Page 28 of Bodied

In the elevator, Wesley put his arm around her and pulled her into him. The fact that he could just do that without resisting the urge had been something he was still getting used to. It still astonished him. To him, she felt like a walking dream come true.

He drove her to the restaurant, successfully resisting the urge to spoil the surprise the whole way there, especially every time she guessed it wrong. As soon as Lauren saw where they were going, she squealed and bounced in her seat. “Really?” She turned to him as he unbuckled his seatbelt.

“You can order me whatever you want me to try, and I promise to eat it.”

“Oooh, anything?” The mischievous glint in her eye made him second-guess his own plan. “Is there anything you’re allergic to?”

He shook his head. “Not that I know of.” Another way in which she was being unexpectedly thoughtful. It never ceased to impress him how often she thought of him without making it a whole thing.

Lauren ordered Wesley a number of new things to try. He found the sushi itself to be surprisingly pleasant. The rice was sweeter than normal, and the fish was tender and good. She only made him try the wasabi once because he was not a fan of it in the end. It was fine in the sushi, but on its own, it made his eyes water, which amused Lauren to no end. Right after tasting it, he slid over to her and kissed her, hoping the flavor transferred. “Now we’re even.”

“Shows what you know.” She said, laughing. “I love wasabi. It’s got the perfect amount of kick.” She kicked him lightly under the table, and he squeezed her thigh before moving back over to his place.

They had so much fun over dinner that the time flew by. Before they were ready to leave, an alarm on Wesley’s phone went off. It meant they had to leave soon or they’d be late for the charity ball. And at the charity ball, they would have to go back to being a princess and her bodyguard. Wesley hated it. He wanted to walk with his arm around her waist, lean over and kiss her when she impressed him, which was way too often for any kind of subtlety.

This time, Lauren let him pay the tab, and he was glad. Usually, she insisted, but he told her he wanted to treat her. He’d been working extra hours and had a little extra cash, which was partly because of Lauren, so he may as well spend it on her. That was the excuse he gave her anyway. Really, he just wanted to give her some kind of gift. It was an instinct, and he was so happy he’d been able to show her a good time before they wound up at her mother’s event. He wished he could have shown her a good time in a number of other ways, but he told himself he could wait until after the ball to help her test how well her dress held together during more… athletic activities.

She teased him in the car on the way to the ball, running her hand up and down his thigh every time they came to a stoplight. She was laughing and happy. He’d never seen her this happy on the way to one of her mother’s events, and he was proud at the thought that the reason she was smiling was probably him. He really had given her the perfect date.

She was still loosened up from the afternoon’s bottle of sake, and she was relaxed and smiling as they made their way inside. As soon as they entered the space, Lauren pressed a hand to his upper arm, and they parted ways. Wesley stayed close but several steps behind her as he mingled with her mother’s people. Now that he knew who she really was, her act was even more apparent. She buried herself and became someone completely different. Her mask was so lifelike, though, that everyone around her just accepted it as the real her.

For Wesley, seeing her hide herself this way was depressing. He wished he could take a stand, talk to her mother and fix everything for her. But he knew better. So he just did his job, keeping to the borders of the party, keeping his eyes on Lauren at all times. That part wasn’t difficult; she looked gorgeous tonight, and he didn’t want to look at anything else, despite how fancy and beautiful their surroundings were.

After a while, Lauren found him and brought him some hors d'oeuvres.

“I don’t think I should be eating,” he said.

She dismissed him with a wave of her hand. “Don’t be silly. No one cares.” He took a bite, and she handed him her glass of wine.

“I know for a fact I shouldn’t be drinking,” he said.

“You’re just holding my glass for me, obviously.” She grinned up at him. “But, you know, if you wanted to protect me from having too much of it, you could finish it yourself. That’s your job, right? Protecting me?”

He laughed under his breath. “Not from yourself. And not from your wine.”

“Boooo!” She pointed to the glass. “I wanted to share.”

He handed her wine back to her, making sure to stroke her hand with his thumb as he did. Then he leaned in close and whispered into her ear. “Later, princess. You can share everything with me later.”

Her cheeks turned pink and she bit her lower lip. “Okay, then. I’ll take you up on that.”

“Let it be your happy thought for the rest of the night,” he said.

She left him again and went back to socializing with the right people. Wesley wished he could have been right at her side, supporting her. He had a new understanding of what she went through every time she attended one of these events, and he wanted to make it softer for her, to cushion her from the stress of it. He wished it even more when he saw her disappear into a back room with her mother.

There was no chance this was a good development. Wesley wove through the crowd to get to the door she’d gone through. Rather than enter, he waited outside, but he couldn’t help overhearing the argument that ensued.

The first words he heard came from Anne. “Yes, I already knew. Did you think I was blind? You’re so obvious, Lauren. You always have been.”

Then Lauren spoke back. “You’d think that would be a good thing. Why can’t you just be happy for me, Mom? I can’t do anything right with you, can I? First, you’re upset that I’m not fine with the security you assigned to me. Then you’re upset that I’m too fine with him.”

“Too fine.” Her mother scoffed. “You’re sleeping with him. All that will do is distract him from his job. I can’t have your security detail being compromised like that. This is serious, Lauren.”

“He cares more about me now than he ever did before. Isn’t that a good thing? Won’t that just motivate him to protect me more?”

“That’s not how these things work. Emotional involvement is to be avoided at all costs.”

Lauren’s voice got louder. “Sounds familiar,” she snapped. “No emotional involvement, not even from you. You’ll never care about anything in my life unless it affects you and your stupid political career.” Before Wesley was quite ready for it, Lauren had stormed out of the room. He followed right behind her as she made a beeline for the exit.

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