The first thing I noticed was that she looked physically fine. She didn’t appear to have any injuries, nor was she displaying any of the obvious signs of discomfort that might hint at something hidden beneath her clothes.
Relief coursed through me like a living thing that had taken up residence in my veins. She’s not hurt. Thank fuck.
Throughout a relatively sleepless night, I’d envisioned a few scenarios in which she’d been attacked by one of those psychos who’d threatened her. The mere thought of someone hurting her had been enough to make my blood boil, and an alarmingly intense desire to exact vengeance on her behalf spread through me.
The images my brain had so helpfully conjured up somewhere between two and four this morning had plagued me, and it was only now that I was seeing with my own eyes that she was uninjured that I managed to relax.
The other thing I noticed immediately was that she was even more beautiful up close than she had been when I’d seen her in the grocery store. The Rylee I remembered from childhood was gorgeous, but the woman sitting in front of me now was stunning. There was no other way to describe her.
Except maybe as an extremely fuckable version of Snow White. Dark auburn hair, bluest eyes, smooth pale skin, and full perfectly red lips. She was made even more perfect by the light smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose. Jesus. How is it possible that she’s become even more breathtaking over the years?
I felt like someone had wrapped their fists around my lungs and squeezed all the air out of them. Just seeing her had knocked the breath right out of me.
All of this took no longer than a beat, but time seemed to have slowed down. No more so than when she lifted her gaze away from the phone she’d been scrolling on and looked up at me.
When our eyes connected, it was like I’d been struck by lightning. The chemistry that’d always existed between us had nothing on the way every atom in the air suddenly crackled in the room right then.
Until I realized that while she was looking at me like she appreciated what she was seeing, there wasn’t a single ounce of recognition in her eyes. She didn’t have any fucking idea who I was.
That’s a good thing, right?
Maybe without the pressure of a shared history and the knowledge that I used to be her brother’s best friend, we actually stood a chance of getting to know each other for the people we were now. More than that, it might make it easier for me to focus on doing my job—and not the woman I was supposed to be protecting.
I knew I’d changed a lot since the last time we’d seen each other, but I really hadn’t thought I was totally unrecognizable. Sure, I’d filled out a lot from the scrawny kid I used to be, grown a few more inches, cut my hair much shorter, and I had stubble now. But did I really look so different that she had no clue I was me?
Evidently, the answer to that question was yes.
Rylee extended her hand after standing up, an easygoing smile spreading across her lips as she took a step toward me. “Hi. You must be Carter. I’m Rylee. It’s very nice to meet you.”
It was a split-second decision not to come clean to her about who I was just yet. “Yeah. I’m Carter. You might want to hold off on deciding whether it really is nice to meet me until we’ve gone over all the rules you’re going to have to live by for the next month.”
When I slipped my hand into hers, I felt like an earthquake passed through me at the feel of her skin against mine. The only sign that she felt it as well was the slightest flaring of her nostrils before she released my hand and went back to her seat.
Her smile hadn’t even faltered, even though I was ninety percent sure I’d faint if a feather so much as came near me right then. “Trust me. You won’t have any problems with me not following the rules. I’ll do what I have to do.”
“In that case, you and I are going to get along just fine.” I pulled out one of the leather chairs around the table and lowered myself into it. As much as I’d have been able to stare at her all day while marveling about the fact that the connection between us felt so strong after so many years, I had work to do. “Why don’t we start with you telling me what made you make the decision to hire a guard, and we’ll take it from there?”
I hadn’t quite been prepared for the story that followed. I knew about the threats obviously, but it was definitely news to me that there was creepy reporter borderline stalking her. “What an asshole.”
She nodded, her eyes wide as she ran her fingers through her long hair. “I know. It’s just so fucking weird. It came out of nowhere.”
“People in your situation often feel that way, but it’s never out of nowhere. It started somewhere and it’s likely he’s been building up to this for much longer than you think.”
“Now there’s a comforting thought.” She sighed softly. “I guess it’s a good thing Jules, my manager, had already spoken to your boss. I’m sorry if this has suddenly become a lot more complicated than what it was when you agreed to take me on as a client.”
“It’s not a problem. Unfortunately, this kind of thing is a lot more common than most people think. It won’t be my first rodeo with a guy like that.”
“That actually is a comforting thought.” She smiled. “Well, not that it’s so common, but that you’ve seen it and dealt with it before.”
“Really? Here I thought you were comforted by the knowledge that there are so many other people out there getting threatened by dirtbags.”
Rylee didn’t skip a beat. She snapped her thumb and index finger together, shaking her head. “Maybe I should start a support group. We can all comfort each other.”
“There are actually support groups out there. They’re not quite as well-known as some of the others, for obvious reasons, but they’re pretty active.”
“I can understand why they would be. Getting threatened is bad enough. I can’t imagine what it must feel like if the person who has threatened you actually starts following you around or trying to hurt you.”
A visible shudder traveled through her. I wanted to hug her so damn badly that I ended up digging my fingers into my thighs to keep from reaching out to her. We’d never been particularly close, but there had been times here and there that we’d hugged.
Birthdays. Their grandfather’s funeral. Once or twice when we said hi or bye. I remembered what it felt like to have her in my arms, though. Not so well that I could still feel exactly what her body had felt like against mine or anything as obsessive as that, but I remembered those hugs, and they’d been good.
“Hopefully, you’ll never know what that feels like,” I said, settling for using a reassuring tone. “Even if this guy or anyone else tries anything, I’ll be there. No one is going to hurt you.”
“About that.” She sucked in a breath and rolled her lips into her mouth before slowly releasing them. “I’m not sure how your arrangements with clients usually work, but I want twenty-four-seven security and I’d like it to be only one person. I’ve got a guest bedroom at my place where you can stay.”
My heartrate kicked up a notch. It wasn’t the first time a client was expecting me to be with them every minute of every day, but this was Rylee. I was attracted to her, which was a first for me with a client.