Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
~NICK~
“ W e turned a member of the press away from the gate yesterday,” Aaron, one of the property’s security men, says. We’re about to wrap up our daily meeting at HQ.
“Was he paparazzi?” I ask.
“He said he was from a newspaper in Missoula,” Aaron replies, shaking his head. “But who knows for sure? I sent him on his way, of course.”
“Is anything else going on?” I ask.
“Princess Ellie and Liam arrive this afternoon,” Randall says. “We’ll have a full house again until after the holidays.”
“Nina’s excited,” Sebastian says with a smile. “And Liam will most likely want to confer with you. Taking the security guard out of the man isn’t an easy task.”
“I’ve already been in touch with him,” I add. “In fact, he’s coming down to the lake house for pizza and football this evening. Any of you are welcome to join us.”
The other men nod, and before long, we’re wrapping up the meeting, and it’s time for me to go back to the lake house.
It’s not that Nina’s old place isn’t nice or comfortable. But it’s not HQ. My quarters in the former guest house on the royal property are in what used to be the master bedroom. It’s large enough to consider it a studio apartment. I prefer to be onsite, to be at the ready if anything should happen.
And I know that I’ll get back here—hopefully, sooner rather than later. But damn if it doesn’t put me in a shitty mood every time I have to leave and go back to the lake house. Because as sweet and sexy as Jordan is, I should be working.
I pull into the driveway and walk into the house. My eyebrows climb at the blaring sound of Mariah Carey’s rendition of All I Want for Christmas is You.
I find Jordan in the living room, singing into the head of a nutcracker as if it’s a microphone.
Her voice, or what I can hear of it over what’s blasting through the speakers, isn’t great. But she’s confident.
I lean my good shoulder against the doorjamb and watch with amusement as Jordan begins the choreography part of her show, pointing to the tree she added in the corner. It’s lit with small, white lights, and is about half full of ornaments.
It appears that today is the day Jordan’s decided to decorate the house.
She does a quick spin and, with the flick of a wrist, hangs a gold ornament on the tree, then turns and sees me.
She doesn’t flush. She doesn’t look embarrassed or unsure of herself.
No, she freaking throws her head back and laughs. It’s the sexiest damn sound I’ve heard in my life.
She picks up her phone and taps the screen, and the music quiets.
“Sorry, I didn’t see you come in. What do you think?”
I stare at the tree, wishing she hadn’t seen me. I would have liked to keep watching the free concert.
“Why did you put up a tree?”
“We went over this the other day at the store,” she says and fusses with an ornament already on a branch, moving it to another location. Why? I have no idea. It looked just fine where it was. “It’s December, Nick. Or should I call you Ebenezer?”
“It’s a waste of time,” I reply. “We’ll be out of here before Christmas, so what’s the point?”
“You hope you’ll be out of here by Christmas,” she says, but there’s no tension in her voice. “And, in the meantime, it’s the holidays. And I like the holidays, and I have to live here, too.”
“Suit yourself.”
“What’s wrong with you?” she demands, her patience seemingly gone as she sets a box of ornaments down. She props her hands on her hips and scowls at me. “You’re always so unhappy. I get it, you’re pissed that you can’t work, but you were injured while doing that job. And it’s not like you’re out on the streets while you heal up. You’re in a gorgeous house, and you have freaking royalty looking out for you. I mean, it’s not ideal, but it doesn’t suck that bad. So, stop sulking. And stop being so damn grumpy all the time.”
I glare at her, irritated mostly because she’s not wrong.
I’m being a wanker.
And she doesn’t deserve it.
I sigh and push my hand through my hair. I need a bloody haircut.
“You’re right.” I glance at the tree and admit that it looks nice in the corner where the windows meet. “I’m a moody jerk since this all happened. It’s not your fault.”
“Apology accepted.” She grins and goes back to the task at hand.
Just like that, I’m forgiven.
Who is this woman? She’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met before. I should stay out of her way, but I enjoy being with her.
And let’s not forget that she’s the sexiest thing on two legs. I can’t say the petite type has ever turned my head before. I usually go for curvier women, but something about Jordan has every nerve ending in my body standing up to take notice.
“Oh, look what I found,” she says as she hustles over to a grocery bag sitting in front of the fireplace. She whips out two stockings. “They have our names on them!”
I blink at the oversized socks. Sure enough, Jordan and Nick are embroidered in red. They’re both red with green at the top. Hers has a reindeer on the front, and mine has a Santa.
They’re ridiculous.
And kind of cute.
“You hate it,” she says. Her expression falls, and she stares down at my stocking. “I think they’ll look so cute on the mantel.”
“I don’t hate it,” I reply. I don’t want to be a jerk anymore today. If this ridiculous shite makes her happy, then I should let her have it.
It’s no skin off my nose.
But if she wants to blare Mariah Carey every day, we’re going to have a conversation.
“I’ll start dinner after I finish decorating the tree,” she says.
“Actually, why don’t you take the night off?”
She glances at me in surprise.
“At the store the other day, your cousin asked you to have drinks. You should go do that.”
“I’m working,” Jordan replies.
“And I’m giving you the night off.”
She laughs. “You just said yesterday that I work for Nina. Not you. So, you can’t give me the night off.”
“Take it anyway,” I reply and reach out to brush my finger over a loose curl by her ear. “Liam’s in town, and he’s coming by tonight for pizza and football. You probably don’t want to hang out for that.”
She wrinkles her nose, and I want to kiss it.
But I don’t.
“Yeah, no. That doesn’t sound like fun to me. If you’re sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“Well, okay. But if you need anything, I won’t be far. Sid lives in one of the condos less than a mile from here.”
“I won’t need anything,” I reply. “Have fun.”
But not too much fun.
Not that it’s any of my business. I’ve kissed her once. It’s not like I have a claim to her. The fact that the thought of another man putting his hands on her makes me homicidal is purely my problem.
She grins and reaches for her phone, tapping the screen, then turns back to the tree. “I can’t leave without finishing these ornaments. It would drive me nuts to leave it half done.”
Her phone lights up, catching her attention.
“Looks like I’m on with Sidney in a couple of hours. I feel like I’m playing hooky.”
“You’re not,” I reply. “Have fun.”
She grins, and it’s a shot to my heart. This woman has cast some kind of spell on me. “Thanks.”
“I’ll see you later.”
I walk out of the room before I do something monumentally stupid like strip her bare and take her right there on the living room floor in front of the fireplace.
She didn’t turn me away yesterday. But she was confused, and I won’t make another move unless she makes it crystal clear that it’s what she wants.
It’ll be good to have her out of the house for a few hours. It’ll be great to see Liam and unwind.
“It should have been me,” Liam says before taking a massive bite of his pizza.
“Pretty sure your wife would be damn pissed if you took a bullet,” I reply.
Liam was the head of security at the royal Montana estate. Until Ellie came and spent time here early last summer, and the two fell hard and fast for each other. Now, Liam’s a prince, and Randall took over Liam’s old job.
“It hasn’t been easy,” Liam admits.
“What hasn’t?”
“Adjusting. Going from what we do to having other duties. I work closely with law enforcement in London now, and there are jobs I can do, but it’s not quite the same.”
“Do you regret it?”
“Not for a second,” he says and snatches up another slice. “Ellie’s the best thing that ever happened to me. I don’t know what I’d do without her. I’d be a miserable pain in the ass, that’s for sure.”
“Sometimes, you still are.”
He laughs. “Yeah, well. I don’t regret her. I just miss the job at times. And the way it all went down last month left a bad taste in my mouth.”
“My shoulder isn’t super happy about it either,” I reply. “But it’s healing, and we’ll be back to normal soon enough.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you’re perfectly content being here with a babysitter, rather than where you’re supposed to be.”
“Fuck, no. I want to get back to work. But I can’t change any of it.”
“Good point.” He looks up at the screen. We have the game on but muted so we can talk. “Is the job still what you want?”
“What kind of question is that?”
“After the injury, and given some of the shit we saw this summer, are you still content?”
“Yeah, it’s what I want. It’s what I know. And I’m fucking good at my job. Nina’s safest when she’s with me.”
“There’s no doubt about that,” Liam agrees. “I’m just checking in. It’s not an easy gig. Not everyone is cut out for it.”
“There’s nothing else I’m cut out for .”
“Tell me about the girl. I passed her in the driveway. She’s a little thing.”
“She’s a tiny bulldog,” I mutter. “She may be small, but she doesn’t put up with much, and she’s damn strong.”
“Have to admire that,” he says. “And she’d have to be strong to put up with you.”
I smirk. “Yeah, well, she put me in my place today. I’ve been a surly prick, and she told me to pull my head out of my arse”
“I like her already.” Liam laughs. “Anything else going on there?”
“Not yet.”
“Interesting choice of words.”
“She’s great,” I admit. “And I’m not usually one to mix business with pleasure. But I like her.”
Liam nods. “I’m glad. It would suck if she grated on your nerves.”
“Well, she does that, too,” I reply, thinking back to the Mariah Carey concert earlier. “But she’s here for a while. She’s having drinks with her cousin tonight.”
“Needed a break, did you?”
“Yeah, actually. Because I like her, and I’m not going to push myself on her.”
“So, you chose to hang out with me.” He presses his hand to his heart. “Aw. I’m touched.”
“I’m rethinking that decision.”
Liam laughs again and tosses his crust back into the pizza box. “You missed me when I was gone.”
“Maybe. There have been lots of new faces lately. How long are you two staying?”
“Until after New Year’s. Then, we’ll head back with Sebastian and Nina. And, hopefully, you.”
“From your mouth to God’s ears, my friend.”