Page 97 of Trust My Bodyguard

“The topic of Ivy.”

“Oh, we’re still on that?” I dust off my boots. “She’ll probably have breakfast and work on whatever she works on while I’m gone. I’m sure she’ll be alright.”

He chuckles and looks up at the ski lift overhead.

“What’s funny?”

“You,” he says without missing a beat. “I remember I was young once with feelings too.”

“You know you talk in circles sometimes, right?”

“And you look right ahead without turning to smell the flowers. Sometimes, that’s where you need to be.”

“Around flowers?”

Cliff eyes me, clearly exasperated. “When are you going to tell her?”

I can’t even pretend not to know who he’s talking about. What, though, I’m not sure. “Tell her what?”

“To stay.”

I scoff a laugh. “Cliff, that’s crazy. She’s... she’s a city girl. Compare Denver to Pine Peaks. What’s the allure?”

But I’d seen the allure last night when her eyes lit up as she looked at the mountains. As she looked into my eyes.

“It’s not for our world-class city, Brody.” His voice is steady and quiet. “For you.”

“She doesn’t like me enough to even spend a full day in my presence. Imagine asking her to stay for me. That’d be crazy.”

Cliff’s face betrays no emotion. He says nothing as I try to convince myself Ivy doesn’t care about me.

Last night told me differently. One look in her eyes showed everything that lay beneath the surface. And it reflected the feelings I’d developed for her.

Still, our lives are going in separate directions. She has her job and her sister to look after. I have my company and my friends. I can’t let them down, and I can’t ask her to leave her obligations for me, either.

“You can’t decide for her, Brody. That’s not giving her the respect she deserves.”

“Yeah, I’ve learned that lesson.”

“So, will you speak to her?”

I glance at the lodge. Who knows where she is now? What she’s doing? There’s already so much on her plate. It’s my job to lighten her load, not weigh her down with more to think about.

“Not now. After things with her dad get sorted out.” I recall that she’s chosen to use herself as bait, and Cliff supports her. “After she makes it out alive.”

“She will.”

“You don’t know that.”

“You won’t let him hurt her.”

True. “I have my limits, Cliff. I’m a just a man. Running head long into danger doesn’t help either of us. If she gets hurt, if I’m unable to protect her, I won’t be able to forgive myself.”

“Because you care for her.”

“Of course I do.” The words leave before I can consider them. Then, I do. “So much.”

“Then trust she’ll be alright as you all do the best you can. Then afterward...”

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