Those words were like a punch to the gut. She thought he was judging her.
And aren’t you?
“Doesn’t matter if they are. Make you feel better, then take’em,” he told her gruffly.
She studied him for a moment then half-turned away to swallow them. As though she was ashamed? Why the fuck would she be ashamed? Huh, he was beginning to see Dominic might have been right. He had pre-judged her. And maybe, just maybe, he’d fucked up.
“Don’t tell Larry,” she pleaded, turning back. “I would have taken them earlier but he’s always around.”
Was that frustration in her voice?
“What’s it got to do with him?” And why the fuck did she think he’d tell Larry anything?
She licked her lips nervously. “He didn’t tell you?”
He folded his arms over his chest. He was aware they had a limited time before Larry was back with the first interviewer.
“Tell me what?”
She gave him a cautious look. “I thought he’d said something. I, uh, I have a prescription for anti-anxiety pills I’m meant to take. He wouldn’t be happy if he knew I had replaced it with herbal pills. I just don’t like the way those other pills make me feel. Like I’m numb.”
He frowned. He knew little about all of this. And he sure as shit wasn’t going to tell her what to do when it came to her health. Wasn’t his job. There was one question he had to know the answer to, though.
“Why do this if you don’t enjoy it, Ms. Silvers?”
“Please call me Arianna,” she said.
He’d insisted on calling her Ms. Silvers in an attempt to keep space between them. And at the same time, he’d been complaining that she kept running away from him.
You’re an idiot.
“Fine,” he said impatiently. “Answer the question.”
“I can see why Dominic does most of the talking,” she muttered.
He nearly grinned at her words. Her eyes instantly widened, and she looked mortified.
“Sorry,” she apologized.
“Don’t be. I like the truth. Better than that icy polite thing you do the rest of the time.”
“Icy polite thing?”
“Answer?” he asked, growing impatient. Well, more impatient.
“Oh. Um. I do it because I don’t have a choice.”
He opened his mouth to ask her what the hell that meant, but the door opened, interrupting them.
Probably just as well. None of this was his business. As soon as her friend found her permanent bodyguards, he was out of here.
And he could not wait to get back to the peace and quiet of Sanctuary Ranch.
4
Unable to sleep, he walked into the kitchen. Best thing about this place was Estelle’s cooking. Thank God the ice princess had a decent gym, or he’d be at risk of putting on some pounds.
He opened the fridge and pulled out some leftovers to make himself a sandwich. It was two in the morning, but he couldn’t sleep.
He’d just made the sandwich and sat at the counter to eat it when he spotted movement from the corner of his eye. Arianna appeared, dressed in what looked to be an old, worn cotton T-shirt and some leggings. Her hair was in disarray. And there was a pair of huge slippers on her feet.
Were those ducks?
“Ms. Silvers? Everything okay?”
She let out a screech and jumped into the air. Her hand went to her chest.
“Holy fucking shit! You frightened me!”
“You didn’t see me? How did you not see me?” he demanded. Was she so oblivious to her surroundings that she missed a six foot five, two-hundred-and-thirty-pound man sitting there?
“Maybe because you’re lurking around in the dark,” she snapped.
“I’m not lurking,” he replied. “I’m sitting here having a midnight snack.”
“That’s a snack? That would feed me for a whole day.”
He sure as hell hoped not. If this was all she ate in a day, she was seriously under eating. No way would she get away with that sort of bullshit if she was under his protection.
But she’s not. Not in that way. So chill, man.
“It’s a snack. And you better be eating more than this in a day.”
Okay, so obviously he wasn’t in the mood to chill.
“Are you sure you’re allowed to eat after midnight? Isn’t that against the rules? If you eat after midnight don’t you turn into an ogre. Oh wait, I think it might be too late. . .”
He had to duck his head to hide his smile. Shit. He was in trouble.
Little brat.
This was a side to her he definitely hadn’t seen before. He kind of liked it.
“Getting your movies mixed up. Gremlins shouldn’t be fed after midnight because they turn into destructive monsters. Ogres are in Shrek.”
“You’ve watched Shrek.” She gave a comical gasp, holding her hand against her chest. “Doesn’t that go against the whole tough guy image?”
“Not an image.”
“Ah, my apologies. I didn’t realize tough guys watched Shrek. Mind you, the two of you do bear a resemblance.”
“What does a man have to do to eat his sandwich in peace,” he moaned.
She tensed. And he had the sudden intuition that he’d said the wrong thing.
“I apologize. I just came to get some water. I. . .I. . .didn’t mean to offend. . .I’ll just go. . .” She turned to race off. He quickly stood and reached out to grab her arm.
She gasped, turning and he let her go. Fuck. What was he doing? Way to intimidate her, asshole.
“Don’t run off. You didn’t insult me.”
“I’m sorry, I. . .” she trailed off, rubbing her hands over her upper arms as though cold.
He should probably say something to ease her obvious nervousness.
“Stop saying sorry,” he said gruffly.
“I’m sor—” she immediately bit off the word at his sharp look.
Her eyes wide, her skin so pale he could see some faint freckles spread across her nose. Aww. Jeez. Why did he have to notice that?
It was damn cute.
He sighed. “Sit.”
She licked her lips, looking from the stool to him.
“You didn’t insult me. Sit.”
He grabbed her a bottle of water and screwed off the top. She just stared at the bottle of water worrying at her lower lip.
“Ms. Silvers. . .Arianna, look at me.”
She raised her gaze to his.
“Do I intimidate you?”
“Umm. . .yes. . .” she said cautiously.
He grunted. “‘Cause I’m so big?”
Her cheeks pinkened. She nodded.
“Can’t change that.”
“You’re also a little. . .abrupt.”
“Some people think that’s refreshing.”
“Some people, huh? Who? Your mama and nana?”
He grinned. “Yep.”
She snorted but picked up the bottle of water, drinking some.
“Here, made too much.” He slid over his place with the other half of the sandwich. “Share?”
She looked down at the sandwich then up at him. He felt sure she was going to refuse, but she reached out and grabbed it.
“Thank you.” She took a bite. “It’s good. Although you need to cut off your crusts.”
“Don’t like crusts? They put hair on your chest.”
“Yeah. Never got that saying. Who on Earth would want hair on their chest?” She started to relax.
He noticed the way she glanced at his chest. Was she wondering if he had hair there?
“One of my nannies used to take me on picnics. She’d make sandwiches like these. But she’d always cut off the crusts.”
“I’ll try to remember that next time.” The nanny took her on picnics? What about her parents? Where were they?
She took another bite and half the toppings slid out and landed on her lap. “Oh no.” She sounded so mortified that it caught him by surprise. She kept
her gaze down as she attempted to scoop everything up out of her lap and onto the counter.
“Here.” He stood and grabbed a cloth, wetting it and handing it to her.
“Thank you,” she muttered, still not looking at him. “Such a klutz.” She set the rest of the sandwich down on the plate. Her shoulders were hunched. Did she think he would make fun of her?
“Don’t waste the rest. Damn good sandwich.”
“Oh. . .umm. . .all right.” She took another bite, carefully eating it over the plate. He should probably say something to make her feel better, but he wasn’t quite sure what the problem was. So she’d dropped some food on herself.
Big deal.
Gradually, she relaxed and started humming to herself.
“Couldn’t you sleep?”
“What? Oh no, I was working.”
“Yeah? On the song you’re humming?”
“Uh-huh. The lyrics are giving me trouble.”
“You write your own music? Thought you just sang other people’s stuff.”
She raised her eyebrows. “How do you know that?”
“Research for the job,” he said stiffly. “That’s all.”
He regretted the words as soon as he saw her shut down. The mask was back, and he fucking hated it. She obviously used it as a shield, and he didn’t want her using it with him.
Ever.
What was wrong with him?
“I better get back to work.”
“Shouldn’t you be going to sleep,” he commented, unable to help himself. Way to go. Now you not only sound like a prick but a grumpy prick.
If the shoe fits. . .
“Shouldn’t you?” she countered. He nearly smiled at the note of heat in her voice. Anything was better than the icy cold.
“Couldn’t sleep. These last few years, guess I’ve gotten used to the quiet.”
“Where do you live?” she asked curiously.
“Small cabin in the middle of the woods.”
“Really? Huh, just like Shrek.”
He had to grin again. “Yep. But fortunately, I don’t have an annoying donkey sidekick.”
“That’s a shame. I’ve always wanted a donkey sidekick.”
“Someone with your money and fame could buy as many donkey sidekicks as you like.” He aimed to keep his voice light but was aware of a slightly dark undertone.
“Maybe I just can’t find the right one.” There was something sad in her tone. “Good sidekicks are hard to find.” She stood. “A cabin in the woods sounds nice. Bet you get a nice view of the stars at night. Thanks for sharing your sandwich.”
She left and he stared after her. She thought a cabin in the woods sounded nice? She’d hate it. Hell, she’d probably never gone camping in her life. She was a city girl. Rich. Famous.
He needed to remember that.
But as he went back to bed all he could think of was the sadness in her voice.
“Arianna! Arianna, where are you?”
Oh shit.
She looked around her office frantically. Where could she hide? Knowing he had to be close, she dove under her desk.
She groaned. She was acting like a complete idiot. Why was she hiding from Bain?
Maybe because you’re attracted to him? Because you keep thinking about him? Because you don’t know how to act normal around him?
It could also be because she’d gone and revealed that stuff about her anti-anxiety medication. And if that wasn’t bad enough, she’d also likened him to an ogre.
Idiot.
Now, she was back to avoiding him. She had never met someone so completely masculine in her life. He was pretty much the opposite of what she thought she liked in a guy. He was huge. Muscles that went on forever. And tall, at least a foot taller than she was, which put her at a real disadvantage.
And moody. He was always frowning or scowling. Especially when he was telling her off about something.
And yet, she couldn’t stop thinking about him. She couldn’t be in the same room as him without her body going into hyper alert. It was so annoying.
Especially when she was pretty certain he hated her. He seemed to walk around in a perpetual bad mood, barking out orders.
He was gorgeous. Sexy. And a total crabby pants.
A clearing of a throat had her slowly turning her head. Two legs stood by her desk.
“Uh-oh.”
“Uh-oh?” He crouched down, somehow managing to still be intimidating even folded in half. “What are you doing under the desk?”
“Um, I lost a paper clip,” she said quickly, congratulating herself on her quick thinking.
He raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Really? A paperclip?”
“Um. . .well. . .”
He sighed. “Why are you hiding?”
“I’m not hiding. There’s a paperclip down here.”
“Then get out and let’s look for it.”
“No.”
“No?” He gaped at her, looking like he’d never heard that word before. Maybe he hadn’t. She guessed not many women said no to him. “What do you mean, no?”
“We both know there’s no paperclip,” she told him with a sigh. “I’m down here because I was hiding.”
“From who? Is someone bothering you?” He stood as though he was going to go search them out. “Who is it?”
“You. It’s you.” Shit. Why did she say that? Idiot. She needed to go back to guarding her words. It was better for all of them.
“Me? I’m not bothering you.”
She bit her lip. “So you weren’t looking for me to tell me off?”
“Why would I tell you off?”
“I don’t know. You’re always doing it. It seems to be your default status.”
He scowled. “What are you talking about? I have never told you off.”
She held up a hand, ticking things off as he crouched down again. “You told me off for standing between you and Larry. You told me off for telling you to leave me alone with Larry. You told me off for running through the apartment—”
“First of all, I wasn’t telling you off, I was informing you about the protocols you need to follow in order to allow me to do my job better.”
“How was me running through the house stopping you from doing your job properly?”
“You could have hurt yourself.”
“By running?”
“The other day I saw you trip over your own feet and nearly bang your head on the coffee table. I didn’t think it was wise to let you run through the house.”
She buried her face in her knees, aware of how bright red her face had gone. That hadn’t been her finest moment. She hadn’t tripped up because she was clumsy. She’d tripped up because he’d stretched, and she’d got a mouth-watering glimpse of his abs and she’d had her eyes on him rather than watching where she was going.
“All right so if you’re not here to tell me off, what do you want to talk about?”
“Come out of there.”
She sighed then slipped out. To her shock, he held out his hand. He was voluntarily touching her? This was new.
She slid her hand into his slightly rough, warm one. A rush filled her. Jesus. She’d never been so attracted to a man in her life.
Why did it have to be him? Why couldn’t it be someone who actually seemed to like her? He let go of her as soon as she stood, moving back several steps.
Great. That was a boost for her self-esteem. He couldn’t even stand to be within a foot of her.
“What did you want to talk to me about?” she asked.
“We need to go over protocols again before we go to the recording studio tomorrow.”
She stifled a groan. Awesome. She slumped into her seat and prepared herself. The man sure did love his rules and protocols.
5
That had been terrible.
She pressed her fingernails into the palms of her hands, trying to fight off the impending panic. So it was one bad day, so what? She could salvage it. She knew she shouldn’t ha
ve gone into the studio today.
She was barely aware of Bain and Dominic. One walked in front of her, the other behind as they moved through the parking lot. She sped up, moving around Bain to get to the car. She just wanted to go home and forget today happened. All the expectations everyone had of her were weighing her down.
“What do you think you’re doing? You walk in time with us. Don’t fall out of formation.”
She turned to snap at Bain. The guy could be such an ass.
Not his fault. No need to take this out on him.
“Sorry,” she muttered. She moved back into place.
They’re just trying to keep you safe, Ari.
These threats were messing with her head. She couldn’t sleep at night and when she did sleep, she often woke with nightmares. Thank God, her room was soundproof so if she was making any noise in her sleep, she wouldn’t wake anyone else. When she woke, she couldn’t remember what the nightmares had been about. She hated that. It reminded her too much of the nightmares that had plagued her childhood.
All of which meant she was tired and out of sorts. When they got into the car, Dominic moved into the front passenger seat, while Bain got in the back, beside her.
“Seatbelt,” he barked.
She slid the seatbelt on. Her head thumped. She needed some quiet. She wished her stalker would make another move. But he hadn’t sent another letter since Bain and Dominic arrived.
“What was that just now?” Bain asked.
“What?” She’d stared at him through the sunglasses she’d put on as they were leaving the recording studio.
“Don’t do that again. We can’t guard you if you don’t do as we say, got it?”
Oh, she got it. She understood that he was a jerk. She thought they were starting to get along the other night. But now he was as grumpy as ever.
Well. That made two of them.
“Arianna? You in here?”
He stepped into her office. If she was hiding under her desk again. . .well, he wasn’t sure what he would do, but she needed to learn not to hide from him. He was in charge of her safety.
He bent down and looked under her desk. Not there.
Daddy's Angel (Montana Daddies Book 7) Page 4