He nodded behind me. “Hey Freddie, how are you?”
I looked over my shoulder and watched my sister do a very good impression of a fish. She blinked, once, twice and then blushed. She clearly took after me.
“Do you mind giving us a minute?” he asked.
She nodded and disappeared into her room. That little traitor.
He turned his attention back to me. “Your face looks better.”
“Stop with the compliments already, I can’t take it.”
He ignored my misplaced sarcasm and continued his study of me. He looked like he was cataloguing every part of my body, making me shift nervously on my feet.
“Are you okay?”
There he went again, making my heart flutter and my breath hitch. “I’m fine,” I replied, but he didn’t look convinced. “Really. I am.” And I really was. My rib was only bruised and the coloring around my eye had gone from a dark blue to a multitude of shadows. Still makeup resistant but at least less obvious.
“Gunner said you’re giving him a hard time,” Rhett said, not looking all too pleased. Well, tough titties, because Gunner was a pain in my ass.
“We don’t need him.” Even though we really did. At least Freddie managed a few hours of sleep a night thanks to our five hundred pounds, give or take a few hundred, bodyguard who looked even angrier than Rhett and was also less talkative. Any attempt at small talk was met with a raised brow and crossed arms.
“Just let him do his job. He’s good,” Rhett tried again.
“I don’t need a babysitter. This is ridiculous. Take him back.”
“No.”
“No?”
“You heard me. And I’m not big on repeating myself.”
Argh, he was so frustrating. “Fine.”
“Great. Now let’s talk about your secondment.”
“My what?”
“You working for me.”
“Not happening, buddy. I thought Cassie already told you this.”
“I guess you haven’t spoken to her recently.”
What the hell did that mean? Cassie had been avoiding me for the last two days, but I figured she was still mad that I booked her an economy ticket.
“She agreed to you being our contact person. And we need constant access to someone from your office so you will be working with me.”
Motherfucker. “What the hell. I can’t drive two hours to get to work every day. Impossible.”
“I’ll get you an apartment in Denver.”
“Rhett, I can’t just move. I have responsibilities.”
“Your Oma will be just fine without you.”
“Freddie lives here too, you know.”
“She could move as well. Surely she’d love to live in a big city.”
