Page 17 of Passenger Princess

I stop walking all together and look at him, and he keeps walking until he realizes I’m not following. He turns to me, and there’s five feet between us as I stand with my hands on my hips. His are crossed over his chest, and for a moment, I wonder what we must look like. It has to be a fun sight—a woman in pink wearing a giant tiara glaring at a burly bodyguard wearing all black.

“Jaime, it was a twelve-year-old girl in a cast and her father. In broad daylight. With the governor a couple yards away. I think I was pretty safe.”

“Thinking you’re safe is how people get killed, Ava.”

“God, you’re so dramatic,” I say with an eye roll and start walking. “You said it yourself, this is a glorified babysitting job, right? So there’s no real danger."

He sighs audibly. “I need you to make my job easy, Ava. Approved people only; if you want to stop, you need to let me know, and I'll decide if it's allowed. That’s how we’re both going to get out of this without any major issues.”

“Yeah, I’m not doing that,” I say, flipping my hair over my shoulder to ignore how annoyed I’m getting.

“They could have hurt you.”

I give him a look of irritated disbelief. “You’re joking, right?”

“I don’t joke about safety.”

I stare at him, mouth open, before laughing.

“I don’t see what’s so funny,” he says

“Uh, the fact that you saw a twelve-year-old girl and her dad as some kind of crazy security threat?”

“You don’t know the shit I’ve seen, the way people will fake shit just to get close to someone. Not everything in this world is sunshine and rainbows, Ava. Dangerous people are out there.”

“I’m not an idiot. I know I look all cute and pink and silly, but I do have two brain cells to rub together. I know there’s danger, and believe it or not, I’ve survived twenty-six years without any major issues. I know you’re used to following around mega rockstars, but I’m just a girl who won a contest. Put the crazy away for a bit, use your common sense, and we’ll have a grand time this trip, okay?”

“Ava—”

“No. I’m excited for this trip. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime for me. I won’t let some crazy, overzealous bodyguard ruin that.” I take a deep breath, refusing to let this grumpy fucking man ruin my excitement.

“I know you’re some kind of stoic asshole, and I know you’ve been all over the world, but I haven’t. I’m going to say hello to people. I’m going to hug little girls who tell me they’re inspired by me to start dancing or try their hand at a pageant. Get used to it. Figure out how to work with it—to work with me—because I won’t change who I am just because you have some chaotic idea of what is safe and what’s not. I’ll take common-sense steps to make sure I’m not making your job more difficult, but I need you to do the same.” I stare at him, waiting for a response, but his face remains hard and unmoving.

I raise an eyebrow, crossing my arms on my chest. I’m not the kind of girl who backs down. In fact, I’m the kindof girl who fights just for the fuck of it. The kind who will hold onto a grudge just for shits and giggles. Fuck, I won the entire pageant just because Anne was a bitch.

He must see my determination, because eventually he closes his eyes and sighs. “I’m sorry,” he says, his voice low, almost too low to hear.

I force myself not to smile. “What was that?” His jaw goes tighter, and I lose the battle of the smile.

“I’m sorry.”

I put a hand to my chest and gasp as if he’s shocking me. “The big macho Jaime Wilde apologizing? On day one? Did I break you this early?”

“I’m sorry. I’m being a dick. You don’t deserve that. You’re right; a twelve-year-old girl isn’t a threat, and you’re here to do a job, just like me. We can set up realistic rules that we both agree to. Just…give me some slack because I’m not used to this.”

“This?”

“All of this,” he says, waving his hands at me. “The sass. The stubbornness.”

I stare at him for long moments, trying to decode the sincerity of his words to better understand what he’s saying and what he means, before I decide it doesn’t matter. He’s making the effort, and I should, too, if only to make this tour easier for both of us.

“Okay, okay. Look, let’s make a deal. I’ll do my best not to give you too many heart attacks by going off plan with your crazy, neurotic schedules, and you’ll give me some slack when it comes to being, well, me. Deal?”

He stares at me the same way I stared at him moments before, assessing me behind those dark glasses before, finally, he nods. “Deal.”

A wide smile paints my lips, though it’s not a fake pageant smile; it’s my real one. “Okay, now, big guy, let’s catch up with everyone and eat. I’m starving.” I loop my arm in his and start to walk towards the group, and begrudgingly, he follows. When he tries to disengagehimself, I hold on tighter. “Nope. You’re stuck with me,” I say with a wide smile. “You wanted to be glued to my side; now you are. Fish fish, you got your wish.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” he grumbles. Still, I don’t miss how he doesn’t continue to fight my hold, instead giving in and shifting to make the grip more comfortable for both of us.

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