Page 49 of Twisted Devotion

He exhales a deep breath. “No, and I’m starting to panic a bit. The ones I’ve reached out to apparently don’t have the capacity to take me on.”

I chew my bottom lip. “I think I have a solution. That is, if you’d be interested in working with a multi-million-dollar hotel entrepreneur.”

His eyes go wide. “You definitely have my attention.”

“I’m friends with the owner of the Westbrook Hotel downtown. I’m sure he’d be happy to work with you for this project. He’s worked with college students before.” The Westbrook Inc. Gala is coming up and it’ll be the first one since Tristan took the company back from Skylar. Should be an interesting event, and I’m sure Tristan could use the help.

“Really? That would be amazing.” His eyes glimmer with appreciation. “Thank you so much, Kels. Seriously. You just saved my butt.”

“Happy to help,” I say with a smile. “I’ll have Tristan get in touch with you.”

“Thank you,” he says again, holding my gaze before sighing. “Okay. I’ve bored you to death with my life story, now it’s your turn.”

I open my mouth then close it. This is going to be tricky without lying to him, which I physically can’t do. Luckily, the waiter comes back and buys me a few minutes while he takes our orders.

Once he’s gone again, I purse my lips and say, “After we left the care of the Youngs, I wasn’t placed in a new home. I stayed with a friend for a while. You know as well as I do how over-populated the system is, so they weren’t about to fight to get me into a new home.”

Tristan dealt with my social worker, manipulated her mind to make her believe I was old enough to be considered a legal adult, and then he let me stay at the hotel while I adjusted to the newness of being fae. It took almost a year before I felt secure enough to go out on my own, and that’s when he moved me into my apartment, which he paid for until I started making money. “Eventually, I decided to start my own training facility to work one-on-one with people, which I did for a while.”

Kyle nods. “And now you’re in the personal security game,” he recalls. “You work with any celebs or royals?”

“Does a royal pain in my ass count?”

Kyle laughs deeply, his eyes sparkling. “Oh damn. I really have missed you, Kelsey.” He takes a sip of his water as I smile at him. “How long have you been at this job?”

“A little over a month,” I say, “and I’ve got just under two months left.”

His brows lift. “What’s next? Are you staying in Rockdale?”

I shake my head, my stomach sinking when he frowns. “I like to travel. There’s so much of the world I want to see, and I’m lucky that I can do my job pretty much anywhere.”

“I understand that. I wish you were sticking around, though.”

I smile. “I’ll keep in touch, I promise.”

He reaches across the table and squeezes my hand. “You better. I just got you back in my life. It would suck to lose you.”

I swallow the lump in my throat and squeeze his hand back. “Right back at you.”

The house is quiet when I get back from dinner with Kyle. Skylar lets me inside and I lock the door behind her, thanking her for covering me tonight so I could go out.

Once her car pulls out of the driveway, I climb the stairs and kick off my shoes, enjoying the feel of the soft carpet under my feet.

I extend my hearing to find Jackson, and my cheeks tinge with warm when the sound of his shower filters through. My pulse kicks up a notch at the thought of him naked and soaking wet.

Shaking my head, I push the wildly inappropriate thoughts away and walk out of my room. I need something sweet to distract me, and the cupcakes I made sound like a great snack right now.

I walk down the hall toward the stairs to the main level, but can’t help but pause at Jackson’s door. He’s left it open, and before I can stop myself, I’m walking inside. The room is dark save for the bit of light coming from the bathroom. At least that door is mostly shut, albeit not completely closed.

Swallowing hard, I approach the doorway, my heart hammering louder in my chest with each step I take. I should turn around and leave. Instead, my hand reaches for the door and I push it open enough to step inside and close the door.

The white marble floor is cold on my bare feet, so I tiptoe toward the giant shower. Steam fills the room, fogging the glass, and I take a deep breath before pulling my shirt over my head and dropping it onto the floor with Jackson’s discarded clothing. It doesn’t take long for me to remove the rest of my clothes and step up to the shower door.

Jackson’s back is to me, so I slip inside and pull the door closed, sucking in a breath when he turns to face me.

“Kelsey,” he murmurs, and his soft, mildly surprised voice makes me want to melt into his arms. “What are you—?”

I press my finger against his lips, making him pause. “Kiss me,” I whisper before reaching up and running my fingers through his hair, gripping the back of his head and pulling him to me. His lips crush mine, kissing me deeply, hungrily, and his arms come around me, pulling me tight against him.

---