Page 2 of His Red Carnation

Mom scoffed lightly. “Cal, you know you can call me Ana.”

Dad climbed in next to Mom, settling directly behind Callan. As the door closed, he reached out to clasp Callan’s shoulder.

“Callan,” Dad said, his tone grateful. “Thank you so much for being here.”

Callan let out a soft exhale that sent a swirl of butterflies through my stomach. “Of course,” he said, his voice steady. “I wish it were under different circumstances, but I’m glad to be here, Jake.”

Another bodyguard slipped into the passenger seat up front, and soon the SUV began to move, the interaction between me and Callan still hanging in the air.

I shakily buckled my seatbelt, my eyes fixed on the back of Callan’s head. Mom and Dad talked quietly between themselves, but all I could think about was how in the fuck I was going to handle having the hottest guy I’d ever seen around me almost 24/7.

“Uh…Dad, are we going home now?” I asked softly, leaning toward the middle row of the SUV.

“Yes, sweetie,” Dad replied, glancing back at me before turning to smile at Mom.

I watched them for a moment, my heart warming at the way they looked at each other. Mom was crazy about Dad, and Dad was obsessed with her right back. Their constant PDA grossed me out sometimes, but deep down, they were everything I wanted in a relationship. The way they looked at each otherwith so much love—it made me long for that kind of connection myself.

The ride back to the house—the White House—was short, but it felt like forever. All I could think about was getting to my room and fantasizing about my new bodyguard. I wanted to touch myself just by looking at him. Fuck, this was like the start to all the smutty books I read.

“Honey, Callan is going to take you inside. Daddy and I need to get some work done in the office,” Mom explained as the SUV came to a stop.

“I’m sorry, Callan…did I introduce you to Sloane?” Dad asked as we stepped out of the vehicle.

I hopped out, feeling a little unsteady, but Callan was there instantly, his big hand firm on my elbow. I glanced up, and there he was—sunglasses off, standing tall with a slight smile on his lips. The sight of him up close made my breath catch.

“Um…” I managed to breathe out.

“He’ll be the head of security for you, baby. Please don’t give him a hard time. He’s one of the good guys,” Dad teased with a smile.

Without waiting for my response, they both walked off, leaving me alone with Callan. My heart hammered in my chest as I met his gaze, his hazel-green eyes watching me with a hint of amusement, like I was doing something entertaining. It was only then I realized he was still holding my elbow.

“You okay there?” he asked lightly, finally letting me go.

“Um…yeah.” I smiled nervously, pushing some hair out of my face.

He studied me for a moment. “I got a quick little tour earlier. Should I take you to the living quarters upstairs?”

Yes. Take me to my bedroom and strip me bare.

“Uh, yeah, sure. Do you need a more extensive tour? I know my way around pretty well,” I said, trying for a playful tone that bordered on flirtatious.

Callan raised his eyebrows, clearly caught off guard by my comment, but there was a glimmer of amusement in his eyes.

“Whatever you’d like,” he replied.

He was at least a few inches taller than me, even with my heels on. At 5’5”, that had to put him around six feet. His cool, unbothered demeanor was almost infuriating, like nothing fazed him, and I did my best to act like it did nothing to me.

“Cool. Follow me,” I said, keeping my voice steady as I started walking, my heart racing.

2

Callan

I tried so fucking hard not to stare at this beautiful girl’s ass as she walked in front of me, but the way she swayed her hips made it nearly impossible. Her silk dress clung to every curve, and her high heels clicked against the floor, making her ass jiggle with each step. Girls didn’t look like this when I was in high school—granted, that was twenty years ago. She tossed her dark brown hair over her shoulder and looked back, catching me staring.Fuck.She probably thought I was some creepy old dude. But then she smiled.

“There are lots of little secret shortcuts around here. I’ll have to show you them sometime.” She raised an eyebrow at me before turning around and continuing down the hallway.

It waswrongto think about her this way. I remembered when I first met her, just a little girl running around the house, back when Jake was still governor of New York. He’d pulled meout of homelessness and addiction, and she had been this sweet, brown-eyed kid with no care in the world.

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