Page 23 of Control

I’d arrived at Harper Security Ops just three minutes past nine o’clock this morning to meet with Ty, doing it while carrying the file full of everything I had on the Annie Sanders story.

Initially, I’d been excited about where things were headed now that Ty had agreed to help me out by making sure I stayed safe while I tried to get to the bottom of things. And as I told him about everything in the file I’d brought with me, Ty had listened intently. He gave me the time to make sure I relayed every bit of information I had, never once interrupting.

But now that I’d finished, I realized I might have overlooked just how serious things had turned. Right around the time Ty gotahold of the note I’d found with Yasmine’s stack of information on the story, his whole demeanor had changed. He’d continued to listen to me, but he was clearly feeling a level of distraction.

We’d been sitting here in the conference room for the last minute and a half in complete silence. It was clear from the way I’d thumbed through all the paperwork that there was nothing left for me to speak about, so I could only assume the worst was happening.

Ty now had all the information I did on this case, and he must have been reconsidering his willingness to look after me while I did my job. He was still flipping that small square of paper over and over in his hands, and it was obvious from the look in his eyes that he had quite a few thoughts racing through his mind.

By the time we reached two minutes of silence, I couldn’t take it any longer. So, despite the unwelcome feeling of doom I sensed, I asked, “Is it too much?”

Ty blinked in a way that made me think that though his body was here, his mind had been elsewhere. The sound of my voice had brought him back to the present moment. Had I rambled on for so long that he got bored and stopped paying attention?

“Too much?”

I tried to suppress the feeling of mortification that moved through me and swept my hand out to everything splayed across the table. “This. Is it more than you were prepared to hear? Are you reconsidering your offer to be involved?”

“Quite the opposite, actually.”

Well, that was a relief. The embarrassment I felt melted away, but more questions plagued my mind. “I’d love to know what you’re thinking about all of this.”

He chuckled. “Sorry. It’s just…well, I’m just thinking how relieved I am that you decided to be smart about this by coming here yesterday and inquiring about having a bodyguard.”

“Really?”

Ty nodded, holding the small slip of paper up between us. “I’m a little more concerned about this situation than I was initially. I guess that’s led to me having some questions.”

Okay. This I could work with. “Sure. What questions did you have?” I asked as I gathered the overturned papers. “Is there something I went over that you want to review again?”

“No. The main concern I have is with regard to the scope of the services you are looking for from me.”

My brows drew together. “Um, I’m not sure I understand.”

“When do you want me, Alana?”

His deep voice and handsome face mixed with that look in his eyes threw me for a moment.When did I want him?“What?”

He continued to flip that piece of paper around, doing it effortlessly with his fingers on one hand. “You came in here yesterday and said you wanted a bodyguard. The concern I have passed through my mind at that time, but now that you’ve shared all of this, especially this note, I’m curious what you were hoping for when it came to my involvement in all of this.”

Right. Ty was focused on the task at hand, and I was slightly distracted by how breathtaking he was.

He wanted a concrete idea as to how often I was going to need him with me. “Well, this is all assuming that you have the availability, but since I don’t have to start working at the news station until sometime next week at the earliest, I was hoping to take advantage of the time I had now to work on this. Once I’m back to work, I’ll have to shift most of my time that I dedicate to this story to the evenings, unless there’s an assignment that I’m given at the station that requires me to work later in the day.”

Ty gave me a nod of acknowledgment in return. “So, would I be correct to assume you’re only wanting me with you when you’re working on the case?”

“Is that not reasonable? I’ve never done this before, but I would imagine that makes the most sense, doesn’t it?”

His eyes slid to the note, his flipping of it paused so he could read the words on it. “I’m not sure reasonable is the word we should be using.”

I got the distinct feeling there was something I was missing in this whole situation. Unfortunately, despite his efforts to get me to see whatever it was, I remained ignorant. “Ty, I can’t help but feel like there’s something you’re concerned about here that I’m just not seeing.”

“I’ve been doing this bodyguard gig for a while now, and it’s safe to say I’ve learned quite a few things in all this time,” he began. “My question to you is if you are only looking to have me with you when you are working on this story.”

“That was my hope,” I shared.

He held that piece of paper up between us, so I couldn’t avoid looking at it. “And where was Yasmine attacked again? What had you been doing when someone approached you?”

The confusion I’d been feeling suddenly vanished. My lips parted as the reality of the situation hit me. “You think I’m going to be in danger all the time, not just when I’m working on reporting on this.”

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