He grins like he just won a battle. It should be fine. It’s not like I’m going to log into my emails and socials, which I’m one hundred percent sure Gideon is monitoring. Nothing bad can happen with a few contacts if it’s in Fox’s name.
“You can even take it with you at the end of the month when you leave if you want. I’ll continue to pay for the contract,” he adds.
And have him track me? I don’t think so. I’ve worked too hard and too long to be unraveled by a bodyguard with personal boundary issues.
I offer a noncommittal noise, making his lips twitch.
“Give me ten minutes, and I’ll meet you in the car.” He disappears into the guest room and closes the door. For thirty seconds, I debate leaving without him. But he will just follow, and I’ll never hear the end of it once he catches up to me.
I love bringingDuke to town. He growls at all the guys—apart from Fox—and gives happy vibes to all the women and kids. I think he’s a dog version of me.
Fox gets many admiring glances from the women passing us. A few greet him with a hi and a fluttering of their lashes.Save me now.
After grabbing fresh produce, we stroll toward Gary the fish guy. Fox has been suspiciously quiet, but that doesn’t mean he’s not attentive. In fact, I think it’s the opposite. He examines and catalogs every single move I make as he tries to pick apart my psyche. I can’t believe I kissed him. Not only kissed him, but straddled his lap like some sex-starved woman, then lost it over the feel of his erection. Is this where I’m at? Never having sex again? Maybe I should join a convent—the only place you aren’t judged for not having sex.
“You are thinking long and hard about something,” Fox says, breaking his stoic silence. I glance at him as my hand tightens around Duke’s leash. I blink before turning back and quickening my pace toward the stall at the end of the street. “This next month could be very long if you refuse to speak to me.”
“You didn’t ask a question, and what you said didn’t warrant a response.”
His gaze narrows. “I’m not buying that you aren’t schooled in the art of conversation.”
“I don’t care.”
We both turn to Gary, and his teenage daughter, Melissa, squeals when she sees Duke. She rounds the stall and drops to her knees in front of the big beast, giving him lots of ear scratches and love.
“Morning, Cleo,” Gary says with an eye roll at Melissa.
“Morning. How’s Kiera?” I ask. His wife sometimes helps out.
“Same old, same old. Chasing me to shower before I touch her with my fishy hands.”
My lips twitch. “How are her roses?” Kiera is a keen gardener whose roses were failing to bloom.
“Oh, she has two new buds! Thanks for the tip. She told me to give you a discount.”
I wave him off. “No need. Glad it helped.”
Gary’s eyes land on Fox. “So the prodigal son has returned?” Fox has been taking in the exchange between us with wide eyes. Yes, I do know how to be pleasant and sociable—I just choose not to be.
Fox folds his arms. “For a short time.”
“You need to stay home and look after your grandmother the way she looked after you.”
That’s unfair. It’s not the job of the children to look after their parents, and I know Helen would sooner climb into an early grave than be mollycoddled by her grandson. Helen is not a woman you take care of in the strictest sense. You support, turn up, ask what she needs, but you do not force yourself into her personal life.
“I am here for whatever she needs,” Fox responds. He gets it.
“What do you recommend today?” I ask, breaking the weird tension rolling off these two.
Gary blinks just as Melissa decides she’s done getting her puppy cuddles and returns to her father’s side. He glares at her. “Go wash your hands.” Melissa rolls her eyes in the overly dramatic way reserved for the teenage years before she skips off to the cafe.
“I have some meaty yellowfin tuna. Would go lovely with a Mediterranean salad and some lemon roast potatoes.”
“Sounds amazing,” Fox mutters. I agree, and we already have everything else needed. So we buy three tuna steaks and head back to the car. Fox places the fish in a cooler in the trunk as I open the back door and wait for Duke to decide to get his big ass in the car.
“Wait,” he says, shutting the trunk. I pause.
“What’s up?”
