And I suppose she was. Her dark feline eyes only made that statement moretrue.But I had to see this girl for who she was at her rawest, and to do that, I had tocatch her off guard. Not to scare her, but to figure out who I’d be looking after. How I needed to go about this relationship.
It also made it abundantly clear that there was no question that I would be theone to watch over Cora. I trusted myself more than any of my guys, and although I’d be happy to pair one of them with her, I’d feel safer if that person was me.
Without thinking, I pushed back from the table and stood, heading towards thedoor. “Excuse me a minute.” I rushed before gripping the handle and slipping out into the hallway, scanning left and right for any sign of Cora.
Both ways were empty, so I flipped a mental coin and went right on mywarpath.
Perhaps if she knew why I’d tracked her down this morning, she’d ease up alittle. Even though she was well within her rights to feel this way, I still held out hope she’d listen.
Eventually, I made my way to the main reception, and right as I scanned theclosing elevator doors, I saw a flash of black and the jeans that hung low on her waist.
I jogged over to the thing as quickly as I could and slid my hand between thedoors to catch them. The steel jolted, the noise earning me back that midnight stare.
I flashed a quick, humourless smile as the doors reopened, sliding in andconsuming the space next to her. “Going down?”
I half expected her to roll her eyes, but as I glanced at her, all I saw was thatfear again as she clung to the corner.
You’re scaring her, dumbass. Just talk to her.
I pressed the ground floor button and waited for the doors to close to swivelaround and sigh. “Okay, look. The reason I came by your place this morning was because I wanted to know what I was getting myself into before I offered myself for the position.” My hand raked through my hair, tugging at the strands as it fell to the back of my neck. “I haven’t been someone’s bodyguard since before I started the company, and I know I train the guys I send out there, but training someone how to protect and actually protecting are two very different things, and I wanted to make sure—”
“That I wasn’t the stuck-up English bitch that the internet seems to think I ambecause my hair is black?”
Her tone burned the way her stare did, with a layer of vulnerability that Iwasn’t sure she knew was there. But it was. It was the first thing I noticed when she brushed me off this morning, and it was the only thing I could see now.
I shook my head, keeping my eyes pinned on hers. “I wanted to make sure thatif I took this on, I’d be doing right by you.” My gaze travelled down her face, hovering over the universe of freckles on her nose, the way I could see her pulse beating against the soft, snowy skin of her neck, tracing the end ofa collarbone tattoo that I couldn’t read even with the meter between us.
I dragged my eyes back to catch hers, darting between them as I lowered myvoice. “You need someone who sees the whole picture, who sees you, and knows exactly what kind of person they’re protecting and what they need protection from.”
Her head pulled back, shaking it slightly, eyes scanning my face like I had with her, only hers were full of judgement. “You don’t even know me. How can you possibly think you see me?”
I shook my head too, as a smile, one that I couldn’t help but contain, bloomedacross my mouth. “It’s a good thing you want to be an influencer and not an actor. Everything I need to know about the real you is in that tone of yours.” I leaned down so our eyes were level, low enough that I felt the tip of my spine ache from the difference. “Because not one part of it matches what your eyes are telling me.”
“Andwhat exactly are my eyes telling you?”
“That you’re the one who fears. Not the one who’sfeared.”
The second I saw the black flame in her eyes glow red, I knew I was rightabout my conclusion on Cora Holland. Vulnerability to her was a weakness, something that she knew, if the world found out about it, would eat her alive. So, she kept her shields up. Pretended she didn’t give a shit about anyone or their opinion. Pretending that they couldn’t hurt her.
But the facts were there. Her attitude was a shield. A see-through one at that.
I kept my stare locked in. “And sure, maybe the world has hurt you enough thatyou don’t feel it anymore. Maybe your home life has already cut so deep that any other wound feels painless to you. But I’m not buying that you care that little about your future that you’d reject thorough protection and risk your life again.”
Flames burnt in her stare as she took a step towards me. But before she couldspeak, I beat her to it.
“Don’t tell me you don’t need protecting, Miss Holland. Because we bothknow that you do. I’ve seen how the media treats you like London’s sweetheart one day and a piece of trash the next. Your image is unpredictable, and your life irreplaceable, and that right there is why, for lack of a better word, I’m now your shadow.”
The air felt thick around us as my words echoed. Her expression didn’t change. She was still angry. Still had a flame burning in her irises that made the dense airfeel like a wildfire.
Eventually, I watched her steal a breath, her shoulders square, and her bottomlip sink between her teeth as she nodded. “Okay. Two things.” Her head fell as she shuffled before setting her dark eyes back on mine. “One, you might want to work on those background checks. Because I don’t want to be an influencer. I have no choice but to be. So know your facts before you interrogate me again, okay?”
Even though it was a question, I knew she wasn’t asking me to answer her.
“And two.” The elevator jolted to a stop, and the ding sounded as the doorsglided open. But she didn’t take her eyes off me. “For lack of a better word, you are nothing but a stranger to me. Not my fucking shadow.”
She stormed out of the elevator in a breeze of jasmine and vanilla, the slightheel from her shoes clacking against the marble lobby like a siren call to chase her down and remind her that she didn’t exactly have a choice.
She flicked her black hair over her shoulder as she turned around, pinning mewith one final glare. “Track me down again, and I’ll make sure you won’t have hands to drive that hideous car of yours.”
