Gilded Cage

Lillian found him very cute, flustered like that.

“Look,” he said for the third time. “You don’t need to feel obliged…”

“Are you gay?”

He looked scandalised. “No.”

“Is there a special lady waiting for you somewhere?”

“Lillian, it’s not…”

“It’s because of my scar, isn’t it?” She rubbed her right thigh. The ugly scar always made her self-conscious. “I can’t do anything about it. I could get plastic surgery but…”

Brandon seized her shoulders. “Lillian, you’re perfect. You’re perfect in every way.”

“But I’m not your type, is that what you’re trying to say?”

“I’m your bodyguard. My job is to protect you, not get in your pants.”

A hearty laugh escaped her before she could hold it in. So that was what the fuss was all about? “What if I’m the one who wants to get in your pants?”

He released her, brandishing his hands in desperation. “Don’t. Tempt. Me.”

“Why not?”

“Just don’t.”

“Brandon!”

“Listen. You’re emotionally vulnerable. You think you know what you want, but you don’t. You like me because I saved you from Stanford. It has nothing to…”

“I like you because you’re the hottest guy I’ve ever met.”

His face turned magenta. “For the love of God, Lillian. Are you trying to make me ravish you?”

“Something along that line. It’s my wedding day, after all.”

Brandon let out another sigh. “Why don’t you rest or take a shower or something while I get us food. I bet you’re hungry.” He stalked off to the door and yanked the handle open.

“Why did you kiss me back if you don’t like me?”

He stiffened and left without a word.

That girl. Brandon sucked a hard inhalation through his teeth, feeling frustrated. I’m losing my mind. His cock throbbed in his pants, hard and unfulfilled. She had no idea how close he was from snatching her and throwing her onto that silly bed, tearing her clothes off, and fucking her until she fainted. If he did that, he was no better than Maxwell Stanford. He’d sworn to protect her, not take advantage while she was in her most vulnerable state.

You’re the hottest guy I’ve ever met. What if I want to get in your pants?

Damn temptation. Brandon clenched his fist, storming out from the private exit of Koi and into the sun-blinding street. The humidity and hot temperature offered no relief from the choking arousal he was suffering. He wasn’t the type of man who was easily turned on. Self-control was his best virtue. But that girl, that Rapunzel from the Tall Tower, she’d easily set him ablaze with her innocent banter. If she was trying to seduce him, well, it was working. He felt like a worm baking under a hot sun. Fidgeting. Burning. Totally miserable.

God fucking damn it.

It didn’t help, either, that it had been forever since he’d been with a woman. When was the last time he’d fucked anyway? Brandon tried to remember. Two, three years ago perhaps? He recalled a short encounter with a petite brunette named Lisa Marie something he’d met in Qatar, on his R-n-R time. It was when he heard the news about his ex-wife marrying a handyman who she’d often called to help whenever he was deployed overseas. After his vacation time was over, so was the brief affair with Lisa Marie.

When Brandon came back to the States about a year ago, he found out that Charlene’s marriage had fallen apart. The handyman husband of hers had left her for a younger woman, and to top it all, the doctor had diagnosed her with a brain tumour. With no family she could turn to, Brandon had taken her back and stayed with her. Unfortunately, she lost her battle against her illness, leaving him with mounting medical debts. Because she was officially still the other man’s wife, Charlene wasn’t eligible for military spouse benefits. Brandon lost his savings, house, and most of all, the woman who had been his wife since they had graduated from high school.

Somehow, watching Charlene slowly dying from cancer had killed his sex drive. After Charlene died and it was time for him to start over, a friend of his had set him up on a blind date. Though she was pretty, smart and blessed with curves in all the right places, Brandon had felt nothing for her and was pretty damn sure he was done with sex forever.

Until he met Lillian Blackwell.