Page 1 of Obsessed with my Guardian

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Eloise

“How have you been?”Reed Wesley, my hot guardian, asks as he enters the large living area.

I try not to stare too much at how he removes his tie when he walks. His movements are fluid, swift, and straight to the point. “I’ve been good,” I say at last.

Good is a lie. But good is the only way I can answer right now.

I’m eighteen as of last week. Legally, I no longer need a guardian. But that’s what Reed has been since my dad died. That’s how I still see him. He’s become my go-to person.

I never met my mom. She left me and my dad behind when I was a baby. Dad stuck around until he got sick. His pancreatic cancer progressed this year, and he named Reed my guardian in case he passed before I turned eighteen. So, for the last four months, Reed has been living with me in the mansion in one of the most exclusive parts of Dallas.

I rub my palms together uneasily. I know what Reed’s inquiry means. He wants to move out of my family home and return to his bachelor pad. He wants his freedom back.

And me? I wanthim.

I want his sexy, broad-shouldered body close to mine. I want his strong hands all over me.

He’s twenty-nine years old and found a true mentor in my father for the past ten years. So much so that my father’s input helped him to become an investor in the Sugar & Silk agency recently. Owning a stake in a sugar baby agency should give me hope that he likes to date younger women, but he’s never looked at me that way. I get it. Until last week, I was a minor.

But today, I’m a woman—a woman with needs and raging hormones.

“Eloise, you’re eighteen now. We’ll meet with your father’s lawyer soon and discuss your options. You inherited a whole lot of money and Work4Fitness.”

“I know.”

The idea of inheriting money and assets shouldn’t make anyone sad—I’d give it all back to have my dad with me. Not the sick, hurting fellow I knew for the last year of his life; that man deserved to rest. No, I yearn for the lively, caring man who raised me alone.

I sigh. Dad started Work4Fitness from the ground up. It’s a chain of upscale health clubs with three locations in Dallas. I’ve worked at the flagship gym after school for two years. I started doing front desk stuff before branching out to help organize events. I’ve been an assistant manager in that club for the past year.

My father wanted me to experience it all, starting small, since we all knew I’d end up inheriting the business anyway. I enjoyed it. But now playtime is over.

I start business college in the fall and have to juggle that and my role as the CEO of Work4Fitness—if I so choose.

“I can move out to give you space now you’re eighteen,” Reed says, bringing me back to reality.

The last thing I need from Reed is space. I’ve been secretly drooling over him for three years. Every time I look into his eyes—the color of fresh green grass— my knees weaken. Then my gaze travels lower to his sexy mouth, and I have to gather my strength not to pass out. “I don’t need space. We live in this huge house.”

“I understand. I don’t want you to feel imposed by me living here. I had to when you were a minor, but I don’t anymore.”

“You promised Dad you’d take care of me,” I say, desperation quickly turning me into a dramatic manipulator.

The possibility of him leaving is a knife twisting in my chest. I know he has to—I bet he can’t wait. During those months, nothing I did caught his attention and made him look at me in a different light. Now I’m an adult. I can at least try—if I don’t do it now, I’ll never have the chance later. What are the odds we’ll ever liveandwork together again?

“Yes, and I have. I always will. I don’t want to overwhelm you,” he says in a softer voice that feels like a warm hug. God, I wish I was getting a real hug from him right now.

“The only way I’ll be overwhelmed is if you leave. Please, Reed. Don’t go.” I turn my wish into a reality and launch into him, wrapping my arms around his torso and breathing in his intoxicating scent. It’s a mix of bamboo with woodsy notes and a touch of raw masculinity for good measure. Smells like heaven.

At first, he’s like a penguin, stiff with his arms at his sides, not hugging me back. Then, his breath fans the top of my head, and he relaxes a tad. Just when I think he’s going to return my embrace, he disengages from me, gently removing my arms from around his waist and stepping back.

A cold draft sweeps over me.

He jams his hands in his pockets. “Okay. Fine. I’ll stay. But you know these kinds of touches… aren’t appropriate anymore, Eloise. You’re a woman now. And I’m a man. I don’t want to give people the wrong impression,” he says with a twinge of annoyance, like I should already know these things.

Little does he know that those unnecessary touches are all I want. They’re the ones I fantasize about late at night when I’m in bed, touching myself.

“I’m not a woman yet… not completely,” I say, flashing him a coy smile. My cheeks warm. I’ve never said anything so bold, but every moment counts. My heart throbs, pushing its way up my throat.

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