The Author and Her Bodyguard

Chapter 4

I allowed myself a few more beats to breathe before I forced myself back to the door. Peeking my head through the doorway, I glanced down the hall and caught Blue Eyes staring at Blondie with the coldest stare I had ever seen. He all but growled. "It's six o clock in the morning. It doesn't take a genius to know that no one in their right mind wants to get hit on—."

Spotting me, Blue Eyes moved to block Blondie, giving me a clear path through the hall. I all but ran past both boys and dashed back to the table where Sanders and Brandon were deep in conversation.

I slid into the booth next to them. "Sorry, what'd I miss?" I asked, feeling breathless. I could hardly wrap my head around what had just happened. Shoving my hands under the table, I weaved them together, hoping to stop the trembling and make myself look far less frazzled than I felt.

"There you are!" Sanders smiled, shuffling a set of papers. "Just finishing up." She pushed the papers over to me. "We just need your signature."

Dread washed over me. I couldn't do this. I didn't want Brandon to be my bodyguard. I wanted to crawl under my blankets and pretend that my life was normal. But that was it, my life wasn't normal anymore, and if it was, I'd have to face things that being busy had allowed me to forget about.

I looked between Brandon and Sanders and bit my lip, frustrated by the sudden inability to speak. Why was it when I needed to keep my mouth shut, I couldn't and when I needed to speak, I was frozen? After a few failed attempts, I got something somewhat coherent out of my mouth. "Um... No." I pressed the papers away and turned to look at Brandon.

"I'm sorry."

I heard Sanders groan next to me, but I continued before she could try and change my mind. "I'm sure you're really good. But I'm not interested in having you as my bodyguard."

Brandon's brows shot up, surprise clear on his face. "Quite blunt of you. Are you always so honest?"

I looked down. "Not normally no."

"You sure? You seemed quite blunt earlier." I was startled by the familiar voice. I looked up and found a pair of familiar shockingly blue eyes. I blinked, half expecting him to disappear into the shadows again.

Blue Eyes slid into the seat across from me, settling in next to Brandon who had begun to belly laugh. "Wait, you thought that I was going to be your bodyguard?"

Brandon threw his head back, laughing harder. "I'm seventy-five years old!"

I flushed, staring down at the table, suddenly finding a groove in the wood tabletop to be the most interesting thing in the room. "I can see why you were hesitant!"

Sanders offered me a comforting pat on the shoulder as she tried to stop herself from laughing out of loyalty. "Laliana... sometimes I wonder where you get your crazy conclusions from."

I shot her a look. "It's six in the morning. Forgive me for not being fully coherent." I laid my head down on the table, feeling suddenly too tired to care if there was a mysterious and utterly attractive set of eyes looking at me from across the table. I thought that two near-death experiences back to back earned me the right to not care about anything for a moment.

Brandon stopped laughing, but I could hear his smile as he spoke again. "No, I don't guard anyone anymore. It's a young person's game. I own Silver Gate."

I lifted my head and nodded awkwardly. "I'm sorry about that."

He smiled, doing his best not to laugh again. "It's fine. I'm flattered. Although considering you didn't want me guarding you, I do have to add in a sprinkle of 'being insulted.'"

I rubbed the back of my neck, speechless. "So are you open to the idea if you have someone else?" Sanders asked.

I shrugged, still a little too distracted by Blue Eyes to think clearly. Why was he at the table? It was too early to be making decisions and going places.

Brandon filled in the blanks when he gestured to Blue Eyes next to him with a proud smile. "Aiden here is your bodyguard." And suddenly, just like that. The idea of a bodyguard didn't sound so bad.

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Thank you for reading chapter four! I hope you are enjoying the story! Or are at least curious to see where it goes! Add this story to know when the next chapter drops!

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What do you think of Aiden?

Will Laliana be more open to him as her bodyguard?

What do you think will happen? Will the stalker leave her alone?

CHAPTER QUESTION - Are you a morning person, a middle of the day person, or a night person?