Page 55 of Close Protection

‘Hmm,’ Milosh hums, watching me silently. ‘I know it’s not my place to ask, but did you and Teddy ever…’

‘Once,’ I finish for him. ‘We kissed once, a couple of years ago.’

His jaw ticks but he remains impassive, nodding curtly.

‘Why do you ask?’

He shrugs. ‘Curious.’

‘Really?’ He’s curious about my romantic past?

‘Apparently so,’ he grumbles.

We stare at each other in silence, his eyes heating and his jaw clenched.

I drop my gaze to his mouth. ‘I know he wants to do or be more, but I’m not interested.’ I can feel my body temperature rising as I look up to meet his eyes. ‘In him, at least,’ I add in a whisper.

An unreadable expression passes over his face for a split second. ‘Good to know.’

‘It is?’ I breathe.

‘It is, Miss Green.’

23Daphne

I look at myself in the mirror, once again hiding the necklace.

I’m wearing the same baby-pink gym set with the matching tight jacket. If I keep the jacket on and zip it all the way up, the necklace will stay hidden. I walk out of my room only to be met with Amelia walking up the stairs.

‘You and Teddy start, I’ve just got a few things to do then I’ll change my clothes and meet you outside. How was dinner?’

It’s an hour after we’ve eaten, the sun has long set and the temperature has started to drop. With Daddy having his meal in his study, I was left to eat dinner with Milosh, Henry and Teddy.

That went about as well as when I told my father I wanted to study Midwifery at university instead ofBusiness or Chemistry. Awkward, painful and draining.

Amelia was working and couldn’t join us to break the tension, so it fell to me alone to keep the peace and power the conversation.

‘Oh, dinner went great.’ My voice drips with sarcasm. ‘Henry and Milosh really took to Teddy, and by the end of dinner they were holding hands and singing “Kumbaya”.’

‘Wow, who knew all the boys would get along so well?’ Amelia jokes, starting back towards her office.

I give a fake smile as I descend the stairs. ‘Not me!’

I walk into the kitchen and spot my father with his head in the fridge, rummaging for something. ‘You just ate dinner, how are you still hungry?’ I ask, then go to sit down in the breakfast nook to push my trainers on.

‘I’m trying this new thing,’ Daddy responds, looking up and smiling gently when he hears my voice. ‘It’s called stress eating.’

I finish tying my laces up before I look over to him again. ‘Yeah, I wouldn’t recommend that.’

He laughs before fully taking me in. ‘You going to work out?’

‘Yeah. Me, Teddy and Amelia are going to run a few laps in the garden and maybe fit in a little strength training. You want to join? It might help you take your mind off things for a little while,’ I suggest.

‘No,’ he lightly chuckles. ‘I’ve got a lot of work to catch up on, but you have fun and run a lap for me.’

‘So what should we start with?’ Teddy asks, straightening his glasses as he walks out of the garden door. I turn to look at him and laugh. I feel like Milosh probably did when I walked out to our first training session in my fur coat.

Teddy clearly didn’t bring any workout clothes with him as he’s clad in a navy cable-knit jumper, a pair of tartan pyjama bottoms and cream loafers. ‘Interesting outfit choice,’ I quip.