Page 179 of If Our Hearts Collide

If she is going to invest in a toy, she better immerse herself in a little research—and get something that is waterproof and with a decent motor.

“Don’t you dare do that.”

My eyes move to hers. “What?” I genuinely want to know.

“That smirk thing you do. We are having a fight, so play fair.”

I can’t help but shake my head at her. She is something. “This isn’t a fight, Penny.”

Propping her hands on her hips, she straightens her posture. “Oh no? Then what is it?”

“A discussion,” I say simply.

“Then let’s discuss how you are violating all sorts of boundaries.”

“And let’s discuss how you are not going to make any more lists, Penelope. No more silly games. No more?—”

She rounds the bed and shoves me against my chest, catching me off guard. “You may be my bodyguard, but you sure as hell aren’t my boss! I will fuck whomever I want and kiss the face off any man I?—”

My hand tugs hers until her core is pressed up against mine. Warm breath expels from her lungs and hits against my neck.

Jealousy floods through me, making me livid and irrational. I’m tired of her bragging about her future conquests before they even happen. She did it at the Japanese Gardens and she’s doing it again now. Those imaginative scenarios she concocted in her head won’t happen anyway—at least not while I’m standing there watching.

Hell, no.

“Maybe I haven’t made myself clear,” I growl. “The games stop tonight. I’m done listening to you challenge me with all the reckless behavior you can dream up. I’m done, Penny.”

Her eyes twitch and her lips part. I can tell she wants to say something, but like I’ve felt many times before, she doesn’t know how to communicate her thoughts. There’s no need really. I’m not open to negotiations—at least not on this subject.

“You don’t even like me, so why are you so invested? Seems a bit extreme if you ask me. Are you bored? I imagine my brothers don’t consider me in danger right now, so why all of the obsessive attention?”

Penny has some valid questions, I’ll give her that. Sure, guarding her is different than when I was watching Angie and Claire. Penny’s right; there’s no immediate danger and my job should simply be maintenance really. However, there’s something deep inside me that can’t see her self-destruct and sit back and watch.

I know Penny is trying to be independent. However, sometimes that drive to break free from those who care could put her in a position to be taken advantage of.

This past year has been hell on her and her entire family. I can’t allow her to fall into the trap of believing in the wrong people and potentially end up in an equally tragic situation.

She may have trust issues. But so do I.

“I wouldn’t have to interfere as much as I do, if you would stop putting yourself in harm’s way.”

Her hands toss up into the air. “Oh, yeah, the highly guarded, members-only club was verydangerous.” Her fingers make air quotes around the last word, wiggling them above her head.

“Stop mocking me.” My voice goes an octave deeper, as I try to deal with her constant sass.

“Fine.”

The Penny I encountered a year ago is vastly different from the one I am seeing in front of me today. Maybe she hasn’t changed at all. Maybe she is just starting to shift back into the person she always was.

“You don’t belong in a place like Limit-X, Pen.”

“Oh, and you do?” She lets out a huff, turning her shoulder to me.

“Girls like”—I pause, not knowing how to complete the sentence without adding more kindling to the fire already blazing inside of her—“you, Penny, shouldn’t be prowling the floors of a place like that. Trouble will find you. Trust me. Membership or not, the innocent girls always seem to get swallowed whole by the snakes.”

I watch in silence as her body whips back around, while stomping predatorily toward me. I can see the heat in her eyes, the way her chest rises with each breath, and how her jaw tics.

She is radiant.

---