Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75539 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75539 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
The vice president stood behind his desk. He leaned a hip on the dark wood and looked out the window. The bright red buds of the roses were much too similar in color to the blood that had drenched these halls hours earlier. “This is a completely unorthodox situation and an ask I do not make lightly.” He turned to face me. The slowly setting sun slashed a band of light into the room. He looked spotlit. “There’s been a lot of ‘oh shit’ moments during my two terms, but this blows them all out of the water. I don’t have anyone of your caliber I can trust right now. I’ve trusted you with my child, my one true pride and joy in this world, and you’ve proven to be right for the job. I have faith you’re right for this one too.”
That was a difficult calling to deny. Not when it came from someone of Mr. King’s stature.
His words reminded me of someone else who always had unwavering faith in me.
Mom.
“Okay,” I said. I steeled myself. This decision would either be one of the best I’d ever made or one of the worst. “I’ll help.”
Warrick clapped, and Cassius yanked a fist toward his side. Blake didn’t have as big a burst of excitement, but his smile twitched a little larger.
Good. I found that I liked when he smiled. Made me feel like I made the right choice.
“Thank you, Xavier.” The vice president held out a hand. I stood from the couch and shook. His grip was firm, his eyes kind. There was hope in them, but it didn’t overshadow the fear. He really was terrified of what would happen if we didn’t get that dagger back.
Great. No pressure.
Warrick brought me a beer and set it on the smooth granite coffee table. I thanked him and popped off the cap. He had changed into his sleeping clothes: a pair of dark green shorts and a slightly oversized T-shirt he got from a concert. We were in the guesthouse, where he was staying next to the vice presidential residence. It was late, and we were all exhausted, but there was still a shit ton to talk about.
“How’s Blake?” Warrick asked, sitting cross-legged on a bubblegum-pink love seat. A tall and thriving fig tree sat in a glistening black pot at his side. “He didn’t seem too shaken after the fight.”
“We didn’t really get a chance to talk much, not in private. He told me he was feeling okay. He did say he needed a little space. He was showering and going to watch a movie with his mom.” Space wasn’t exactly the thing I wanted to provide Blake, but I understood the need for it. I had agreed, begrudgingly, and came to spend time with my brother.
“That’s fine, right? He’s literally only a couple feet away.”
I took another drink of the beer. “Yeah, I told him I’d be here with you.” I put my feet up on the coffee table and stretched over the couch. My baseball cap almost fell off. I flipped it so the brim was to the back.
“He’s a really good guy. I like him a lot,” Warr said. Something in his tone made me careful about my next words.
“I do too.”
“Riiiiight.”
I looked at him, eyes narrowing. “What?”
“I know you, X. You’re seriously terrible at hiding your sneaky glances.”
“My what?”
“No, really. It’s like your eyes just hone in on him. If I had to guess, I’d think you imprinted on him somehow. Like a baby duck. It’s cute. I feel like I haven’t seen you like that since Harry.”
The mention of my ex-boyfriend pushed a thorn through my heart.
“Not that Blake is Harry, of course.”
No… no one could be Harry. But I didn’t want that. I wasn’t looking for someone to be him or to replace the memory of him. He was my first love, and that love was tragically cut short. I couldn’t hold his image up against anyone else.
“I have been feeling happier. I think you’re right,” I admitted for the first time out loud. Blake gave me a bubbly feeling that I nearly forgot existed. Or at least never expected to feel again. He was charming and funny and a little awkward. He had the best laugh, an array of different interests, and he glowed every time he smiled. Plus, he had the dark brown-haired and big golden-eye combo that had me tripping over myself the first time I saw him.
Basically, he was exactly my type.
“Is that forbidden or something? You are his bodyguard. What happens if you’re, like, bodddddy guarding? You know what I mean?”
“I know what you mean,” I said, laughing. “It’s complicated, yeah. That’s why I’m trying to, I don’t know, fight it?”
“You’re doing a terrible job at that.”
I raised a loose fist to my lips. I didn’t work with an agency, so there really wasn’t anyone to report to other than myself. As far as getting in trouble for dating a client, that wouldn’t happen. But it still crossed a couple of lines.