BAILEY: Rest up tomorrow and if you’re not going to have Mr. Bodyguard help pick something out then send me your options so we can make sure you look hot
KAT: It’s a signing for children…
BAILEY: And there’s no reason you can’t look like a professional, hot, school teacher to get Mr. Bodyguard’s blood pumping
KAT: GOODNIGHT!
BAILEY: (kiss face emoji) sweet dreams
Tossingmy phone onto my nightstand, I can’t wipe the smile from my face, thankful that I’m able to hide my blush in the darkness.
It doesn’t matter that I’m alone. It still feels like I’m doing something wicked, my thoughts already straying back to that first night in the hall.
Closing my eyes, I snuggle down into the blankets, my hand sliding into the waistband of my panties because of this fantasy that will live rent free in my mindforever.
What would it have been like if he’d backed me against the wall? The knot of his towel loosening before falling to the floor?
Only one way to find out…
19
KAT
Despite talking with Bailey and then getting myself off not once buttwice,I still didn’t sleep well. Unfortunately, it had nothing to do with hot, sexy fantasies involving my bodyguard down the hall—that would have at least been worth it.
But no.
I’d been plagued by an attack of impostor syndrome—a wave of self-doubt consuming my conscious thought. In a moment of weakness, I logged into my social media accounts and nearly cried.
All my happiness from earlier in the day was gone in an instant, replaced with all the messages and posts meant to tear me down.
Who does she think she is that she needs a bodyguard?
#Entitled
Like anyone cares just because she’s Colt Harrington’s sister?
Must be nice to just hire some guy to follow you around and hold your purse…
She’s so fake.
I know it shouldn’t matter, but they’d only gotten worse. Strangers I could handle, but peers chiming in to say that it was overkill to hire security instead of offering support had my heart sinking like a bowling ball.
Hazel hadn’t responded. She rarely engaged with anything that didn’t directly concern her. But her aunt, Amelia, had replied something likeI’m sure she has her reasonson more than a few comments. But that didn’t make me feel better either.
It felt placating and that felt worse than all the rest.
Long before I started making a name for myself writing, my brother was making a name for himself on the national sports stage.
So much of my life required me to be completely desensitized to people who thought they had a right tomethroughhim.My outfits, hairstyle, food choices, and a myriad of other completely mundane things became fit for public consumption.
And then my own career took off and it got worse. I thought I’d be used to the negative attention, but it still stings.
The idea thatit’s just businessmight work for some people but not for me.
I want people to like me.
And I want them to like my writing both as Kat Harrington and Sloane Daniels, even if they don’t know I’m the latter.
