“Hi,” I manage to say.
“Graham will shadow you,” Norah is saying as she walks over to him. “He’ll stay here, in the extra guest room. While we’re traveling, he’ll have a room adjoining yours. He’ll always be around, but out of sight and out of mind. Right, Graham?”
The gorgeous marine grins at Norah. “Of course. I’m very good at being quiet and invisible.”
“Mhmm.” Norah stops in front of him and stares for a second. “Be good,” she whispers.
He winks at her. I nearly fall over on the spot. “I’m always good,” he says.
She sighs. “Anyway, I have to go,” she says, turning back to me. “He’s going to go around the house, take a look, and then you can just… you know, do whatever you normally do. Graham will watch over you.”
“Very closely,” he says, grinning.
Norah glares at him and back at me. “Any questions?”
“What the hell?” I manage to finally say, breaking my silence. “You… already brought someone without asking me? I mean, shouldn’t I have a say in who follows me around?”
Norah looks vaguely surprised. “I didn’t think you’d care.”
“Well… I care. This guy… he’s not going to work.” I don’t know why the words come out, but I say them anyway.
Fact is, there’s no way I can be around Graham. He’s too handsome, too rugged, too muscular. It’s going to be a huge distraction having him around my house and I can’t stand that right now. I’m leaving for tour soon and I need to stay focused.
Graham grins at me. I expected him to be insulted, but instead, he looks totally delighted.
“Oh, don’t be like that,” he says. “I’m very lovely once you get to know me.”
Norah sighs. “Really, Katie. He’s very qualified. Not many men like him around to hire these days.”
I glare at the two of them. I’m so angry and distracted and… god, I’m attracted to this freaking man. I resent his presence already, but I know this is a losing battle. We’re leaving tomorrow and he’s already here, so…
So I might as well just accept it, right? I mean, it can’t be so bad.
“Fine,” I snap.
“Great.” Norah doesn’t miss a beat. “See you tomorrow then.”
She shoots Graham one last look and leaves the room.
I stand there facing him, arms crossed. He grins at me, cocky and totally at ease, which surprises me. People are usually a little strange around me, either too doting or too shy or too… something. It’s what being famous does, like I’m not really a person anymore, but an image of a person. It’s really frustrating.
He’s not doing any of that, though. He just seems slightly amused, if anything at all.
“Well?” I ask him finally.
“Well,” he says in response.
“Are you going to, like… look around?”
He shrugs. “I guess.”
“You guess?”
“Sure. I guess. I could look around. Can’t hurt, right?”
“You’re the bodyguard, you tell me.”
He grins even bigger and looks around the room. “Looks safe in here.”
I gape at him. “Do you even know what you’re doing?”
“Sure.” He walks over to a window and rattles it a bit. “Safe.”
“Oh my god. Is this a joke?”
He grins at me. “Yep.”
I groan and roll my eyes. “Are you always an asshole?”
“Yep.”
“Great.”
He laughs and walks toward me. “Look, Katie. You don’t want me around, that much is obvious, and to be totally frank, I don’t look forward to babysitting some spoiled little diva. So how about we call a truce and stay out of each other’s way from here on out?”
I gape at him, at a total loss for words.
Nobody ever talks to me that way. Well, Norah does sometimes, but never that bad. He seems totally at ease, like he didn’t just insult me, and I almost want to scream at him.
But I take a deep breath and slowly let it out instead. I’m not going to let some asshole get to me.
“Sounds fine to me,” I snap. “We’re leaving for tour tomorrow. Stay out of my way and I’ll leave you alone. Easiest job you’ll ever have.”
He smirks at me, head cocked slightly, and looks me up and down. His eyes drink me in and I shiver a little bit, not sure what he’s thinking. I want to know though, I want to hear every dirty thought he’s having. I bet he wants to know what I look like down on all hours, legs spread, begging for him to fuck me.
Oh, god. I need to get control of myself.
“Okay then, princess,” he says. “I’ll look around the house and get myself settled.”
“Okay. Fine.”
I don’t move. I want him to move first, but he’s just standing there, still drinking me in. I feel uncomfortable, excited, shivering with desire. I wish he’d go away but I really don’t want to see him leave.
Finally, he turns away. It’s like a spell breaks and I can breathe again. He walks down the hall and outside. I walk to the window and watch him open the door of a vehicle parked in the driveway, some old beat-up truck. He pulls out a bag and brings it back inside.