Page 30 of Guarded By the Phantom

“See?” he said, still kneeling at my feet. “This is fun. You’re fun.”

“I’mnotfun.” I shook my head for emphasis. “I’m dutiful. Predictable. Well-behaved. But not fun.”

“Well then,” he said, getting to his feet. “Maybe I bring out the best in you, eh? So? Are we good?”

I stared at him with a mixture of exasperation and amusement. Did I really want to get rid of him for… For pushing me into a bookcase? He was out of line, yes, but then, he also agreed to keep my outings a secret, and that had to count for something.

Besides, he was right. Unhinged as it sounded… This wasfun.And I hadn’t had fun in ages.

“If you do it again, you’re out,” I said, forcing my voice to sound stern.

He nodded, his deep eyes twinkling softly with the movement. “I promise I won’t. Unless you ask for it.”

He laughed under his breath, and I pressed my tongue to the roof of my mouth to better control my expression as my face grew hot with a blush.

“I’ll never ask for something like this,” I hissed vehemently.

“Good.”

“Good!”

We stared at each other, and I realized I was breathing hard, my blush still hot on my face. After a few more tense seconds, Phantom nodded at the book in my hands.

“So, are you gonna read it or what? Can I read over your shoulder? I’ll be super respectful.”

I sighed and nodded. He picked out a table placed at an intersection of three aisles, claiming it would give us the best chance of escape if we were attacked. The table was tiny, and it barely held the book. As I sat down, Phantom pushed his chair so close, he practically breathed down my neck.

“Do you mind?” I asked, frustrated because my insides tightened with something hot and eager at his proximity. “You’re in my space.”

“Sorry.” With a shameless grin, he pushed his chair a fraction of an inch away. “Better?”

I clenched my jaw and did my best to ignore him. Any further bickering would only delay my most important task for today, which was finding a way to resist mind control. I opened the book on the foreword and leaned in to read. The print was ridiculously small.

Phantom’s chair creaked when he leaned closer, putting his face right next to mine as we both pored over the pages. I ignored the hot tingles crawling up my nape, doing my best not to think about how the air grew thick and hard to breathe.

It went well until about a minute later, when I was still stuck on page one of the incredibly stuffy, unfriendly writing of thebook, while Phantom leaned back in his chair, his knee bouncing impatiently.

“Are you done?” he asked ten seconds later.

“No,” I almost growled, trying to push through an incredibly long, convoluted sentence.

“Well, there’s nothing useful in here. You can turn the page.”

“How do you know what’s useful to me?” I asked, marking the end of the sentence with my finger and turning to look at him.

Phantom looked at where I was in the text, his expression pained.

“Oh, boy. You’re not a reader, are you?”

“No. I’m supposed to be pretty and obedient, or did you forget? No reading for an Ashford-Kingsley,” I said bitterly, because I used to like books when I was a girl and my nanny read them to me.

They transported me into different worlds, where the heroines had adventures and got to explore wondrous lands. Meanwhile, I was stuck in an endless loop of school, ballet, manner classes, and photoshoots to show off my father’s perfect family.

Phantom hummed, cocking his head thoughtfully. “Tell you what. If you tell me what it is you need from this book, I’ll let you know which parts are useful to you, okay? Because let’s face it, doll. At your pace, we’ll be stuck here for a few days, at least.”

I sighed heavily, conflicted. I was supposed to do this on my own. It was my huge mission to break free. And yet, he was right, too. I didn’t have any time to waste.

“The mind manipulator… He thought my mind was easy to crack. Like, way easier than others. I want to learn how to get stronger, so I can actually resist him next time.”

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