Page 13 of Don’t Fall For A Bodyguard

PAYTON

Lennie and I left Dazzle, rings still on our fingers, and took another rideshare to the airport.

Neither of us said anything in the car. I guess the shock of the past twelve hours finally caught up to us. First waking up in bed together, then the realization of our midnight wedding, and now the full weight of what we’d done.

Add to that, I nearly passed out when Lennie called me ‘angel’. I don’t think he even realized he’d done it. Or maybe he was joking, teasing me the way I did him. Either way, why the hell did I like it so much? Why did I like everything about this man?

There had to be something wrong with him. Maybe he was a total slob. Or picked his teeth. Or scratched his ass in public. Then again, I’d been around him long enough to notice if he was doing stuff like that.

He was a self-admitted hard-ass, especially when he was on the job, but I didn’t consider that a bad thing (hard-asses forever LOL). Lennie was intense and focused. He had to be. In his job, there was no time for fooling around. And I liked the fact that I was one of the few people that could make him laugh. Make him trip over his words, and his feet.

Lennie.Leonardo.Why did I want to swoon at the sound of his full name? The more I learned about him, the more I wanted to know.

The man was a bundle of nerves at this point, his knee bouncing up and down. I knew he was dreading the wedding conversation with his mother. But I envied him. What I wouldn’t give to talk to my mom one more time. Even if she was giving me hell for sassing her—as I often did—it was better than nothing. I swallowed down the painful lump that lodged in my throat.

Lennie’s left hand suddenly reached out and covered my right. Like he needed comfort from me. Why did he keep doing that? Opening doors, offering his hand, giving me reassurance, offering his. He was so thoughtful and protective. A true gentleman. A rarity in my world.

He protects people for a living. He’s being nice.

Still, the gesture had my pulse kicking up. Worse than that, it made me wish for things. For a man who’d want me, not for one night, or as friends, but for so much more.

If only…

I was so caught up in my head that I didn’t realize we’d pulled up to the departure zone at the airport. In fact, I didn’t notice how long it took us to get here or what time it was. I hadn’t even checked my phone since we’d left the hotel.

Of course, Lennie got out of the car first and held out his hand. I was spoiled at this point. And it had to stop. He wasn’t my husband, not for real. I needed to put distance between us. After all, I was an independent man, and I was going to stay that way.

Thank fuck I had my sunglasses on, because I didn’t want him to see how much his gesture affected me. Channeling my inner diva, I ignored his hand and stepped out of the car, then thanked the driver for unloading our luggage. Turning around,I prepared to reach for my suitcase, but Lennie beat me to it, grabbing the handle and starting inside.

“I can haul my own baggage, thank you very much,” I snapped when I caught up to him.

“No.”

“No? What the hell, Len?” I reached for my suitcase.

“Our plane is due to leave in twenty-seven minutes. Do you want to stand here and argue, or do you want to get through security and catch our flight?”

Shit, the last thing we needed right now was a missed flight and another bill. The tab for this weekend was already higher than any vacation I’d ever taken in my life.

“Fine.”

“Good. Let’s go.” He started off again.

“Wait a minute.” I stopped short and shoved my sunglasses off my face. “What does our being late have to do with you insisting on taking my luggage?”

“Nothing. It was a diversion,” he said over his shoulder and kept walking.

Awhatnow? God, this man drove me crazy. What’s next? Was he going to buy me flowers and call on me? Whatever, I didn’t care about my luggage at this point. If he wanted to haul my heavy-ass bag, he could go for it.

As we stood in line, Lennie leaned into me. “You know, it’s okay to let someone take care of you once in a while.”

I met his intense blue gaze, and a strange ache settled in my chest.

“Only in the bedroom, darling.”

Then I strutted past him, stepping up to the kiosk to scan my e-ticket. But it wasn’t registering. Lennie walked up beside me and pulled out his phone. A minute later, he showed me his screen.

“Seats 2A and B,” Lennie announced.

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