4. Jace
Kayla Ashford is not at all what I was expecting. A twenty-year-old real estate heiress and university student… She should be ecstatic to have me as her bodyguard. I mean, come on. I’m hot. I’m funny. I’m a fucking delight.
But instead she hit me with that damn microwave insult. Which I have to admit was pretty clever. But still. So rude.
Oh well, if opportunity doesn’t knock the first time, I’ll just kick the door in and create a better first impression this time. Metaphorically, I mean.
Checking the number next to the apartment door, I make sure that it’s the same address as the one Kayla texted me yesterday, and then I raise my hand to knock.
Almost half a minute passes. I’m just about to knock again when the door is pushed open.
“What?” a guy snaps as he glares out at me.
I frown at him. He’s a few inches shorter than me, but he’s built like a brick. Stocky, and with the neck the size of a bull. His head is shaved, tattoos cover his knuckles, and he’s wearing a white tank top that has yellow stains underneath the arms. Over his shoulder, I can spot a guy who is similarly dressed, but who has greasy brown hair instead.
Theseare Trent Ashford’s bodyguards? They look like thugs. And very unimpressive thugs at that.
Jeez, Kayla really should be thanking me for replacing them and lighting up her apartment with my dazzling presence instead.
“I’m here for Kayla,” I say, giving Bull Neck an expectant look.
His eyes flash.
My stomach lurches as I’m suddenly hauled across the threshold. I blink in surprise as Bull Neck slams me up against the wall of the hallway inside, while Greasy Hair charges towards us.
“Calm the fuck down,” I say. “She?—”
Bull Neck swings his fist towards my face.
I ram my elbow down into his forearm, redirecting the blow while slamming my other fist into his stomach.
Air explodes from his lungs in a whoosh and he doubles over, losing his grip on me. But before I can deliver a kick to his face, Greasy Hair yells and swings a bat at me. Shoving Bull Neck away from me, I sidestep the bat and then grab it mid-air.
With a firm pull, I yank it from his grip while saying, “First of all, that’s not how you hold a bat properly.”
Greasy Hair jerks back in surprise and blinks at me.
“And secondly, you’re not supposed to yell when you swing the bat.” I spin the bat in my hand and then point it at him while raising my eyebrows. “Seriously? It’s Bat Etiquette 101. Did no one ever teach you that?”
Bull Neck groans from my right and straightens to punch me again. I quickly shift sideways and slam the bat into his stomach. He drops like a stone.
“I will fucking kill you!” Greasy Hair screams, and charges me again.
Rolling my eyes, I duck under his fist and then twist so that I can smack my bat into the back of his knee. He cries out and crashes down on one knee while I straighten. Before he can recover, I bring the bat down across his shoulder blades, making him collapse to the floor.
Behind me, Bull Neck stirs and tries to get off the ground.
I stride over to him and shove him down again with the top of my bat before I grab his arm and twist it up behind him.
A shrill cry of pain rips from his throat.
“Why are you screaming?” I say, frowning down at him. “I haven’t even started breaking your arm yet.”
His cry turns into a whimper. “Please.”
“Now we’re finally getting somewhere. Like I said, I’m here for Kayla.”
“What do you want with me?” a girl’s terrified voice suddenly cuts through the air.
I snap my gaze up from the whimpering man below me and stare at the source of the voice. A slim brown-haired girl, who can’t be more than eighteen, stares at me with wide brown eyes.
I frown at her. “Who are you?”
“Kayla,” she stammers, still staring at me with fear on her face. “Please don’t hurt my brothers.”
“What…”
Realization hits me like a shovel to the back of the head.
God fucking damn it. That little menace sent me to the wrong fucking address.
I draw in a deep breath through my nose to calm the irritation that flashes through me. Then I release my grip on Bull Neck’s arm and straighten.
“Ah,” I say, flashing the girl a smile. “It looks like I have the wrong address.”
She just looks back at me with those wide brown eyes. Her brothers groan and start pushing themselves up to their knees.
After drawing a hand through my hair, I spin the bat around and rest it on my shoulder instead.
“Sorry for the intrusion.” I raise my free hand to my forehead and give them a casual salute. “You all have a good day now.”
And with that, I turn around and stroll back out into the corridor. While still resting my new bat on my shoulder, I pull out my phone and call Trent Ashford.
“Mr. Ashford,” I say when he picks up. “It seems as though there must be a typo or something in the address that your daughter gave me. Could I trouble you for her proper address?”
Trent Ashford, who knows very well that it wasn’t an accidental typo, apologizes several times and then gives me Kayla’s real address. After we hang up, I type the address into Google Maps and find that it’s nowhere near the apartment building that she sent me to.
While cursing that little menace under my breath, I head back down to my car and then drive to her real apartment.
I’m supposed to be relieving Trent’s bodyguard at half past seven, and I manage to make it there with two minutes to spare.
Since I won’t have time to head back to my car this time, I grab the duffel bag from my passenger seat straight away. After slinging it over my shoulder, I snatch up the newest addition to my bat collection too and then start towards Kayla’s door.
At exactly seven thirty, I knock on the door to her apartment.
A middle-aged man in a black suit opens it. He takes one look at me and then nods.
“Mr. Hunter,” he says as he steps aside and motions for me to enter. “Come on in. Ms. Ashford is?—”
“Who was…” Kayla begins as she walks out of a room a little ahead and to my right. But when she sees me, she trails off and jerks back in surprise. “You.”
The other bodyguard turns towards her. “Since Mr. Hunter has arrived, I will be returning to my other duties now, ma’am.”
I blink at him. Ma’am? Did he really just call her ma’am?
Kayla stares at me in stunned silence for another second before giving her head a quick shake and then returning her attention to her temporary bodyguard. “Yes, that’s fine. You may leave.”
“Thank you.” He bows his head. “Have a good day, ma’am.”
Incredulity pulses through me. He’s acting as if she’s the bloody Queen of England or something. If she is expecting me to bow my head and address her as ma’am, she’s about to be incredibly disappointed.
I watch the guy leave while that incredulity still rings inside my skull.
Once the door is closed behind him, I at last turn to face Kayla.
It’s only seven thirty in the morning, but she is already dressed and ready for school. She’s wearing a pair of form-fitting jeans and a white dress shirt that shows off her curves. The pale shirt also makes her long, flaming red hair stand out in stark contrast as it spills down over her shoulders. In comparison to the fiery color of her hair, her blue eyes are calm and cool. Like a deep ocean.
Fuck, she’s gorgeous.
And she’s also scowling at me.
I flash her a smirk. “Surprised to see me? After you sent me to that dummy address?”
Drawing herself up to her full height, she tries to look down her nose at me even though she’s an entire head shorter than me. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I’m not stupid, you know.”
She scoffs and flicks a dismissive look up and down my body. “You sure look like it.”
I draw my eyebrows down and open my mouth to retort, but before I can, she starts walking across the living room.
The apartment is large, but somehow still smaller than what I expected for someone who is as rich as she is. The door and the short hallway I’m currently standing in is connected to a combined kitchen and living room. The kitchen part to my right is full of stainless-steel appliances and gleaming countertops, and there is a massive oak table that forms a kind of barrier between the kitchen and the living room side. There is a corner sofa with pristine white fabric by the windows straight ahead, a fluffy white carpet underneath the glass coffee table, and some white bookshelves along the wall next to the TV.
To the right is the room that Kayla came out of, and to the left is another identical door.
I follow Kayla as she strides towards it.
She opens the door and then continues inside while speaking over her shoulder. “This is your room. It has a private bathroom through that door, as you can see. My room is on the other side of the living room.”
Walking across the threshold, I study the bedroom that will be my temporary home.
It’s decently sized and does indeed have a bathroom attached to it. There’s a set of drawers and a closet by one wall, and a double bed with neutral gray sheets by another.
“But you will not, under any circumstances, be going into my bedroom,” Kayla continues as she stops next to the bed and crosses her arms.
I unsling my duffel bag and drop it on the floor with a thud. Then I toss my bat onto the bed. Kayla frowns at it.
“What’s with the bat?” she asks, giving me a look of genuine confusion.
Grinning, I lift my shoulders in a shrug. “You never know when you might need a good bat.”
She lets out something between a sigh and an exasperated groan, and then rolls her eyes. “Anyway, you can unpack if you want. But I wouldn’t bother getting too comfortable, if I were you.”
“And why is that?”
“Because you won’t be here long.”
And with that, she spins on her heel and saunters back out into the living room.
I have to resist an overwhelming urge to shove her up against the wall.
She’s such a little demon. Five minutes into the job, and she’s already driving me crazy.
Shaking my head, I blow out a long sigh and instead just follow her back into the living room. She grabs a bag that was leaning against the couch and swings it up onto the kitchen table.
“Alright, let’s lay down some ground rules,” she says as she begins sliding books into her bag.
She’s not even looking at me, which just irks me even more.
“When I’m in class, you wait outside the lecture hall,” she declares.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I scowl at her. “No.”
Her hand stops halfway to her bag. Turning her head towards me, she stares at me with what looks like genuine surprise.
Huh. So apparently, she’s not used to people refusing her orders.
“What do you mean, no?” she demands, that stunned incredulity bleeding into her voice too.
I just look back at her expectantly. “I won’t be able to protect you from out there if something happens.”
Anger flashes across her beautiful face, and she shoves the final book into her bag and then throws out her arms. “Protect me from what? Papercuts?”
“From any and all threats.”
“There are no threats! I’m a business major at Ivy River, for God’s sake! Where you come from, people might get kidnapped and killed all the time. But I live in the real world. And I don’t need you to protect me.”
“Apparently you do, since it’s now my job.”
“My dad is overreacting.” She yanks up the bag and throws it over her shoulder while glaring at me. “I don’t need a babysitter.”
“Tough luck. Because you’re stuck with me.”
She lets out something between a curse and a snarl. After snatching up her keys from the counter, she stomps towards the front door and tries very hard to storm off dramatically.
I just chuckle under my breath and follow her out the door.