1
BASIA
The first thing I smell when I wake up is faint traces of cologne. My heart stops, freezing in my chest, my pulse thumping loudly in my ears for just a second until I recognize the scent—that’s Caleb’s cologne.
My rough-around-the-edges, undeniably sexy bodyguard, Caleb Ward, also known to his ex-military buddies as the Aegis. I’m always snickering at the nickname. My good friend Morgan and I work at an insurance company called Aegis Ironclad. It’s a weird coincidence.
I bite my lip, thinking of Caleb coming into my bedroom while I slept. Was I drooling? Did my boob escape the flimsy confines of my camisole as one tends to do? I always want to look my best for my grouchy protector, even though I know this isn’t a Whitney Houston/Kevin Costner situation. He’s always so professional and detached. Definitely not fantasizing about me the way I’m always fantasizing about him.
And I shouldn’t be. I should be thinking about the reason he’s always here now, in my modest Brooklyn apartment, even at night. My stalker sent me a human ear in the mail. A freshlysevered woman’s ear with colorful piercings and a semi-colon tattoo on the back. Those little details killed me.
The body part was in the box with a note. I see it every time I close my eyes.
I’ll be sending your ear to your father next, Basia Langford. The governor thought the Sanctum of Ash cult didn’t exist and refused to investigate. Well, it does exist. I’M PROOF OF THAT! Soon he’ll know. But you won’t be around to see justice served.
My breathing speeds up, panic starting to claw at me. How did this person find out who I am? New York knows me as Basia Barton, which is my paternal grandmother’s maiden name. My mom’s surname would’ve been too recognizable. Katarzyna “Kasia” Kaminska, a former Polish supermodel, now a governor’s wife, is a name most people recognize from magazines.
Morgan was the first person I’ve told about my true identity in all the time I’ve been living here. We’ve been coworkers at Aegis Ironclad for years, and hanging out more and more, when she opened up to me about her then new, now future baby daddy boyfriend. I told her about my stalker, her hot EMT boyfriend found me a bodyguard among his buddies, and here we are, three months later.
There’s a man the size of a Mack truck living with me. He has wild brown hair, brown eyes, tan skin, and muscles on muscles on muscles. He’s overprotective and looks a bit like a primal savage, but last week, when I had the sniffles, he brought chicken soup to where I was vegetating on the couch, wrapped in my hoodie blanket.
Loud purring announces Poe’s arrival, pulling me out of my completely inappropriate daydreams.The chubby orange tabby hops into bed with me and promptly presents me with his butt.
“Uh, no one needs to see that, baby,” I mutter, pushing on his flank until he turns around. He headbutts my palm and nibbles on my pinky. Ever since Caleb’s been here at the apartment, Poe hasn’t been waking me up in the morning for his breakfast. Caleb gets up freakishly early—I swear the military teaches people how to go without basic human needs, like food and sleep.
Which makes me wonder about another basic human need.
“Oh my god, you hussy, shut up,” I whisper, making Poe’s ears tremble as he homes in on my words.
But really, though. He’s with me all the darned time, like a sexy boulder blocking out the spring sun. So maybe when he’s showering, he uses that big, veiny hand to…
“Fucking stop,” I hiss, making Poe jump off in affront.
“Basia?” Caleb’s deep voice sounds from behind the door, open just a crack so Poe can come and go as he pleases. “Everything good in there?”
“Yep! Peachy!” I squeak, then clear my throat nervously. “I’m just ranting at dumb reels. You know how I get.”
“Mmm,” he replies, sounding unconvinced. “I made breakfast. It’s in the oven whenever you’re ready.”
“You’re the best,” I gush, already swinging my feet out.
“Remember that next time you bitch at me for hovering,” he grumbles, his footsteps leading away from my bedroom.
“No!” I shout after him, making him laugh.
He’s so helpful. And I swear he uses all the money I give him for stuff here anyway. The new security system, top of the line, installed and monitored by his good friend Ethan. The groceries he needs to cook his delicious, protein-packed meals. Gas for taking me to and from work, where he waits outside and makes me check in every thirty minutes.
Ok, so he’sveryoverbearing. But I still wish I could melt thatprofessional exterior and see what’s underneath. Never going to happen, though. I’m just a job for him.
With a sigh, I pad to the bathroom, shutting myself in. I brush my teeth while peeing and try not to look at the shower where I just imagined Caleb masturbating. By the time I’m sitting in the kitchen, shoveling a delicious spinach omelet into my mouth, I’ve gotten myself so flustered that I can’t even look at Caleb.
“You’re quiet today,” he remarks, turning the page on his newspaper. Who the hell still reads newspapers like a nineties dad? It’s all online anyway! “You’re not worried about your safety, are you?”
I mean, I probably should have been thinking about that and not his big, veiny…
“Um, yeah,” I say after swallowing a piece of toast that suddenly feels like ash in my mouth, even though it’s perfectly buttered. I tug on my earlobe. “I like my ear piercings a little more discreet.”
Caleb grunts in amusement, and I blush, looking away again. But thinking about that ear is even worse.
