Page 21 of The Bodyguard

“I’m not getting married!”

Paul looked at her mother and then back at Angela. “Why don’t we talk somewhere more private?”

“Good luck with that,” Jared muttered.

“They need a moment,” her mother reiterated.

Jared dropped his head back with a disappointed shake but then eyed Angela. “What do you want?”

She balked. “A minute in private isn’t going to change my mind.”

“Five minutes,” Paul suggested.

“They can have five minutes,” her mother agreed.

Jared waited.

Angela nodded. “But my answer is not changing,” she said.

He stood and checked his watch. “Five minutes, the clock starts now.” Jared nodded for Sawyer to walk out with him. Begrudgingly, Sawyer moved to Jared’s side. “You, too, Samantha. The clock is already ticking.”

The corners of Sawyer’s tight glare ticked as her mother pushed from the table. Without saying a word, Angela understood the strength he wanted to convey. Whether Sawyer wanted her to use that strength to knock Paul back to the United States or just hold it together during a conversation, she wasn’t sure. But his message was loud and clear: he was on her side.

The room emptied, leaving her alone with Paul for the first time in over a year. The man was absolutely insane if he thought they should talk about marriage. Angela crossed her arms over her chest. “Have you lost your mind?”

“Have you?” Paul rolled his chair closer to hers. “This is everything we’ve planned for.”

She shirked. “I never planned any of this.”

“We’ve been together for almost ten years. You’re acting like marriage isn’t the next step.”

“We have been apart most of that time.”

“But you’re safe now, and we can fix the proximity problem.”

“We haven’t had sex in the last—”

“Jesus Christ, babe.” His cheeks turned pink. “Since when does sex make a relationship? You want to have sex? Let’s go have sex.”

She threw her hands into the air. “I don’t want to have sex.”

“I know. It’s never been your thing.I know you.”

She blanched. “You know me? You don’t know me.”

“If that’s what you want, Angela, that’s fine. Tell me what you want, and it’s done.”

Her mind spiraled. Never her thing? What was his thing? He’d never wanted to flirt and cuddle. He’d never tried or initiated—she usually hadn’t either. Butnot her thing?

“Babe—sorry.Angela. See. I’m listening, and I’m telling you what I want. That’s what we do. I need this. You need that. We operate as a team.” He looked at her funny. “I thought that we’d be on the same page.”

The only thing she recalled him asking for was scheduling appearances. A headache punched behind her eyes. Paul didn’t want her. He wanted access to her mother. Was that what he always wanted? She knew that. She’d just told that to Sawyer. But hearing it out loud, sounding as cold and lifeless as a stock report, was sickening.

Her stomach dropped. Did he ever want her—or had he always seen her as a means to an end? “What did you mean by ‘that’s never seemed like my thing’?”

Paul faltered, and his blush returned. “We all have our things.”

Her brow furrowed. “What are your things?”

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