Page 145 of Tangled Like Us
This girl is heaven-sent, and I’m fucking an angel. And gripping a one-way ticket to hell.
Stay frosty.I focus on the ring.
And her.
When Xander and Garrett take a water break, I face Jane fully and grab a set of purple hand-wraps that I brought over for her.
“Hold out your hand flat.” I demonstrate palm-down with my fingers spread.
She copies me, and I start looping the soft fabric around her wrist and over her knuckles. With every brush of my skin to her skin, she takes a sharper inhale.
My veins pulse, and our eyes latch for a headier beat.
It feels different in this setting.
Studio 9.
Home to security. My work. The overseers of this fake dating op.
Rows of boxing bags line the other side of the gym, and in my peripheral, I sense bodyguards watching us. Wondering what it’s like for me to “fake date” my client.
I’m not a buddy-guard. I’ve gone from being strictly professional with Jane to trekking across landmine-riddled territory. Guys have pried, and I shut down most questions.
My client is none of your business.
Focus on your work.
This isn’t your objective.
But the heat of their gazes is different than camera flashes or ogling fans. Security can’t find out that I broke the golden rule.
I wrap the purple fabric between her fingers.
Jane peeks over her shoulder. “Is it just me…or are we being stared at? Not that I’mnotused to the staring—it’s just that I know all the names of the people looking at us.”
I fasten the Velcro at her wrist and narrow my eyes onto a younger SFE bodyguard. He sits up on a weight bench, not hiding the fact that he’s observing us.
He catches sight of my glare and turns his head.
“They know better,” I say huskily, looking back at Jane. “But they’re still human.”
“They’re curious,” she realizes. “About our relationship as bodyguard and client.”
I nod. “About us.”
She tenses. “But not in a dangerous way?”
“No.” I lower my voice. “We’re fine.”No one knows.
She exhales a little bit and nods. I wrap her other hand.
Jane isn’t here just for this training session. The team wants Maximoff to take a fabricated “candid” video of me doing pad work with Jane. He’ll upload it to his Instagram.
Showing the public that Jane is interested in me as more than just afriends-with-benefitsis a top priority to the team. She doesn’t go to the gym often. So if she posts that she’s here for me, it means something more apparently.
Farrow ducks beneath the ropes and climbs into the ring. While he helps Xander with technique, he’s giving me time to spend with Jane.
For the op.
