Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 49416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Zoe closes her eyes and blows out a breath before looking back up at me. “I didn't realize,” she says shaking her head. “Especially since you’ve been doing it with me. But you know Gregory. He’s the one who operates on a schedule. He knows exactly when I'll be here. And you know I’ve tried to lure him inside with treats. I think he’s warming up to me, but he’s an independent-gentleman-of-the-night cat. I’m not sure if we’ll ever be able to contain him.” Her smile turns into a little frown at that, and every instinct urges me to track down the cat and tell him he has to be her pet, if only to make her smile.
“Don't you dare,” she says, eyes flaring up at me as if I stated my thought out loud. “I can see the look on your face. You're always trying to solve all my problems, but Gregory doesn't belong to me, and if he decides he wants to take the next step in our relationship then that's on his terms, not mine.”
I laugh, deep and rough and unexpected. Something that always happens with Zoe, either from her mouth or from a teasing text. Jesus, I can't get enough of this girl.
“Heard,” I finally say.
Her grin deepens, and she smooths her hands over my chest before bringing her body flush against mine. I immediately snake an arm around her lower back, securing her against me as our mouths are an inch apart—
The bell sounds, signaling someone entering the building, and we immediately break apart, her eyes losing all sense of warmth they had a moment before.
My instincts snap to high alert, and I carefully secure her behind her office door before spinning around to check who the unexpected guest is.
“Ah, Mr. Rolfe,” Senator Casson says, Zoe’s father striding through the door in one of his expensive suits. He extends a hand toward me, and I shake it, blowing out a breath that it's only him and not Spencer finally getting brazen enough to try me.
“Dad,” Zoe says from behind me, coming out of the cover of her office to hug him quickly. “I didn't know you were stopping by.”
Senator Casson slides his hands into his pockets, his eyes darting between us before he focuses on Zoe. “I just had a wonderful lunch at Lyla’s Place,” he says. “And I couldn't resist a quick pop in to see how you’re doing.”
“I'm doing great,” Zoe says.
“Really?” he asks like he’s not totally buying it. “I know Rolfe here briefed me on an incident last week, and you've ignored my texts asking about it.”
“I haven't ignored your texts,” she says. “I've been busy.” Her eyes flash to mine for a moment before they return to her father's, and it's all I can do to not smirk. “And yes, that situation rattled me. But I'm grateful for Mr. Rolfe. He's definitely making me feel safe.”
Lava streaks through my veins with the way she says my name so formally, definitely not the way she said it last night, breathless and intimate.
Senator Casson nods, a bit of tension dropping from his shoulders as he looks at me. “I'm certainly glad you're taking care of my daughter,” he says. “Worth every penny to keep her safe.”
“She’s my number one priority,” I say, glancing at her before forcing my gaze away. “I'm doing my best to take very good care of her.”
Zoe laughs, loud and effortless and so damn sweet.
He smiles, looking a bit confused at her reaction, and I chuckle softly before nodding to them both, shaking her father's hand again before I head off to my workstation to give them some privacy.
They have a quick chat before her father has to hurry off to another meeting, and I hear the click of Zoe’s heels before she rounds the corner and stops at my workstation, gaping down at me.
“Taking very good care of me?” she asks, laughter in her tone.
“What?” I ask, pushing away from my desk and standing in front of her. “Am I not?”
She shakes her head up at me, but there’s a smile shaping her lips. Her hands find their place against my chest again. “You are,” she says. “But I'm not sure what he’d say if he found out just how well you're taking care of me.”
“It doesn't matter if he fired me, Kitten,” I say. “I'd still take care of you. I’d still protect you. Regardless of a contract or a paycheck.”
It’s the truth. Honestly, it feels a little unsavory to be accepting her father's money, but he'd paid me up front, before I even knew who my client was. I'd already been calculating ways to get it back to him without being too obvious, but figured we had time.
“I have no idea what good karmic energy I put out in the universe to deserve someone like you in my life,” she says, drawing up on her tiptoes, bringing her lips a mere breath away from mine. “But I’m sure as hell grateful for it.”