Page 39 of Passenger Princess

“There goes my snuggling hopes and dreams,” I say with a sigh as he grabs my overnight bag and glares at me.

“Which room do you want?”

“I don’t care,” I say with a shake of my head, because I really don’t. We’ll only be here one night before we pack up, do our event, and drive to North Carolina for the next event.

He just walks off, puts my bag in one room, and then walks back out to me. “I’m going to shower. You okay here?”

I nod, pulling out my book and cuddling on the couch with Peach as if the entire chaotic night didn’t even happen.

“Yup, all good.”

He stares at me for long moments until I feel uncomfortable under his glare. “You’re really okay?”

I sigh and roll my eyes, setting my book aside and standing, moving toward him.

“Yes, Jaime.”

“It’s okay to be shaken up,” he says, his voice soft and kind. I move until I’m standing in front of him in the pajamas I put on before we got back in the car, looking up at him and putting a hand on his chest.

“I probably would be if I had anyone else with me. Lucky for me, I’ve got a Jaime, so I know you’d never let anything happen to me.”

He opens his mouth like he wants to say something, then closes it before opening it again. Then he nods and steps back, my hand dropping.

“Gonna go shower,” he says, his face turning red as he does.

I don’t have to say it out loud. Instead, I just think about it with a smile.

God, he really fucking likes me.

I’m sitting for a total of five minutes reading my book before Peach comes, rubbing on my ankles and yelling at me.

“Hold on, Princess Peach, give me a minute. I’m at a good part,” I mutter, lifting her as I read and putting her on my lap for a cuddle. She doesn’t seem to be in thecuddling moodand instead nips mywrist, clearly saying something along the lines offeed me now, you bitch, or I’m going to make your life a living hell.With a sigh, I put my book down and lift her up until we’re face-to-face.

“You know, if you weren’t so cute, we’d have much bigger issues,” I say in a cloyingly sweet voice that’s annoying even to my ears. She must agree when she nips at my nose.

I sigh, putting her down and getting to work, getting her bowl set with water and food before taking a deep sigh and trying to regulate myself.

Even though I’d never admit it to Jaime, I’m a bit shaken after everything that happened. It’s too real, too close to me. Messages and comments, I can put on the back burner of my mind because they’re just that—words on a phone from some random stranger who knows where.

But someone breaking into my hotel room?

That’s real.

That’s why, instead of reading in my bed like I’d normally do, I chose to read on the couch because it felt safer, or, at the very least, closer to the safety that is quickly becoming what Jaime gives me.

When I walk back into the main living area, Peach content as she stuffs her face with the most vile cat food on this planet in the small kitchen, my reading spot is taken. In its place sits Jaime in a white tee and gray sweatpants, an utter dream, sitting in my vacated spot on the couch, reading my book.

An utter nightmare.

“You better not have lost my spot,” I say with a smile, trying to play off what he could be reading.

He jumps a bit, like I caught him off guard, before he looks up at me, shaking his head. “Is this what you’re always reading in the car?” he asks, lifting the book back up.

“I mean, not that specifically. Sometimes, it’s vampires or faeries or hockey players. Cowboys is kind of new to me.” I lean over his shoulder to see what he’s looking at and fight the embarrassment at him reading about a cowboy tying a single mom to her bed.

I reach to grab it, but he moves at the last minute to keep it out of my reach before standing. I walk around the couch and reach to grab it once again, but he’s much too big and reading at an angle he knows I can’t reach. When I almost get it, he stands, making it impossible to reach my book now.

“Jesus, Princess, you like this kind of stuff?”

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