knew her mother was giving her. “Please. Put it back. You don’t have to do that. Trust me, okay?”
Her mother was the first to get it. “There’s no intruder, Gayle, is there? Not an unwanted one, at least.”
Fuck my life.
Shoulders slumping, face red as hell, Gayle shook her head. “No Mom, there isn’t.”
“Well then, what the hell was that sound?” her father asked.
Why is this happening to me? Why?
“You may as well come out this way,” she called to Rann. “Since you apparently can’t sneak out of a window to save your life.”
“There’s a rose bush outside the window,” came the familiar voice as he exited her bedroom. “You didn’t tell me about that.”
Gayle looked up. Everyone was staring at her.
“I didn’t damage the window though,” Rann said, smiling proudly at her, as if that made everything okay.
It was her mother who broke the silence that followed.
“Well dear, aren’t you going to introduce us?” she said in a dry tone.
Chapter Seventeen
Gayle
Closing her eyes and counting to three didn’t help.
She debated trying again to the count of ten but, deep down, Gayle knew there was no saving herself from the situation. Her life was about to get unbelievably more awkward. It was going to be years, if ever, before her parents stopped reminding her about this.
Why did I have to go and let him stay over? Why didn’t I just set an alarm and get him out of the house?
Her cheeks flushed as she remembered she had set an alarm. Rann had decided it meant it was time to distract her, however, and he’d left her brain completely incapable of remembering that her parents were coming over. For her birthday.
Damn, he’s good. Wait, no, stop it!
“Honey? Gayle?” her mom said. “We’re all just sort of standing around here.”
“Why is this happening to me?” she moaned, then steeled herself. “Mom, Dad, this is Rann. Rann, my parents.”
“Hello,” Rann said, all charming and impossibly bright, given the situation.
Gayle tried not to cringe as he stepped forward and shook her parents’ hands, smiling warmly as if absolutely nothing was wrong. Meanwhile, Gayle stood rooted to the spot, wishing she could be invisible. A chameleon who could blend into the background and make a run for the door so she didn’t have to endure the awkwardness.
It was bad enough that they’d caught her with a random in her bedroom, but only days after she’d ended a serious relationship? That made it even worse! Her mother was going to judge her like mad. Gayle was not looking forward to that conversation.
“So, what do you do?” Gayle’s mother asked.
Oh god. She was giving him the rundown. Her mother was already analyzing Rann as if he was going to be sticking around and that he wasn’t just some birthday sex. Why mom? Can’t you just smile and be quiet until I can get him out of the house?
“I’m in private security, ma’am,” she heard Rann say.
“A security guard?” her father said.
“Ah, no sir,” Rann said. “I’m a specialist contractor, I guess you could say.”
“What does that mean?”
Gayle couldn’t believe what was happening. Her parents were actually talking to him, giving him the time of day, and he was responding. Instead of trying to shift focus away from him, he was actually taking it and holding it.
And keeping it off of you.
Her eyes narrowed slightly as she tried to determine whether it was on purpose or just Rann’s personality shining through. He was a natural charmer, she knew that much, but she couldn’t tell if it was fake or not at this particular moment. It didn’t seem like a show, but then again, what did she know?
“I don’t sit at a desk and watch video cameras, ma’am,” Rann said with a wink. “They call me in for much more high-level situations. Scenarios where someone with special skills would be an asset to the completion of their task.”
“Like the Secret Service?” her mother asked.
“Um, I don’t work for government, but in a way, yes, I guess. I don’t normally do the bodyguard part, but close enough, without giving away any trade secrets,” Rann said, smiling wide from ear to ear.
“Right. Okay,” her father said, nodding as if he understood what Rann was getting at.
Gayle knew her father well enough to know that he was bluffing. None of them knew what Rann meant about his work, but neither were they going to ask.
“So how did you and Gayle meet?” her mother asked.
Gayle wilted. She knew that question. It was the prelude