Page 19 of Not the Bodyguard's Princess
“Andrew would make a great medieval knight. He has the looks and the compassion. But I’m not a damsel in distress. And it’s been years since I mistook an on-screen kiss as anything other than acting.”
The pause on the other end was longer than needed for an overseas call. “I fly to London today and will finish up by Friday. I’ve been wondering if I should change my plans and come straight to Wisconsin rather than LA.”
“Keep to your plans. Coming out here won’t do anything helpful at the moment. Paul doesn’t need any more surprises. You know how he is.”
“It would be a personal visit.”
“Paul wouldn’t see it that way.” Jordan didn’t want to disrupt Grandma’s schedule.
“You’re right. Paul doesn’t handle external stress well, does he?”
“Not if he thinks it could affect his career, and you visiting me after this week’s mess could mean you have no faith in him.”
“Because I don’t.”
Jordan laughed.
“It isn’t funny. You should have an entire team out there, not just Blake.”
“I know, Grandma. I’m glad Blake was here. September says the Hastings are the best, although she may be biased. I’ll be fine.”
“I’ll let you get back to sleep now. Sorry about my math skills. I’ll try to call later next time.”
“Love you, Grandma.”
“Love you too, bunny. Remember what I said about knights in shining armor.” The call disconnected, and Jordan checked the time. Another hour of sleep or annoy the bodyguard and go run on the treadmill? The latter would only be fun if it was Andrew. She mentally replayed the moment they’d both dived for the leash. It was only a moment. Like the ones in dozens of scripts. Those didn’t happen in real life, did they?
There was no rule saying the princess and the knight had to get together. They could be friends, right? Jordan closed her eyes and replayed last night. In a movie script, it would have been the moment where the audience raised their eyebrows and said, “I told you they would be a couple.” It was odd not to have a director yell “Cut!” to end it. These moments didn’t happen in real life. And if they did, they couldn’t mean anything. Maybe Grandma was right, Andrew was just a very convenient knight in shining armor.
* * *
Jordan’s kiss was cold and wet on Andrew’s cheek. Not the way this moment should end. Andrew turned his head to refocus the kiss, and Jordan whimpered like a dog.
Andrew opened his eyes. Princess whimpered again, her chin resting on his chest. He sat up, relieved he hadn’t carried his dream kiss to fruition. A dream about a client? A first he didn’t want to repeat. Andrew pushed the covers back. “Do you need to go outside, girl?”
By the time he got back to his room last night, he knew he wasn’t going to quit the job. And the decision had nothing to do with the momentary awareness he had of his client. Calling her Miss Lee helped him keep his distance, though he’d slipped a few times because of their meeting in the hospital. He’d need to make sure he only thought and talked and dreamed of Jordan as Miss Lee. She was off-limits.
Yellows and golds tinted the eastern sky. Andrew stretched while Princess inspected the lawn. The dream, though it had faded, hadn’t left his mind. He’d never dreamed about a client before. How could he protect a client if he wasn’t objective? A dog jumping on his bed should have woken him up. Was his subconscious trying to tell him to quit the job or to stay?
His phone pinged. Andrew checked the app. It was Adam.Just checking in.
Nothing new, but the day is young. I wish I had a backup here, preferably female.
—Tonie is available. What if I bring her up tomorrow, with September, more as an undercover thing? We could leave her with Jordan at night.
Could you be vaguer with that plan?
—I’ll try. I need to see if Mom can help me brainstorm cover ideas.
Firms all over the country contracted Melanie Hastings for her covert planning skills. Andrew reread the words. What he needed was advice. But the Hastings app, though secure, wasn’t necessarily private.
Call?
The phone rang. “I’m driving to the office gym to meet Alex. What’s up?”
“How did you stay professional around September when you first realized you were attracted to her?”
“A load of denial, which made it worse in the end. Why?”
