Chapter 18
U rgh.
The man was infuriating.
But she pushed her irritation to one side and plastered a smile on her face as she walked into the class. She spotted Livvy immediately. To her surprise, Millie was standing next to her.
Millie smiled big at her, waving her hand. “Hey, Maya! Don’t worry, I left Mr. Fluffy at home with Spike. Oh.” A strange look crossed her face as Matthieu walked in behind her.
Livvy had that same look. They stared at Matthieu. Strange. She almost got the feeling that they knew him.
Maybe they did?
“Hi, all. Sorry I’m late. I have to introduce you to someone. This is Matthieu, he’s my, uh, he’s . . . um . . .”
Okay, this was painful.
“I’m her bodyguard,” Matthieu said smoothly.
Wow. Was he going to tell them the truth? Okay, then.
“Yes. There has been a threat to me. Well, not directly to me but to a family member. And that family member hired Matthieu to watch over me.”
Wow. This really wasn’t her.
Everyone was staring at her. Great. She could kiss that pay raise goodbye if everyone walked out because they were worried about getting caught in the crossfire. Or because they were uncomfortable with Matthieu being in here, watching them.
She tensed, waiting for a mass exodus.
“Are you okay?” Livvy asked in concern.
“Has anything happened?” Millie asked. “Do you need anything? We have connections.”
Livvy nodded.
They had connections? What did that mean?
“Everything is taken care of,” Matthieu said with a pointed look at Millie and Livvy who backed off.
There was definitely something going on there. But right now, she didn’t have the mental capacity to understand it.
Instead, she was shocked as several more people came forward to check on her. Thankfully, the bitchy besties weren’t here today. Hopefully, they never came back.
A number of women were staring at Matthieu hungrily. A tendril of something unfurled in her stomach.
That couldn’t be jealousy. She had no reason to be jealous.
Matthieu wasn’t hers. She had no claim on him.
But she still didn’t like them staring at her . . . boy-bodyguard. Her bodyguard.
Whew. She didn’t know what word she’d been about to think then.
Because he was definitely not her boyfriend. Never would be.
But you want him to be. Or at least you want to fuck him until neither of you can walk.
Shut up, devil Maya!
“Maya? You okay?” Livvy asked.
Huh?
“We can do this another day if you’re not,” Millie added as several other people nodded.
Letting out a deep breath, she smiled. “I’m good. Let’s get started.”