Page 43 of Guarding the Singer

And it all made her breathless.

"You okay?"

She looked up at him, smiling from ear to ear. "Yeah," she nodded. "I'm more than okay."

He held her hand and turned, gently laying her hand on his forearm. "Good."

She laughed softly and then a question popped up into her head. "Do you need to get your bags?"

"Selene!" "Over here!"

Flashes.

They flashed around her, echoes of light reflecting off of the car's dark mirror-like surface.

More voices and the soft, but distinct sound of cameras snapping.

"Who's the guy?" "Are you dating someone?" "Come on! Give us a smile!"

"Here we go."

William's voice was steady, and he moved closer, taking the arm between them and lifting it to wrap it around her back.

"I've got you."

She concentrated on taking her keys out. Dropping them with an audience wasn't something she wanted to do. By the time they'd made it up the stairs to the door on the main level, she had her keys out and ready. A quick twist and they were in.

Selene didn't really breathe again until the front door was closed and locked behind them.

She turned around and looked at William, wondering aloud. "Badger?"

"He'll come around a little later with my bags and some equipment that we can set up here."

"You think he'll be okay in the servant's quarters downstairs?"

She winced at the thought. Badger wasn't a server. He was helping to protect her.

"He'll be fine." He smiled at her, moving closer until his hands were on her upper arms, rubbing gently up and down. "We'll be fine."

She nodded, letting herself soak up his nearness.

And then she realized she'd forgotten to talk to him about one more thing while they'd been discussing her security measures.

"What is it?" His voice was deeper and softer, but she could still hear every nuance of his voice. "What's wrong?"

Selene swallowed and felt heat rise through her body. "I only have one bedroom."

PART V

In the end, the bedroom issue was something they decided not to decide.

Exhausted by the revelations of the day, Selene had gone up to shower and sleep while William had gone through the brownstone to check on the current security system.

It was good. Better than he'd expected.

He didn't wait for Badger to come back from parking the car in a nearby rented spot, he went through the house on his own.

Cypher had already looked up the specifics of the security system and approved of it.

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