Page 11 of Guarding the Singer

Oh boy.

William lifted his hand in a mirror of her own gesture and bumped knuckles with Cali.

"Not bad." She gave him a wink. "Now," she tilted her head further into the room, "come on in and be dazzled!"

William could almost hear some kind of fanfare as Selene turned to look at him.

He had a feeling that Cali was making the noise, but he couldn't really hear it. What he could make out was the rush of blood in his ears.

Cali's warning hadn't done much to prepare him for the vision in front of him, but it kept his jaw in place.

"You look..."

He stood there, trying to push a word out of his mouth.

And there it was... nowhere. Nothing.

He knew the basics of women's clothing. Long. Short. Tight. Loose. He'd never really thought about the actual names for fabrics or styles, but everything else he'd ever seen on a woman. The dress that Selene wore was...

"Wow."

Cali sighed out loud. "Basic vocabulary, but he's so pretty. Who cares! Right?"

William was fine with quiet. Talking would distract him. And while they were still safely in the White House and guarded by a whole slew of other Marines and Secret Service, he could take a few moments to drink in the sight of Selene.

She looked like-

She was so beautiful that she-

Maybe Cali was right that he wasn't all that smart or easy with pretty words, but standing there in front of Selene looking at the navy-blue skirt and coat that she was wearing, it was enough just to soak in the sight of her.

Selene spoke, and the rest of the room faded away for him. "It's the most amazing wool. I'll be warm and toasty out there on the platform. You won't have to worry about me grabbing onto your hand or arm for heat."

Not a selling point in his mind.

He would have no problem providing her warmth as well as his protection.

She certainly would make an impression on the world.

"I think," he surprised himself by speaking to her, "I think you're going to open a lot of eyes today."

Her eyes widened and her instinctual smile dimmed a little. "In a good way, I hope."

"Absolutely." Goodness knows he'd certainly had his eyes opened by the sight in front of him. "What isit my sister says..." He narrowed his eyes and searched for the words. "She told me that you've got so much talent and someday the world was going to see that you can sing anything and be amazing doing it."

He saw Selene's eyes mist over and he reached into his pocket for his handkerchief and walked forward to hand it to her.

She took it in her bare hands and carefully lifted it to her eyes to blot away the tears.

He heard a soft whistle. "We should hire his sister to do our PR." Cali's voice didn't sound mocking. She actually sounded impressed.

"My sister," he could have turned to talk to Cali, but he kept his gaze on Selene, "I'm not kidding when I say she's your biggest fan. She even talked her teacher into letting her write her poetry analysis paper on your first album."

"Talking him into it?" Selene smiled at him, her hands lowering the handkerchief down.

"Well, I think my mom described it as a debate and my father... he called it browbeating."

Selene shook with laughter. "I wonder if she'd let me read her paper."

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