Page 27 of Bodied

“It was hard not to,” he said, leaning on one elbow. “I didn’t sleep much. I’m not used to sharing a couch with anyone.” He winked.

She glanced around and realized he was dressed and she wasn’t, so she wrapped the blanket around herself, tucking it under her arms like a bath towel. “Well, thank you for this, anyway. Are you staying for breakfast?”

“Oh.” He stiffened suddenly and Lauren had to wonder why. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea. I mean, I had a lot of fun last night, but we’re still… Your mom is still my employer. I should get back to my post, shouldn’t I? It’s just… This could get really messy really fast. It was unprofessional.” When Lauren’s face fell, he quickly added. “I wouldn’t take it back.” He stepped in front of her and looked down into her eyes, his strong hands gripping her bare shoulders. “I would never take it back, princess. It just might complicate things with my job is all.”

Lauren chewed her lip as she considered what to do. He wasn’t wrong. Her mom would have a fit if she knew that their fake dating wasn’t so fake anymore. Surely, if anything was bad for the “family brand,” it would be this. Lauren could already see the inevitable tabloid headlines:Senator’s Daughter Works Her Way Through Security Detail, One Hunk at a Time.It would devastate her mom’s career. On the one hand, some vindictive part of her thought to give her mom a taste of her own medicine. On the other hand, she still wasn’t ready to burn that bridge. The guilt she carried from the first time she ruined everything was still too heavy.

She tried to reassure him. “What Anne Bartlett doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”

Wesley shook his head with a crooked smile. “You don’t really think that, do you?”

“Why not?” Lauren shrugged. “You won’t be my security forever, so we’ll just officially get together after the job is done. That is…” She paused and fidgeted, realizing she was probably moving too fast for a guy like Wesley. “That is if you still wanted to date me. Obviously, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. And you don’t have to decide now either. There’s plenty of time to figure things out. It’s just, why bother telling her? It’s not really any of her business. And as long as no one knows about it, no one can be hurt by it.”

“Except us,” Wesley said under his breath. He’d begun stroking locks of her short hair, combing his fingers through it.

“Listen.” She pulled his hands down and held them in both of hers. “I won’t let this affect your career at all. My mom might be a little suspicious if we hook up too soon after the job, but I’ll just tell her how hot you are and she’ll understand.” She was joking, trying to get a smile out of him, but by the look on his face, this was far from a joking matter to him.

He left her to sit on the couch, and he held his face in his hands while he thought things through. Eventually, he seemed to come to a conclusion. “Let’s make a pact. We both agree that, no matter what happens between us, neither one of us uses the other’s position against them. And neither one of us will try to sabotage the other’s relationship with… well, with your mother, I guess.”

Lauren nodded. “What’s between us stays between us.” She hadn’t even worried that Wesley might try to ruin her relationship with her mom. It just didn’t seem like something he would do. Anyway, the person who was an expert at ruining Lauren’s relationship with her mom had always been Lauren herself. Wesley wasn’t going to do anything to her that she hadn’t already done to herself.

But she could see why he might worry for himself. His boss was her mom’s client. There was a power imbalance here, and no matter how powerless Lauren felt in her own life, she did have a certain amount of perceived power over him. Who would stop her from telling her mom that he had done a terrible job and heavily suggesting that her mom should talk to his boss about it? His concerns were perfectly valid.

She sat beside him and took one of his hands so he could look her in the eyes and know she meant every word she said. “I swear, even if we have a massive falling-out, I will not turn my mom against you. I’d never do that, Wesley. Please, know that. We’ll try this thing out and hope it works, but if it doesn’t we’ll both be adults about it. And I know you’re in a more uncertain position with this than I am. I won’t take advantage of that. I swear.”

He squeezed her hand and smiled down at her. “I believe you. Thank you.” Then his eyes sparkled in a way that made Lauren shift backward a bit. He shot forward and kissed her hard. In seconds, one of his hands was at the back of her neck, while the other slipped under the blanket she wore. Her heart immediately started racing. Something about the way he took hold of her — every time he took hold of her — made her whole body melt.

When she was as good as putty in his hands, he finally let her go. She pulled the blanket back up around her and stood. “I’ll put a breakfast together for you so you can go to your post with food in your stomach, at least.”

“You’re so thoughtful.” He grinned at her. “It’s one of the things I misjudged about you.”

She cocked her head at him. “You thought I’d be thoughtless?”

He shrugged. “I thought you were a princess — a beautiful but ultimately spoiled princess. But I’ve never seen you act selfishly.”

“Maybe that’s just how I am around you,” she said. “Maybe I’m a spoiled princess to everyone else.”

“I sincerely doubt that. But I guess I’ll have a lot of time to learn more about you.” He leaned over and kissed her again. “I look forward to every second I get to spend with you.”

CHAPTER13

WESLEY

It was the night of the charity ball, and it would be the first time Wesley and Lauren had seen her mother since they started dating a couple weeks ago. Wesley was beyond nervous for the event. For some reason, he couldn’t play the night out in his mind without it ending in disaster. He adjusted his suit coat in the mirrored walls of the elevator on his way to pick Lauren up for the evening. Tonight, he wore his uniform suit rather than the one Lauren had chosen for him to wear to events in which they were meant to be a couple.

Not wanting the entire evening to be about hiding their relationship, Wesley he had planned a date for just before the ball. That way they could get all their public displays of affection out of their systems before they had to face Lauren’s mother. He’d chosen an out-of-the-way sushi restaurant, knowing Lauren would enjoy watching him try it for the first time. They’d already debated its merits when Lauren told him it was her favorite food. She’d been shocked when she found out he’d never tried it. So, she’d basically handed him the best idea for a date ever.

When he knocked on her door, she answered right away, which was unusual. Typically, she’d be scrambling around, looking for her shoes or taming her unruly hair. But the way she answered the door, he imagined she’d been ready for hours and was just sitting and waiting.

Her gown was gorgeous. He almost worried about taking her out for dinner in it because it looked like it was worth a fortune. Lacy patterns of sequins accentuated her curves perfectly. Sheer ruffles drew attention to her neckline and wrists. The whole thing was in shades of green, so she truly looked like a pixie, grown to size and in the flesh. Her short hair curled up at the ends, giving her a wild, adventurous look.

Seeing her now, he could hardly believe she was his.

“Are you ready to go?” he asked.

“More than ready,” she said. “I can’t wait to get out of this place.” She joined him in the hall and locked her front door. “So, where are you taking me this afternoon? You never told me.”

“That’s because it’s a surprise.”

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