Page 12 of The Burdens We Share
Dallas interjects, “I’m acting as your personal bodyguard.”
Oh my God. This must be what Brody felt like when Selene hired Harvey to babysit her.“I am not Brody. I don’t need a babysitter.”
Selene slaps her forehead with her palm, “Ivory, do not argue. He isn’t here to babysit you, he’s here to make sure you’re safe.”
“Why him?” I ask, suspicion in my voice.
Selene glances at Dallas, clearly letting him answer this one on his own. Dallas keeps his expression neutral, “Because Selene asked me to.”
Selene’s eye twitches for a moment before she nods.
Dallas continues, “And I have more security training than anyone who works for me. I was in the armed forces before I switched over to personal security.”
Right. Dallas and Harvey were in the military together. That’s how they met. Harvey left to be closer to his family, his mom and his little sister Lucy, and Dallas left a couple of years after. That was when Harvey’s company got too big and he wanted to cash out and spend less time working, and more time focusing on Lucy. Dallas bought his company and grew it into what it is now, and almost a year ago, Dallas propositioned Harvey with a sweet deal to come back to the company with Harvey as COO and Dallas as CEO. The proposal allowed Harvey to have an excuse to move to LA to be with Brody, and it also took a lot of the weight off of Dallas’ back. That’s what Brody told Aria and I at least. I’m sure she might’ve missed a few details.
I take a deep breath. I know they’re right. There isn’t anyone better to protect me than Dallas. He has more than enough training and experience. It’s just the fact that it’shimthat makes me so reluctant to be compliant.
“It isn’t forever, Ivory. Just until the sick fuck who broke in here is caught and locked up. Besides, you can still hang out with the girls and do what you would normally do. Dallas is just gonna be with you,” Selene explains.
She’s right. It isn’t a prison sentence to have Dallas around constantly, not really at least. I almost accept it, but then a thought comes to mind. “Will…” I anxiously look at Dallas, “Will you be staying here?”
Dallas’ lip curves faintly as if he’s fighting back a grin. “Yes.”
I almost fall off my chair. “Again, it’s only temporary.” Selene reassures me.
I hesitate. I need to stop being so stubborn. Dallas is here to keep me safe and I’d much prefer to have him around than thestalker that broke into my house. What if he broke in when I was home? I could’ve been killed. The thought sends a shiver up my spine. If Dallas were here when that happened, I would be safe. I know the right thing to do is to accept Dallas’ presence in my life until this person is caught. I have to suck it up and agree because having him around isn’t nearly as bad as having a psycho stalker. I’m just being stubborn because Dallas is a foreign concept to me.
Before I can talk myself out of it, I nod. “Okay.”
Selene exhales and Dallas looks victorious. I swallow as I realize I may have just made a deal with the Devil.
Chapter 6
Ivory
I told Nate thenews after our little meeting in my kitchen. He didn’t take very well to the idea of Dallas living with me temporarily, though I’m not sure if it’s because the thought of Dallas so close to me irks him or if it’s that mutual dislike they seem to have for each other.
Nate left for the studio about two hours ago and so did Selene. Dallas stayed back and the thought of being alone with him freaked me out so much that I hid in the movie theater and binge watched a few episodes ofThe Vampire Diaries, kiss my ass, Selene!
I’m fully intent on staying in my movie theater all day and avoiding Dallas until I hear a banging noise and what sounds like an electric screw gun. I jolt upright and toss my blankets to the side, leaping up from the sofa to track down where the noise is coming from and what the fuck Dallas must be doing.
I follow the noise all the way to my entryway where the front door is. The thudding in my chest is louder than the drill. Lo and behold, Dallas is screwing something into the wall of my house. “Hey! What are you doing?” I snap. I swear to God if he scratched the paint on my perfect white walls, I’d scratch his eyes out.
Dallas stops drilling for a moment and glances at me with an expression that seems to say,what does it look like I’m doing?He looks at the wall and then back at me as if the answer is obvious and he doesn’t have to say it.
I cross my arms over my chest and give him an angry glare,“You better not have scratched the paint on my walls.”
Dallas’ stone cold exterior shifts into an amused expression that looks entirely foreign on his face. “You have someone stalking you and you care more about the paint on your walls than me installing an upgraded security system?”
So that’s what he’s doing. Upgrading my security. “I care about both,” I defend, even though I know I look and sound pretty stupid.
His eyes linger on me for another moment before he continues his drilling. I take the opportunity to fully assess his appearance. His gray Armani suit jacket is tossed carelessly on the floor like yesterday’s laundry and he’s wearing a white button-down with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Wow. So this is what Brody meant about Harvey in a suit. I watch as the muscles in Dallas’ forearms move and I can practically feel drool dripping down my chin.Get it together, Ivory.
There is just something about this man that I find so unbelievably attractive. I’m not sure if it’s the darkness surrounding him that adds to his allure or if it’s just his perfect features, but there’s something about him that just makes every other man look dull in comparison. It’s unfair, really—how someone so closed-off could be so dangerously magnetic. As if he can feel me ogling him he asks without turning his head to face me, “Are you just gonna stand there and stare at me?”
“I am not staring,” I defend a little too fast. Too guilty. I try to lace my tone with playfulness as if the thought of me staring at him is amusing, but it’s a futile effort because we both know I was staring.
He finally glances in my direction and smirks. I roll my eyes, “So what about this security system, anyway?” I ask, hoping to change the subject.
