“I can’t have this discussion naked.”
I leaned back on my elbows, unperturbed by the fact that I clearly still was naked.
He pulled that mask of his back on and stared at me in the eyes, never letting his gaze roam lower.
But he was aware.
I could tell, by the way a muscle pulsed in his chin, by the mad beat of his pulse against his throat.
“What exactly are you suggesting I do, Mila? Go tell your father everything is okay just because we haven’tseenanything?
I chewed on my lower lip for a minute. “How about we compromise? You keep watching my ass…out of bed.” I smiled slowly at him. “And I’ll keep…teaching you in bed. If we don’t find anything out in a couple of weeks, if you don’t see anything, if nothing happens, you try to talk to my dad then.”
He blew out a breath. “This security guard thing really gets to you, doesn’t it?”
“Well…notallparts of it are bad.” I curled my finger, beckoning him closer.
He came, slowly, still clearly reluctant to go along with me.
Climbing out of bed, I went to him and wrapped my arms around him, pressing in close. “What have you got to lose?” I asked.
He caught my arms. “My job. And you could lose your life if there is something out there that poses a threat to you,” he said calmly.
“You’re making excuses. I already told you that you could take a few weeks and see if anything changes.” Chilled now, I let him go and walked over to the bathroom. I had a robe hanging inside the door, and once I’d pulled it on, I turned to face him. “What gives, Liam? I mean, I assume you weren’t interested, but I can tell you’re attracted to me.”
“That’s not the issue,” he snapped. He scrubbed his hands over his face and muttered under his breath.
I heard him though.
“Excuse me?” I demanded, stalking over to him. “Did you just sayyou knew this was a mistake? What gives?”
Hearing him refer to the past few hours as a mistake left a hollow feeling in my belly, but I much preferred anger so I went with that.
He met my eyes levelly but said nothing.
“What, you can’t say it and look at me at the same time? Come on, Liam. Tell me it was a mistake.”
“It probably was,” he said coolly.
I clenched my jaw tight and locked myself in place so I wouldn’t back away from him. “I think you’re just too afraid to deal with your issues,” I said rigidly.
“Mila–”
“Don’t.” I shook my head at him. “It’s not like I’m trying to make you go run to my dadthis secondand get me out of this. I said we could wait until you’d had a chance to make sure nothing happens. But ifnothing happens, what’s the harm in telling my father just that – that nothing has happened, and I really don’t need bodyguards?”
I waited for an answer.
Liam, after a few seconds of heavy silence, said, “I think I’m going to go to bed. It’s been a long day.”
He turned on his heel and walked out of the bedroom.
I gaped at him.
Then, furious, I grabbed a pillow and threw it across the room.
