Page 111 of Tempting the Player
He lingers there and my friends’ gazes ping-pong between us.
Vi moves first, swinging her feet off the bed. “I should go check on Gavin. He’s been awake since five o’clock this morning and is probably curled up in a ball downstairs asleep.”
“Same.” Daisy follows her.
Dahlia smiles at me and then gets up, too, leaving me alone with Hendrick.
He walks in, looking around my room like he hasn’t seen it before.
I stand and meet him halfway between the door and bed.
His gaze sweeps down my body. “Wow.”
“You like the dress?”
“I like the dress on you.”
“Good answer.” I drape my arms around his neck. His stare is squarely locked on my cleavage. “Sorry I left you downstairs with the boys.”
“It’s all right. I like them, but we’ve reached the point in the evening where it’s...how did you phrase it? Chicks before dicks.” He has a playful glint in his eyes and a teasing smile.
He laughs and presses a kiss to my lips, which lights me up like it always does. I wonder if his kisses will ever stop feeling like standing on center stage. The butterflies in my stomach and the tightening in my chest feel like something life-altering is about to happen.
“Hey, I have a question for you.” My pulse quickens.
“All right.” He leans back, gives my cleavage another glance, then flicks his gaze up.
“Shoot.”
“That night when I introduced you to the band, and you said you were my boyfriend. Why didn’t you just say friend or...I don’t know, anything else?”
His stare narrows. “You wanted me to introduce myself as your friend?”
“No, definitely not.”
A slow-forming smile tugs at one side of his mouth. “I didn’t want them to know I was your bodyguard.”
I ignore the disappointment of his simple answer. I assumed that’s why, but now I know for sure. “I thought so.”
“That’s it?”
“Yep.” I try to pull away and reach for my champagne, still in his right hand, but he holds on tight with his left.
“Wait,” he says. “That’s not it.”
His hazel eyes spark with heat and something else... something that looks a lot like danger. “I said I was your boyfriend because I wanted them to know that you’re mine. Bodyguard, boyfriend, friend, whateveryouwant to call me is up to you. I’m yours and that’s all that matters. But to everyone else, I wantthemto know that I’m the guy they have to answer to if they hurt you.”
A shiver dances up my spine and I think my ovaries explode.Holy shit. I’ve always known he was someone I could count on to watch over me, but I think I’ve just realized how far he’d go to keep me safe. He isn’t just following me around and looking out for bad guys; he’s ready to put himself between me and any danger lurking. The same way he’s always putting himself between danger and the people he loves. Who looks out for him?
If there was any doubt that I was in love with him before, there isn’t now. The thought of anything happening to him makes me want to set the world on fire.
“I guess that makes me your bodyguard too, then.”
One brow lifts. “Oh yeah?”
“Yes. If anyone touches you, I’ll claw their eyes out.”
He chuckles softly. I’m sure he thinks I’m kidding. I’m not.
