He blinks, his eyebrows pulling low, and I know before he speaks that he is done telling me his secrets. I pushed too far. “You should go to bed, Princess.”
“Youshould go to bed,” I argue to mask my disappointment. “You look exhausted.”
“Whose fault is that? Oh wait, you already admitted that it’s yours.” Standing, he offers his hand to me and helps me to my feet, and then he surprises me by tucking my arm through his like he did on the street earlier. Only, this time his bare skin is warm against mine, and something about the more intimate contact sits heavy in my stomach. As glad as I am to have a chance to see his tattoos again, it is better if he continues to wear his suits. This feels different from our limited physicality before today, almost like crossing a line we should never cross.
Do I let go? Of course not.
We are both quiet until we reach my door and Elliot slips his arm free, leaving me bereft of his warmth. But rather than leaving my side, he remains where he is, looking down at me with an unreadable emotion in his eyes. “I left the Forces because I needed something new,” he says, so quietly that I have to lean closer to hear him, and we were already quite close as it was. “My dad died shortly after, so it felt like I’d made the right choice because I was in the States when it happened instead of some remote mountain village on a different continent.”
“Were you home when he passed?”
He shakes his head, and my heart aches for him. “On base. I was a training officer in North Carolina, but it wasn’t long before I realized I don’t like dealing with willful soldiers.”
He looks so miserable that I can’t help but search for some way to lighten the mood. I want to go back to the moment when we decided we are friends. “You left willful soldiers to come deal with me,” I say with a small laugh. “That does not sound like an upgrade.”
That gets him laughing in return, and I love the way his whole face lights up with his amusement, like his worries wash away with his laughter. I cannot imagine what he has seen in his lifetime, but the way he has stood strong through it is admirable. “You’re right,” he says with a shake of his head. “You’re way worse.”
I grin up at him. “Yet you are still here.”
“I am,” he agrees, almost as a question. I understand his surprise, given how desperately I wanted him to go only a week ago.
Looking at him now, I cannot fathom how thoroughly I disliked him when he has been nothing but a support to me from the start. Without him, I would not be here in Windgaard, and I will never be able to thank him enough for making this campaign possible. Regardless of the election’s outcome, these two weeks will change my life.
“Goodnight, Rapunzel,” he murmurs, then bows his head and steps back.
I offer him a smile. “Goodnight, Elliot.” When I close my door, I feel as if something has permanently changed between us. What that is, I do not know, but I spend a long time gazing at the door separating our suites and hoping he is getting the rest he needs.
He has spent all his energy looking after me the last few days.
But who is looking after him?
Chapter Fifteen
Elliot
HavenfordissmallerthanI expected, a tiny fishing village tucked away at the base of a sweeping cliff on the coast. Granted, I could only see so much when we arrived because a storm blew in this afternoon, leaving the whole countryside in a thick misty rain, but I haven’t been able to figure out why Gregor added this town to the campaign trail. Or why Grimstad would come here as well.
I’m obviously missing something.
“How many people live here?” I grumble as I stare out the window of the inn we’ve commandeered, trying to see anything through the rain. All I can make out is an empty cobblestone street and a fewthatch-roofed houses.
“Few hundred?” Hex tosses an almond in the air and catches it with his mouth. He and Sander were as eager to come here as Freya seemed to be, but no one has explained why. “It’ll be better when the rain stops.”
Even at the start of the campaign, there wasn’t a planned speech for this stop, and all Freya told me in the car this morning was that she has everything under control and I don’t need to worry. Which is exactly what she shouldn’t have said if she doesn’t want me to worry.
I can’t keep her safe if I’m unprepared.
When we arrived, I tried to look up the town to get a better sense of what I’m facing, but I don’t have enough cell service to get an internet signal, and the innkeeper gave me a funny look when I asked if there was Wi-Fi. While that hopefully means we’ll also be safe from moreHot Scoopnonsense while we’re here, I don’t like being disconnected like this.
“What’s wrong with you, El?” Hex asks, then tosses another nut into his mouth. With his legs stretched out on the chair across from him, he looks like he doesn’t have a care in the world, and I envy his ability to relax.
I let my guard down last night after Grimstad left, and that was a bad move. Freya got more out of me than I would have liked, and a part of me still wanted to tell her my secrets when we were trapped in the car on the way here. It’s better for everyone if I keep my shields up and stay focused on my job, but right now it feels like I’m the only onenottaking it easy. Well, me and the guards I stationed outside, though they’ll need to be relieved soon so they’re not out in the elements for too long.
“Freya’s napping,” Hex says. “Sander’s in her room with her. Not many people are dumb enough to be out in this storm, so you can relax a bit.”
Shaking my head, I return my gaze to the window. He’s right about everyone being inside—I haven’t seen anyone in the village except for a few curious townspeople when we first arrived—but relax? That’s not happening.
Sighing heavily, Hex drops his boots to the floor and gets to his feet like it’s the most laborious movement in the world. He comes to join me at the window, throwing an arm around my shoulders, and then he presses a hand to my chest. “Seriously, Elliot. You’re allowed to have down moments too. You’re new to the bodyguard thing, but no one expects you to beonall the time, especially after what she put you through yesterday.”
