Page 34 of Beachside Kisses With My Bodyguard

“Good. And—”

The alleyway door slams open, and Frederick pushes me back up against the wall, covering my mouth with his hand.

“Chloe? You out here?”

We both breathe easier at Lucy’s voice. Before Frederick can pull away, Lucy giggles. “Well, well, well.”

Clearing his throat, Frederick steps away from the wall and I turn my head to find my new friend with hands on her hips, looking pointedly our way.

“I told everyone that you were fine after stupid Ricky went after you—he’s a drunk bozo who hits on anything that moves. But Jordan said we should all go looking for you guys anyway.”

The door opens again, and footsteps crunch in the gravelly alley. “They’re here, guys,” Lucy calls. “And they are a-okay. Making out, just like I said they would be.”

Whistles and jokes follow, and our new friends head back in after we make our excuses and leave for the inn.

“Well, one good thing came from tonight, I suppose,” Frederick finally says as we take to a very deserted Main Street.

“And what’s that?”

“I think we convinced everyone we really are a couple.”

“I’d say so.”

He reaches for me again, brushing his fingers against mine under the glow of a streetlamp. “I think you were right.”

I cock my head to the side and flash him a grin. “Ooo, go on.”

“Cheeky.” He smiles, shakes his head. “But I’m serious. Acting like a couple may be the only way to keep you safe right now. To act like”—his smile stretches and thins—“we’re completely mad for each other.”

Throat suddenly dry—I never did get that water, after all—I nod. “That way nobody is suspicious enough about our intentions to investigate why we’re really here.”

“Right.”

We start walking again, our feet finally hitting the boardwalk that leads to the inn. “There’s just one thing that’s bothering me,” I say. “I hate lying, especially to Lucy. She’s been so helpful, such a good friend already …”

“I know what you mean. I suppose just try to think of it like we’re going undercover. Lying for a purpose, and for only a short time.” Frederick kicks at a pebble. “I’m not particularly worried about her, or Marilee and Jordan, to be honest. Their background checks came back clean, and my instincts tell me they’re good people. The others we met tonight seem like it too, but I haven’t had enough time to assess them.” He drops my hand. “We got lucky with Stephanie at the dress shop today. Not everyone is as easily charmed as that.”

“So what you’re saying is, I’m charming.” I try for a joke, but it falls short as we climb the steps of The Purple Seashell. Most of the windows are dark, though the lobby inside is warmly lit, welcoming. But I’m not ready to go inside yet. I lean against one of the porch posts and sigh. “Do you ever wish …”

He copies my position at the opposite post, facing me. “Do I ever wish what, Princess?”

“For a normal life. Tonight, I was so … I don’t know, envious of those people in there. Able to go wherever they pleased, alone. I mean, not that I really mind having you here, but that’s because it’s you. If it was any other bodyguard …” I blink an unexpected tear from my eye. “I know I’ve been blessed with wealth and privilege and a good family who actually loves each other, and that I don’t have it difficult compared to so many people suffering out there. But …”

“But that doesn’t mean your heart doesn’t also wish for something so badly it hurts sometimes to breathe?”

How does he know how to put into words what I’m feeling? “Yes. Exactly that.”

I bite my lip as I try to make out his features, but the porch itself is too dark for that. Somewhere behind Frederick, the ocean laps against the shore, its usual white noise diminished by our distance from it. That’s how it is here, in Hallmark Beach. I know the roar of the media and the pressure that comes with my royal life is out there. It still exists. But this place, these people, have a way of diminishing their power.

Is it wrong for me to want to latch onto that for as long as I can?

“Am I ungrateful to feel this way, Freddy?”

He takes a step toward me, and his large hand cups my cheek, whisking away a tear I didn’t even know had fallen. “No, Princess. It’s good to dream. To think about what you want, especially after this, once you’ve got this wedding planned. That’s important too.” His words hover, like they’re incomplete. He’s so close, and I want him closer, but I’m afraid to move. Afraid he will remember that this is not how a bodyguard is supposed to act toward a princess.

Times like this, he treats me so differently than any other man ever has, even Troy, who I dated for two years. It’s purely platonic, I know, but there’s a respect, an admiration there. Fredericks’s the guy who sees my hidden tears in the dark when others ignore them in the light of day.

“I sense abut,” I whisper.

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