Page 19 of Guarding the Singer

Selene, completely free of any kind of artifice, leaned in cheek to cheek with the two for a selfie.

As they stood up and offered her their profuse thanks and assured her that they'd tag her in the selfie online, William reached out his hand after checking to make sure that the security guards and federal agents had everything under control. "Here. Let me take a photo of you three."

The boy handed over his phone to William, his eyes shining as bright as his friend's. "Thanks, man."

William smiled and took a series of photos of the trio before he gave the phone back.

Selene moved in, slipping her arm through his again. "Please tag me on that, too."

The two teens were almost melting with joy as they stepped outside.

William placed his cover on his head, and they stepped out into the night.

The first touch of the outside air had him smiling ever more than he had been.

And Selene? She sighed and turned to look at him. "So much better."

He agreed.

"Where to?"

He shrugged. "What haven't you seen in DC?"

"Everything."

He chuckled softly as he led her down the sidewalk. "Well, I can't show you everything, but there's a bunch of places we can see between here and the White House."

He was still amazed that she was staying the night there in the Lincoln Bedroom. And he was there, guarding her.

"Lead on, Master Sergeant."

She put a very official tone in her voice, but her smile?

It had powers over him that he'd never considered.

And he found that he didn't have a problem with it.

Not at all.

Selene felt like she was floating, and it had nothing to do with the insoles in her sneakers. Although those were helping. Outside of the times she was expected to show up looking like a fashion plate, she loved to be… “comfortable.”

Hearing William’s laughter, she looked up at him.

“What?” A strange feeling came over her and she looked at him, wide-eyed. “Did I say that out loud?’

“I was hoping you were saying how comfortable you felt with me.”

She blushed.

“That is true, but I was talking about how it felt great to wear sneakers instead of heels.”

“You should wear them more often. Start a trend.”

They stopped just outside the US Botanical Garden, and she looked at the fountain. “What time is it?”

She saw the momentary hesitation on his face, but a second beyond that he looked at the watch on his wrist. “Just a few minutes until midnight.”

Selene stared at him, wondering where the timehad gone. “I guess we should head back to the White House.” She said the words but didn’t really feel it. “You weren’t planning on working this late.”

---