The wholeI’m not chasing him anymorething lasted really long. My eyes rolled. Who was I kidding? I couldn’t stay away from him. Although, if I hadn’t been sent to Hartley’s studio, it would have been a bit longer.
Three agonizing days had passed since I’d spoken to Forest. Did I really think he was going to show up that night and we’d talk for hours? I groaned. No one could hear me. It was two in the morning, and I was walking down the fifth-floor hallway. There wasn’t anyone awake near me. My groan did nothing. It didn’t even make me feel better.
What was wrong with me? I was glad there wasn’t anyone to answer because the list would be long.
I was desperate.
Lonely.
Emotionally wrung out.
And a tad bored.
I could drift upstairs to see if someone was awake who I had half an interest in talking to. Or downstairs to see what the guards who were still proving their worth were doing. They were usually dull. Too rigid for something fun. They didn’t want to risk their jobs. Whatever.
A noise caught my attention, my feet halting. It was a little hiss. The air in the vent? It was the middle of July. The heat and humidity had been brutal, so the air-conditioning worked overtime.
Crouching, I leaned closer to the vent. Nothing sounded out of the ordinary, so I stood and took a step, shrugging it off. There were all kinds of sounds in this building. It wasn’t new, even though it had been updated periodically. Jordan didn’t like anything to reach the point of failure and needing repair. Then there were the other noises—sex noises. Some of the guards got off with each other. I’d heard more sex than I cared to, given I wasn’t currently having any myself.
Something touched my foot. “What the fuck?” I yelped and jumped, accidentally throwing myself into the wall. The jolt was unexpected and startling. I ended up on my ass, trying to catch my bearings. Not one of my finer moments, given that I was a bodyguard to a mafia boss.
I heard it again… a hiss. That wasn’t the air-conditioning.
Slowly, my head turned to the right, and there was a snake staring at me.
A. Fucking. Snake.
In the goddamn building.
“Absolutely not,” I squeaked and stood, bolting down the hallway.
Too bad I didn’t get very far because I hit a wall. Only it wasn’t a wall. Hands gripped my biceps, holding me in place. I thrashed at first. Who the fuck was even here, and why wouldn’t they let me go? Didn’t they know of the danger that lurked in the hallway?
“Sheldon, hey, it’s me.”
Everything in my body stilled. Gorgeous brown eyes watched me with concern. “Forest?”
“What happened?”
I steeled my face. “Nothing.” I wouldn’t win an award for this performance. This was obviously the way to win Forest over. Running scared from a snake was how to get any love interest. If I’d had a gun on me, he would have witnessed me shooting the slippery fucker.
“Really? You can’t even tell me what freaked you out?”
“Who said I was freaked out? I’m perfectly fine. Didn’t you know I sometimes jog in the hallways at night? It keeps the heart rate up. Good cardio.” I started jogging in place, breaking Forest’s hold on me. What the fuck was I doing, other than looking like I’d lost my mind?
Forest peered around, something catching his attention. Of course I knew what it was, even as I stopped jogging like the sight of a snake didn’t scare the shit out of me.
“Who are you?” he asked softly and stepped closer to it. That was enough of that.
I lunged as if to dive in front of him so a bullet wouldn’t hit him. Except he jumped back, and I landed hard on my side on the floor. The snake stared at me, its tongue poking out. I screamed and crawled backward until I bumped into Forest’s legs. Another not-so-proud moment of mine.
Then I heard the laughter. It wasn’t only Forest’s. Oh no, god forbid. I didn’t need an audience for this. There were multiple people fucking cackling at me crawling away. Instead of trying to dig myself a lovely hole in the floor, I stood, smoothed down my sweatpants and T-shirt like it was an expensive suit, and walked past them with my head held high.
This wasn’t embarrassing. Not in the least.
They had the courtesy to wait until I was around the corner and out of sight to laugh again.
“Hey!” I heard Forest bark. “That was funny, I’ll give you that, but none of this leaves here. Got it?”
