He relaxes, his shoulders slumping the tiniest amount, and reaches for the glass of water in front of him, not meeting my gaze.
“Let’s see the house,” Kenta says, standing abruptly. “We’d like to scope the place out before looking at any contracts.”
Five
Glen
?
“This is the guest room,” Briar waves around a large room papered in pale grey. “Will you guys be staying here or going home at night?”
“That’s up to you,” Kenta says. “Our commute is around an hour, which obviously isn’t ideal in an emergency. We’ll go home sometimes, but probably not every night. You can either let us stay here, or have your people book us into a nearby hotel.”
She nods. “The pool house has two bedrooms and a bathroom, if you’re okay staying out there. Feel free to use the pool and the gym. And you can take whatever you want from the kitchen, but I’m vegan, so you might want to buy your own food.”
“You got it, princess,” Matt drawls from the doorway.
Briar whirls on him, her eyes flashing. “Princess?”
Matt shrugs a shoulder. “Your code name. Fitting, don’t you think?”
She gives him a cold look, crossing her arms. “How exactly is this going to work? Will you just… follow me around?” She glances at me. “All the time?”
“We’ll split the day into three eight-hour shifts,” Kenta explains. “12AM to 8AM, 8AM to 4PM, 4PM to 12AM. Whoever’s on shift will stay with you, the others will do their own thing. If it’s necessary, we’ll increase protection when you go out.”
Her nose wrinkles. “When is it necessary?”
“Just one of us would be fine if you wanted to pop to the corner shop. All three of us will attend formal events with you.”
“So youdohave to follow me around all the time,” she says flatly.
Matt lopes over to the window and starts examining the view outside. “That’s what 24-7 means, yes.”
“I’ll never get to be alone?”
“We’ll leave you alone, if that’s what you want,” Kenta says soothingly. “But there will always be someone within earshot of you. They’ll check in on you once or twice an hour, make sure you’re okay.”
“Great,” she mutters. “Absolutely fantastic. When did this become my life?”
I’m surprised. A celebrity who likes her alone time is pretty unusual. In my experience, most of them are desperate to be around people.
We leave the guest bedroom and she starts showing us down the hall. I look around, kind of gobsmacked. I’ll never get over celebrity houses. Briar’s is actually relatively small—just a standard three-bedroom—but the whole place is dripping with luxury. She has two walk-in closets full of clothes, a professional chef’s kitchen, and a ‘glam room’ which I think is dedicated to doing her makeup. There’s an in-home gym, a weight room, and a huge, rippling swimming pool behind the house. Most of her walls are papered in shimmery pink, hung with oil paintings and giant gilt mirrors. Like all celebrity clients I’ve ever met, she has ridiculously large bowls of fruit placed decoratively on all the counters.
As she leads us back into the kitchen, she trips, her heel catching on the doorframe. I reach for her automatically, grabbing her waist to steady her. My fingers splay over the soft leather of her skirt.
Heat touches my face. I clear my throat, pulling my hands away. “Okay, lass?”
She blinks. “You’re Scottish?”
I give her a small smile. “Aye.”
She doesn’t smile back, but her face is curious as she looks me over.
“That’s why he never speaks,” Matt drawls, kneeling to examine the window pane. “He’s embarrassed about it.”
I fight the urge to flip him off.
Truth is, I’ve not said much since I got here because I’ve been slowly dying from the inside. Matt might not remember why Briar looks so familiar, but I sure as Hell do.
