Page 27 of Hiding out with a Royal Billionaire

His gaze shifted to hers. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing there.”

“Oh yeah?”

He nodded, once, subtly, but his mouth twitched, and Skye bit back a laugh. So, Brooks on duty was still Brooks. That was good to know.

9

When they finally pulled into the driveway, the gate shut behind them, and they entered the underground garage, Brooks breathed out a sigh of relief. Then he turned to Skye. “Let the vacation begin.”

She laughed. “Let’s go explore this vacation house of yours. So far, I’m feeling it lacks a certain view.”

They looked around at the cavernous warehouse for a garage. “What? You don’t like looking at our vehicles. The guys love the garage.”

“I’ll be satisfied if this is the plan for our view, but some sunshine wouldn’t hurt me either.”

He placed a hand on her lower back. “Let’s go upstairs. You can tell me what you think, your highness.”

“Oh, throwing out the ‘your highness’ now, are we, prince?”

“Only when I feel it’s necessary.”

She laughed and followed him to the elevator. It was glass, which she found interesting, and unnecessary until they rose from the underground floors to the upper levels and it opened up in the bright sunlight. All she saw were windows, and the deep blue of the ocean down below. “Wow! Now that’s a view.”

“I thought you might approve.”

“That’s incredible. Can it be safe? All windows?”

The elevator doors opened. “Come see.”

As they approached, she clutched her stomach. “Are we on the cliff?”

“The very face. The only way to get here is through the back entrance which we entered.”

“And we won’t like, fall off?”

He laughed. “Are you still afraid of heights? I thought you grew out of that.”

“I am, well, I was. But this is just gonna take me a minute to get used to.” She approached the glass slowly, her legs tingling in their bones at the sheer drop. But she forced herself to look all the way down to the water below. And then out to the sea in front of her. She turned to the right and left but saw nothing of the mountain. “Where’s the lighthouse?”

“It’s behind us, around the bend.”

She tried to orient herself. “It’s just so unexpected.”

“And just in case, the threat does come from in front of us, that glass is bullet proof.”

Her eyes widened. “Like if they fly up here in a helicopter?”

“Yes, even then. But we’ll be aware long before a helicopter gets here and be down in the hangar. Bomb proof, earthquake proof. Nuclear fall out proof. Food down there for at least a year, and water.”

“Wow, you guys are impressive.”

“We have important work going on, and you aren’t the first person we’ve needed to protect for awhile.”

Something about the way he said that didn’t sit well with Skye. Did she want to be the only person he ever protected? No, but suddenly she felt more like a job than a person to him. And that’s what rubbed wrong. She shook it off, determined to be an adult.

* * *

Brooks was just sohappy that Skye was in the safe house, that he could be there with her for a few days, and that people were working on figuring out the cross situation.

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