HER BODYGUARD

She stared at him and back at the picture. She noticed the similarities in his eyes and mouth. “You don’t talk much about anything” she said. “How often do you see her?”

“I try” he said. “Almost after every job I make sure I visit her, unless I’m too busy and I have to start a second job right away.”

Kimberly nodded. “Only child?” she asked and he nodded. She leaned closer to view the screen better, and gave Asher an enticing whiff of floral shampoo, or soap or something. The scooped neck of her top slipped lower as she peered at the monitor, and Asher received an all-too-tempting view of her breasts, not overly large, but shapely, and he remembered that amazing night in his SUV.

He fought the desire to pull her on his lapand push that sheer material out of the way, then do everything that he’d already done to her in his mind. He wanted a repeat of that night…But that wasn’t what she needed; he knew that, so, swallowing hard, he pulled his mind back to reality. Where he was just her bodyguard.

“She is beautiful,” she said softly, and Asher smiled.

“Yes she is,” he agreed.

“You have the same eyes” she observed and Asher smiled. In his eyes, she saw emotion flood in. She had never seen him look like that and she wished he would show his emotional side more often, at least she knew he was human.

She moved away from him and relaxed in her chair. Then she took a deep breath and said, “I have something else to tell you”.

He didn’t say anything. Just nodded and waited for her to speak, so she said. “I took the test today… The pregnancy test”

His eyes seemed to grow wider and for a moment Kimberly thought she saw the fear in eyes.

“And?” he asked impatiently

“It was negative,” she said finally. “I’m not pregnant so you can relax. You can breathe now”

She watched as relief flooded his eyes and he took a deep breath. “I have actually been really worried about that. It’s a good thing you are not” he said. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Kimberly snapped at him. “Why wouldn’t I be fine?”

He watched her through hooded eyes, completely puzzled by her reaction. “You don’t sound fine,” he said. “Almost like you are not happy about the result. Am I missing something here because I don’t understand your attitude?”

Kimberly stood from her chair and glared at him. “I don’t have a fucking attitude and you don’t the right to tell me that I d” she said. “And don’t even flatter yourself and think that I wanted to get pregnant for you or any crap like that. I’m just upset about something else”

She tried to move but he blocked her path. “What exactly are you upset about? Did you want to get pregnant, Kim” he asked softly, then added quickly. “I mean, did you want a baby?”

“That’s none of your business” she snapped. “It doesn’t matter if I wanted a baby or not because I’m not pregnant. I was just.. I don’t know… Annoyed by how relieved you were when I told you I wasn’t pregnant. I mean, I know I’m the last person you would want to have a kid with and I know I’m clearly not your type as you have shown your dislike for me so many times but you don’t have to rub it in my face ”

Asher didn’t understand the woman, but he still didn’t let her leave as he continued to stand in her path. And when she tried to be move he moved too, the expression on his face telling her that they were definitely not done with the conversation.

“I don’t dislike you,” he said. “And I think you will actually make an amazing mom to any kid. I just didn’t know you wanted the baby… A baby. I thought this was what you wanted too”Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.

“You have no idea what I want,” Kimberly said angrily. “And I believe that the reason you are here is to protect me. Now we may have slept together, but it doesn’t change that fact. And I want things to go back to the way it’s supposed to be. You are my bodyguard, and from today you will stick to your place. Now will you please get out of my way so I can go to bed”

He looked like he was going to defy her for a few minutes but then he moved out of her way and said goodnight.

Kimberly walked quickly to her room, almost running and regretting the fact that she had made a huge fool of herself. She knew he was right. She was supposed to be happy that she wasn’t pregnant, but she wasn’t and his happiness when he found out that she wasn’t just made it hurt a whole lot more.

But things would go back to the way it was supposed to be. She would make sure of that. It was the right thing to do. Before she did something even more stupid like falling in love with him.

————————-

One week later.

The meeting stretched on through the first hour and then the second, but Asher remained at his post against the wall behind Kimberly’s chair. She sat at the head of the table, listening to the heads of departments. Their duty was to fine-tune proposals before they were put before the full board for a final say.

Asher already didn’t like half of them, and from the way Kimberly tugged her ear every few seconds, she didn’t either. He hid a smirk when she blew out a breath and interrupted a woman who looked vaguely familiar to Asher

“Thank you, Sophie, but if you’ll remember, we decided not to do that. It would cost much and have little or no impact,” Kimberly explained. “And if care isn’t taken, it could have a negative impact on the society.”

Sophie argued from the other end of the table. She tapped her pen anxiously on the tabletop and leaned back in her chair. “There are those in this company who think it is a good idea and we should go for it. Even Mark assured me you were on board with such ideas.” She said,