Page 65 of Passenger Princess

"It's definitely not nothing, Jaime. It's…is that a new blanket?"

"It was at the store, and it looked comfy. You need comfy; this leg is a bit longer."

"At the store. What store? When? When did you go to the store?" I turn fully to him and cross my arms on my chest. It's clear on his face he wants me to drop this, to just get in that car and pretend I didn't notice a thing, but I will never. I smile wide, waiting for his answer.

"Jesus, Ava, can't you just get in the fucking car?"

"Once you tell me when you went to the store and why."

Finally, he sighs, giving in after staring me down for a minute. He realized he wasn't going to win, I guess.

"I woke up early and worked out. I realized you were still out like a light, which, considering yesterday, makes sense. You were wrung dry, burnt out. I’m not doing my job if you collapse from exhaustion, so I ran out to a twenty-four-hour store and grabbed a few things so you could sleep in the car." There's a pause like he realizes his nextaddition might help his case, even if it's a total fucking lie. "If you sleep, I’ll get some peace and quiet for a bit."

I shake my head at him, flabbergasted. "You're so full of shit."

His head tips up to the sky like he's looking for divine intervention that never comes.

"The book? Where'd you get that?"

"There was a girl there who worked there. She was stocking the shelves. I named some of the books I've seen you reading; she said this one just came out, so I thought it was a safe bet." Again, he pauses, almost biting his lip before stopping as if he were catching himself. "Have you? Read that one?"

God, he'snervous. Jaime Wilde, the giant bodyguard who gets paid to protect people, isnervousbecause he isn't sure how I'm going to take this utterly sweet act of kindness. I take a step closer, closing the gap between us a bit, then put my hand on his chest.

"I haven't, big guy. Thanks." I pause, looking into his eyes, which, for the first time, have the heavy guard down, like it's too early or he forgot to put it up. "Why did you do this, Jaime?" I ask quietly. "You didn't have to," I remind him.

A long beat passes when I think he won't answer, but then he shifts, and intentionally or not, our bodies are closer now, almost touching. I'm wearing a white oversized hoodie and a pair of bike shorts, my hair slicked into a low bun since there won't be any appearances, and I'm focused on comfort. In any other situation, I'd feel weird not having my face done, not having my armor on.

But Jaime always sees through it anyway.

He sighs before finally answering. "I just… I wanted to make sure you were comfortable so you could relax. You had a rough couple of days." He shrugs, his big shoulders seeming gigantic on him when he looks shy and nervous like this. There's a light blush across his cheeks, and herefusesto make eye contact with me.

I should just say thank you and hop in the car.

But god, this is too perfect. I can't do it—I think if I could make a career of it, I’d be CEO of Making Jaime Wilde Blush.

Honestly, it has a pretty good ring to it.

But since I can't actually make that my career, I'll just settle with doing it as a hobby.

"Oh, you like me," I say with a smile, looking at the little space he's carved out for me, then back at him, his head shaking vehemently and that blush growing.

Jesus, for such a big, tough guy, the man sure does blush a lot around me.

He so totally likes me.

"What? No, no, I don't. Just doing my job."

"Your job is to wake up early so you can set up my seat for me because you know how tired I was last night and want to make sure I could relax? Bullshit.” He stares at me for a moment and I think, just maybe, he’ll explain himself.

He doesn’t. "Get in the car, Ava,” he says instead.

I shift so my back is to the car and cross my arms on my chest, smiling at him. "Not until you admit it."

"You're such a fucking pain in my ass, you know that?"

"A pain in the ass that you like."

He stares at me, thoughts moving behind his eyes, but I continue to smile because, slowly but surely, I'm winning him over.

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