Page 5 of Bodyguard By Night

I hugged myself. “I know. It’s just perfect.”

Merry frowned. “You sure you got it as one of those promo things you get by being internet famous?”

My self hug became a little more guarded. “It has to be, right?”

“But don’t they usually send you a packet to make sure you do all the—oh my God, this is the coolest thing ever, you know you want one too—kind of things?”

A twinge hit my stomach and twisted. She was right. A promotional packet was pretty standard. “Yeah. I didn’t get one of those.”

Nothing was free in this life.

I slid my phone out and opened my email. Nothing with RID Inc in my emails. I did a quick search for the name of the item to see if it was gifted from another company doing a collaboration. Internet marketing lived for a good collab.

Nada.

My heart started racing. A quick sheen of sweat prickled at the nape of my neck.Relax, Wil. It’s not like before.“It could just be a gift.”

But I could hear the reticence in my own freaking voice.

“It came here or your PO Box?”

Now my head was pounding in time with my heart, the excitement fading in the cold slap of reality. “It could be from my sister.”

“How would she know you wanted this specific thing?”

“Dammit, Merry, stop being logical.”

She gave me a sad smile. “Honey, who has your—our—address?”

“I…” My phone looked watery all of a sudden. I blinked and my vision cleared, but that of course flooded my stupid eyeballs with tears. I dashed them away with the back of my hand. “I never give it out. I swear.” I turned to Merry. “You believe me, right?”

“I know you get really excited and sometimes you don’t think things through.”

My heart climbed into my throat. I couldn’t refute that. Before I’d found my footing in Wil’s Way Kitchen, I had tried my hand at a ton of different jobs. Heck, I’d even accidentally done one of those multi-level marketing things.

I still had protein smoothie pouches stacked in one of my closets.

On this one thing, I was very careful. Especially since I had roommates.

And… No, I was not even thinkinghisname ever again. It had been years and that part of my life wasn’t a factor anymore. Regardless, I’d always had a PO Box because of privacy. I wouldn’t ever put anyone in danger, let alone my roommates.

I scrubbed my palm against my jeans. “You know what? I’ll talk to my sister about it.”

“Are you kidding me?”

Dennelle’s shrill voice made me flinch.

Her long crimson dagger of a nail was pointed at my new cart. “We do not have room for more stupid Willow show crap.”

“It’s not crap,” I shot back.

And it wasn’t the Willow show. It was Wil’s Way, thank you very much. Not that I’d remind her. I might lose an eye.

“All of your things are crap. I’m sick of it all cluttering up our place. For God’s sake, our kitchen is barely made for one person and it’snotyou.”

“I don’t hear you complaining when I serve food.”

Her eyes went bright with temper. Actually, maybe there was a little crazy in there too. “Your stupid corner-cutting food is gross.”

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