Page 67 of Seduced By the Mermen
“I... Sure she is, but that doesn’t explain that.” I point at his leg. “And also how I didn’t hear about it.”
“I had her step into a nearby classroom.”
“And?” I move back to the bed and sit down.
“I told her if she thought that poorly of me, she should kick me. Take her best free shot. And she did.”
“Remind me not to make her mad.”
“Forrest, Sterling.” Grayson’s at the door. “Blair’s here.”
Chapter 27
Grayson
“Are you two good?” Something’s off with them. Sure, they’re both used to getting their own way. They both growl more than is reasonably necessary and it makes me want to swim into a pod of orca at least once a month. But this is different.
“I’m good,” Forrest says, standing.
“Good. You didn’t change?” The purple suit’s a bit much, but... on the scale of things we’re doing wrong, it’s not even on the chart.
“No, I didn’t. We’ll see you out there.” Forrest waves as he leaves.
“Can’t wait,” Sterling growls. “Aren’t you going too?”
“Yeah. There’s a male named Hunter in the living room who says he’s part of your team.”
“Yes.” Sterling flips through the trousers in his closet, considering each pair before turning around to glare at me. Either he doesn’t care what he looks like for Blair or it’s the worst stalling technique around.
“Is he going to stay here the whole time she’s here?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t think the seven of us are enough protection?”
Sterling moves to the bathroom and runs his fingers through his brown hair. He’s fixing his hair? Maybe we don’t have anything to worry about after all. “I think I’m more than enough to keep her safe. But Atlas has decreed that someone from the team has to be with her at all times when she’s not with the Portsmouth pod males. He called me to the palace after the school program.”
“With what cause?” I’m not going to say it—that Atlas thinks Sterling’s off his game.
“There’ve been some rumblings that me being assigned to Blair has given our pod an unfair advantage.”
“So now she has a bodyguard?”
“Yes.” Sterling raises his eyebrow at me. “Anything else you want to know?”
“No . . . That’s straightforward.”
“Shocking. A security agent from the palace who’s straightforward. Especially one from Atlas.”
I nod. There are a lot of people who think Atlas’s time as king should be cut short, but not everyone is excited for the next king. One from Glyden. Castor Portsmouth being the most likely. “Let’s see if the kitchen can find a nice plate for your agent,” I say.
Sterling grunts and speeds down the corridor in front of me.
“I’ll be right there,” I say to Sterling’s back.
When I get there, Blair’s perched on the edge of the sofa, Zion on one side, Alexei on the other. Forrest and Sterling sit in the chairs across from her while Clark and Delmar are on the love seat. Hunter’s standing awkwardly in the foyer right outside the living room, facing the elevator. Rodgers is right behind me with a mounded plate of food, and a small table has been set up inside the alcove next to the Foyer.
“Everyone’s here. I think this is a first,” Blair says, taking a small sip of her drink. Which thankfully is in a tall tumbler, nota teacup. “Your home is really lovely. The last time I was here, I was out of sorts. And everything is kind of a blur in my memory. I’m... That’s never happened before.”
