Page 12 of Passenger Princess

“Uhhh,” I say, trying to figure out how to start this conversation.

It’s clear this man isn’t a fan of mine, and our initial meeting wasn’t exactly ideal. Still, we’ll be forced together for the next three months, so I might as well attempt to get things back on the right foot.

“So about the next—” I start, but he stands straight, slinging the bag over his shoulder. His eyes, no longer covered by glasses or the dim lighting of a club, are, in fact, handsome as can be, a green hazel with thick, dark eyelashes I’d kill for.

“My rules,” he says briskly, cutting me off. No, hello, how are you? “You listen to what I say. You do what I say. Youdo not deviate. We put safety first, and we’ll get through the next three months without too much of a headache.”

A beat passes, and I blink a few times. He crosses his arms on his chest and continues to glare at me.

“Excuse me?” I ask, mouth open.

“I don’t have the time or patience to deal with some spoiled brat for the next three months. My job is to keep you safe. I am not a babysitter. Don’t act like a fucking idiot, and I’m not planning to report your every move to her.”

Well, that’s a relief, but…

“I appreciate that,” I say. “But I’d also like to be friends. We’re going to be spending a lot of time together, and?—”

“No,” he says, brusque again, and now it’s starting to annoy me.

“What?”

“No. I don’t want to be friends. I don’t want to play get-to-know-you niceties. I know your type, and I’m not interested.”

“Mytype?”

“Self-absorbed, only cares about appearances. The type that smiles and flips her hair and thinks that can get her anything in life, while the rest of us have to follow the rules.”

“You think you know me so well, you think you have meso pegged, but you don’t know a thing about me, Jaime.”

He sighs like he’s tired of this back and forth. “Look. I’m here to do a job, and even though I’m not exactly fired up to have to follow you around for three months, this is just that—a job for me.”

“Okay… and it’s one for me.”

“No, it’s a fun little getaway. It’s you playing princess and waving at your royal subjects.”

I blink at him a few times, utterly shocked, before I speak. “Excuse me?”

“You listen to what I tell you to do, and we’ll be fine.”

“What is wrong with you?” I ask, getting annoyed now. I didn’t think we would be besties, but we’re going to spend a lot of time together, especially if he’s driving me from stop to stop.

“I find this assignment irritating and a waste of my skills. Having to follow some self-centered princess around sounds like misery, but we all have jobs to do, and I’m going to do mine.”

“I don’t get it,” I say as he moves towards the door, trying to decode him.

“Get what?” he asks, turning back towards me, that same look of irritation on his face.

“Why you hate me. I did absolutely nothing to deserve this.”

He lets out a small sigh, a tiny crack in his mask. “I don’t hate you, particularly. I just have no interest in following a beauty queen around. This assignment is essentially me being a glorified babysitter for a grown woman, and it’s a waste of my time. I’m annoyed that I’ve been ambushed by walking into this with you because, if we’re putting it all on the table, I find you kind of irritating, and, from what little I saw the other night and what I’ve heard so far, you seem like a disaster waiting to happen. I’m not looking forward to pulling you out of trouble every five minutes because you can’t listen to directions, so I’m trying to be the adult in this room and set guidelines ahead of time. I’m so sorry you don’t like them, but that’s life, Princess.”

He finally stops speaking, and I stare at him before inspecting my nails.

“Are you done?” I ask with a slight smile on my lips.

“What?”

“With your little tirade about how annoying it will be to be my bodyguard. It sounded like you had some really big feelings about it, and I want to make sure you let them all out before I interrupt. So, are you done?”

---