“They love it. See?” He bends over and rubs the otter’s paws between his thumbs and forefingers. The little guy lifts his head, squealing with delight.
I nudge Payton over. “Let me!”
His chuckle fades into the background as I crouch down to eye level with this adorable furry animal and rub his paws. He mews his cute plaintive noises again, making me grin so big my cheeks hurt.
The otter darts away, only to be replaced by another sticking her paws through the openings. I say ‘she’ onlybecause of the way she’s batting her eyes at me. She lets out a high-pitched squeal, then pushes her nose against the glass and licks it.
“I think she likes you.” Payton’s still smiling at me as if this were the best day of his life.
It just may well be mine.
The thought makes my eyes burn with unshed tears. Payton did this for me. He took my simple pastime of watching otters and turned it into something special and meaningful to me. No one’s ever done anything like that for me before.
Otter-girl wiggles away to join the others in the pool, splashing and playing with a ball while I keep my face toward the glass, giving me time to compose myself.
Payton crouches down next to me. “You all right?”
“Yeah, sure.” I pretend to be fascinated by the otters tumbling and holding onto each other in the water, which I am. But I just need a few more seconds to get myself together. I’m supposed to be on the job here, not bawling over furry critters and kind gestures.
The most thoughtful and generous I’ve ever experienced…
Observation #9: Payton undoes me with his charm and thoughtfulness.
“Lily.” He takes my shoulders and turns me to face him, then tips my chin up with his forefinger, which forces me to look at him. “You don’t have to hide yourself from me.”
I swallow. The concern in his expression hardly compares to what I see in his eyes. Something more than attraction. Something deeper. Something I’ve never seen before. “This…I…thank you.”
He slides his hand from my chin up my jawline to cup my face. “My pleasure, luv.”
Is this what being his girlfriend would be like? Not that I’ve had any experience in that department. A fewdates here and there, but I couldn’t really cultivate anything serious because my job takes me out of the city or country for weeks at a time. When I’m on the job, I’m all in. There’s no room for distractions or things like maintaining a relationship.
Besides, I’ve never met anyone before that made me want to pursue something serious or even long for it. Until Payton…
A toddler squeals next to us as the otters swim close to the glass, startling me back to the fact that he’s still touching my cheek and staring at me with sparkling blue eyes that threaten to drown me with his charm.
“Guess I should let others have some otter time.” I stand up, feeling more like a shy schoolgirl around Payton than his bodyguard. No one’s ever unsettled me to the degree that he does.
He remains close, studying me with quick glances he thinks I won’t notice, but I do.
What I find most disconcerting is how he sees me. I’m so used to staying in the background, making myself as unnoticeable as possible, because that’s what I learned to do to survive in the system. And I’ve used that skill well as a bodyguard.
But Payton doesn’t let me stay hidden. It’s like he wants to make sure I see the world and that it sees me out front and center.
And I haven’t a clue what to do with that.
Chapter Twenty-Two
PAYTON
I think I’m getting through to Lily—that moment at the otter display…such a little thing. Yet I never expected she’d wind up so moved by a few furry animals frolicking in the water—moved to tears she didn’t want me to see.
But I did see. I witnessed a side of her today that makes me ache to embrace her, to hold her close and whisper reassuring words in her ear about how I’ve completely fallen for her and want her in my life. But she’s like a skittish wild animal, ready to flee if I approach too fast. Or flip me like a pancake, like she did in her hotel room.
I’ve never felt this way for anyone before, so trust me when I say I’m fully out of my element, and I’m sensing she’s out of hers, too. However, I’m still determined to break through Lily’s tough exterior and see the woman inside. I suspect her years in the foster system taught her to keep the truest part of herself hidden, which breaks my heart and solidifies my conviction to reach hers all at once.
I glance toward her bedroom door from the kitchen, where I’m prepping dinner. When we returned from the aquarium, she retreated to her room, using those blasted reports as an excuse again. Either she’s still avoiding me, orI’m going to have to berate my sister for being such a taskmaster.
Finally, and with perfect timing, Lily emerges from her room. I have dinner prepared—a simple fare we can eat in front of the telly because I have one more surprise planned for her today.
