12. Lauren
CHAPTER 12
LAUREN
I t had been so long since Lauren talked — really talked — to a friend in person that she had to pinch herself. This felt like one of those dreams she sometimes regretted waking up from. She and Wesley had been talking so long that the sun had set and the light had grown dim. Normally, she would have gone around and turned on every lamp in her apartment, but she was enjoying the ambiance this evening.
“It’s good to have a friend to talk to,” she said to Wesley, whose arm was still around her shoulders. “Everyone I know around here only talks to me to get closer to my mom. I’m their foot in the door, I guess. Maybe that’s why I trust you.” She smiled up at him. “Because you hated me from the beginning, and you were already close to my mom, so you didn’t need me for anything.”
It was evening now, and the only light that trickled into her apartment came from the other buildings outside. Raindrops pattered against the window and sent the light streaking in patterns down the walls. Wesley tightened his arm around her shoulders, and Lauren could have sworn she heard his breath catch.
“I didn’t hate you from the beginning,” he murmured.
“It’s totally okay,” she said. “I know I can be an acquired taste.”
“You’re not an acquired taste, and I didn’t hate you from the beginning,” he repeated. His fingers pressed hard into her skin, and she could have sworn she felt him tremble right before he finally snapped. He turned on her and pressed his forehead to hers for a split second before his mouth covered hers completely.
This kiss was far from Lauren’s first. She’d messed around with strangers at parties and the occasional boyfriend. First kisses were always fun, but after a while, they all seemed to blend together. This one, on the other hand, had her toes curling in her shoes and her hands curling into a claw shape, digging into his muscular arms. However much she tried to deny how long she’d wanted this to happen, her body was not going to allow it. She clung to him, opened her mouth, and let his tongue past her lips. He tasted amazing, exciting, like youth and vacation and rebellion all at once. He tasted like freedom.
She pulled back to take a breath, and he took the moment to explain. “From the beginning, I thought you were beautiful. I didn’t hate you. I misjudged you, but… I wanted you. You… You’re beautiful.”
Lauren could tell he was lost for words, so she just said, “You’re cute,” and kissed him even harder.
He was solid, heavy, and his strength shone through with each and every movement. His hand wandered from her arm to her side, from her side to her breast. He muttered, “This is a bad idea,” under his breath.
“A terrible idea,” Lauren agreed while she pushed a hand up his shirt. He was so warm, and she wanted to feel more of his skin. It didn’t take him long to take the hint and remove his shirt and undershirt. His physique left her breathless. Why this man was working in security and not modeling menswear, Lauren had no idea. She ran one hand from his throat to his stomach, and not one inch of him was soft.
He pushed her down and settled beside her, kissing and pressing into her. “The worst idea I’ve ever had,” he said.
“So, does that mean you’re cool with making a huge mistake right now?”
“Ask me again in the morning.” His mouth was at her throat now, and one hand was wrapped around her thigh. He slid his fingers up past the skirt she was wearing and teased her at the edges of her underwear. Then he paused and hovered over her. “Are you cool with making one?”
“Didn’t anyone tell you? Huge mistakes are my specialty.” She laughed.
But Wesley wasn’t laughing. He dove into her hungrily, passionately, like he could never, ever get enough of her. After another minute of teasing her, he finally pulled her shirt and bra off. Every time he dipped down to kiss her, his skin brushed against her breasts, and the sensation drove her crazy.
He stripped her, one article at a time. He pulled her underwear off in one smooth motion, and then his hand was back under her skirt again, teasing her and applying pressure in all the right places. She reached down to reciprocate and gasped. He was… surprising, and she was already aching for him.
It didn’t take him long to get the rest of her clothes off and his as well. They were both so wrapped up in each other, they didn’t even bother to go to bed. Lauren didn’t care. The light filtering through the rain and streaking on the walls was mood lighting enough. The patter of raindrops on the glass of her windows was the best music. And the sound of Wesley kissing her skin in so many places, moaning whenever she shifted under him, was the perfect accompaniment.
She wasn’t sure when the last time he had been with a woman was, but the way he moved, she would have guessed he was an expert. He gave her the perfect amount of touch, paid close attention to all her cues, and waited until she was practically begging for him before he gave her his whole self. He was buried in her, wrapped in her legs, adding his weight to her body. The whole couch moved with him as he made love to her.
For one beautiful moment, everything in her life — all the stress and worries, every awful thing weighing her down — just disappeared and floated away. Lauren saw stars and couldn’t keep her voice to herself. The sound of her pleasure seemed to fuel his. He swelled, groaned, and she heard him lose his mind as he finished. She followed shortly after him, and then she melted into her couch.
His body was blanketed over her when he wrapped his arms around her and held her. It felt so good to just lose herself in that hug. All her walls had come down, but she still felt safe. That wasn’t something that had ever happened for her before. Suddenly, everything about what Wesley did for her started to make sense.
Lauren couldn’t open up until she felt safe, and already, he made her feel safer than anyone else in her life. It wasn’t just because he was her personal bodyguard, although that didn’t hurt matters. She got the impression he would protect her whether he was working for her mom or not. He had come to pick her up before he was even on the clock, after all. When she asked him to give her a ride home, he hadn’t even hesitated. He hadn’t complained about working in his off hours. He hadn’t even asked her if there was someone else she could call first. He’d just shown up, like a real friend… like a real boyfriend, even.
Oh, no. Was she really falling for him? What if this was more than just a passing attraction? Did he feel the same? And why was she overanalyzing everything so soon after coming down from paradise? Silly questions, really. She wrapped her arms around him, too, and held on to him like he might fall off the couch if she didn’t. It was a good excuse, anyway — a good reason to be so clingy. Deep down, though, she knew her clinginess had nothing to do with him possibly falling off the couch, and everything to do with her absolutely falling for him.
Lauren dozed next to Wesley, waking once to hear him snoring lightly beside her. He had fallen asleep in her arms, and something about that did her in completely. She closed her eyes and let herself fall into a deep sleep right along with him.
All her dreams were sweet that night, and she slept like a bear in winter.
* * *
When Lauren woke the next morning, she was still tangled up in Wesley’s arms. But he was already awake, staring at her. At some point in the night, he appeared to have snagged a blanket from her easy chair and thrown it over both of them. He had, apparently, then decided to wrap himself around Lauren again, and keep her close throughout the night.
The whole thing was more romantic than Lauren could stand. Had it been a movie, she would have rolled her eyes and criticized the director for creating a wholly unbelievable scene. But this was real. She was right here, and still, Lauren couldn’t believe it.
“You slept well,” Wesley said with a smile. He hadn’t asked, she noted. He’d simply told her.
“Wait. Were you watching me all night?”
“It was hard not to,” he said, leaning on one elbow. “I didn’t sleep much. I’m not used to sharing a couch with anyone.” He winked.
She glanced around and realized he was dressed and she wasn’t, so she wrapped the blanket around herself, tucking it under her arms like a bath towel. “Well, thank you for this, anyway. Are you staying for breakfast?”
“Oh.” He stiffened suddenly and Lauren had to wonder why. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea. I mean, I had a lot of fun last night, but we’re still… Your mom is still my employer. I should get back to my post, shouldn’t I? It’s just… This could get really messy really fast. It was unprofessional.” When Lauren’s face fell, he quickly added. “I wouldn’t take it back.” He stepped in front of her and looked down into her eyes, his strong hands gripping her bare shoulders. “I would never take it back, princess. It just might complicate things with my job is all.”
Lauren chewed her lip as she considered what to do. He wasn’t wrong. Her mom would have a fit if she knew that their fake dating wasn’t so fake anymore. Surely, if anything was bad for the “family brand,” it would be this. Lauren could already see the inevitable tabloid headlines: Senator’s Daughter Works Her Way Through Security Detail, One Hunk at a Time. It would devastate her mom’s career. On the one hand, some vindictive part of her thought to give her mom a taste of her own medicine. On the other hand, she still wasn’t ready to burn that bridge. The guilt she carried from the first time she ruined everything was still too heavy.
She tried to reassure him. “What Anne Bartlett doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”
Wesley shook his head with a crooked smile. “You don’t really think that, do you?”
“Why not?” Lauren shrugged. “You won’t be my security forever, so we’ll just officially get together after the job is done. That is…” She paused and fidgeted, realizing she was probably moving too fast for a guy like Wesley. “That is if you still wanted to date me. Obviously, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. And you don’t have to decide now either. There’s plenty of time to figure things out. It’s just, why bother telling her? It’s not really any of her business. And as long as no one knows about it, no one can be hurt by it.”
“Except us,” Wesley said under his breath. He’d begun stroking locks of her short hair, combing his fingers through it.
“Listen.” She pulled his hands down and held them in both of hers. “I won’t let this affect your career at all. My mom might be a little suspicious if we hook up too soon after the job, but I’ll just tell her how hot you are and she’ll understand.” She was joking, trying to get a smile out of him, but by the look on his face, this was far from a joking matter to him.
He left her to sit on the couch, and he held his face in his hands while he thought things through. Eventually, he seemed to come to a conclusion. “Let’s make a pact. We both agree that, no matter what happens between us, neither one of us uses the other’s position against them. And neither one of us will try to sabotage the other’s relationship with… well, with your mother, I guess.”
Lauren nodded. “What’s between us stays between us.” She hadn’t even worried that Wesley might try to ruin her relationship with her mom. It just didn’t seem like something he would do. Anyway, the person who was an expert at ruining Lauren’s relationship with her mom had always been Lauren herself. Wesley wasn’t going to do anything to her that she hadn’t already done to herself.
But she could see why he might worry for himself. His boss was her mom’s client. There was a power imbalance here, and no matter how powerless Lauren felt in her own life, she did have a certain amount of perceived power over him. Who would stop her from telling her mom that he had done a terrible job and heavily suggesting that her mom should talk to his boss about it? His concerns were perfectly valid.
She sat beside him and took one of his hands so he could look her in the eyes and know she meant every word she said. “I swear, even if we have a massive falling-out, I will not turn my mom against you. I’d never do that, Wesley. Please, know that. We’ll try this thing out and hope it works, but if it doesn’t we’ll both be adults about it. And I know you’re in a more uncertain position with this than I am. I won’t take advantage of that. I swear.”
He squeezed her hand and smiled down at her. “I believe you. Thank you.” Then his eyes sparkled in a way that made Lauren shift backward a bit. He shot forward and kissed her hard. In seconds, one of his hands was at the back of her neck, while the other slipped under the blanket she wore. Her heart immediately started racing. Something about the way he took hold of her — every time he took hold of her — made her whole body melt.
When she was as good as putty in his hands, he finally let her go. She pulled the blanket back up around her and stood. “I’ll put a breakfast together for you so you can go to your post with food in your stomach, at least.”
“You’re so thoughtful.” He grinned at her. “It’s one of the things I misjudged about you.”
She cocked her head at him. “You thought I’d be thoughtless?”
He shrugged. “I thought you were a princess — a beautiful but ultimately spoiled princess. But I’ve never seen you act selfishly.”
“Maybe that’s just how I am around you,” she said. “Maybe I’m a spoiled princess to everyone else.”
“I sincerely doubt that. But I guess I’ll have a lot of time to learn more about you.” He leaned over and kissed her again. “I look forward to every second I get to spend with you.”