On Monday morning, Annika went downstairs to go running, assuming someone from her mother's detail would be filling in, and almost had a stroke, faltering on the last stair, when she saw Shivaay standing by the door in shorts and t-shirt, running shoes laced up. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.
Shivaay shrugged. "Are you going running?"
Annika grit her teeth at the bland, impersonal tone. That's how we're playing it, then? Good. "Of course. It's six fifteen on a Monday morning." She pulled her t-shirt off, baring her littlest black sports bra, one that she almost spilled from, and started stretching. "So they wouldn't let you be a quitter, then?" she asked, opening the door.
S: "Not yet."
She huffed in amusement. "That sucks for you then, I guess." She put her earbuds in, cranked her music loud and set off, feeling Shivaay behind her.
Annika tried, as she set a quick pace to the park, not to feel elated and thrilled Shivaay was stuck with her, because a good sized part of her was more than pissed he'd found her so undesirable to be around after the silly kiss that he would transfer. And then offer up the lame excuse about crossing the line with her. If only he would, she thought traitorously. No, she wasn't glad he was still around, but she felt a little spring in her step nonetheless.
Once she got to the park, she did her usual two laps around the pond, but didn't stop, pushing herself to take the circuitous route back home, feeling Shivaay move up behind her. She put on a burst of speed to maintain the distance between them, but he kept pace with her evenly. Annika felt her breathing coming in gasps and stopped just inside the park. "Stop that," she panted, pulling her earbuds back. She was sweating and red-faced from exertion and the warmth of the day.
Shivaay handed her water and she grabbed it, drinking half then dumping the rest over her head, wiping her face. "Stop what?" he finally asked.
"Being up in my personal space. I'm trying to think," she snapped.
"And you never go this way. Precautions still need to be maintained." She glared.
"Oh yes, someone might just grab me off the street, right?" she shot back, feeling grouchy.
"You never know," Shivaay said reasonably and she sighed in disgust, rolling her eyes. She reached up to put her earbuds back in. "Camera, eleven o'clock," he added.
Annika's heart beat stuttered for a moment as she thought of the incriminating photos she'd been sent. "Goody," she said with a forced off-handedness and put her earbuds back in properly, starting back up at her normal pace. Shivaay stayed a respectful two steps back.
Once she made it back home, Annika was out of breath and sweating more than ever, but she felt pleased she'd managed to almost completely block Shivaay from her mind. Until she glanced over at him as she walked around to cool down, seeing him lift his t-shirt to wipe the sweat from his brow, revealing a toned, golden expanse of stomach and the mouth watering lines of his lean hips. Sweet fucking God.
She turned to go in abruptly, turning off her music as she got into the kitchen. Her mother was there with Omkara, going over the planned itinerary for the trip to Europe, and the woman was kicking up a fuss at her husband's planned time management. "No, no," she was saying. "This is a mess. I want to go to the spa on the first day, not the second. Harsh has no clue what he's talking about."
Annika smiled at Omkara, who glanced at her. "Mom," she said, opening the fridge, basking in the cool for a moment, "stop getting mad and just write your own."
"I always do anyway," Vanshika said archly. "Your father's horrible at time management. He thinks a half hour is sufficient time to get dressed and ready for a day." Vanshika rolled her chocolate brown eyes, tossed her brown hair, a few shades lighter than Annika's, but just as long and pin-straight, and pulled out a pen from her purse nearby, which she was halfway through transferring the contents of to a different purse.
Annika grinned, grabbed a bottle of water, closed up the fridge and leaned over the counter, facing her mother, and grabbed a banana. "Doesn't it?" she teased.
Vanshika snorted. "When I was your age, sure," the elder woman said. "Although big hair was in then, so maybe a bit longer to include the blow-out." Annika peeled her banana, and although she could feel Shivaay hovering nearby, she ignored him and glanced at Omkara.
"Hey, do you have a gun?" she asked.
His dark eyes widened ever so slightly, but he smiled broadly. "Of course."
"And how long have you been stuck dealing with my monster-I mean mother?" she asked, smirking, and took a bite of banana.
Omkara's gaze dropped to her mouth for a beat, then back up, his own smile going crooked. "Almost five years, total."
Annika seemed to ponder this as she chewed and swallowed. "And how many trips have you gone with her on, like this?" Annika asked, gesturing to the itinerary Vanshika was heavily revising.
O: "This will be the eighth."
The girl took another bite of banana and asked with her mouth full, "And you still haven't shot her yet?" She laughed as her mother shot her a dirty look.
"That's enough of that, young lady," Vanshika said sternly, as Omkara winked.
"C'mon, Mom," Annika sighed, finishing her snack, drinking some water. "Be nice to Omkara, at least. Not his fault you married a dolt."
Vanshika grinned and Annika exited the kitchen as she pulled her ponytail out. "What are your plans for today?" Shivaay asked as she stopped level with him.
"Dunno," she said lightly, and shook out her dark brown hair. "I suppose you're at ease for now. I'm going to go upstairs and get naked and then wet and hot... In the shower. I'll call if I need you." She flashed him a cocky smile as his mouth hardened at her mention of hot, wet nakedness.
Shivaay watched her go upstairs and fought the urge to follow her and assist with the showering process. After he went to his own accommodations and took a shower that relieved him of sweat but exacerbated his damnable libido, he found himself pacing his bedroom, thinking about Annika and wondering if she was still naked and wet and hot.
He was one of five young, pitiably unmarried, fellows who lived on site at the Trivedi residence in the guest house at the far edge of the property where Jigi also had his office. Omkara, who lived across the hall from himself, was thankfully six months older than himself, which helped him feel a little less old around the twenty-somethings fresh out of school who Jigi was training doing rotations. He was moving through the common room area when Omkara turned in and smirked at him. "I don't know how you do it," the dark man said with an easy smile, reclining in a chair.
"What?" Shivaay asked.
"Look all day and not touch. Least Ram got to go home to his wife at the end of the day." Omkara grinned, flashing him a knowing look.
"She's the job," Shivaay said easily, even though he didn't really believe it. Because he wanted. "And it's only for five or so more months anyway."
"And then after?" Omkara drawled. Shivaay frowned.
"Nothing after," the man said firmly. Because there would be nothing. Not now, or in the next five months, or after. If he said it enough times to himself, it might start to sink in.
"You sure about that?" Omkara asked, flipping vaguely through a gun magazine. "You know it's only against the rules when you're on the clock, right?"
Shivaay gave him the finger and went out, even as Omkara laughed. The man wanted no part of the ribbing. He couldn't stop thinking about Annika and the last thing he needed was to hear something like that. Because any time he was around her he was on the fucking clock.
After her shower, Annika painted for a bit, then felt a bit restless at seeing a nice day. She decided shopping was in order, and pulled out her phone to call Shivaay, remembering, with a smirk, his expression when she'd half dragged him into a lingerie boutique for the sole purpose of embarrassing him. Which worked. "I need to go shopping," she said when he picked up.
"Delightful," he said flatly, and she grinned.
"And I want to drive. Meet me in the garage." When she got to the garage, she noticed Shivaay was already in the driver's seat. "Hmm, that's funny, we must have had a bad connection. I said I was driving."
"No, you said you wanted to drive," Shivaay replied as she got in the passenger side of the SUV. "I want lots of things, but that doesn't mean they're going to happen."
"Fine, I'll drive back. This is going to be fun. Hold on, let me get my list." She pulled out a list of things she needed. "We'll do this first," she murmured, punching something into the GPS. "Go there," she said, and sat back, buckling up. "Please," she added, because her parents had ingrained politeness in her.
When Shivaay parked, Annika was barely containing her smile, but lead the way into the market with a bored countenance. She didn't pause as she grabbed a basket and moved through the very densely populated entrance. This was her all time favourite open-air market, filled with every kind of fruit and vegetable, as well as meat and fish brought in fresh daily, and fancy, high-priced jams that were homemade by grandmothers. Annika went straight for the jam.
She greeted her favourite vendor, a woman named Anita, who made the jams and jellies and other preserves herself, and was stooped and wrinkled. "Hi Anita," she said, hugging the old woman, half-shouting at her.
"Hello, dearie, hello. I was wondering when you'd come back for more of my goodies. I don't know where you put it, so thin."Anita said.
Annika smiled, letting Anita take her arm and lead her imperiously into the little tented booth. "Now, I know you love your blueberries, but you know they're not in season just yet, dearie. But I have the first raspberries of the season done up. I put a few aside for you."
Annika felt her mouth watering already. "You're too sweet, Anita."
"You got a new friend?" Anita whispered after beckoning Annika down.
"Yes," Annika said with a small smile.
"Handsome devil." The lady said.
She smiled a bit more. "Yes," she agreed. "Unfortunately, he knows it. Bit of jerk, that one." Anita beamed.
"That so. Well now, you must introduce me. If you're not interested I might have a go." Annika laughed aloud.
"Oh no, Anita. He doesn't deserve a woman like you," she said. "Or me."
"Let me wrap up your jams, dearie." Anita fussed over the bag, accepting Annika's money and meant to get her change.
"Please, Anita, you know I'm going to tell you to keep it," Annika said.
"Oh, dearie, I insist-" Anita replied.
"No, Anita," Annika said firmly and smiled, bending to kiss the old woman on the cheek. "You're a doll, and next time I'll tip you even more if you don't keep it." It was a routine they'd played out before.
"Maybe just the new friend's phone number, dearie," Anita said in a stage whisper.
"Don't have it, sorry," she lied easily. "See you next time Anita. If you get blueberries before I see you, put lots aside for me."
Anita grinned. "Of course, dearie."
Annika didn't wait for Shivaay as she moved through the market, stopping to talk to acquaintances, then she got herself a coffee and made her way back to the car. Shivaay appeared at her elbow.
"If you were trying to lose me, it's going to be harder than that." The girl grinned.
"Why on earth would I want to lose you?" she asked sweetly. "Now comes the fun part."
They got into the SUV. "Which is?" he asked, starting up the engine as she buckled up.
"The mall. Do you need GPS to get there?" Shivaay pursed his mouth ever so slightly but didn't comment as they went to the mall. Annika turned into a swimsuit store and the man had a pretty good idea of what was coming, judging by his very slight frown. The girl grinned. "You can sit. I'm going to be awhile. I tried on my stuff from last year, but my boobs must have been smaller then or something." She smirked over her shoulder at him, moving to a section of two pieces. "They don't cover enough anymore."
Shivaay didn't comment again, but when she pulled out several to try on, he felt his libido ramping up. She disappeared into a changing room and then, to his mingled shock and horror and delight, she came out in a tiny purple number.
"So?" she said, then revolved slowly. "What do you think? Honestly."
Shivaay chose his words carefully. "It looks like a bikini."
Annika sighed and rolled her eyes. "Wow, thanks Captain Obvious." She looked in the mirror critically, then shrugged and went back into the changing room and came out in an impossibly smaller, yellow and teal number. "Better?"
"It's a smaller bikini," Shivaay said fairly. She rolled her eyes at him again and disappeared, then came out in a black barely one piece. It was halter style, with a slim rope of fabric running from between her breasts to the bottom portion, cut decadently low, the perfect hourglass of her waist showcased, her pert breasts trying to spill from the low-cut top. She turned and, once again, he saw her entire back, except the thin string that held the fabric taut over her breasts, tied with a bow behind her. But this time he also saw her fantastic ass half hanging out of the bottom portion. As she turned back he barely refrained from licking his chops.
"What about this?" she asked, tilting her head and affecting an angelic countenance that was betrayed by her body language. He forced a shrug.
S: "Black is a good colour. Goes with everything."
She smirked. "Too right. This one's definitely a keeper." She bent to adjust her shoe and Shivaay couldn't help devouring the perfect swells of her breasts straining up out of her swimsuit. Fucking hell, she's doing it on purpose, don't rise. But he couldn't help it. His cock twitched in his pants nonetheless. "Okay, next one," she said, smiling and going back into the fitting room.
The next one was a little white lace bikini that smacked of innocence. "No, it's too pale," Annika said, glancing at her reflection. After another four outfits, she picked the black one and a navy and silver bikini with relatively modest, high-waisted bottoms but a tiny push-up top that barely covered the necessities.
Shivaay was half hard. Then, to his consternation, after they left the bathing suit store, she detoured into yet another lingerie boutique. He barely refrained from covering his face with a hand. Annika looked through a display of lace scraps. "Since you're so helpful," she said brightly, "find me this," she laid out a mint green scrap of lace and sheer fabric, "in a medium."
Shivaay gulped. "No."
She pouted. "How come?"
S: "I don't want to pick out your underwear."
Annika grinned. "There's lots of things I don't want to do, but I do them anyway. Buck up, pumpkin, could be worse." A black eyebrow arched and Annika grinned. "Imagine if you had to be here with my mother."
Shivaay couldn't help the inadvertent shudder at the thought. That would be tantamount to torture. "I don't think they pay Omkara enough."
Annika smirked, because she knew for a fact her mother made Omkara wait outside. "Probably not," she said, then slanted a sly look at the bodyguard. "He's not bad looking you know. Omkara. Don't you think?"
To her disappointment Shivaay didn't seem in the slightest perturbed by this revelation. "He's not my taste," he said lightly.
"Hmm, too bad he didn't get the job of being stuck here with me. I bet he wouldn't mind helping me pick underwear. And y'know, I might not even mind having Omkara run all up in my bubble." She pointed to the underwear. "Now help me find my medium and then we can go eat food."
A week later, Annika was heading downstairs to visit her cousin Gauri, talking on her cell to her cousin. "I know, I know," she said, when Gauri told her it was a bummer she had to bring the hired muscle out. "Nothing I can do about it, right?"
"Except move out with me," Gauri teased. Annika grinned.
"Gauri, if I move in with you, where's Bhavya gonna live?" Annika teased.
"We'd probably even clear out the third bedroom for you," Gauri added as an incentive. The third bedroom, complete with a futon for the odd sleepover guest, was a hodge podge of her two cousins' junk. And clearing the room out would be a monumental task.
"No, you can't do that, that place has some Vastu shastra (Feng shui) you can't mess with it. Besides, why would I give up my own mini-studio for your crappy third bedroom anyway?" Annika teased.
"Because you can bring guys home here and so long as they're hot and respectful, you don't have worry about them being taken apart," Gauri replied and Annika pouted. "Hurry up, bitch, I'm making margaritas and Bhavya and I chipped in to get you a wicked awesome early birthday present."
"I'm coming, I'm coming," Annika shot back. Gauri snorted.
"Now imagine you could say that to a real man," she teased, then hung up. Annika rolled her eyes, slinking past the living room toward the door that opened into the garage. Since her parents and most of their staff were in Europe, the house had the ominous, quiet feeling which sometimes, when she was alone, gave Annika the willies.
"Sneaking out?" asked an amused voice behind her and Annika's eyes widened then narrowed as she turned.
"No," she snapped.
"Where are you going?" Shivaay asked, looking over her outfit with a slightly raised brow that tacked on a silent, 'Especially looking like that?'
"To Gauri's," Annika said defensively. In the last week, she'd come to a sort of agreement with Shivaay. She would lull him into a false sense of security by being boring and dull, sticking to her routine, then she'd say or do the most outrageous things, waiting for the blow up. But it never came, even when she went so far as to sneak out on her own then call him to come get her. He'd simply smirk, cool as a cucumber, and either say nothing, or get her back with one of her own barbs. And it was infuriating. Annika was pretty positive she might hate him. And yet, at the same time, she still couldn't repress the primal, animal attraction to him or the way the merest look or touch could set her pulse into the red zone and have her breathing catch. They didn't ever talk anymore about the kiss or his request to transfer that had been denied.
"Would you like to drive this time?" he asked pleasantly, folding his arms.
"No," she snapped again. "I'm going by myself."
Shivaay almost smiled. "Somehow I doubt that," he said, still sounding as pleasant as if they were talking about the weather forecast.
Annika twirled her keys to her vintage Volkswagen. "Really? We could wager on it if you like," she said, lifting her brows.
S: "That wouldn't be very fair, you'd lose."
Hazel eyes narrowed. "Well, there's a margarita with my name on waiting at Gauri's. Bye." She brushed past him and went into the garage, flicking on the far overhead lights and climbing into her car. She fired it up and pulled out and as she turned from the long driveway into the road, she saw another set of headlights tailing her.
She tried to out manoeuvre the SUV, but Shivaay was obviously a much better driver than her, and he stayed glued almost to her bumper the entire time. The girl pulled into her cousin's lot and marched back to the SUV. "You're an asshole, just so you're aware," she snarled when he glanced out the open window at her.
He got out of the SUV. "Indeed I am aware, as you like to constantly remind me."
Annika glared and stalked away, but when the elevator dinged, Shivaay was right behind her and stepped in right after her. "What are you doing?" she hissed.
S: "What I get paid for. Watching your back."
Annika made a noise of disgust and folded her arms, even though her eyes peeked from under her lashes at him traitorously, roving over his long, well-muscled frame. "You're not coming in," she growled as she half stomped to Gauri and Bhavya's door.
The bodyguard smiled. "I have zero desire to."
Annika knocked and Gauri answered with a smile, a drink in each hand, and then her gaze shifted to Shivaay and her mouth dropped open. "Please tell me you're the stripper," Gauri said, handing Annika a drink.
"Stripper?" the girl asked.
"Not today," Shivaay said and glanced at Annika. "Do I have to wait outside the door for you?"
She sent him a filthy look, went in and pointedly closed Gauri's door in his face. "Oh sweet fuck, do not tell me that's the muscle."
"Okay, I won't tell you he's the muscle," Annika replied, sipping her margarita. "Mmm, these are excellent."
Gauri waved a hand, dark eyes wide. "Of course they are. Holy shit, I didn't know your dad had underwear models on his security. Maybe I'll move in with you."
Annika rolled her eyes. "He's off limits," she said, and because she felt a hot flash of jealousy at even thinking of Gauri charming Shivaay, she added, "And I think he might be gay." Gauri's brows lifted. "Serious. He comes underwear shopping with me and everything."
The dark haired woman sighed. "Figures. But for reals, imagine he wasn't? Lord Almighty, I'd take him for a ride."
Annika smirked, remembering the one kiss she'd shared with him. "Yeah, I bet he'd be good. Too bad," she mumbled, and moved into the living room to say hello to Bhavya. "So what's this about a stripper?"
Three hours later, Shivaay was on the verge of committing suicide to liven up the boredom. He glanced at his watch and rolled his eyes. If he could have slept without vivid dreams involving sexy, vanilla-scented girls as a willing participant to his deepest fantasies, he'd have been pissed he was stuck in a hallway at four minutes to eleven. As it was, he was almost glad he was stuck there, if only to have his subconscious put at bay for a few extra hours.
The elevator dinged and a man stepped off, glanced at a sheet of paper, then moved toward Shivaay and Gauri's door. Shivaay felt a surge of mingled jealousy and hilarity when what was obviously a male stripper came up.
"You locked out?" the guy asked.
"No," the bodyguard replied.
"I have the right place, right? Some lady turning twenty six in there?" the stranger asked.
Shivaay almost snorted. "Not tonight. Four days from now, but I suppose you're at the right place."
The guy blinked. "You're not the competition, are you?" he asked suspiciously.
"Not in the slightest," Shivaay replied easily. Though it wouldn't be much of a competition if I was.
"Huh," the stripper said then shrugged and knocked on the door. It opened and the guy disappeared. As the minutes ticked by, Shivaay felt his discomfiture growing. No one had mentioned anything about sitting in hallways while strangers got mostly naked for his client. He tried not to think about it, but still, the traitorous thoughts slunk across his mind. Was she enjoying the stripper? Was it one of those strippers, like his army buddies had arranged for him on his first leave, that stayed the night? And if so, would Annika come out at all before the sun rose?
Get it together. It's none of your business if she's fucking that guy's brains out. Except, he told himself, it kind of was. He stood up. He'd just let a total stranger, who might be armed or in possession of God only knew what kind of illicit drugs, into an apartment with the woman he was supposed to be guarding, with his life if need be. An apartment he hadn't even bothered to clear properly. Goddamn it! He was letting his attempts to remain as impersonal as possible distract him from the very real security issues he was paid to stay on top of. He ran a hand through his hair, huffed out a breath, and knocked on the door.
Annika answered it, looking over her shoulder, smiling, but the smile faded when she looked at him. "What?"
"Time to go," he said abruptly.
The girl giggled. She was very obviously intoxicated. "Not yet. He still has his pants on."
"Annika, get back here, you're missing the best part!" Bhavya shouted.
"Bring the stud muffin!" Gauri added.
Shivaay frowned ever so slightly. "C'mon, she's talking about you," Annika said, and grasped his hand, tugging him forward. The man stood his ground.
"It's late and you're drunk. Time to go," he said firmly.
Annika snorted and released his hand. "No. Are you coming in or not?" She made to close the door in his face again, but then Shivaay, feeling edgy, stepped into Gauri's apartment. Annika took a step toward him, putting his guard on red alert with her proximity and tilted her head a little as she looked up at him. "You seem nervous." She patted his cheek in a decidedly patronizing gesture. "It's okay, I'll keep you safe from the big bad bitches."
Shivaay went a half pace behind her into the living room where decidedly stripper-esque music was blaring and the male stripper was halfway through taking his pants off. The bodyguard clenched his jaw, eyes scanning the room, taking in everything. From the bong stashed behind the armchair Bhavya was sitting in and the faint aroma of burned marijuana, to the pitcher of margaritas sitting the very sharp-looking collection of kitchen knives on a magnet in the kitchen of the single room layout. "Hel-lo," Bhavya said, sidling up to him. "Annika, I know we're blood, but I'd stab you in the back in a heartbeat for a nibble on your white chocolate."
The girl rolled her eyes. "Bite away," she said vaguely. "He's the muscle." The girl picked up her purse, stuffed a couple twenties in the stripper's underpants and kissed him on the cheek. "I have to go, bitches." She slanted a look at Shivaay. "Apparently it's late and I'm drunk." She hugged Gauri, downed the last of her marg and hugged Bhavya.
"Boo," Bhavya said with a sigh, sitting back down and sipping her drink. "Tell the white chocolate to loosen up."
Shivaay barely refrained from rolling his eyes. Judging by Bhavya's slitted eyes, she was loose enough for both of them. "Yeah right. He's on the paranoia train," she mumbled. "You know, the one my dad is driving?"
Gauri grinned as the stripper moved to give her a lapdance. Annika spanked his ass. "Call me after noon tomorrow and we'll do lunch," Gauri said without looking up. "I'll take your lapdance for you."
Annika laughed. "Sure thing. Don't take him to bed, Gauri." The dark haired woman waved a hand and Annika turned to Shivaay. "Look at that, you just cost me a free lapdance."
When they got to the elevator, Shivaay looked closely at Annika. "Were you hitting that bong?" he asked. Hazel eyes widened.
"What bong?" she asked with a vague nonchalance that he didn't buy for a second.
"The purple one beside your cousin's chair." Annika shrugged.
"Not tonight." His mouth thinned. "You're kind of a buzz kill," she said when they got out of the elevator in the lobby.
"Let's get one thing straight," he said firmly as they went outside toward the parking lot. "From here on out, until I'm no longer stuck babysitting you, you're going to be on your very best behaviour."
Annika laughed. "Sure thing," she laughed, digging in her purse for her keys. "Aren't I always?"
He lifted her purse from her shoulder, taking her keys from her other hand. "No," he said shortly. "Get in." He gestured to the SUV.
"No. I'm not leaving my car here." She pointedly walked to her Beetle and frowned at the envelope on the windshield, tucked under the wiper. She plucked it from where it sat and frowned at the typed name on the front of it. ANNIKA TRIVEDI. The font seemed vaguely familiar.
"What is that?" he asked.
She arched her brows. "None of your business," she returned easily, putting it in her pocket, and leaned against her car.
Shivaay shrugged. "In," he said, pointing to his SUV.
"Nope. Maybe I'll just go back up and crash with Gauri and Bhavya," Annika said, moving for her purse and the cell phone within. Shivaay pointedly opened the passenger door of the SUV and tossed her purse on the seat. "Wow, what are you, like five?" she asked folding her arms.
S: "Does that make you three? Because you're acting like a spoiled brat right now."
"Because you're acting like a pushy jerk!" she snapped. "God, you're such a... A...douchebag! Ugh!" The girl stomped over to the SUV and reached for her purse. "It's not like I even asked you to fucking be here, you know. I don't want, or need, you to watch my back."
Shivaay took a deep breath then lifted her bodily into the SUV and shut the door on her, making sure to click the remote locks. He slid behind the wheel to find her, arms folded, glaring straight ahead in the passenger seat. "Are you going to put your seatbelt on?"
He saw her jaw clench but she buckled up and he started the engine. The ride back to the Trivedi residence was thick with tension and silent. "Since you have my keys, you can go get my car," she snapped. Shivaay almost smiled, because he almost fell for that. Instead he'd send one of the guys doing rounds and keep his eyes glued to the video surveillance to make sure she didn't try to sneak out.
When she got to her rooms, Annika flopped onto her bed, her margarita buzz ruined, and pulled the envelope out of her pocket. She frowned at the font again, then opened the envelope. Her stomach slowly turned to lead as she read the short message. YOU'RE NOT SMILING. DID YOU FORGET ABOUT THE NEGATIVES? TSK TSK. WE EXPECT BETTER NEXT TIME. SAY CHEESE, AND SMILE BIG, AND YOUR SECRET WILL BE SAFE.
She put her face in her hands. "Fuck," she breathed. She had to find out who was trying to blackmail her. And quick.
The next morning she woke late and downed coffee before getting changed to go running, taking a little more care than she normally would in choosing her outfit and swiped on some mascara before jogging down the stairs. Shivaay, who she'd called over coffee, was waiting by the door and she didn't pause for pleasantries.
She tried to keep in mind that she wanted to look happy, so she took the route to the pier again, knowing the scenery would keep her in a good mood and whoever was stalking her would get whatever they wanted. Annika didn't stop until the end of the pier, keeping a fast, steady pace, and was distinctly out of breath when she finally did reach the edge of the boardwalk. "You made great time today," Shivaay said, handing her water.
"Thanks," she replied, panting. She downed some of the water. "It's hot today," she gasped, even the breeze off the water not cooling her. As she turned, she saw Shivaay's dark blue eyes roving over her in her tiny purple micro shorts and matching sports bra and smiled a little, then handed the water back. "I might have to switch to running in the evening soon," she said.
The bodyguard shrugged. "Or you could get up earlier. It's still cold at four."
Annika smirked a little at that. "In the morning? Yeah right." Shivaay shrugged again.
"You'd have less of an audience," he replied, even as a couple preteen girls over at the snackbar whispered and pointed at her.
"This is true. But then I'd be in bed at like eight o'clock at night." She glanced over at the preteen girls, who couldn't decide if they had the nerve to talk to her and smiled a little.
"Which also wouldn't be a bad thing," Shivaay replied. "You should go say hello to them. There's a pap on the shore pointing a long distance lens at you."
Dark brown eyebrows lifted. "You don't think they pose a security risk?" she asked saucily, but grinned.
S: "I think it's manageable."
Annika shrugged, but went over, clicking her music off. "Hi," she said with a wide smile. The girls stared at her, wide eyed and silent with wonder. "I'm Annika Trivedi," she said.
"Wow," the one with dark brown hair and large dark eyes said.
"We know," said her friend. "You're famous."
The girl grit her teeth a little but kept smiling. "That's what they tell me. I just wanted to ask," she said, seeing their half finished fries and pointing, "Are the fries here any good?"
"Oh, um, they're okay," said the darker haired girl, blushing a tiny bit. The other girl shrugged.
"Not as good as the place up the hill," she said, then glanced at her friend and giggled. "Is that your boyfriend?" she whispered, leaning closer to Annika, pointing covertly to Shivaay.
"We see him with you all the time in magazines and stuff," the brunette said. "He's hot." Annika wondered how old these girls were, because she was pretty sure Shivaay was old enough to have fathered them both, but smiled, because they obviously had good taste, even if they were little girls.
"We think you're great, even if my mom said you're not a good influence," the second girl added, then her eyes went huge. "Oh my God, can we get a picture with you?" She looked at her friend. "Keira's going to be so jealous!"
The brunette's eyes went huge too, and they both pulled out cell phones and Annika resisted the urge to grimace. Probably the girl's mother read the supermarket tabloids and these girls just read the bits in Teen magazines.
"Sure," Annika said, and posed with them as they both took selfies then group shots with her. "Thanks for the tip about the fries."
"Wait!" said the second girl as Annika made to stand. "You didn't tell us if he's your boyfriend!" she whispered. The brunette turned large expectant eyes over.
"Oh, sorry, but no. He's not my boyfriend." The second girl looked sad but the brunette smiled and peeked over at Shivaay again.
"Oh well, he's still so hot."
Annika grinned. "He is," she agreed. "Have a good day, ladies," she said and waved. The two girls waved back, then turned to each other, giggling and whispering excitedly.
"You probably made their year," Shivaay said as she moved back over to him, putting her earbuds back in.
"You too. I think the brunette one has a crush on you," she said with a smirk, and clicked her music back on, setting back toward home.
XXX
Author's Notes: I know it was a slightly filler kind of chapter but we can't directly dodge to the fun stuff guys. This chapter was 6000 words long, and I hope you liked the little moments our pair are sharing with each other. More interesting stuff ahead. We are going abroad in the next chapter.
Happy Reading. Stay Safe.