Maybe you’re just jumping to conclusions, I told myself. First, find out what he really means…
“I’m sorry,” I said, “I’m not sure I understand what you’re asking me.”
“Really now?”
A long silence passed between us, and Jared literally started twirling his thumbs. His brow lowered and he stared at the table for a moment, as if trying to find the right words to say. “Have you been getting a bit too attached to Ms. Natalie Finley, Colt?”
“No,” I answered immediately, the lie leaping off my tongue. Fuck.
“Hmm.”
It was evident that. Jared didn’t believe me, and I had no idea what else to say. I was treading on thin ice though.
“Well,” he continued, “just to be on the safe side, I am reassigning you to Speaker Finley himself. There have been some suspicious whispers about the relationship you’ve been developing with Natalie, and I would just hate for any issues or scandals to arise while the Speaker is in consideration for Vice President. You understand, right?”
Now I paused for a long moment. “I’m sorry, but I belong with Natalie,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “I’m not trying to be difficult, but she trusts me. I think it would be detrimental to assign someone else to her right now, for you…you know, psychological and emotional reasons.”
“Do you now?” Jared said. “And whose psychological and emotional reasons are we talking about here, yours or hers?”
I swallowed. “I…I just don’t think it’s a good idea to reassign—”
“Can you promise me that you can refrain from getting too attached to Natalie Finley?”
“Yes,” I said, feeling a knot flip in my stomach.
“Then you may eventually be reassigned to her. For now though, please report to Speaker Finley’s estate.”
r />
* * *
There was no use in fighting against the orders. Besides, I didn’t want to further incriminate myself by fighting too hard to go back to Natalie. If someone had been tipped off about a budding romance forming between the two of us, I didn’t want to do anything to feed into the issue.
It was now overly obvious that our escapade in the library hadn’t been a good idea. Too overcome with lust and passion, neither of us had paid attention to the fact that it was far too easy to get caught in a public area like that. Maybe someone had seen us. Maybe someone saw the smiles and giggles and disheveled clothing as we left through the library, looking like a couple of sneaky hormonal teenagers.
Maybe a photo had been snapped somewhere…
Or maybe hidden security cameras had been recording us…
The thought sent chills down my spine. How could I have been so stupid? So unprofessional. It was all my fault.
I had brought this on myself.
Way to fucking go, Colt.
I pulled up in front of Speaker Finley’s estate with a sigh. Knowing Natalie was not inside already made the grounds seem less welcoming.
As I approached the steps, the door automatically opened to me. Speaker Finely stood on the other side “Colt, my man! Welcome back,” he said, immediately extending his hand to me. I took it and forced a smile onto my face.
“Thank you, sir. Good to be back.”
He shut the door after I entered. “So, they’ve reassigned you to me, huh? Natalie called me this morning, distressed. Do you have any idea why such a change was made?”
I scratched the back of my head. “Uhm…I think it’s just because the…the odds of you being targeted, sir, are higher than the odds of her being targeted. So I’ve been told that I’m needed here with you. Another security guard has been placed with Natalie. She’ll be fine.”
“I see,” Speaker Finley said, a slight frown on his face. “I guess I should be relieved by this, but I don’t know. I know you’re the best, Colt. I personally would feel better if you were with my little girl. I guess that’s just the fatherly instinct in me though. I worry far more for her than I do for myself. The guard that’s with her—is he good? Is he capable of protecting her the way you can?”
I forced myself to nod. “Yes, sir…” I said, my mind already spinning into overdrive. “I can, however, still stop by to occasionally check on her, if you’d like. Uhm…you know, during shift changes.”