I Just Need You - J. Nathan Page 0,30

a rich man’s daughter at risk of being used as a pawn in a dangerous game, and he was my bodyguard who couldn’t decide how he felt about me.

He glanced at me, catching me staring. “You’re not so bad when you’re eating ice cream,” he said.

“Oh, yeah? Why’s that?” I asked, fishing for anything from him that could help me get to know him better.

“It stops you from talking so damn much.”

My mouth fell open. “That is not the way you talk to your employer.”

“Oh, I’d never speak to your dad that way,” he assured me before sipping more of his shake.

“You’re a real jerk,” I said.

“Never said I wasn’t.”

I looked over at him as he continued drinking his milkshake with his eyes on the road. He was such a good-looking guy. I just wished he’d smile because I bet he had a great smile.

We returned to the dorm a little while later. Tristan waited outside the bathroom while I showered, needing to warm my chilled bones. Then, I settled in for the night. I had a bunch of homework to do, but I found it impossible to concentrate.

Around midnight, I saw Tristan’s shadow beneath my door. I breathed a sigh of relief, then crawled under my comforter and closed my eyes, listening to the rain that hadn’t let up all day. I lay there for a long time, waiting for sleep to come like it normally did once he was there, but it never came. I tossed and turned while the rain pelted my window, no longer a soothing sound.

I started thinking about what Tristan had told me. Someone had actually been paid money to get to me. Then, my mind drifted to what happened in France, and I couldn’t shake the visions. The feel of the Frenchman pressed against me. The mocking sound of his voice. Le fou de fortune.

Lightning flickered, momentarily lighting up my room.

I closed my eyes, trying to shake the sight of Andre’s face that suddenly appeared in my mind’s eyes. The pain. The fear. The regret. The blood.

I opened my eyes only to be startled by the dark shadows dancing across my walls.

Thunder boomed, shaking the floor beneath me bed. I practically jumped out of my skin.

Enough!

I kicked off my comforter and slipped out of bed. I began to pace the floor. Back and forth. Side to side. Around in a circle.

Repeat.

“Get in bed,” Tristan whispered through the door.

Of course he knew I was up.

I moved to the door, pressing my ear to the hard surface, needing to hear his voice more than ever.

“I’m right here,” he assured me.

I reached down and unlocked the door. I grasped the knob, knowing better than to contemplate my next move. Because if I did, I’d be pacing the floor all night. I slowly twisted the knob and cracked open the door.

Tristan felt me open the door from his spot on the floor. He sat forward and turned to look up at me through the crack. “What are you doing?”

“Will you come inside?”

His brows shot up. “What?”

“I’m having trouble sleeping.”

He cocked his head, indecision heavy in his eyes.

“Just for a little bit,” I assured him. “I need to see if it’ll work.”

“Dammit,” he cursed, his eyes dodging mine. “I never should’ve told you.”

“Of course you should’ve. You’re the only one who’s been honest with me.”

He closed his eyes, seemingly pained by what I was asking him to do. After what felt like an eternity, his eyes opened and he pushed himself to his feet. His basketball shorts hung low on his hips and his T-shirt clung to his muscles. He readjusted what I knew to be his gun holster underneath as he stepped forward. Relief swept over me as I moved back and he stepped inside, closing the door behind him. “Get in bed.”

Under any other circumstance, I would’ve been turned on by a man telling me to get into bed; however, his was an order so I could sleep—and he could get out of my room as quickly as possible. I moved to my bed and slipped under the comforter, turning onto my side as he pulled the chair out from my desk and sat in it. “Thank you, Tristan.”

“Sleep,” he ordered, crossing his arms and looking surly.

“I hope so.” I closed my eyes and pushed the new threat, the Frenchman, and Andre from my mind, reminding myself that Tristan was right there and he wouldn’t let anything happen to me.

Tristan

What the fuck was I doing? I