Page 61 of Bossy Trouble

“No reason.” I kept my tone carefully light as I didn’t want to arouse any suspicion. “It’s just that ever since that man was in your office, you’ve been acting strange. And been super stressed out.”

He didn’t say anything, continuing to watch me. I knew I wasn’t fooling him one bit, so I decided to lay it all out.

“He gave me a bad feeling, Donovan,” I said, letting him see some of the anxiety that crept in since the moment I saw that stranger. “I can’t explain it, but I know he wasn’t a good person. Or even a normal person. Who was he, Donovan? Really.”

“Someone you should never know.” There was something very dark and grave in Donovan’s gaze. His hand covered my palm, keeping me in place as he uttered the next words, “You should not even ask about him. Pretend you know nothing. And if he ever shows up here again, I want you to disappear, you understand me? Don’t say hi to him, don’t get him coffee, and don’t even be in the same room as him. Go somewhere else until he’s gone.”

“Why?”

“Just do as I ask.” His voice was tight, with frustration reflected in his expression. “I’m serious about this, Georgia.”

“Yeah, I can tell.” I glanced down at where his fist was squeezing my wrist. His grip instantly loosened.

“Tell me why you’re so scared of him, Donovan. Tell me who he is.”

“All you need to know is that it’s important to make sure this man doesn’t notice you.”

For the first time, real fear trickled into me, and I felt my heart begin to beat faster. If Donovan was this afraid for me, then it meant he likely couldn’t protect me from anything the man did.

“Well, I think that ship has already sailed,” I said with a roll of my eyes.

Donovan glanced at me sharply.

“As you were walking to your office, he turned and looked back at me,” I said. “I don’t know why, but I got an eerie feeling from it. I’m not sure it meant anything, though. He could have just been curious or….”

“Shit,” Donovan covered his face with his hands. “Shit, shit, shit.”

His hand went to his hair, gripping the base as if he wanted to rip it out.

“I fucked up,” he bemoaned.

“Hey, it’s okay.” I went around the desk to him then and put my hand over his hand. I wasn’t strong enough to make him release the grip he had on himself, so I just rubbed my hand on his, hoping he would get even the slightest bit of comfort. “It’s okay. I’m fine. It’s fine.”

“You don’t understand,” he muttered. “You don’t understand, and I can’t make you understand. He should never have seen you. I don’t want you involved in all of this.”

“Involved in all of what?”

“Don’t go home alone again,” he instructed, ignoring my question. He looked up at me, expression frantic. “Ever. When walking, stick to well-populated areas. In fact, you’re never walking anywhere again.”

I laughed a little then. But then he didn’t laugh along, and I realized he wasn’t joking. “Wait, are you serious?”

“Yes. I’ll look into hiring a bodyguard for you. I have a friend who owns a security company, and he owes me a favor. I’ll give him a call.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I couldn’t help it—a smile split my lips.

Big bad Donovan Dresden was scared.

And it wasn’t because of the man from yesterday, necessarily. He’d been stressed all day but not necessarily afraid. But now fear and anxiety filled his face.

Big bad Donovan Dresden was scared at the thought of something bad happening to me.

“…or maybe we should get you out of town entirely,” he continued, babbling at this point. “I know a safehouse you can stay at for a few days up in Maine, or maybe you should stay on the boat for some time… Damn it, stop laughing. This is serious.”

“I’m not laughing,” I defended, even though I was. There wasn’t anything funny about the situation, but seeing Donovan so panicked for my sake made me feel light inside.

“You don’t understand the danger,” he grumbled. “If anything happened to you, I’d….”

He didn’t finish the sentence. It hung in the air, tremoring with meaning neither of us was ready to admit. But I could see the emotion in his gaze, and my heart melted.

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