Page 7 of Close Protection

‘Good morning, Miss Green.’ She smiles back, her eyes darting between me and Daphne. ‘I’m just setting up this guest room for our visitor per your father’s request. I’m almost finished. I just need to get some towels and remake the bed, then you can show him.’

‘Oh.’ The shock in Daphne’s voice is prevalent but she quickly recovers. ‘Okay, thank you, Charlotte, that’s great.’ She turns to me. ‘I’ll show you my bedroom first, while she finishes up. Then you can go and unpack your things.’

She opens a door to reveal a large, clean, feminine room, with cream-coloured walls, light furniture and large windows looking out to the driveway at the front of the house. Her bed is pristinely made, with too many pink-and-cream decorative pillows to count and a bedside table on either side. A bouquet of white roses stands on one and the other houses a few books and an alarm clock. In front of the windows is a small cream sofa with even more pillows.

Who needs that many pillows?

What would you even do with them?

‘The dressing room is through here,’ Daphne says as she opens another door and crosses the threshold. I walk behind her into a slightly smaller room, neatly packed with a ridiculousamount of clothes, shoes and bags. The vanity along one wall is painstakingly organized, with an expensive-looking perfume collection meticulously displayed on a tiered stand to one side and an elegant cushioned jewellery box on the other. We move into her bathroom which connects to both her bedroom and her dressing room. It’s the largest en suite I think I’ve ever seen and it has the same light pink theme as the other two rooms – classy, sophisticated and clean.

She’s wearing pink pyjamas, she has loads of pink clothes in her dressing room and there are pink decorative accents everywhere.

She likes pink. Got it.

‘How do your windows open?’ I ask as we walk back into the bedroom.

‘Um, by the latch at the bottom. You just have to twist and push.’ She goes to sit on the end of her bed while I check the sturdiness of the glass and latches.

‘Do any of these doors have locks?’

‘Yes, the bathroom locks from the inside and the door to my room has a key, but the dressing room doesn’t have a lock apart from the door to enter the bathroom.’

‘I’m gonna need a copy of the keys to your main bedroom door,’ I say as I turn back around to face her. I watch her as she gently pulls out the bedside table drawer furthest from me, her hair momentarily falling into her face beforeshe delicately sweeps it back behind her ear.

‘Here you go,’ Daphne says, placing the brass key into my palm. A small shock passes between our hands as her fingers brush mine, which she clearly feels too, as she draws back swiftly.

She looks away, slightly flustered. ‘It’s the carpets.’

‘Excuse me?’ I ask.

‘The electric shock. They’re caused by the static in the carpets.’

‘Hmm.’ I nod, as I slip the key in one of my pockets. My eyes scan down her face, onto her neck, stopping at her collarbones, where I can see the rise and fall of her shallow breaths. I look back up at her only to find her eyes on my mouth. My tongue darts out to wet my bottom lip and she looks up, meeting my eyes. She’s parts her lips, about to say something before we hear a gentle knock on the door. We both turn to look as mouse-girl Charlotte leans her head around the door.

Her eyes glance between me and Daphne again, before offering a shy smile. ‘The guest room’s all ready, Miss Green.’

Great. Thank you, Charlotte. Daphne smiles. Charlotte nods once before closing the door, which leaves just me and Daphne again. I watch her as she slips on a pair of slippers that are at the foot of her bed before looking back to me. ‘Let me show you to your room, Mr Petrov.’

‘Milosh,’ I correct.

When we cross the hallway to the guestroom, Daphne twists the door handle, using her weight to push it open. When it doesn’t budge, I walk up behind her, placing my hand on the wood just above her head, and give it a shove to help her out. The door swings open, but for a moment we remain in the threshold, frozen. This close, I can smell her sweet, innately feminine scent. She smells like a mixture of orange blossom and marshmallows.

Great.

So not only does she look like a princess and talk like a princess, she even smells like one.

Recovering from my very obvious brain malfunction I clear my throat to refocus and walk past her into the room.

Placing my duffel on the plush footstool in front of the bed, I do a quick survey of where I’ll be staying for the foreseeable future. This room’s a lot more neutral than Daphne’s, with cream walls, brown and beige furniture and deep wooden accents. There are a few pieces of art hung on the walls, and the heavy floor-to-ceiling curtains are pulled back to reveal large windows looking out onto the Greens’ huge backyard. The bed features crisp white linens and a copious number of neutral-coloured pillows. Not as many as Daphne has, but still more than necessary.

‘The en suite is through here.’ Daphne motions, walkinggracefully into the bathroom. ‘Extra towels are in the wardrobe. They’re replaced every second day. Just leave them on the hook here and Charlotte will collect them.’

I nod as I take in the bathroom. It’s smaller than Daphne’s but bigger than anything I’ve ever had. Both this room and the bedroom have the same vibe as the rest of the house. Classic and elegant mixed with small modern touches. The whole house screams money without trying too hard, including the people living within it.

The thing is, I’ve seen money before. The congressmen I protected were wealthy, but they were nowhere near Green wealth. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of those ridiculous throw pillows cost more than my outfit.

Move on from the pillows, Milosh.

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