Page 17 of Guarding the Billionaire

Other than the constant clacking of the keys with whatever she was doing, she was silent for the rest of the day. I ate my sandwich and the fruit salad that came with it, approved the advertising campaign, and participated in several video meetings before the day was over.

After Amy left at five thirty I started packing up my laptop and some files. I tried not to stay in the office too late, although I typically did a few hours of work at home after dinner.

“What have you been working on today?” I asked Teresa as we got into the elevator.

She held up her finger and mouthed the word “bugs”.

Out loud she said, “I was working on that report you gave me, boss.”

The town car from the car service was waiting for us when we stepped out of the building. After circling the car to check for explosives, Teresa and I got into the back seat and headed home. As we drove through the dark, rainy streets, I couldn’t help but daydream about that kiss and wonder what it all meant.

And hope that we’d do it again soon…

Teresa

Flora was quiet on the way home, giving me plenty of time to think about that kiss. I was such an idiot losing control like that. Now that my vampire had a taste of our mate, she was going to be insufferable. All afternoon the creature had been chattering in my head, demanding that I officially mate her.

I couldn’t decide what to make of Flora. It took her nearly an hour to get ready for work this morning, emerging with perfectly coiffed hair and flawless make-up. With her designer clothes and sunny personality, it would be easy to dismiss her as some kind of vapid socialite.

Yet that cheerfulness she wore like a mask disappeared when she was in boss lady mode. I’d watched her closely today as she encouraged her staff who were doing a good job and chewedout those who weren’t. Her team respected her, and so did the suppliers and partners she met with on her video meetings.

So which version of Flora was the real one? I couldn’t tell yet. I hadn’t had much time to think about it at the office though. I had a job to do, and I’d spent most of the day running background checks on everyone she came into contact with at the office, from the security guards to her CFO, who I still hadn’t met.

It had been shockingly easy to break into personnel files on the company’s network. I’m sure Flora would have given me access, but it was more fun to do a little hacking. We’d have to help Meyer beef up its online security when this was all over.

By the time we got home I was going stir crazy from spending so much time sitting around. I preferred being active.

“What do you usually do now?” I asked.

“Put on comfortable clothes, heat up some dinner, and work for a couple of hours.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “You need to move a little. You’ve been sitting all day and that’s not good for you. Put on some workout clothes and meet me downstairs in the gym.”

To my surprise, when I scoped out the house last night I’d discovered a well-appointed gym in the basement as well as an outdoor swimming pool. It was a little cold for swimming, at least for humans, but a little bit of cardio and stretching would do us both a world of good.

“I don’t want to work out,” she said stubbornly. “I have a lot of work to do.”

“You’ll thank me later,” I said, putting my hands on her shoulders to get her started up the stairs. “Now be a good girl and change.”

Flora’s mouth dropped, but her pupils dilated and the pulse in her neck picked up, telling me that she liked being called a good girl just fine. I didn’t want to analyze it too closely, but the more time I spent with my mate, the more I wanted to take care of her. I could tell already that she’d been working herself to death and not eating well. The least I could do while I was here was help her break those habits.

My vampire growled deep inside me at the thought that was my stay here was temporary. But really, how could this work? Even if I was starting to learn that Flora was more nuanced than she’d first seemed, she was a billionaire CEO, and I was a for-hire security agent who grew up relying on government food boxes. We couldn’t be more different.

“Have you ever gone rock climbing?” I asked as we reached the landing to the second floor.

Flora shuddered. “Uh, no. I’m not a big fan of being outside.”

I suppressed a sigh. It was definitely never going to work out between us. But that didn’t mean I wouldn’t help her get healthier while I was here.

A little more than an hour later Flora threw herself down on a mat on the gym floor and cried, “Enough.”

“What’s the problem?” I asked from where I was running at top speed on the fancy treadmill while Flora worked on the elliptical.

“I’m exhausted.” She sounded pouty. “And I hate exercising.”

“You said you do yoga,” I reminded her, nodding to the corner where she had a little yoga area set up with a mat, straps, and blocks.

“I do gentle yoga,” she said. “Nothing that involves me sweating. I’m sweating!” She said the last part like it was some kind of travesty.

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