Page 24 of Heartbeats and Hashtags
“You’re blinded by the abs, Tanya, blinded by the abs.”
“I can still hear you!” Cole calls out from the other room.
“Well, shut your damn ears then!” I respond before I can get embarrassed about the fact he heard me compliment his abs. His stupid, well-defined abs. I’s not my fault that I know they’re well defined. I have never seen him without a shirt, but I know for a fact he has at least a six-pack due to those damn tight, white t-shirts he always wears.Possibly an eight-pack. Oh God.Brilliant, now I can’t stop thinking of him shirtless.
“Are all of your dad's bodyguards…built like this?” I whisper to Tanya. Careful to avoid another eavesdropping incident.
She smirks, rolling her eyes, a knowing look on her face, “Not a chance. You should see his own personal guards. They’re nice guys sure, but less…appealing on the eyes.”
I guess I just got unlucky then. Cole’s undeniable good looks make this whole arrangement much more difficult for me. Every time I’m around him, I feel on edge. It's probably from nerves because of how serious he is.
I walk Tanya down the drive and blow her a kiss as she drives off.
I decide to check my mailbox on the way back to the house. It’s rare that I receive actual letters these days, but I still check for the occasional card from Grandma.
Opening the box, I scream reflexively and jump backward. My hands are trembling as I back away slowly.
Cole, never far away rushes out the door in an impressive speed.
“Everly, what’s going on?” he asks while simultaneously blocking my body and moving around looking in every direction.
I point a shaky finger toward the mailbox, unable to speak.
Cole looks inside after checking the outside in a 360 motion again.
He reaches inside and pulls out what I feared I’d seen.
A huge, sharp, shining knife.
Cole places it carefully back in the letterbox, being sure not to touch too much of the handle. Then he pulls out something else. Something I hadn’t seen yet.
“It’s a note.” Cole’s face goes pale as he reads it.
“What does it say?” I ask, even though I’m not sure I want to know.
He hesitates, pursing his lips before handing it to me.
“Everly. Stop. Ignoring. Me. Can’t you see how good we would be together? None of these men know how you should be treated. Stay away from them. Wait for me, my love. Otherwise, EvBear might lose a limb ? - Yours Eternally, EvBear”
“Everly,advanced warning iscrucialfor me to do my job,” Cole chastises, frustration edging his gravelly tone. In my flurry of excitement over the Bahamas campaign with ChicCosmos, I may have forgotten to mention the trip to my brooding protector.Oops.
“I know. I'm sorry!” I flash Cole my most charming smile. “The lady mentioned it the other day on our run, and I guess I just forgot to relay it to you after all the excitement. And, youknow,if you’d have let me hire a new assistant.”
He gives me a stone-cold look that tells me not to continue. He’s already made his opinions clear that none of “those people” who we interviewed were “cyber-aware” enough or generally good enough to be working alongside me.
“But all that aside, this is critical for expanding my brand. Please understand, Cole, we have to go. Besides, a break might be nice,” I try, angling the trip as a way to get away from the situation here.
“After the note and the knife and everything, I really think a vaca would be good,” I try. The note really had shaken me up, as much as I was using it as a tool to a go on vacation card I had barely slept the last few nights. One look at my under eyes proved that. It was getting investigated for fingerprints or other clues, but so far we’d had no news. The waiting around was painful.
Cole rubs his temple, unmoved by my coaxing. “International travel increases security risks right now. Your safety is priority one.”
I soften my expression, shifting tactics. “You're right. But I think I’ll be safernothere. I didn’t sleep last night,” I confess. His gaze softens and flickers to my tired eyes. “And this is really,reallyimportant for my brand. I’ve been trying to get out of the fitness influencer box for a while now. And this is my ticket out.”
Cole's posture relaxes slightly.Progress.
“Please.” I bat my eyelashes and pout up at him.
Cole evaluates me for a weighty moment then exhales. “Forward the trip details. I'll coordinate planning backup and convene about hazard prevention protocol.” He pauses. “Everly? In the future, please give me more warning. I don’t want to stop you from doing anything, I can’t, but I have to know in advance, OK?”
