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And it drives me fucking crazy.
I had never been attracted to anyone that I was protecting before. I knew the trouble that came with getting involved with a client and I had made it my cardinal rule to keep my distance and not get too close.
It’s why I didn’t touch her unless I absolutely had to.
I make it to the back of the house and my eyes immediately go to her bedroom. Her curtains are drawn but I see her light on and for a brief second, I wish she’d left it open. She faces nothing but miles and miles of land so there is no risk of anyone seeing her unless someone is in her backyard. Someone like me. I could walk by and see her just for a second.
No, Hunt.
Feelings of shame wash over me thinking about her.
Naked.
I grit my teeth trying to temper the feeling of my dick thickening in my pants as I think about her. I walk through her garden, checking for anything out of the ordinary and take a seat on the bench wondering what the hell I’m going to do now that she’s single. It was much easier to manage this when she started dating Paxton. She’d stopped flirting with me and it seemed like the tension between us came to a halt while she focused on her relationship with him. Frankly, I was grateful for him. It solidified the thought that I couldn’t have her.
But before that? When I had just started my assignment? And right after her parents died? She was very clear that she’d wanted something to happen between us and I had to be the responsible one to tell her that wasn’t going to happen.
Five Years Prior
It’s been six months since I got this job protecting Shay Eastwood who might actually be the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. All of the magazines and media say that she is one of the most beautiful people in the world, but seeing her through my eyes is something completely different. I saw her fresh from sleep, without a stitch of makeup, or right after a shower when her naturally curly hair is pulled into a bun. I’ve seen her when she’s sick and throwing up from one too many tequila shots with her friend Veronica and I’ve even seen her cry once after an argument with her father.
She was beautiful in all of those times.
But that’s a problem. It’s a problem that I think she’s beautiful, smart, charming, and talented.Fuck,I could go down a laundry list of all the things that make Shay Eastwood the star of every one of my thoughts while I fucked my hand.
I’ve kept things professional, but my resolve is weakening especially when she walks around in those tiny little shorts that make her smooth legs go on for fucking miles. I love a woman with nice legs and hers are fucking phenomenal. They are toned with muscles from ballet that I’d thought of more than once wrapped around my waist while I drove into her.
I’ve played with the idea of resigning. I could get another job easily. One where I don’t feel so distracted half the time by a woman I can’t even escape in my dreams. A job where I’m not hyper-aware of every move they make for reasons other than the fact that I’m hired to protect them.
I’m sleeping in the guesthouse that is just to the right of Shay’s house tonight. There are some nights I do stay in her house, but it’s been a very quiet few days and I believe her assistant and Veronica are both staying over as she has an early photoshoot tomorrow morning. I’m mindlessly flipping through the channels when my phone pings with a text message. I reach for it, assuming it’s Shay but not sure why she’d be texting me at almost one in the morning, and sure enough, I see the alias I have her under flash across my screen.
Winter: Hi, I need help!
I sit up, wondering what she needs help with but am also pretty sure that it’s not an emergency. I have her stored in my phone asWinter Green. Mainly because of the disgusting wintergreen Lifesavers she eats all the time but also because of her love for snow and skiing and everything associated with winter.
Me: With?
Winter: Please!
Me: You haven’t answered my question. What do you need help with at one in the morning?
Within seconds my phone starts to ring and I bring the phone to my ear. “Yes?”
“Can you please stop being difficult and just come here, please?”
I can hear the alcohol in her voice and I let out a sigh as I pull on my shoes. “If I get all the way there and it’s nothing, I am going to be irritated, Shay.”
“You’re always irritated,” she mumbles.
“What was that?”
“Stop being so cranky with me all the time. I am a fucking deliiiight and you are RUDE,” she says as I make my way out of the guesthouse.
“Is that so?” I chuckle because the tone of her voice is almost comical.
“Mmmhmmm.” I hang up and make my way into the house. I climb the stairs towards her room and I wonder if Hillary and Veronica are with her, but I don’t hear anything as I approach her door. I knock and when the door flies open, I fight the urge to groan when I see Shay standing in front of me wearing nothing but a tank top and boy-short underwear. The tank top has a high neckline so I don’t see any cleavage but I can tell she isn’t wearing a bra because her nipples are poking through the material. So much smooth skin the color of a rich caramel is on display and it’s fucking painful to drag my eyes away from her.
I clear my throat. “Is there a reason that you’ve summoned me to your bedroom?”