Page 19 of Don’t Fall For A Bodyguard

Even after all the madness of today, being here with him didn’t feel like a mistake. He was standing so close, his pink lips a temptation that was getting harder and harder for me to ignore. But it was Payton’s eyes that did me in every time. And having him here, in my home? In my bedroom? All those wild feelings he inspired, feelings I’d suppressed for so long, were now rushing to the surface.

I placed my hands on his waist and heard his sharp inhale. When he licked his lips, I leaned closer.

“Payton, I?—”

“Lennie! Payton!” My sister yelled up the stairs. “You’ve got a visitor!”

Another one?

CHAPTER 7

PAYTON

Was it my imagination or was Lennie about to kiss me? Oh, baby, I was more than ready to lock lips with this man.

No, Payton. You’ve already fucked up by marrying him. Now you’re going to kiss him and make him even more confused?

Him? What about me? And I was staying overnight in his house?

The real kicker was that I liked Lennie. More than liked. I’d been attracted to him from the moment we met, but now? Give me water, stat, because I was fucking thirsty.

And I really liked his family, too. Despite my nerves from our fake wedding shenanigans, I was comfortable with them right away. And his parents didn’t seem fazed by the fact that their new son-in-law was a proud femboy. It made my guarded heart want for things. Things like a real husband.

He’s real, all right. But he’s not mine.

“Did you hear me?” Bella yelled.

“We heard you!” Lennie shouted back. “We’ll be down in a minute!”

Poor Len. He was going to need another week off to recuperate from the stress of this fiasco. Still, his mom looked so upset when we first arrived that I didn’t have the heart to tell her the wedding was a sham. And now I was overwhelmed with guilt. I’d gotten him into this silly situation and things were getting worse.

“Another relative?” I asked.

“Who the fuck knows? It could be one of my aunts, or my cousins. Or my Nonna. Shit, she’s gonna be pissed too.”

“How bigisyour family?”

Lennie laughed, and it was so good to see him smile again.

“Big.”

Reluctantly, I let go of his shoulders. Why was it so difficult to do that?

“I’ll go down first and see who it is,” he offered and gave my waist a final squeeze before letting go. “The spare room is at the end of the hallway, and the bathroom is on the right.”

I nodded and swallowed down my protest. I didn’t want him to let go of me at all.

But I ignored the desire to step back into his arms—and to steal another look around his bedroom—and wandered into the hallway while Lennie headed back downstairs.

It was so bright up here with the skylights. I located the bathroom, and it was as nicely decorated as the rest of the house, with dark green walls, gold accents, and a roomy shower. I didn’t know what I’d expected his place to look like, but Lennie, as always, surprised me.

After washing up, I realized that I’d left my handbag downstairs. Oh well. I didn’t care about fixing my makeup at this point. My curls were looking more like bedhead, too. The stylist in me screamed to fix it, but the jet-lagged version said fuck it.

But it was my eyes that had me taking a second look in the mirror. I hardly recognized the soft expression in them.Oh no. No, no, no.I couldn’t allow this to happen. Not now. Not him.

“Payton, what have you done?” I asked myself out loud.

A sudden knock at the door startled me.

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