“Yeah, Nak,” Kyle says and my eyes flash to Jax, who is standing with a coffee in his hands, staring at me.
God, those eyes.
I turn away with pink cheeks and listen to Kyle talking to Nak. Already his face is paling and he stammers, “She made a mistake, Nak. I didn’t feel it was the best choice to put her on the night shift—considering her mistake yesterday.”
Asshole. Maybe he does need to get a good talking-to.
“Yeah, I hear you, but—”
Obviously Nak cuts him off, because Kyle’s face goes from pale to hard and he shoots daggers in my direction.
“Jesus, Nak, she isn’t ready!”
I stare at my hands, anger flashing through my body.
“I understand, sir, but she’s a danger to the—”
Kyle jerks the phone from his ear and strides towards Jax, handing it to him. “He wants to talk to you.”
Jax takes the phone. “What’s up?”
He listens, nodding.
“Fine by me. I will only be in the office today.”
He nods again.
“Yeah, no problem.”
He hands the phone back to Kyle and his eyes flicker to me, before he says, “You’re with me today, kitten. Let’s go.”
I blink.
“Pardon?”
“You, with me. Get a move on.”
I turn to Kyle, whose jaw is so tense it looks like it’s going to bust. He says something to Nak then hangs up the phone and turns to me. “Happy with yourself?”
“I didn’t do anything except tell Nak your strict instructions last night, Kyle.”
“You fucking went to him because you’re pissed at me.”
“No,” I say. “He called me and I filled him in. That’s my job. Deal with it. If you didn’t do the wrong thing, you wouldn’t be so angry.”
“You’re going to fuck this up, Delaney, because you’re too bloody arrogant.”
Oh, he did not.
“Hey,” Jax growls. “Be pissed at her all you want, Kyle, but don’t fucking speak to her like that. I have to work, Nak has put Delaney on me for the day, so you either accept that or don’t, but stop holding her up.”
I glare at Kyle and then turn and walk into the library just as my phone rings again. I pick it up and see it’s Nak. I answer. “He’s not happy, Nak.”
“You need to tell me right away if he does that again, Delaney. He has no right to give orders.”
“Yeah, okay.”
“You’re on Jaxson today. He’s only working, so you know the drill. This is your chance, Laney. Prove them all wrong. I’m sending Kyle home for a rest, because he knows he needs it. He should have done a split shift with you last night. He’ll head back in this afternoon and you can have a few hours’ break and then you can both get back to swapping shifts correctly.”
“Yes, Nak.”
“If he gives you any problems, let me know.”
“I will, thank you.”“Kyle is a good bodyguard, Delaney, but he thinks he knows it all. Go with your instinct, become your own protector, you can only ever trust yourself.”
“Thanks, Nak.”
“Later.”
He hangs up and I quickly get changed into my uniform, making sure I’m set to go, then I head out and meet Jax at the door. I walk ahead of him, checking everything as we go. He waits in a safe location while I scan the underground garage and check his car. When it’s safe, I escort him in and his driver gets in the front seat. I slide into the back with him.
“Do you have any meetings today?” I ask, pulling my professional face back on.
“No,” he answers, equally as professional. “I’m going to be in the office all day.”
“Good.”
We don’t say anything else as we head to the hotel he works out of. When we arrive, I get out and scan the streets first, then I escort him inside, doing the same all the way up to his office. It’s a lot more work when it’s just me, because I keep having to look back to make sure he’s okay while checking what’s in front of me.
When we reach his office, he unlocks the door and I step in first. Jax steps inside the door, back to the wall, and doesn’t move while I check the entire space, including under his bed and in his cupboards. One can’t be too careful. When it’s safe, I nod and he comes in, locking the door behind him. I stand beside the door as he goes to his desk and fires up his laptop.
“You wanna order coffee?” he asks, looking up at me.
“Sure, what do you want?”
“Black shot.”
“That’s it? No cream? No sugar?”
He stares blankly at me. “No.”
I shrug. “Whatever floats your boat.”
I go to his phone and call down my order, this was in the information we were given. All the locations Jax likes his coffee, food and beverages from that can be safely delivered. The lady on the line asks if I want a blueberry muffin also, so I pull the phone from my ear and call out, “You want a muffin?”
Jax looks up at me. “Do I look like the kind of man who eats muffins?”
“How am I supposed to know? For all I know you might like to run around your house in a tutu.”
He gives me a truly foul expression.
“Okie dokie then,” I mumble. “No muffin.”
I finish up the order and then take my spot at the door again. After half an hour, there’s a knock at the door. I check through the peephole first, and see a lady with two coffees and one blueberry muffin. I was not going to miss out on that cake-like goodness. I finger the gun in my belt as I open the door. The lady smiles at me and hands the tray over. I move my hand from my belt and take it, thanking her and closing the door.
I take Jax’s coffee over and place it on his desk, then I go back to the door and sit on a chair I drag over one-handed. I take a bite of the muffin and moan. Jax jerks and looks over at me. “Are you going to make noises like that every time something tastes good?”
“Seriously,” I say when I swallow it. “I just had a mouth-gasm.”
He blinks. “A fucking what?”
“A mouth-gasm. Like an orgasm, but in my mouth.”
“Fuck me,” he mutters, shaking his head. “Can you keep your mouth-gasms to yourself? I’m trying to work.”
“Right, sorry.”
I eat the rest of my muffin quietly, then I sit and read quietly while Jax works. When lunchtime rolls around, he lifts his head and looks over to me. “You wanna do something productive?”
“Isn’t watching you, making sure you don’t die, productive?”
His eyes twinkle with amusement, but he shakes his head. “I can practically hear your brain screaming from here. You’re not used to sitting down doing nothing, are you?”
“The voices in my head keep me company.”
He laughs, and it’s a rich, gorgeous sound. “Right, kitten. Whatever you say.”
He goes back to his work and I can’t help it, I have to know what he was going to offer me. “Do you want me to help you somehow?”
He looks up again. “I have a shit load of data I need entered into the computer, but I don’t have time to do it. If you know how to use a laptop, then yeah, help.”