Page 6 of Another Round
After a few steps, she slows. Scanning the dark red brick, she pauses to check the numbers painted over the entrance. My breath actually fucking catches in my chest when she looks directly at me. Busting me as I scrutinize her. Almost as if she senses me observing her. She seems unconcerned, giving me a genuine grin and small wave before picking up her pace again.
What the actual fuck? I’m a damn mercenary. A trained killer surviving all those missions by never being seen. An expert at in, out, and gone. And now here I am fucking caught by a woman not even anticipating my presence. Damn.
A sharp triple chime pings to alert me that she’s entered the stairwell. A new security mechanism I’ve installed for her that I’m not used to yet, but accept just the same as part of my job.
I go ahead and open my door before she knocks. No sense pretending it wasn’t me inspecting her through the bullet proof glass I used to replace the old thin panes. The same easy smile lights up her beautiful face as she offers me her hand. Soft and delicate despite her confident grip within my fingers. An odd feeling stirs in my chest from her touch. This overwhelming need to protect her and not just because it’s my job or her father’s paying me to. Except at this rate I’m probably the bloke she needs protecting from.
“I’m Evie. You must be Andy.”
Fuck me if I don’t love her assertiveness. Friendly and pleasant but not afraid to take the lead even with a man twice her age. Hell, I’m not sure if I’m even a man anymore the way I’ve been acting so pansy arse in the last two minutes. I’ll have to check that I’ve still got my god damn balls after she leaves.
“Pleasure to meet you love. Glad you made it safe.”
That comment earns me a cute smirk before she laughs. Knowing and indulgent. “As if my Dad would really let me be alone and unprotected for even a second.”
I play dumb. Keeping a blank expression on my face. Or at least attempting to, because at this point I’m not sure I actually remember how to feign innocence, since I seem to have lost all my finesse with her.
“He thinks I’m stupid, but I know exactly what he’s doing with all of this.”
She’s smart. Way more than he gives her credit for. Maybe a little bit insulted too with the hurt drawing down her face. I don’t trivialize her feelings. Unwilling to be dismissive of her opinion, I decide to be just as direct.
“Not stupid.” Her head tilts to the side from my description. Disagreeing with my assertion. Which, for some strange and unknown reason, I like her challenging me. “Naïve.”
Striking blue eyes flick to mine. Intense with the wisdom of someone who’s witnessed death and destruction on the regular from her father’s world, although still innocent enough not to be completely jaded by the damaging exposure. Yet.
“I’m not naïve.”
I acquiesce to the adamancy of her tone. “Poor choice of words on my part. How about inexperienced?”
Her small body softens from the olive branch I extend, and she offers a slow nod of agreement. With the desire to battle, at least against me, suppressed, she shrugs. “I guess so.”
“Since we agree you’re not stupid or naïve, how about we level with each other about everything else? What do you know?”
My admission coaxes another authentic smile from her, matching my own from her amiably. She releases the handle of her suitcase, a tell that proves she trusts me. That she’s more comfortable now that we’re being honest with each other. Just like I am.
“He’s paying you to watch over me, and you’re going to report back to him everything I do and say. Any little mistake or problem and you’ll be—”
“True….” Absolute conviction in her tone and her expression until I interrupt. “…except the second part.”
Her slender arms cross over her chest in silent protest. Disbelief lining her face as the burgeoning friendship between us quickly fades. “I know my Dad.”
“Yeah, but you don’t know me. I’ll only tell what he needs to know. Only what he really cares about. Which is that you’re safe.”
“And I will be…because of you?”
Testing me again. But I swear to god she’s flirting with me. A mischievous tone in her voice and a sparkle in her bright eyes. I respond the same way but I’m a thousand percent sincere in my answer. “Always.”
“Then I guess he didn’t tell you how much trouble I can be. I’m way too much for just one bodyguard to handle.”
Not flirting. Teasing. Good natured and playful for someone who’s aware of the reputation that precedes her. Although I’m not sure how much of the negativity is truly earned as charming as she is.
“Oh, he told me. That’s why I’m charging him triple. Because I’m as good as having three guys protecting you.”
Pretty witty comeback for an old man. I guess she thinks so too because she laughs. Honest, full, and sincere, eliminating any lingering awkwardness between us.
“Cocky much?”
“Only because I’ve earned it.” Her enormous grin blows up even more when I wink at her, and I chuckle myself. I’m going to like having her as my client. Now that’s out of the way, we’ll get along just fine. “Come on trouble, let me show you your new apartment.”
