Chris insisted Kate take some time to relax, and allow herself to acclimate to the new situation. She had laid down on her bed with another manuscript from work, a spy thriller set on a colonized Mars, and was deeply into the tale when she felt her eyelids growing heavy. The adrenaline that had been coursing through her veins was finally wearing off, and it was hitting her hard. Chris was right, she was much more stressed out than she realized. She put the book down and allowed herself to nod off, falling asleep almost instantly.
***
When she awoke, she heard grunts coming from the floor near the desk. Sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, Kate saw Chris’s head and shoulders rise into her view for a second before falling again. He was staring straight ahead, focused and unaware she was no longer sleeping. Kate sat up a little straighter and realized her bodyguard was doing push-ups by the foot of her bed, and he wasn’t wearing a shirt. He must have been working out for a while, because his muscular back was shiny with sweat. His arms bulged with effort as he continued his exercise, but his motion was seamless, and he otherwise appeared not to be struggling at all. Kate watched him for a moment before realizing she was fully staring at him, and she blushed.
Clearing her throat to alert Chris of her awakened state, she sat up straight. “I guess I needed a little nap,” she said lamely, cheeks still burning from watching Chris work out half naked. “That’s the bright side to having a target on my back, I guess: midday naps.”
Chris got to his feet, grabbing a towel off the back of the desk chair and mopping his face with it. “Good,” he said, not a hint of breathlessness in his voice. “You feel better?”
Kate nodded, eyes averted. She couldn’t quite bring herself to look directly at Chris without feeling a little giddy embarrassment. “I do, thanks.” A silence stretched out between them, and Kate struggled to find a way to break it. “Did you get that discipline for physical fitness from your time in the military?”
Chris shrugged. “Part of it, yeah. I was in an underground boxing scene when I was a kid. Well, we called it that, but really it was just an excuse to beat the hell out of each other, get rid of some aggression. Leaving every night with a broken nose and two black eyes got me marked as an easy target at the home, so I started working on getting into fighting shape.”
“What do you mean, ‘an easy target?’?”
“Like I wouldn’t fight back. Like anyone could get a few licks in without any consequences.” Chris’s tone was easy, but his eyes hardened.
Kate was shocked. “You got beat up at home?”
Chris shook his head. “I grew up in foster care. I was placed in other peoples’ homes, but they were never my home.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It made me who I am today, and who I am today is pretty damn fabulous.” Chris kissed a bicep and winked. Kate laughed. “Really, though, if I grown up with a mom and dad and brothers and sisters, I probably wouldn’t have joined the service. Wouldn’t have done a lot of the stuff I’ve done. It’d be selfish to take so many stupid risks when you’ve got other people worrying about you. I can live my life the way I want, with no worries. There’s the silver lining you didn’t hear about in Oliver Twist.”
Kate looked down. “Yeah, you’ve got a point there,” she said quietly.
“Well, that’s gotta be a first!” Chris joked. “Are you agreeing with me, Ms. Burt?”
Kate gave him a halfhearted smile. “I guess I am.” She swallowed a lump in her throat, and before she realized she was actually speaking out loud, she heard her voice. “My fiancé was like that. He loved going on adventures, and it-” She paused, blinking away the memories. She didn’t talk to many people about Aiden, and she wasn’t going to start rehashing the past just because her emotions after a crazy day had gotten the best of her. “I think you’re right about living a little more carefully when you’ve got people to live for.”
Chris was staring at her with that intense gaze of his, and Kate looked away. His eyes felt like they went right through her, down to the center where all her secrets were kept. She felt exposed when his eyes focused on her like that, and she shifted uncomfortably. As if he sensed her uneasiness, Chris turned to pick up his shirt. “Or who knows?” he said with deceptive casualness. “Maybe I’d still have served overseas, and go base jumping once a month. Maybe all those things feel a little more meaningful if you’ve got someone caring that you make it back home in one piece.” He shrugged and headed into the bathroom. Kate heard the sound of running water as he cleaned himself up, and smirked to herself.
He’s cute, and he reads Proust, but that was the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Kate rolled her eyes. Chris was a perceptive man, and it had been pretty obvious that he’d stepped into some weird emotional ground with her just then. His clumsy attempt to make her feel better was kind, but platitudes were clearly not his strong suit.
7
It was strange, being stuck in a small space with a man she barely knew. Kate was growing antsy, while Chris seemed perfectly at peace in the unusual situation. Kate fidgeted on the bed, picking up and putting down her book. A few times she opened her work laptop and browsed her e-mails, and even tried to do a little online shopping for new shoes for work before Chris put an end to that.
“Do you want a bunch of packages stacking up outside your door?” he asked in what Kate found to be an exceptionally condescending tone. “You don’t need to advertise your lack of presence. And besides, swiping your mail is a great excuse to need to speak with you later. Unless it’s something you literally can’t live without, don’t.”
Kate sighed in frustration. She jumped up and paced around the room, inspecting the light fixtures and closet, running her fingers over the couch fabric and returning again to the bed. Chris watched her, bemused.
“Bored?” he asked.
“You could say that,” Kate muttered. “I feel like I’m already going stir crazy.” She stood again and circled the couch, prowling restlessly.
“Well, cut it out,” Chris motioned her away, annoyed. “You’re bugging me. Just try to relax or something. Go take a bubble bath, and take some of the wine from the mini bar.”
Kate wrinkled her nose in disgust, then considered it. It wasn’t a bad hotel, and the soaking tub in the bathroom looked quite nice. I could use some time alone, and this is probably the only way I’m going to get it, Kate reasoned.
“Okay,” she said, surprising Chris. “I think I’ll do that.” Kate grabbed a robe from the closet and began filling up the tub with water, finding, to her delight, that the hotel was at least nice enough to include a small sample of bath oil in the toiletries.
Stepping into the warm water, Kate let out a sigh of pleasure, closing her eyes and willing herself to relax her shoulders. I’m definitely going to need a massage soon, she thought. My muscles are so tense, I’ll be surprised if I don’t end up with a migraine by the end of the day. She tossed her hair aside and began rubbing her aching neck, trying to work out the knots in her upper body.
Behind Kate, a row of rubber studded balls were embedded in the tub. After a little inspection, Kate deduced they were massagers, and she turned the dial next to them. Immediately, the balls began spinning, working on her sore shoulders and making her groan with relief. She laid back, enjoying the sensation of her muscles loosening up, and allowed herself to sink further into the water.
Unfortunately for Kate, she sank just a bit too low. A sudden whirring noise, followed by a sharp pain in her head, made her eyes widen. She tried to turn and her hair pulled, tears springing to her eyes. The rubber balls had stopped moving, and Kate blindly stuck a hand behind her, feeling around for what might have happened when it struck her. Her hair had gotten wrapped around a ball, and was jamming the motor. It also meant she was stuck there, helpless, wet, and naked.
Oh, no, Kate thought, beginning to panic. Shit. Now what? She stayed in the tub until the water turned cold, trying in vain to untangle her hair from the
rollers. Finally, she accepted what she had to do. He’s never going to let me forget this.
“Chris?” She called hesitantly, quietly. She took a deep breath, ready to call louder, when his voice appeared at the door.
“Kate? Did you call me? Everything okay in there?”
Kate sighed. “Funny you should ask…I’m a bit stuck.”
There was a pause. “Stuck?”
Kate rolled her eyes to the ceiling and sighed, humiliated. “Yes. My hair is caught, and I can’t move. I’m still in the tub,” she warned as the doorknob began to turn. “So if you could, ah…bring in a towel? To cover me up?” She waited.
“Kate,” Chris’s voice held barely contained laughter, and Kate scowled. “The door is locked.”
Kate gasped. She had forgotten she locked the door behind her! “Break it down!” She commanded, panicked.
Chris was no longer trying to hide his amusement, and Kate could hear him chuckling. “Why would you lock the door? Did you think I was going to come peep on you or something?”
“Well, I didn’t foresee getting trapped in the tub!”
“They never do,” Chris lamented. “Okay. I’m coming in.”
Kate squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself for Chris to kick down the door. There was nothing but silence, and she allowed herself to peek at the door through one eye. A soft clicking sound came from the doorknob, and then the door itself was eased open.
Chris walked in, holding a towel out in front of him, eyes gazing upwards and away from Kate’s nudity. He tossed the towel in her direction, and Kate grasped for it, pulling it into the water and covering herself as best she could.
Chris looked down when Kate had gotten herself situated, and a wide grin broke out across his face.
“What is that?” He laughed, kneeling down to take a closer look. “Oh. Well, if anyone needs a massage, it’s you. He began the work of gently untangling her hair, and Kate shivered despite herself at the soft touch of his fingers grazing her scalp.
“Are you cold?” Chris asked her, mistaking her tremble as a sign of discomfort.
“Um,” Kate cleared her throat. “Yes. I tried to get myself free and the water got cold. I can’t drain it, obviously…”
Chris reached down by Kate’s toes and pulled the stopper, the water draining from the tub with a soft gurgling. “Kate, this is freezing!” He turned on the water again, testing it himself to make sure it wasn’t too hot, and soon Kate could feel herself warming up. She assured herself it was solely the fresh water, and had nothing at all to do with her hunky bodyguard essentially massaging her head.
“You really did a number on your hair,” Chris remarked, fingers still entwined in Kate’s tresses.
“Are you going to have to cut it?” Kate wasn’t fearful of this option, she was almost eager. All she wanted was to get this whole exercise in humiliation over with and get dressed. It was mortifying, lying there trapped and waiting for this man to free her. Kate felt like a mermaid caught in a net, and she darkly thought that she could understand why the sirens of the sea would take to drowning sailors.
“No!” Chris sounded annoyed. “I’ve almost got it, geez.” Kate glanced at his face out of the corner of her eye and noticed he was blushing. Straining her eyes to see downward, she could tell the now soaked towel had contoured tightly around her body. She nearly groaned aloud. How could this possibly get any worse?
Desperate to end the awkward silence, Kate tried to make small talk. “How did you get the door unlocked?”
Chris didn’t cease his ministrations in her hair. “Credit card. Little trick I picked up as a kid.”
“I’ve heard it’s possible to pick a lock with a credit card. I always thought it was an urban legend, though.”
“Well, it’s not really picking the lock. It’s more like tricking it.” Chris paused. “There. You’re free.”
Kate gingerly leaned forward, testing Chris’s declaration. She moved easily, and sighed with relief. Turning, she expected to see a gob of hair still caught in the roller, but to her amazement, Chris had left no strand behind.
“Thank you,” she said, unable to meet his eyes.
“Don’t mention it,” Chris sauntered to the door. Pausing just before he left, he added without turning around, “You know, this whole situation would have made a great recruitment video for my firm. It’s exactly what every young man dreams of when he thinks of becoming a bodyguard.”
“Ha-ha,” Kate said sarcastically. “Bye.”
Once he left, Kate stood on feet filled with pins and needles, wincing at each careful step she took out of the tub. She grabbed a dry towel and wrapped herself in it, trying to prolong leaving the bathroom for as long as possible.
Maybe I could just spend the rest of my time with this guy hiding in here, she thought. She picked up her clothes from the counter and grimaced. Kate hated putting on worn clothes after bathing. It felt backwards, and all wrong. Then again, what about this situation felt normal? She sighed and fixed her hair in the mirror once she had gotten dressed. She couldn’t put it off any longer. She left the bathroom and faced her tormentor, her bodyguard.
8
“Is that really necessary?” Kate stared at the dingy, olive green men’s jacket Chris held out to her.
Chris sighed in frustration. “Are you joking? How many times are we going to go over this?”
“Just once more. You think that I,” Kate pointed at herself “need a disguise. So wearing your dirty old jacket” she pointed at the coat hanging from Chris’s hand between them “is going to make me somehow invisible to anyone who might be watching my apartment looking for me? It’s just a jacket! It’s not like it’s a mask!”
Chris scrubbed at his face with one hand and groaned. “Ok, this is the last time I’m explaining it, and then I’m going to stuff you into this jacket myself. If someone is watching your apartment, they’re going to be looking for you. Out of the thousands of people that walk past your street every day, they can’t focus on every single one of them. They won’t be expecting to see you in something so casual, or with a man. I’m going to use your key to open the door so it looks like we’re heading to my apartment. The plan is to subvert the expectations of whoever might be watching-”
“Or not,” Kate interjected.
“Oh my god, yes, fine, or not, whatever, but either way, if you want to go to your apartment at all, we’re going to do it my way.”
Chris and Kate stood there, jacket between them, glaring at each other.
“Fine,” Kate snapped, yanking the jacket out of his hand. “Control freak.”
“It must kill you that I’m being paid for it, when you spend every day as a control freak for free,” Chris shot back.
Kate stood in front of the mirror. “I look ridiculous,” she moaned. The jacket was much too big for her, and she was swimming in the excess fabric. “I still look like me, just a dumb version of me.”
Chris grinned and reached around her into the jacket pocket, pulling out a knit hat. “That’s why you need to wear this, too.” He put the hat on her, tucking her hair up into it. With his face so close to hers, Kate could smell the Junior Mints on his breath, and felt the rough pads of his fingers as he gently slipped the locks of her hair under hat. When he finished, he pulled the jacket hood over it. “There. Who would know it’s you?”
“Who wears a jacket in the summer?” Kate grumbled.
“Who wears black suits and pantyhose in the summer?” Chris countered. “Oh, right. You do. Besides, it’s night time. There’s a little chill in the air. Now come on, let’s go if we’re gonna go.”
The night air did have a bit of a nip, and Kate reluctantly thought that Chris was right about the jacket. The city lights twinkled and flared against the jet black sky, and Kate realized exactly how claustrophobic the motel room had felt. She relished the freedom of walking further than fifteen feet, and nearly gagged at the thought of returning to the room.
As they left the hotel grou
nds and turned onto 8th Avenue, Chris stuck his arm around Kate’s shoulders and drew her close.
“What are you doing?” She shrugged him off and gave him a slight push.
“We’re supposed to look like a couple, remember?” Chris rolled his eyes at her. “Your stalker won’t be expecting to see you with a man; he thinks you’re cruel and unlovable…for some strange reason.” He roped a heavy arm around her again, and this time she stiffly allowed herself to be pulled to his side.
It felt…unusual. Kate hadn’t been this physically close with anyone since Aiden had died. Lost in Chris’s oversized coat, Kate felt almost suffocated by the sensation of having another person wrapped around her. The smell of faint sweat and a light mixture of coffee and soap swirled together in the fabric to create the essence of Chris, Eau du Bodyguard. Out of habit, Kate put her hand in the jacket pocket, and felt her fingers graze something hard. She pulled out a handful of sour candies and looked at Chris. “Really?”
He glanced at her open palm and smiled, delighted. “Ooh!” He plucked one up and popped it in his mouth. “I was wondering where I left those. Help yourself, they’re awesome.”
Kate stared at Chris blankly for a moment, incredulous. This guy is my security? She shook her head and, despite herself, she laughed.
***
When the pair reached Kate’s apartment, Kate kept her head down. She had given Chris her key before they left the hotel, and his plan to make it look like they were a couple heading to his apartment for a late night tryst included Kate keeping her head lowered, calling as little attention to her face as possible, while he unlocked the door and guided her inside. Kate fully intended to stick to the plan, but once they arrived, Chris struggled with the sticky lock.
“You’ve gotta wiggle it,” she said, pushing Chris aside and taking control of the door. “And sometimes kick it,” she added, when the door still didn’t open. Kate struggled against the wooden door, throwing her body into it. Chris watched in stunned amazement for a moment, then hauled her backwards.
The Book Critic's Bodyguard Page 5