“We love you, too, baby,” Gabe says as Noah nods.
“Take it easy until we get home, Kitten.” He smiles and they hang up.
Ten minutes later, Aubrey steps out of the elevator followed by a big, burly dark-skinned man. “Hi, babe. I came as soon as Noah texted.” She comes to my side, kneeling on the ground. “Why didn’t you call me this morning? I would have come right away.”
“You have your own life, Brey. And I know you were supposed to work tonight. You didn’t need to drop everything for me.”
She takes my hand. “Of course, I would. You’re my best friend, Ronnie. My sister. You’ll always come before work. They can survive without me for one night.” She turns to look at the man she came in with. Standing, she waves a hand out to him. “Ronnie, this is Lionel. My personal bodyguard.” She blushes slightly.
The man smiles at her in a fatherly way, then steps toward me as I sit up on the couch. He reaches out a hand and I shake it without hesitation. “Hello, Veronica.Thank you for allowing me into your home.”
“As long as you keep her safe, that’s all that matters to me.” I smile, then take the time to look him over.
He’s very tall and bald-headed; I’d say early to mid-forties but clearly still in amazing shape. Although he seems threatening with his massive frame, he has that fatherly warmth in his eyes that makes you instantly trust him. I have a feeling Julian picked Lionel specifically for Aubrey, knowing how uncomfortable she is around men.
“That’s the plan.” He releases my hand and straightens to his full height, which must be at least six-foot-six. “Now, what can I help you with?”
“Oh, no. Please, just make yourself comfortable or explore. Anything you’d like.”
“I know my job is to guard, but I do enjoy being helpful as well.” He waits patiently for me to give him a task.
“He really does. He helps me out with my baking and even cleans the condo.” Aubrey laughs as her blush spreads wider on her cheeks.
“Okay, well, I was just about to get my medication upstairs and make another tea,” I tell him.
“On it, just let me know where everything is, and you two can settle down.”
After informing him of everything, he goes up to Noah’s room as Aubrey comes to sit beside me. “I did something,” she says quickly in a hushed voice.
I giggle, taking the heating pad off my stomach and placing it on the table beside the couch. “What did you do?”
She brings her hand up to her lips and chews on her thumbnail. “I made some muffins two days ago.”
I frown, confused. “Okay…”
“And I put them in a Tupperware and left them at Shane’s office door,” she mumbles around her thumb as she flushes a deep red, her ears taking on the same shade.
“Awww, why didn’t you just give them to him personally?”
She lets go of her nail and turns to me with wide eyes. “I was going to, I even knocked on the door, and he shouted,‘just a sec!’through it. But then I freaked out and just left the container on the floor and ran away.”
“For a small girl, she runs pretty fast.” Lionel’s deep laugh flows through the room as he comes down the stairs and wanders into the kitchen for the tea.
I turn in my seat, looking over the back of the couch. “You were there?”
“Of course, I was. I never leave her side. And for your information, no, she didnottell me she was about to bolt.” He points a finger toward me.
I throw my head back as I erupt with laughter, then groan when a new wave of cramps comes through. Aubrey quickly stands and grabs the heating pad. “Let me go plug this one in.”
“Thank you, there’s a second one in the last drawer.” I point toward it in the kitchen. Lionel takes it out and exchanges the heating pads with Aubrey. She scurries back and helps me place it over my belly. “Better?”
“Yes, thank you.” I lean back against the couch as Lionel sets the tea beside me and a coffee for Aubrey. We both thank him as he takes a seat on the second couch beside us. “So, Lionel, did you make it out of view on time, or were you caught in the act?”
He chuckles. “I barely made it. I heard the door open just as I rounded the corner.” He shakes his head. “It was honestly the last thing I expected her to do, so it caught me by surprise. I couldn’t stop laughing once we were hidden, and she had to put her hand on my mouth to silence me.” He laughs harder as he remembers the moment.
“You were going to get us caught. I didn’t have a choice!” Aubrey glares at him.
“Brey, I can assure you that even if he didn’t see you, Shane knows they were from you.” I pat her leg, then take a sip of my tea.
