinkles her nose playfully. “He’s all but collared you, babe.”

Collared me? Heavens to Betsy.

I’m not entirely sure what that means, but thanks to some titillating reading material James sent me, I know it’s a possession thing.

But I can’t let my inner reaction to her words show.

What is my inner reaction, you ask? The little squirrel in my brain is diddling her bean like a DJ, and my feminism is hiding under a blanket.

Needless to say, I’m on board.

“Will that get back to Dante? I don’t want to get James in trouble over me.”

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