I’d nearly swallowed my tongue at the sight of Jude in his snug running shorts and T-shirt. I'd seen a brief flicker of surprise when Jude had spied me waiting outside his door, but he hadn't said anything. He’d merely put his earbuds in, hit something on his phone and headed for the elevator. Since there’d been no hope of asking him to wait for me while I went to change my own clothes into something more appropriate for a run, I'd been forced to follow him in my dress clothes. My hope that he'd only run for a handful of minutes had been dashed pretty quickly. We’d spent an hour running through Central Park at a good clip.
By the time we’d returned to his building, I'd been drowning in sweat and more than a little irritated at the fact that I'd looked like a fool running around Central Park in my dress shirt and slacks. Thankfully, I’d had a few minutes to clean up while Jude had gotten ready for work. I’d felt like a drowned rat from speeding through my shower so I could get back to his door before he left for work. Jude, on the other hand, had looked as put together as ever. Even with it being a Sunday, he'd been dressed as if it were any other workday.
Jude hadn't argued with me about taking a car to his office building, but that might've had to do with the fact that he hadn’t been speaking to me either. I’d spent the entire day just like the one before—in his waiting area trying to do business from my phone.
Monday and Tuesday had been exact replicas of the previous days. Under normal circumstances, I would've had someone to relieve me throughout the day, but I didn't trust Jude not to ditch any security team I put on him.
The fact that Hayes had made it so I could move into the apartment next to Jude's had been completely unexpected but extremely useful. When I’d called Hayes the night Jude had told his doorman to keep me off the property, I'd expected Hayes just to make a call and request that I be given permission to be on the premises. But he’d taken it a step further and made arrangements to buy—yes, buy—the apartment next to Jude's. It was a testament to how much Hayes cared about Jude. I tried not to give too much thought to the idea of Jude and Hayes together because it made me angrier than I would have liked. I had nothing against Hayes; I just wasn't liking the idea of anyone putting their hands on Jude. That was the problem with being on his six twenty-four seven.
Now, as I finished up my fifth day with Jude, I found myself becoming more and more disgruntled by the way he kept himself apart from me.
A glance at my watch showed that it was well after two o'clock in the morning. Since I hadn't heard a peep out of Jude in hours, I started to feel that familiar tickle of anxiety that I was coming to associate only with him. Strangely enough, it only occurred when he was out of my sight.
It was yet another sign that I was becoming too engrossed with Jude Archer. Maybe I needed to talk to Mike about assigning someone else to Jude now that he seemed less interested in ditching me. He wasn't exactly open to the idea of personal protection, but he hadn't pulled any stunts like he had with his other protection details. I had a feeling that had more to do with his work than anything else. Whatever contract negotiations he was working through, it seemed like it was occupying more and more of his mind and his time.
I sent my sister a quick text telling her that I likely wouldn’t make it home the following day for our parents’ anniversary dinner. Protecting Jude was taking a toll on my personal life, but my family understood the importance of this particular job. Not only did the income matter, but they understood my need to help Mike and his family keep their business.
I got to my feet and went to Jude's office. I knocked on the door softly, but there was no response. Since the man wasn't exactly receptive, I reached down to try the knob. I fully expected the door to be locked, but to my surprise, it wasn't. I wanted to believe that meant maybe Jude trusted me a little, but it was more likely that he’d just forgotten to lock it. It was that whole focus thing of his. He had it in spades but only for certain things. I needed to figure out how to remedy that so he’d put just as much focus on his safety. Luckily, there hadn't been any more notes to Clifton Hayes threatening Jude's life, but I knew that didn't mean the risk was gone. The most dangerous threat would be the one we didn't see coming.