“Yes, sir.”
“I’ll be checking in again soon.”
“Looking forward to it,” I lied as he hung up.
I let out a long breath and rested my head against the back of the seat. The call with Vince had left me feelinga little rattled. Not sure why. Maybe I was still getting used to the fact that my life wasn’t really my own anymore. Anytime I had to talk to him, it was a stark reminder of my new reality.
The passenger-side door suddenly opened, and Juliette slid into the car. I’d been so preoccupied, I hadn’t noticed her walking toward me, which wasn’t good. My eyes should’ve been on her from the moment she left the building until she was safely in the car.
“What’s gotten into you?” she asked, likely noticing that I was on edge.
“Nothing.” I started the engine and glanced over at her. “Put your seatbelt on.”
She reluctantly followed my order. “I was going to…”
It surprised me that she didn’t give me shit for telling her what to do. Still tense, I chewed on my bottom lip as I drove.
“Did something happen today?” she asked.
“No.” My tone was curt.
“Wes…”
“What?” I snapped.
“If we’re gonna do this, you need to be honest with me. Am I in danger?”
Shit. I didn’t want her to think that. I also didn’t want to admit that her father made me nervous, but I didn’t want to freak her out for no reason, either.
“Nothing’s wrong, Juliette. Truly. Your dad called to check in. That’s all. I told him everything was fine.”
“If everything is fine, then why are you in a mood?”
“Because I’m not a machine,” I answered. “When someone reminds me what’s at stake, I can’t help but react. But there’s nothing new. Nothing to worry about. Thecall was just a kick in the ass for me to remember why I’m here, even if you make it easy to forget sometimes.”
She blushed. “Was that a compliment?”
“I guess you could say that. There are worse places I could be than hanging out with you, even if you’re cranky. You’re a good distraction. And this still beats a lot of other gigs.”
“So I’m one step up from guarding a laundromat that’s a front for money laundering?”
I chuckled. “Many steps up from that.”
“Oh good.” She winked.
She seemed to be getting more comfortable with me, and that was a win that might just cancel out the call from Vince. I calmed down for the ride back to her place. But the calm was short-lived.
When we returned to the house, Juliette noticed that I’d turned down the temperature—quite a bit—before we left this morning.
“What the hell? It feels like Antarctica in here, Wes.”
“It was hotter than hell earlier. You said you didn’t want me to take off my shirt. I turned down the temperature so that wouldn’t be an issue when we got back.”
She placed her hands on her hips. “You don’t have the right to do that.”
“Well, if the thermostat is off-limits, then I do have a right to take off my damn shirt when it’s hot in here.”
Juliette proceeded to adjust the temperature back and storm off to her bedroom. She only came out once to grab something from the fridge and take it to her room.
