Page 5 of Flirtatious

What part of that is supposed to make me want to take this job? First, her drug and alcohol binge landed her in rehab, and then she balked at getting a new bodyguard at all once she got out. At least now I know it had nothing to do specifically with me. Mia simply didn’t want to exchange an indulgent babysitter for an actual security professional intent on taking care of business.

But being the guy who has to deal with replacing the one who got her the room sounds like a thankless job. She’s probably way too close to him and is going to kick and scream if her people try to fire him.

On top of all of that, she sounds like a huge pain in the ass. I’ve got enough money that I don’t have to work. I choose to because sitting around day after day gets boring. Also, I want to make my own way in the world, even if I do have a nest egg to fall back on. If it means I have to dip into my money instead of going to work for the world’s biggest diva, I vote for raiding the piggy bank.

“I think I’ll pass. I’m not great with out-of-control children.”

“Liam, I really need you on this assignment,” Bradley says in a very different voice from just a minute ago. Now he sounds almost desperate.

My morning relaxation ruined, I stand from the chaise lounge and head back inside. “I wish I could, but this just doesn’t sound like the kind of job I want to take. I’m sorry, Mr. Bradley, but Mia’s just too much hassle. I hope you find someone. I do.”

“I understand. Thanks for hearing me out, Liam.”

As I stuff the phone back into my jeans pocket, I wonder if that’s the last time I’ll be hearing from VIP Security. If it is, so be it. Some hills you just have to die on.

* * *

Hidingout from having to spend any more time with Wilder, I try to find a spot down near the water where no one can see me. Since it’s one of the usual Jackson-March family get-togethers, that’s unlikely, but a guy can try.

I get approximately sixty seconds of alone time before Alex finds me. Slapping me on the back, he laughs as he hands me a beer. “Trying to be invisible, Liam? Who are you avoiding?”

When I shrug and roll my eyes, he answers for me. “Let me guess. That brother of yours. Dude, I heard your father talking at the restaurant the other day. Is he seriously living with you now? That sucks big time for you, I’m sure.”

As much as I don’t want to talk shit about Wilder, I need to vent to someone, and since Alex probably won’t go telling anyone but Cade, I don’t censor myself. “You have no fucking idea. The guy is ubiquitous. I swear there are clones of him in every room of my place. I know it’s not very brotherly of me, but I think I might end up chucking him off the balcony if he doesn’t find somewhere else to go and soon.”

Alex sits down on the sand and raises his bottle to tap it off the neck of mine. “To family. They drive you crazy, but what can you do?”

I take a gulp of beer and mumble, “Toss him off the fifth floor of my building.”

“You know, I thought I heard my father say something about him bringing someone with him today, but I didn’t see anyone new. Just the typical couples of Cade and Hailey and Cash and Savannah, along with our parents and Stefan and Shay. That leaves Grandma and the rest of us single guys in the family.”

Again, I roll my eyes. “The current love of his life probably figured out it’s time to run for the hills before it gets really serious. That’s why he says he needs to stay at my place for a little longer. ‘This is the one,’ he says, but he doesn’t want to give up all the others.”

With a hearty laugh, Alex shakes his head. “Then this one’s not the one.”

“That’s what I told him. He doesn’t listen. Then again, has he ever?” I ask, knowing the answer without my cousin giving his opinion.

From the porch, my mother calls out, “Liam! Alex! Come up and join us. Wilder was just talking about how much fun he’s having staying with you, honey.”

Nudging his elbow into my side, Alex jokes, “Yeah, honey. Let’s go talk to your mother about how much fun you’re having living with Wilder.”

As we reluctantly give up our hiding place, I say to Alex, “Fuckin A. I should have taken that job, except for the fact that it would have been exchanging one pain in the ass for another.”

“Which one is that? You still waiting for that girl to get her shit in gear? Isn’t she the one who’s been missing for forty-eight hours? Have they found her yet?” he asks with genuine concern in his voice.

I shake my head as what Jonah Bradley told me about that whole missing stunt she pulled this week. While we walk up the stairs to the back porch of my grandmother’s house, I explain, “Yeah, she’s fine. Well, she’s not harmed. The whole thing sounds like it was a publicity stunt to me.”

Turning to look at me, Alex seems surprised. “Oh, yeah? So she was never really missing?”

Before I can answer, my mother asks, “Who was missing?”

I really didn’t want to have this conversation today since I’m trying to forget Mia and her circus of madness. Waving away my mother’s question, I say, “No one. So what’s going on up here?”

Cassian and my father sit off to the side talking about something in hushed tones. That means they’re either trying to discuss business, which isn’t supposed to be allowed at these family events, or they’re planning something for Olivia or my mother. Shay and Stefan sit on the other side of the porch talking with my grandmother, leaving the middle of the porch to my mother and Olivia since Cash and Cade and their girlfriends seem to have disappeared, along with Wilder.

“Your father and your uncle are breaking the rules again, aren’t they?” my grandmother says loudly. “Cassian and Kane, if you aren’t planning some surprise party for one of your wives, you better get over here and join the rest of us. This is supposed to be a party. No talking about the restaurant allowed.”

As they look over with guilty expressions and reluctantly move their chairs to the middle of the porch, my mother presses me for a second time about the missing person I was talking to Alex about on our way up here. “So who was missing? Are they okay?”

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