Page 14 of Daddy's Bodyguard

“Stay where I can see you,” I remind her.

She rolls her eyes and explains how to fill the boxes. I’m put on blanket duty while Sofia does a bit of everything. She’s often on her phone, but she doesn’t stop packing. She’s the queen of multitasking. She doesn’t miss a beat, just makes all adjustments necessary to get the job done.

By the time noon comes around, everyone starts loading the boxes, Sofia included. She taps boxes, including the ones I carry, and tells us what truck they belong in. Her hands brush mine as she takes a lighter box from me.

Our eyes meet, and she swallows, then she nods once to me, and I assume it’s the closest to a thank you that I’m going to get with her. I jump up into the truck to organize the boxes for easier unloading, and she insists on joining me, so I offer my arm to help her up. My arm lingers around her when she joins me, and for a moment, she seems quite contented with not moving at all. But an awareness soon fills her face, and she backs away with a grunt. I stifle my smile and get to work.

By the time the trucks are full, half of the workers are at a pause or missing. Sofia sits on the edge of the truck and looks over me. “You’re something else, Jasper.”

“Back at you.” I smile, acknowledging the warmth spreading through me. This mission will be the most interesting one I ever had. I can already feel it.

Chapter 5

Sofia

Carissa appears when we’re done with loading the truck and volunteers to do the deliveries before I can ask her to take over for me. I notice how her eyes keep going to Jasper as she speaks. I’m not surprised. Jasper is… quite a man. Any hot-blooded woman would be attracted to how gorgeous he is. But I can’t ignore the flutter of jealousy when I realize he’s checking her out too.

What am I doing? I’m not interested in Jasper, am I? Nah. I’m just exhausted, and these heels are killing me. But I can’t deny that I’m relieved when she goes back inside. I watch Jasper jump off the back of the truck. I glance at my heels and consider kicking them off when he reaches for me.

I hesitate. I don’t know if I want him touching me, really. He rolls his eyes. “Do it for me. If I kept you safe from the bad guys, but you break a leg jumping out of a truck, I’d be just as fucked.”

Swallowing, I reach for his shoulders and feel his big hands squeeze my hips. I try to hide my blush as he helps me down to my feet. Jasper watches me as he sets me back onto my heels, and his hands linger on my waist.

“You did your job. I survived,” I say, moving away from him.

“I’m proud of you.” His lips turn up, just like I’ve learned to expect. “I get to keep my job another day.”

I motion inside, so we can get moving and get some space between us. I don’t want to let on how frustrated I am, especially considering he’s helped so much today. Still, I hate how easily he’s taking all this when having him around is driving me insane, like my adult card is being threatened.

“Compromise,” Jasper says to me. “See how pleasant it is? You get to work, and I don’t have to toss you around.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “Is it that easy for you to lie?”

“I think this is pretty pleasant.” His eyes flick to the windows as our trucks take off. He returns his gaze to me and motions to my desk. “But part of being safe is keeping some things secret.”

He points out my calendar, and I sigh. I like having it right in front of me so I don’t forget things. But he’s right. I take off all the sticky notes and organize them by date in my planner, so they’re not quite as on display.

I’m trying to buy some trust from Jasper, so I can have a bit more freedom in the long run. It’s just a drawn-out agreement. If I think of it that way, then every time I give over something silly and unimportant, he’ll have to compromise somewhere else.

“We’ve had a good day so far.” He leans back in the chair in front of me. “Let’s call this progress.”

“Yeah, well, I still don’t appreciate being told what to do, Jasper,” I remind him. “I don’t like being kept from my normal schedule. This time next week, I’ll be doing deliveries again.”

He sits up while offering his pinky and a smile. “I’m a man of my word, princess.”

“Every time you call me that, you remind me of my dad.” I take his pinky anyway. “Just so you know how you’re coming off.”

“Well, we can’t have that. Luckily, I have plenty of alternatives.” He winks at me.

I cut my eyes at him and power up my laptop. Eventually, he’ll settle for this being professional and stop trying to be my friend. But he rests his elbow on the desk and gives my face a slow-motion scan that leaves me warm and uneasy. “So,sweetheart, what are we doing next?”

“I’m not your sweetheart, Goddamnit.Ihave a lunch meeting with a representative from a local deli chain. Mr. Nance wants to talk about donations to our company.”

“Great. We can’t miss that, now, can we?” He stands and pulls my sunglasses off my desk to cover his face.

“Thanks for stretching my sunglasses.” I huff.

“You worry too much, Sofia.”

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