Page 20 of Steal My Breath Away

“They are,” she said. “I came by to pick up a few odds and ends, and Aditi dragged me in here to have a chat.”

“You’re having a chat sitting side by side and staring out the window?”

“Jace is an intellectual,” Molly said. “I love him for his mind, but sometimes a girl just needs to watch a little hammer action. It’s no different from you watching that TikTok guy with the ax.”

“I was learning about different types of axes,” I said, bristling. “Who knows when I might go camping again and I might have to make my own kindling?”

Aditi patted the chair beside her. “Have a seat.”

“I don’t need a seat. I have to get to class. I’m shocked at all of you. Literally shocked.” I wasn’t shocked. I was tempted. I couldn’t imagine many of my friends would pass up the opportunity to watch Ace play handyman, and he certainly didn’t need me to pump up his ego.

Of course, right at that moment, when I was about to walk away, Ace looked up and caught my gaze. A smirk tugged at his lips. I wanted to die.

That same smirk was on his face half an hour later when we left for campus. Ace had changed into a Havencrest Warriors T-shirt and a pair of jeans that were a feast of seams in all the right places. He’d added a ball cap and backpack to his student “disguise,” and given he was only a few years older than most undergrads, he fit right in.

“Aren’t you going to ask me how you look?” I asked as we made our way down the quiet residential street. Our house was a fifteen-minute walk to campus. In winter when it was bitterlycold, I usually took the bus, but we were on the tail end of an unseasonably warm fall, and I wanted to enjoy my last chance to walk down the sidewalk kicking leaves.

Ace scanned the street as he walked, his head swiveling from side to side. “No.”

“Is that because you know you have mastered the appearance of a Havencrest University student or because you don’t care what I think?” I was irritated he hadn’t taken the bait, which could have led to an interesting conversation about people on campus and what they wore and their various ages, the type of people who bought Havencrest merch, and assorted other topics that would keep us entertained for the walk.

“I studied the student population during my recon with campus security.” He sounded so stiff and formal, unlike the Ace who had just smirked at me through the window. I didn’t know what was going on with him, but I didn’t like it and I was determined to make him smile.

“That sounds slightly menacing,” I said. “Like you were studying them for nefarious purposes or a nature documentary instead of just wanting to fit in, which you do, by the way. Good job on the disguise.”

Ace gave me a curt nod of thanks. “We need to go over some rules,” he said after a painful heartbeat of silence. “I wanted to talk through everything last night after I got back from running errands, but Paige said you’d gone to bed. Since when do you turn in early?”

Since I needed some time to process the fact that Ace was in my house, protecting me, and sleeping in the room next door. If someone had told fifteen-year-old me that this is where we would be five years later, I would never have believed it.

“I had homework and I thought it would be better to keep my door closed to focus.” There was no point pretending I’d gone to sleep at 9:00P.M. Ace knew I was a night owl. I did my best work when the world was quiet and still and there was nothing to distract me. I couldn’t sleep if there was even the remotest possibilitythat something exciting might be going on. Even as a kid, I would go and go and go, regardless of the time, but the moment my head hit the pillow I was out like a light.

“I bought a lock for your door,” he said. “I was planning to install it last night, but I can do it today. It’s got two keys so I can get in if there is any trouble. You should keep the door locked at all times.”

Ace opening my door at night, coming over to my bed, watching me as I slept… I couldn’t stop the pictures racing through my mind.Bad.I wasn’t fifteen and madly in love anymore. Or seventeen and desperate for Ace’s attention. Ace had firmly crushed those feelings out of me a long time ago.

“So, you left me alone to run errands?” I lifted an eyebrow. “I should call Tony and let him know you didn’t even last a few hours.”

Ace took it in stride. “I arranged for two guards to come and watch the house. They’ll always be there if for some reason I can’t be with you.” His arm slammed into my stomach, and he pushed me back moments before I stepped into the busy street. I hadn’t even noticed the light was red. I often didn’t notice the light was red. Usually, it was because my brain was busy trying to sort through the noise. This time the only noise in my head was him.

“I was about to stop,” I protested.

“Just being cautious. It wouldn’t look good for me if I lost my client on the first day.”

My stomach tightened in a knot. He could have teased me the way Matt used to do, but he was letting me save face. He knew I often got lost in my head. My parents were always amazed I could make it to school without being run over. To be honest, it used to amaze me too.

When the light turned green, Ace moved his arm from my stomach to my back and guided me across the road. I didn’t need help crossing the road, especially now that the light was green, but I couldn’t get the words out of my mouth. My entire focus was on the press of his hand against my back, his firm touch,the warmth seeping through my shirt, and the tingles rushing through my veins.

“I’m safe now.” I gently moved his hand away as soon as we hit the sidewalk, and instantly felt bereft.

We walked past the athletic center and through the main campus square. Although the sun was shining, the wind had picked up, and the cooling temperature warned that winter was coming.

“You were saying something about rules?” I said when the fifteen-year-old Haley inside me stopped screaming in excitement that Ace had touched me.

“First rule is, you do what I say.”

“Is this from the Stellar Security rule book? Maverick also mentioned that as rule number one. You know how I feel about too many rules.”

“That’s why I’m making sure you remember that one.” He paused mid-stride, turned to me, and cupped my jaw in his warm hand, tipping my face up to look at him. “I’m not joking about this, Haley. You do what I say when I say it.”

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