me you won’t go behind my back again. No matter what. I am supposed to keep you safe. Let me do my job.”
Swallowing, I nodded.
“Now.” He turned back for the fridge, grabbing two more beers. “Let’s take that pizza to the movie room and get drunk.”
“Don’t you want to get home?”
“I’ll just stay tonight in the room they have for me.” He nodded for me to grab the box, curving for the doorway.
“You have a room here?” I hopped down, grabbing the pizza and following him.
“Yeah.” He said nonchalantly. “The room across from yours.”
“What?” I stumbled over the rug, my throat going dry. “Across. From. Mine?” How did I not know that?
“Need to be close in case something happens. So I can get you out.”
I understood the logistics of it, but the awareness that his bedroom was so close to mine ran an uncomfortable sensation over my skin.
I didn’t feel safe around him…
Not because he would do anything or he couldn’t protect me. No, this was something far more petrifying.
Chapter 19
Flipping over, my lids pried apart, looking up at the clock beside my bed. Barely seven a.m., but I had been tossing and turning most of the night, trying to reason out why I was so restless. Instead of the day swallowing me up in exhaustion, my mind and body were strung tight, not resting on any exact reason that was keeping me up.
Besides the anonymous voices shredding me and the media twisting and making me a cheap story, something else left me agitated.
My gaze slid to my door, feeling apprehension fizz under the layers of excuses. The truth of what was really unsettling me.
I could feel him.
His own room couldn’t contain his presence, so it pushed him through the cracks into mine.
I hated it. Ignorance was bliss, and I liked it when I didn’t know his room was so close to mine. When he was an arsehole bodyguard, not a person.
Lounging in the big reclining chairs, we had watched an action movie, finishing the pizza and beer with very little talking. It had been the most relaxed and tense I had ever felt at once. Highly aware of him next to me, his arm brushing mine when he grabbed his beer.
Spencer, stop. I pushed myself up against my headboard, chiding myself. It was innocent. We watched a movie. Stop feeling guilty for nothing. Theo wouldn’t think anything of it. So why are you?
Breathing out, my shoulders relaxed, brushing the silly emotions aside. I was being ridiculous. Though my need to hear Theo’s voice, to have him home, hummed over my nerves, having me reach for my mobile.
My lids narrowed, noticing the empty space on the nightstand. Where the hell was my cell phone? I swung my legs over the side, my mind rolling back to where I left it.
Right. Lennox had it.
Wow. I hadn’t thought of it once since he took it.
Not. Once.
A nerve twitched my eye as I hurriedly took a shower and got dressed, picking designer jeans, a crew-neck sweater, and pristine boots. The clothes were nice, but not me. Too proper. Confining. I really needed to go shopping… and get my own place. I had to stay strong, not let them take my personality.
I reached for the door, swinging it open.
“Holy crap!” I yelped, jumping back.
Lennox stood on the other side, his hand raised as if he was just about to knock. He was dressed similarly to the day before, his hair wet from the shower, the smell of clean but woodsy soap curling over me, flicking my pulse. His eyes seemed to glow even brighter than I remembered, his scruff a little thicker.
“You scared me.” I shook my head, my fingers gripping the door handle, my eyes snapping away from him.
“Then my to-do list is already done.” His voice was low and husky, like these were the first words he had spoken today. A slow smirk lifted his cheek on one side.
“That’s all you had on your list?” I clicked my tongue, trying to stamp out the shivers gliding over my body, turning flippant. “Quite disappointing. I imagined you to have torture, ridicule, and blatantly drive Spencer mad on your list.”
“Those are my life goals.”
“Doing good so far.” I peered up at him, a flutter obstructing my throat at the intensity of his attention. He was like celebrity/model-level hot, that was why I reacted to him like this. Perfectly normal.
“Was wondering if you wanted to go riding again this morning. You have nothing on your