Page 7 of Valentine's Miracle

I was beyond livid that night but seeing her again had done something to me. I knew that there was no way I was going to survive those big, brown eyes, but she never came up to me.

Not once did she attempt to come to me, and I was disappointed. Disappointed in myself too, for being a man not knowing what he wants.

“Why are you still here?” Sebastian raises an eyebrow. “Time’s ticking. You don’t want to go at nine at night, do you? Knowing you, I think you’re betting on her guard being at the lowest to be the asshole that you are.”

I don’t stop the kick to his shin, and he yowls with a pained groan; he drops both of his hands down to his leg while hovering over his plate of food.

He grunts out, “Unless you want Hendrick to take your place. Tori could use some eye-candy.”

“Don’t be fucking stupid,” I snap and push my plate towards him.

He’s fine the moment the rest of my food reaches near him. Sebastian devours two plates of food while piling on the details that I should be getting through my superiors, but his relationship with them is better than mine, so he gets away with many things.

I take in the details until the very end, and I bid him goodbye. I was going to round kick him to the wall if he says anything else inappropriate, but he doesn’t as he bids me with a good luck kiss.

The repulsed shudder is my only answer as I turn away. I don’t need anything for this job, only me and my knowledge. Everything would be fine as long as I am just her bodyguard and not interact with her; it would be the same as any other job.

The time to get to her gated home is too short for the boiling itch under my skin. I want to turn the wheel and speed away, but my pride won’t let this small thing hinder my ability to do my job.

Parking my car in the front, I brace myself with an iron-willed concentration. I won’t let the thumping loudness in my heart distract me from this, and she certainly isn’t going to be a difficult client.

It’s just a week.

She opens the door with her bright smile and messy brown hair. Victoria’s clothes are messy, but it’s the style that brings back a sense of déjà vu and memories. She hates tight clothes and fancy designs; she likes to sit in her sweatpants and loose t-shirts with weird graphics on them.

She says that when she looks in the mirror, she’ll laugh at the shirt and it takes some of the stress away.

“It’s good to see you again!” she chirps, the vibrancy of her eyes blinds me, and her sweet voice mutes any vexed emotions in my gut.

I settle for something better than nothing. “I didn’t ask for this.”

“I know,” she says and lets me into her home. “You would never agree to this.”

It hurts. It hurts more when she looks as if she is the one at fault.

She is. She’s the one that caused this.

It’s her fault—but why do I struggle to breathe?

This weakness of mine is her; she’s the reason why I’m feeling like the sixteen-year-old boy again.

I hate this. I hate being near her and having the urge to claw at my skin to stop the itch. It’s an itch that’s been going on for years because I miss her touch. I miss everything about her, but I despise her with every cell in my being.

It’s not fair that she’s not that affected by this whole thing while I’m the one who’s suffering as if the end of the world already came. I barely survived the first apocalypse on that day when I was young, and I won’t be able to do it again.

I know I can’t. Victoria knows things about me that even I don’t understand, and it’s why I fell in love with her. She understood me and accepted me in ways that no one would dare to try, but she was brave despite how many times I have burned her with this irate temper of mine.

“I’m sorry Sebastian dragged you into being my bodyguard,” she says as I hear the door behind me closes.

“I thought they would send him or someone else,” she mumbles, but my keen hearing craves for her voice.

I still don’t have the courage to look at her.

“I can put in a request for another if this bothers you,” she offers, and the tone in her voice cuts deep, way deeper than any weapon known to man. “I don’t want to force you to be uncomfortable. I’m sure they can have someone here before my flight tomorrow.”

I spin around at her offer, and it upsets me more than Sebastian blindsiding me on this job. The thought of having another man being in the same hotel room as her and inside her house grinds me in the wrong way, and I hate this instant reaction that I would come to regret a minute later.

“I can do my job,” I snap at her.

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