Page 37 of Selling Innocence

With that, she rushed out, leaving me and the others in the living room.

What was this feeling inside me? This gnawing ache that made me want to rub my hand against my chest, to ease that tightness?

Well fuck, I think this might just be guilt for the first time ever…

Chapter Nine

Hayden

“What’s this, a bribe?” Kenz lifted her dark eyebrow as she stared at the bag I held out to her.

“It’s egg bites.” I shook the bag as though she were a cat, and I offered her a treat. “Do you not want them?”

She pressed her lips together, then snatched the bag from me. “Fine. Bribe accepted. So what do you want in exchange?”

“You should always ask that before you take a bribe,” I reminded her. “However, I’ve already gotten it. I just wanted you to cheer up a bit.”

She snorted softly before getting into the passenger side of the car as I held the door open for her. I closed it, then went to the driver’s side and slid in.

Kenz had class today, and because we’d properly set up a good story, I was able to go with her as a bodyguard. At least that put me right in my comfortable lane.

Because she’d gotten splashed on all the covers of tabloids as Vance’s new woman, Vance had been able to contact the school and explain the situation. Stalkers and other threats were common against people in those position, which meant the school had been only too happy to accommodate a bodyguard, especially if that meant Vance might participate more in the school.

Hell, I suspected the dean had visions of a new ‘Moore Wing’ if he kept Vance happy.

All that political maneuvering wasn’t my strength, so at least I could feel useful and in my realm of expertise today by protecting Kenz.

I pulled the car out of the driveway and onto the road as Kenz nibbled bites of her breakfast, which I’d picked up earlier to have it ready. She had dark circles under her eyes, a sure sign she hadn’t slept well.

Then again, she hadn’t seemed to sleep well in general. Each day that passed had her appearing more and more run down. I recalled the pills I’d found in her bathroom, the ones I hadn’t told her about.

Maybe she needed them?

“About last night,” I started.

“No need.”

I gave her a sidelong glance at her quick refusal.

“I’m sorry I lost my temper and made a fool of myself. I understand why that was the plan, but in the future, I don’t want to be kept in the dark. You all may have your own plans, but this is my life, too. I deserve to know what’s going on.”

I wanted to agree, to promise to tell her everything. She was a client right now, and I hated the thought of her upset or harmed, even emotionally. However…I knew better.

The reality was that protecting a person often meant keeping things from them. Few clients I’d had would yank a bodyguard in front of them to take a bullet, but that didn’t mean we wouldn’t take the bullet.

People did a lot of things that weren’t best for them, and it was my job to protect them from everything—even themselves.

“I promise that I’ll tell you what I can,” I said.

Her sigh told me she understood exactly what that meant. Still, she didn’t press. Instead, she looked down at her food and laughed softly. “One of my old bodyguards would bring me candy when I was sad.”

“Oh yeah?”

A softness in her expression showed how much she cared about her bodyguards.

I understood that, had seen it with a few longer-term clients. When spending so much time with a person, it was easy for lines to blur, for people to mistake proximity for family.

I didn’t care for the way she clung to them, though. Given Vance had taken her first kiss, clearly they hadn’t done anything inappropriate. Still, I found myself annoyed with them for a reason I couldn’t pinpoint.

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