I expected him to laugh or shake his head, but instead, he just nodded once. “I’m very glad you were safe,” he said.
It startled me. I wasn’t used to people taking me so seriously. It was refreshing, but sad, in a way, realizing that for so long, nobody but Madeline had taken me seriously.
“Me, too,” I said softly.
“But there are things we can do,” he added. “No question.”
“The tree can be climbed up. And the staircase even more easily,” I said. “But God, I don’t want to get rid of either of them.”
“The tree is way too beautiful to be cut down,” Roman agreed. He walked to the edge of the balcony, putting his big hands on the railing and peering down.
“I wouldn’t cut it down for anything. I have a photo of my grandfather in front of a tree just like this. It sounds stupid, but… it reminds me of him.”
“Not stupid at all,” Roman said. “We keep the tree. There’s a lot of other things we can do to make this place safe.”
I pulled in a long breath. “Can I offer you a coffee or a glass of wine? Or both, at the same time?”
It was an attempt to lighten the mood and make a joke, but Roman stood up straight again, giving me a serious look. I could tell that he was still trying to impress me, to seem legitimate and act as professional as he possibly could, even after my attempts to loosen him up downstairs.
He was still trying to get the job, even though he’d already gotten it.
Of course, there had been many other candidates that had more experience than Roman. Madeline had even tried to offer a few seasoned LA bodyguards a pretty penny if they were willing to relocate to Amberfield, Kansas, but they hadn’t been willing to move out to the middle of nowhere.
I knew I had been a little brash, deciding to choose Roman so quickly. But there was no way I’d feel more comfortable around anyone else. The other guys I had met had been perfectly skilled, but with Roman, I got a sense that he gave a shit. Really gave a shit.
And it sure didn’t hurt that he was sexy as hell, and that he hadn’t known who I was.
“I’d take a water, if you have one,” Roman said.
“You got it,” I said. I raced back down the stairs and looped around into the kitchen. The old countertops had all been removed yesterday in preparation for my new marble that would be installed tomorrow, and currently, there was just a bunch of wood framing where the counters would normally be.
I reached into the Sub-Zero fridge and grabbed a mineral water, heading back over toward the stairs.
And then I heard it, clear as day. That same crack sound that I’d heard the other night, followed by a faint rustling of leaves.
“Roman,” I whispered, way too quietly. I took off, then, back up the stairs two at a time. I found him out on the balcony inspecting the locks on the door. “Come with me. Downstairs. Now. I heard something.”
He focused immediately and turned to cross back through my room. I followed him down the stairs and out the front door.
“Over by the Juniper,” I whispered.
He held out an arm, signaling for me to wait. He walked forward slowly and carefully, like he was tracking prey.
“Wait here,” Roman said, pulling a skinny flashlight from his pocket. Of course he had a flashlight on him.
He took it around the whole perimeter of the house, checking everything before circling back to me.
The leaves rustled again as he stepped in front of me and I gasped, reaching forward to grip his arm.
And just then, a cat flew out from the top of the tree, leaping quickly toward me. I jumped to the side in an instant, but it wasn’t enough. The cat scrambled, landed on me, putting a big, long scratch along the top of my arm down to my hand.
Sharp pain seared along my arm. The cat landed on its feet, glancing at Roman with wide eyes and bolting off into the night.
I deflated like an old balloon.
“Fuck,” I said. “I am so sorry.”
“Are you okay?”
“It was just a cat,” I said, “and I’m just an idiot.”
“Not an idiot at all,” Roman said. “Let me see your arm.”
He pointed the flashlight at the long scratch.
“It’s nothing.”
“We’ve got to get you cleaned up right away. Come inside.”
“It had a collar, at least,” I said as we turned back to go inside. “Hopefully it was a clean cat. God, I feel stupid.”
Roman was still on-task as we strode into the house, stopping in the kitchen. “Do you have antiseptics? Gauze? Cotton balls and a Band-Aid?”
I blinked at him. “Um…”
“Any alcohol at all?”
“I mean, I definitely have vodka.”