The Guardian and the Escort

By the end of my speech, the room buzzed with excitement. Thankfully, not a single escort took me up on my offer to place them in another position if they didn’t approve of the regulations. I hadn’t wanted anyone to feel cornered into a job they didn’t want. Especially one with possible sexual interactions.

After a few questions, everyone started piling out, leaving me to bounce from one foot to another. My adrenaline peaked so high I sat on the brink of tears, the overflowing emotions almost too much. I smiled so hard my cheeks hurt, and I couldn’t help but laugh because smiling wasn’t enough. When I turned around, Corbin had made his way out of the shadows and leaned against one of the tables, hands in his pockets with his feet crossed at his ankles. He looked like a model with an intentional pose, but really, he was just naturally that sexy.

“You did good, kid.”

And just like that, my joyful buoyancy seeped out from where his words pricked a hole, letting the truth come in.

Kid.

My smile slowly faded, and I had to look away from his easy smile and comforting eyes. He may have been there for me, but I reminded myself it was out of obligation to his ward. At least, that’s what he told himself, and as long as he avoided the truth, he would never be mine.

Silence stretched between us, and I willed him to walk away and not make me pretend I was okay. One beat, two, three, four.

I didn’t blame him for thinking I was fine when before I ran into his arms like we hadn’t argued, but I needed him to read me, so I didn’t have to confess how much it hurt. I didn’t want to sit there and explain I was so excited not to be alone that I blocked out everything else. I didn’t want to tell him how happy he made me by showing up, just to watch him walk away again.

Please go. Please go. Please go.

“Rose.”

His deep voice crooned my name like a lover’s voice. The soft baritone reached across the distance between us and stroked along my cheek to my chin, urging me to look up. I tried not to. I tried to fight it but hidden in the tone was a command I didn’t want to resist.

I looked up his long legs and lean body encased in a perfectly cut suit. I memorized his strong jaw and full lips before finally meeting his oceanic eyes.

“I have something for you,” he said, reaching behind him for a stack of papers.

I blinked.

I hadn’t known what to expect, but a stack of papers would not have made the list. “What is it?”

“Come and find out.”

Something flashed in the depths of his gaze—just a spark, there and gone, but it added another layer to my curiosity. I took two steps when his voice snapped like a whip.

“No.”

“What?” I looked side to side like I’d find an answer for my confusion. Had he not just told me to come to him?

He scanned down my body before taking a slow perusal back up, this time with a devious tip of his lips. Something in the air changed. Awareness pricked the back of my neck, but I didn’t know what to be aware of.

“On your knees.”

“Excuse me?” The order jolted my heart into a faster pace, but my mind couldn’t keep up.

His mild smirk turned devilish. “I said, if you want to see them, then get on your knees and crawl to me.”

The hair on my arms rose, bringing all my senses to high alert. Sirens blared, and my heart galloped with hope and excitement, flooding my veins with heat that sank to my core. Every muscle clenched, ready to act, but my mind kept stumbling over the facts, trying to marry the Corbin from the last week to the Corbin before me now. The two didn’t match, and my body couldn’t break free of the confusion.

“Corbin?” I whispered his name like a plea.

Please explain so I can understand.

Please don’t play with me.

Please mean what I think you mean.

Please want me.

His smile softened just an inch along with his tone. “I won’t say it again, love.”

Click.

As if in a perfect line on an axis I’d waited my whole life to match up, my heart, mind, and body clicked into place. This was Corbin’s way of giving in.

But what if it was just for now. What if tomorrow he changed his mind?

Maybe my mind wasn’t one-hundred-percent on board, but it didn’t matter because my body and heart were willing to risk it. Maybe it was for just now. I’d take it.

I had to try.

But I had to do it my way.

Pulling my shoulders back, I lifted my chin high, portraying a regal queen in her kingdom. I put one foot in front of the other, the tap of the heel to toe a slow, perfect rhythm letting him know I was in no rush to reach him. Letting him know that I was aware each step went against his order. Letting him know that I would be stubborn, but I would also yield.