Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
They can't bitch about what they don't know. By the time they find out, she won't be a client anymore.
"Then please, Zion, come on in," she says with false enthusiasm, making me grin.
Fuck, I love her sarcastic little attitude.
I watch as she takes a big sip of coffee.
"Oh! Manners, Kenzie. Jeez. Do you want some?" She holds the mug out toward me to indicate what she means.
I know damn well that she isn't offering me her cup, but I take it anyway. She stares with wide eyes as I turn it, planting my lips in the same place hers just touched. I take a sip, my eyes locked with hers the whole time.
"Delicious," I state, gently placing the cup back in her hands.
"I'm not nearly…" Her voice fades out.
I pull my hearing aid out to adjust the volume before replacing it.
"That's a hearing aid."
I tense as soon as she utters the words. "I can do this job, angel baby."
"What?"
"I may wear a hearing aid, but I can do the job," I growl. This isn't the first time my hearing has been a problem for a client. Hell, if I'm being honest, it's a problem for me. I don't trust myself or my instincts the way I used to trust them. In this line of work, that can be dangerous. That's precisely why Zayne and Gideon do most of the heavy lifting while I handle shit behind the scenes. It's just easier for everyone that way. Doesn't mean I can't do the job, though. Just means it's more of a challenge for me than it is for most people in this line of work.
"What?" Her brows furrow, her expression morphing to one of confusion. "You think I'm judging your abilities because you wear a hearing aid?"
"Wouldn't be the first time, Makenzie. It won't be the last, either. No one wants a partially deaf bodyguard." I shrug.
"Well, first of all, I'm not any of your other clients. I don't want a bodyguard at all," she protests, making me smile despite myself. "Secondly, the fact that you wear a hearing aid isn't an issue for me, Zion. I was just surprised. I saw it outside and thought it was an earpiece." She gives me a sheepish grin. "I'm honestly a little relieved it's just a hearing aid. It's way too freaking early to deal with the level of professionalism that comes with you wearing an earpiece."
The tension slides from my shoulders. "You think an earpiece makes me a professional?"
"No, but it makes you way more of one than I'm prepared to deal with this early in the morning."
"So you aren't a morning person, your hearing is worse than mine, you don't want a bodyguard, and you make my cock hard enough to pound steel. Anything else I need to know about you?"
She chokes on her coffee.
I take a step toward her, invading her personal space. I want her off balance. I think rattling her is the only way to keep her from overthinking this shit and throwing up walls. I'll plow through them if I have to do it, but I'd rather not have to do it. Her honesty is refreshing, and turnabout is fair place. If she's going to say what's on her mind, I fully intend to give her the same in return.
"I'll hold the line no matter who or what comes at you. If they're looking for a target, it'll be on my back, not yours. But I have no intention of being a professional with you. If that's what you're looking for, you're going to be sorely disappointed." I tip her chin up with a crook of my finger. "But one thing you won't be is unsatisfied."
She gulps audibly.
"Just thought we should be on the same page," I say, stealing her cup from her hands to take another sip before I do something crazy and kiss that adorable look from her face. I'm already moving too goddamn fast for her. That truth is written all over her face. But I'm not slowing down.
I've got three days, four at most, to convince this woman that she wants me in her life when the job is done. I'll move as fast as I need to move to get her on the same page.
Shit. Maybe Zayne isn't completely out of his damn mind, after all. Because his balls-to-the-wall approach is starting to make a helluva lot more sense. Luckily for me, I don't have to stalk this beauty to keep track of her. I don't intend to leave her side at all.
"We are so not on the same page, Zion Carmichael," she whisper-hisses at me after a moment.
"No?" I grin, sipping her coffee. "That's all right. We will be soon enough."
"Why does that sound like a threat?"
"Because you have a suspicious mind?"
"Did Madden intentionally request the most annoying brother?"