Page 10 of Jealous Bodyguard

Dammit! I wished he had more than ever now. My big chance, ruined!

Adding to that, daddy saw just as much as I did, and it so doesn't take a genius to figure out what happened next after I flaked out with my toes curled and my eyes crossed. My dad’s a softy really, but he can stand up for himself and his daughter with more than words or even his money when he's pushed far enough. But he doesn't see it the way I feel it. The image of Steve coming so hard mixes with the definition of the need I have. To have all of what I saw unloading inside me, with Steve holding me so close I can hardly breathe.

That’s all I want. And my dad’s gone and ruined my only chance at real happiness as well as firing the only bodyguard who could ever make me feel safe.

“Well, he's finished. I tell ya!” My dad says excitedly, shaking his head with a fierce look I never knew he even had in him. “I want you to stay in your room, Stacey. I mean it!” he cautions me, holding up a stern finger to let me know this is one time his word is final.

“Melinda can watch over you, and I’ll keep Angel with me… In the meantime, I need to make some calls. Business, Stacey. That man Slade is more than just a pervert, he's a god damned liability if he starts flapping his gums about what I told him earlier…”

He seems to be saying it to himself though because apart from missing Steve like nothing else already, I have no idea what on earth my dad’s talking about. So, whatever they discussed in their little meeting earlier must be pretty juicy but nothing to do with me.

I’ve only ever seen daddy like this after mom filed for divorce. I was banished to my room and my dad showed everyone that he wasn’t going to give up on his marriage so easily. But by then, it was too late.

I’m guessing Mom found her own version of the answer to that feeling inside herself. Makes perfect sense to me now that I’ve seen what a wonder man can do at close range without even touching a girl.

Imagine what it’ll feel like when he's inside me for real…

And it might just be that from now on unless there's some kind of miracle. I’ll be imagining Steve and me for the rest of my days. Replaying those magic moments over and over again until I just die from loneliness and desire. Expiring from never having the itch he's given me scratched personally.

I want to be mad at daddy, want to drop everything and chase after Steve, but I know it’s hopeless. By this time tomorrow, the place will be crawling with police and whoever else my dad gets involved now. Trying to keep things quiet has kinda blown up in his face, as well as all over my bedroom rug it seems. So, all I can do is go quiet. Vowing to wait and see what happens next and hoping like hell that if Steve's even half the man I know he is, he has some kind of plan to come back and get me.

To finish what he's started.

It’s the only thought that gives me the kind of calm to stop me from losing my mind right now. Knowing that if I’m right, he’ll come for me again. And if I'm wrong?

Well. I hope this is the one thing in my life I haven't been wrong about from the get-go. There's just something so permanent in the idea of Steve and me. It just feels wrong that he’s not here. Doing what I know we must both really want, whether it ruins us totally in the process or not.

With daddy so wound up, it’s no surprise when he marches me into a different room, the space I use as a lounge area, and spells it out in no uncertain terms. “I’m locking the door behind me, Stacey. I don't want you opening it for anyone except me or Melinda, do I make myself clear? We can talk about all this when you’re more… when you’ve… once you recover yourself,” he finally clips, obviously noticing my extreme state, and it isn't fear or worry driving me now.

It’s the idea of Steve himself coursing through my veins into every cell in my body. My need for him only more intense now. But if he’s been booted out, then I have to see him one last time, to look for some kind of signal from him. To have that stern but knowing, intense stare of his on me just one more time. I spring off the couch and struggle to open the window that has ivy growing around it, straining to hear and see anything but managing a glimpse of Steve before he goes.

Daddy and Melinda are a long time coming. Having the meeting of her career, I’d imagine. To go from number one bodyguard to dog walker back to number one again in such a small amount of time must be a record for her. So, it’s no real surprise when she joins my dad once he comes up after about an hour and a half, the look in both their eyes telling me my fate's already sealed long before either of them says a word.

It’s the longest and most agonizing wait to find out just what’s happened to Steve. Melinda’s look when she stands in the doorway clutching Angel like some unwanted accessory is almost apologetic, but it’s clear my dad’s mind is made up about something I’m not gonna like.

“Stacey, I think that man was right about one thing… It’s not safe for you here. Not now especially.” My dad sighs. Looking like he's aged ten years in the past hour, his usually smooth features are furrowed with intense emotions that I’m sure run deeper than me seeing a bodyguard taking care of business where he shouldn't have been.

I sure as heck know I’ll never forget what I just saw. Holy Moses!

My mouth opens by reflex, wanting to protest. To tell my dad it was all some stupid misunderstanding. But he's already shaking his head. “Melinda will take you somewhere safe. Somewhere she knows that lunatic can't get to you again… God! I was such a fool! Leaving him alone with you would’ve been worse than anything…”

But I don't see it that way at all. Being alone with Steve Slade right now is what I want.

“I’ll let the police know about Slade, I mean… not about the other business,” my dad says as an aside to Melinda. My stomach sinking with the feeling that Steve and I are just about to get that little bit further apart, probably for good if my dad has his way.

“I’ve got a car waiting, Mr. Shulton. We… we can leave right now,” Melinda’s quick to add, making daddy look taken aback for a moment.

“Slade’s not the only one with a few surprises, sir,” she reminds us both. “And time is a factor, given the active threat.”

She says it in such a way it almost convincesmeshe’s right. But I’m certainly not afraid of Steve and there’s an edge to her announcement. Like she’s in a hurry for a different reason than just keeping me out of Steve Slade’s reach.

“I’ll have Stacey’s things sent on,” daddy says. Going along with everything and leaving me to be the only one with alarm bells ringing in my mind. I open my mouth again to speak my mind, but I stop myself.

Is Steve Slade the kind of man to do what he just did, to show a girl just how he feels about her and then simply walk away?

I don’t think so.

It’s a thought that makes me instantly happy again, even if it is just wishful thinking. The idea that Steve will somehow find me, finish what he started as well as sort all this other business out sounds more like something he’d do than just drive away with his head hanging in shame.

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