Page 25 of Passenger Princess

“Hi, Greg, is it? Yes, my name is Ava Bordeaux, Jaime’s new assignment, we met briefly. No, no, he’s totally fine; he’s standing right in front of me.” She looks down at her feet, blonde hair sliding down to cascade around her face. “So we’re on our way to our event for the day, but we had a bit of an argument in Jersey that I want some clarification on.” A deep, throaty laugh leaves her chest, and her head tips back with it.

Greg, asshole Greg, is making Ava laugh like that?

“No, he’s a total gentleman, no need to worry. It’s just that when we were all sitting to eat, he refused to sit at the table with us, saying he needed to lurk in the corners to watch us.”

“I did not say that exactly,” I say loudly, hoping Greg can hear me.

Her smile widens. “Yes, that was him. But personally, I think it’s kind of weird to be enjoying myself and have him just being a bored rando in the corner, you know? So I politely requested—” I scoff, and she rolls her eyes at me. “He sit with me or partake in whatever event is going on. Otherwise, it feels weird and very diva-like, which I totally am not, you know?”

I raise an eyebrow at her, but then she laughs out loud, and once again, I wonder what the fuck Greg said to make her look like that.

“No, exactly! He’s so hard-headed. He told me if heate pizzawith us, it would be unprofessional, and that was why he had to hide in the corner. I told him he was being ridiculous.” She listens with a smile, eyes locked on me, and I think, somehow, she’s won over Greg in three seconds.

How the fuck does this woman do that?

“Okay, so to clarify, Jaime has to do whatever I say within reason and participate in activities, or, God forbid, eat with me, which will not put his job in jeopardy?” I close my eyes and breathe in deep. “Perfect, thank you so much for clearing that up for me!” A pause before she shakes her head, twirling a lock of her hair around her finger. “He’s a complete gentleman, Scout’s honor.” She starts to pace with my phone, and I watch her as she moves, looking at her feet, listening intently.

“Absolutely. And thanks so much, Greg, so sorry to bother you.” Her head pops up and she stares at me with a wide smile. “Oh, definitely. I’d love to give you my number just in case you need it.”

Jesus fucking Christ.

She rattles off her number with a laugh and then says a warm goodbye, like my boss is an old friend, before tapping to end the call and handing it over to me.

“You’re stuck with me, big guy. Turns out, your assignment is to chaperone me to everything.” I close my eyes and take in a deep breath. “Don’t worry, I won’t make you do anything crazy, but I’m not being some crazy woman who has her security stand in the corner, watching everyone like they're going to attack me at any moment.”

“You never know?—”

“And you’ll be at my side, so if somethingdoeshappen, you’re close by, right? Seems like a win-win all around.”

I want to argue.

I want to call Greg and ask why the fuck he gave in to her.

But something tells me that even though she’s all pink princess energy, she’s a rottweiler when she wants something.

And for some reason, this is what she wants.

So, instead of arguing, I sigh and nod, pulling a wide, wide smile for her. She jumps and then claps her hands three times excitedly before stepping closer and looping her arm around mine.

“All right, buddy. Let’s go to dinner.”

FOURTEEN

JAIME

It’s been a full week on tour with Ava, and everything has been going as smoothly as could be expected. It seems we’ve come to some kind of truce where she doesn’t try to drive me up a fucking wall at every opportunity, and I try to quell my urge to be a standoffish dick at all times.

The system isn’t perfect, but she hasn’t given me that annoyed face in a while—the one where she puts her hands on her hips and glares at me—so I’m calling it a win.

Each event goes as smoothly as I can expect, with Ava staying on her best behavior and not running off to talk to any random stranger or behaving in some crazy way that would shine a poor light on the organization. As an additional bonus, even though she’s insisted on having me take part in the entire event, including the pottery painting in Rhode Island and rock climbing in Massachusetts, she’s cut back on the flirting.

Maybe she just needed to get more comfortable with me; maybe it was just a defense mechanism since I was being such an ass and making her think I hated her.

Whatever it is, I’m grateful, and it’s going to make this assignmentmuch easier.

“I need to use the bathroom,” I say, leaning down to say the words quietly. “Stay here. There's a guard right there, one of the Five Star men, if you need anything at all,” I say, tipping my chin at the man standing near a door at a non-profit fundraiser Willa Stone, another client of Five Star, is also attending in New Hampshire.

Ava salutes, the smile on her lips doing something to me. “Sir, yes, sir,” she says.

---