Page 34 of Stay Close
I’m freaking out. Why isn’t she freaking out?
“Edie,” I say, leading her to a chair and crouching in front of her. “You have to take this seriously.” I’m holding her hand, and instead of letting her go, I hold my breath.Reassure the client.That’s one of Black Swan’s best practices. My thumb brushes the inside of her wrist and I feel the steady heartbeat.
“I am taking it seriously,” she says.
“You don’t look like it,” I frown. “Why?”
Her smile tips and she glances around the room—at the duffel bag and the portable locks. “I’ve got a job. I have tokeep two countries from having a hissy fit over a kidney stone. Keeping me safe is your job. I trust you.”
I once busted a billionaire out of a safe room in the middle of a fire. I once shot my way out of a drug cartel hostage situation. No one knows that my security work made the difference between BLUSH taking the stage for a historic concert against the backdrop of Seong’s Gongboja Palace and disappointing 150,000 fans.
I have never had a performance review I wanted more than this.
“Stop it,” she says on a grumpy sigh. She slouches into the sofa.
I’m still in guard dog mode, and I glance around on high alert. “Stop what?”
“Stop looking like that.” She lifts a hand between us, waving it indiscriminately in my direction.
I check my clothes. Tie? Check. Black suit? Check. I run a hand over my buttons. Nothing is gaping.
“Your face,” she clarifies.
The nice thing about palaces is that there are mirrors on top of mirrors. I find one and assess my face. Same eyes, nose, and mouth my mother gave me.
She closes her eyes and throws an arm over them, blocking out the low light. “Your expression. If you’re serious about being my security professional and not one thing more, you have to get rid of that expression.”
I check the mirror again. “I don’t see it.”
“You can’t see it when you look at yourself.” She tips her arm up and pins me with an eye. “When you look at me, you look like you want to kiss me. What is it the amphibian from those space movies says? ‘It’s a trap.’”
“He’s a bipedal fish.”
Her one eye glares at me before closing and the arm drops again, leaving the tip of her nose, pink lips, and soft chin in view.
“I wasn’t looking at you like—”
Edie growls. “I once sat across the table from someone who bought a whole island for the sole purpose of hiding his cocaine empire. He said he just liked the beach. I told you I know when people are lying.”
She shakes her head slightly. “It’s fine if you think starting something with me would be a disaster, but don’t pretend you don’t want to kiss me. It won’t wash.”
A cold fever spreads over my skin, from the tips of my toes to the tips of my ears. I’ve lived a lifetime standing on the edge of danger, masking my expressions, keeping myself withdrawn, but these weeks with Edie have changed all that. In this high-stakes professional environment, she hasn’t turned herself into a robot. She still manages to be herself, sharing her insecurities, not hesitating to go beyond the brief of the assignment when she’s not getting the information she wants.
Through it all, she’s given me her trust. Maybe, given my resume filled with martial arts training and a series ofclose-fought tactical missions, that’s not surprising. I suspect it has nothing to do with that.
She’s chosen to trust, and it doesn’t mean she’s lost her edge.
“You take these negotiations very seriously,” I say. “Why?”
Her lips twist. “Beyond the money? Because the money’s good, I’m not going to lie.”
“Beyond the money.”
“Hmm,” she thinks. “I was so young when I entered high school and college and joined the law firm. People got in the habit of treating me like a mascot instead of a peer. There was always this asterisk attached to everything I did. I was brilliant ‘for my age.’ I was getting a heavy workload ‘for my age.’ Now I’m a normal age for a lawyer.”
“You’re still young to be helming—”
“I’m making a point,” she smiles, eyes still hidden under her outflung arm. “I don’t want a pat on the head for a job well done—not anymore. I want people to expect the best because Iamthe best. Now,” she asks, “what does that have to do with wanting to kiss me?”
