Falling For You [Tom Hiddleston]

2

Claire's POV

I felt a twinge of guilt for the deception I was taking part in before tamping it down firmly. This was the best way for me to get close to Tom - and keep him safe. I didn't usually take protection details, but I owed Luke Windsor a debt - and he'd called it due. Luckily he'd called me when I wasn't around my mark and we could talk without interruption. He'd panicked when he'd sorted the mail this morning and discovered that someone was going to make an attempt on his boss's life.

Part of the reason I didn't do protection details was because I hated being anyone's babysitter - but there wasn't anything normal about this detail. My job was to keep Tom Hiddleston literally out of the line of fire...without him knowing what I was doing. To make things even more difficult, I was currently on another case and my brothers wouldn't be back in London for a couple more weeks. Honestly, this was more their kind of gig than mine, so between Luke and I we were going to have to try to make this work.

I set that thought aside and studied Tom covertly while Megan quizzed him about what was good here, glad he'd bought my act. He was more perceptive than my usual assignment, which was going to make my job a little harder. I couldn't rely on him not paying attention to me - not yet; he was too attracted to me. His eyes flicked to me periodically throughout their conversation as I absorbed their dynamics.

Luke said Tom was one of Hollywood's hottest, most in-demand actors right now - and I could certainly see why. He was a very attractive man - and I didn't usually go for gingers, but I would make an exception for him. He was lean but still strong; I'd felt his muscles when I'd had my hand on his arm earlier. He was very compelling - one of those people that instinctively made you want to like them. And those eyes – I still wasn't sure if they were blue or green, but they were definitely captivating.

Luke had also told me Megan Jones was incredibly nice; the way he'd went on about her made me think he'd be half in love with her himself...if he were straight, that is. When I saw the beautiful redhead approaching, I'd still had a moment's concern that she'd be upset about me crashing their dinner; after two minutes in her company, that definitely wasn't the case.

It was safe to say that neither of them were what I'd expected. I still couldn't believe how genuinely nice these people were being to me considering I'd only met them less than fifteen minutes ago; it felt like I'd known them for much longer than that.

* *

Megan yawned widely. "Oh - I should get going. I can't believe we've already been here for three hours!"

"Time flies when you're having fun," I agreed.

"And this was fun, but I think it's time I called it a night. I should sleep well tonight."

"You always do in this kind of weather," Tom said with a fond smile, slipping his card to our waitress before Megan could. "Don't even think of it, darling. It's my treat."

I laughed at Megan's expression when she realized she'd lost the argument before it had even started and stuck her tongue out at him. "You sneaky bastard!" The effect was ruined by another large yawn. "I'll bite my thumb at you."

I smiled and tried not to laugh at her Shakespeare reference. They had both assured me they were only friends, which was true on her part and a little forced on his. Years of observing people closely made me very good at what I did - and I was positive Tom was head over heels for her.

"I'm not taking you to the theater anymore. It's a bad influence on you," Tom sighed, giving her a pained look for the misquote and waggling a finger at her teasingly. I knew he wasn't remotely serious about the threat - and so did she.