“I remember the first time we knew we thought more of each other than just bodyguard and client. She was on location in Spain. We’d been pretending to be a couple for months, but one night, it all just came together.”
“Was it love at first sight?” I asked as I took a healthy gulp of my drink, enjoying the warming sensation it left in its wake as I swallowed.
Gage shook his head. “No. She was like a spoiled child when I first began guarding her. I don’t think we spoke our first words to one another for weeks after I was hired. Well, that’s not true. She snapped at me constantly in those weeks. When we finally began talking, I could see she wasn’t that diva I’d thought she was.”
“Sounds like that Whitney Houston movie, The Bodyguard.”
“Not exactly. She wasn’t that bad.”
I held up my glass to let the waiter know I needed a refill. “Well, it’s nice to know there was a happy ending,” I said as I looked around the restaurant for the missing waiter.
“Not really. She married someone else last March.”
Turning to look at him, for first time I saw emotion in his eyes. God, I was such a bitch! I placed my glass down on the table and rested my other hand on top of his. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be so flippant about everything. You obviously cared about her.”
“Yeah, well, that whole good things happening to good people thing doesn’t always happen to everyone. Sometimes things are bad and that’s all there is.”
The waiter brought Gage’s food and another martini for me, and we sat in silence as he ate and I attempted to drown both our troubles. The press milling about outside had taken lots of pictures when I touched his hand, so I hoped we’d done our job well enough for Daryl to be happy. I didn’t want to think Tristan would be happy. I wanted to believe he’d be as jealous as I’d be if I saw him holding hands with another woman.
By the time I’d drunk three martinis, Gage was finished with lunch. In addition to tasting great, my chocolate martinis had the wonderful effect of making me hate the facade we had to keep up a little less, at least for the moment. I was also feeling more talkative.
“It was love at first sight for me with Tristan,” I announced as Gage finished the last of his steak and wiped his mouth.
“That’s cool. I didn’t realize that even existed in real life.”
“Well, maybe not first sight, but the first time he kissed me, it was definitely something like love.”
“Those drinks sure have an effect on you,” Gage joked. “Even your body language has eased up. You look like you did that night at ETA.”
“You were there with us that night?” I asked, surprised to know he’d seen Tristan and me then.
Gage nodded. “West and I have been in the shadows with you since you returned home from the hospital, especially when you’re alone without Tristan.”
He knew that I’d gone to see Cal that time and probably knew I’d secretly met with him those other times. I didn’t know why, but I needed to explain that I hadn’t cheated on Tristan.
“Then you know about me meeting with Cal Johnson. I didn’t do anything wrong, you know. It was all on the up-and-up.”
“I know. If you had done anything, we would have had to tell Tristan. I know it’s not my place to say so, Nina, but your ex-boyfriend is a scammer.”
“I found that out. I guess it’s nice to know that you guys were around to make sure nothing bad happened.”
“And Jensen too,” he said with a smile. “I was surprised he jumped in that night at that bar. You must have made quite an impression on the guy.”
Gage’s phone dinged, and he lifted it to show me it was Daryl texting him. I didn’t have to see the entire text to know what he wanted. All it took was one word I saw scrolling across the top of his phone.
Kiss
His text was longer than that, including where and when to kiss me, and as Gage read it to me, I felt the intense need for another drink. Maybe being entirely hammered would make it possible for me to kiss another man for the cameras.
I lifted my glass, but Gage pushed my wrist down so the glass sat back on the table. “I think we need to go.”
“I think I want another drink. You just read the decree from Daryl that I have to kiss you, and what that means is that the man I love told him he’s okay with that. I need another fucking drink.”
“Let’s get you home and then whatever you’re feeling you can let out all you want. I just don’t want to see you unravel in front of these people.”
Turning to look out the window, I saw the photographers and suddenly hated them. I hated this whole thing. I didn’t want to do this anymore. As I stared out at them, my phone vibrated and I swiped the face to see Daryl had sent me a text too.
But it was even worse than the one he sent to Gage because this one wasn’t from him. It was from Tristan.
Daryl says you won’t do what he asked. I know this is hard, but we need the world to think you’ve moved on. It’s just for a short time, princess. Remember that and we’ll be okay.
Princess. It was Tristan, after all. All those texts and this was the one he decided was worth responding to? Crushed, I let my fingers fly over the keyboard on my phone. What happened to the man who was so jealous that I couldn’t even have drinks with my ex? Now you’re okay with me kissing Gage, the guy the world knows as my incredibly sexy bodyguard who’s doing so much more than just guarding my body these days? Thanks for bothering to clear this up for me.
I waited for another text from Tristan from Daryl’s number, but it never came. Whatever he felt about me kissing another man, he couldn’t even bother to reply.
The Kiss happened just as Daryl dictated—or maybe it was how Tristan dictated—right outside the restaurant as we walked to Jensen and our waiting car. It meant nothing to me physically, but emotionally, I was devastated that Tristan had actually wanted it to happen. All those months alone and what did I have to show for it? The man I loved and prayed every day and night to see again telling me that I had to kiss another man.
We rode back to the house in silence, my misery stewing inside me as I listened almost hypnotized to the sound of the tires rolling over highway, and I beat a path for my room the moment the car jerked to a stop in the garage. All I wanted was to be alone. No more pretending with Gage. No more orders from Daryl. No more anything. Just me curled up in bed.