Page 9 of The Billionaire Bodyguard Next Door

Had he been keeping tabs on me? Sure, we had a few recent run-ins no thanks to our respective best friends Faith Waters and Sebastian Steele, but that didn’t mean he had a window into my life. When that happened, I immediately made Faith promise not to share anything about me to Beck Bennet.

“You can order a pizza,” Alice suggested. “I like Hawaiian.”

Then she swept past me into my brownstone, plopping down on the cute armchair I had in front of my TV. The little girl picked up the remote and navigated her way seamlessly to a show she must have deemed suitable, all the while I stood in the doorway, mouth on the floor watching the whole thing go down.

By the time I turned around, Beck was gone. “Son of a…”

But I caught myself because there was a tiny human in my presence.

I stared blankly at her. She was solely focused on the TV in front of her.

My phone beeped.

Beck

Her name is Alice. I'm texting you this because you're undoubtedly in a stupor and not sure what to do next. You'll do fine. I'll be back in two hours. Three tops.

How the hell does he have my phone number now? Where was this eight years ago?

Beck

I got your number from Sebastian when you were housing Faith. Don't read into it.

I rolled my eyes. So he's a mind reader now? Beck had unceremoniously re-entered my life a few months ago when Sebastian hired Beck to watch Faith who was getting accosted by paparazzi. We’d verbally battled those few times I’d seen him since, and his presence brought up a lot of old feelings…

My phone buzzed again.

Beck

Order the damn pizza, Luna.

I rolled my eyes at the command. The man was a first-class prick, and he knew it.

“Nobody even likes Hawaiian pizza,” I muttered.

Alice’s hand shot into the air. “I do. It's actually very popular.”

I now felt personally responsible for making sure this kid knew there were better pizza options out there.

Yet my feet remained planted in the foyer, just like Beck knew they would be.

And with that little mental mind fuck, I got my ass in gear.

* * *

The pizza arrived twenty minutes later.

I'd called my team and told them I'd be working from home. This set Monroe on high alert. “Is it another migraine? Are you okay? Are you a fall risk?”

“I'm fine. Just working from here. Maybe the designer can make a house call instead. I'll text and see if she's flexible.”

Monroe hummed in agreement. “And I'll hold down the fort at Club Deux. You know it's a slow night. We have a couple VIP booths reserved and Dean is set to work his magic.”

Dean was one of the strongest VIP managers at the club. He was cute and flirty, and all the straight women and gay men fell in love with him. The man raked in the tips.

“Good, good.” My eyes shifted to the couch. Theemptycouch.

Shit. “I’ve got to go.”

---