The Bodyguard (Red's Tavern 7)

Roman nodded. “You have no idea how many times that’s happened to me,” he said. “Sometimes they just stand there, blissfully unaware.”

“Exactly,” Madeline said. “Small towns feel like another planet to me.”

“You know, I’ve never been to Los Angeles,” Roman said.

“Never?” I asked.

“Nope. Only time I was ever in California was during a layover in San Francisco, and I never left the airport.”

“Wow,” I said. “I can show you LA sometime. It’s a strange city. Nothing like New York or Paris, where everything is so close together. But it has its own type of beauty. If you hate the way I drive, wait ‘til you see the freeways there.”

Roman cracked a grin. “No matter how different it is from New York, it’ll feel like the biggest city in the world to a small-town boy like me.”

“You would fucking hate my LA house,” I said. “It makes my house here seem like the most secure bunker on Earth. The LA house is like a fishbowl.”

“The whole thing is glass,” Madeline said. “It’s beautiful, actually.”

“It is,” I said. “I still remember a time when I felt safe there. I’d walk around naked in front of the windows and not care. I felt invincible when I first got that house.”

“There are ways to make any place safe,” Roman said. “I actually wanted to talk to you about some motion sensors for the stairs at the bottom of your balcony here.”

Over the next hour, we dove deep into a conversation about various measures we could implement at my house here in Amberfield to make it feel more secure. Apparently, Roman had scoured the internet last night and compiled a long list of things we could do, and he was going to contact a few friends of his who were experienced with home security. We both agreed that a secure fence around the whole property would be needed.

As we sat and talked, the tension from the mob at the farmer’s market melted away. Even as more people filtered into Red’s Tavern, I was blissfully unnoticed here in the corner booth, and talking to Roman and Madeline made me feel like something close to a normal person.

After a couple of hours, it was time for Madeline to take off to the regional airport. She spoke with Roman about a few more forms she needed him to sign, and I gave her a long, tight hug before she left.

“Are you feeling okay here?” Roman asked as the two of us sat back down in the booth.

I nodded. “Amazingly, yes,” I said. “This was exactly what I needed.”

“You seem a lot more relaxed,” he said. “I am so sorry about what happened today. Next time I’ll act more quickly if you get recognized that much in public.”

“You did great,” I told him, waving a hand. “It’s your first official day on the job.”

He adjusted his tie.

“You look fucking amazing in that suit, by the way,” I said. “But I promise, you can wear whatever you want. A suit is the classic secret service look, but on a day-to-day basis, you’ll probably be a lot more comfortable in clothes that let you move more.”

“You’re right,” he said. “I’m just trying to be as professional as humanly possible.”

“The only professionalism I need is to be protected,” I said. “I didn’t even want a bodyguard, because I didn’t want some robotic man standing beside me all the time. It’s okay to be you, even while you’re on the clock, okay?”

Roman pulled in a long breath. He reached into his pocket, pulling out his little crochet turtle. He flipped it, again and again, in his fingers before he finally spoke.

“This is my dream job, Theo,” he said softly. “There were entire years of my life where I never thought I’d be able to move up the ranks in my career. Being a security guard at the campus didn’t really offer me much in the way of advancement, unless I wanted to be a manager.”

“You know you’re doing amazing at this job, right?”

“It’s just—after we—you know, what we did—”

“When we kissed,” I said. “It’s okay to say it.”

I didn’t elaborate about the fact that I loved thinking about it. That I thought about it frequently, actually, every time I looked at his eyes or his lips or the broad muscles of his chest.

“Yes,” he said. “Because we did that on the first night we met, I need to make sure you know that I am dedicated to protecting you, first, above all other things.”

“It’s not exactly a secret that we’re attracted to each other. I wouldn’t have hired you if that made me uncomfortable, you know? I like thinking about it, to be honest.”

He looked like a stunned deer in the headlights. “As—as long as you know your safety is my priority.”

“And that’s why you’re already the best person for this job.”