I ignored him and sat on the couch that was wedged in the corner of Xander's office.
This was a larger office than the one he had last year but was no less cluttered. Stacks of books and photography equipment and photos on the wall. Some he'd taken, some from his protégé, Abby Chase. Abby had married his brother. Some were from another photographer, Z Con. All brilliant. Beautiful. Stunning in different ways. Saint chose to stand by the door.
"Kaya, what can I do for you, and who's the bodyguard?"
Saint smiled. "Funny you should mention bodyguard."
I rolled my eyes. We did not have time for this. I couldn't just sit in Saint's penthouse not doing anything. I needed to come to school, so we needed to make this work. "This is my, um…" I didn't get to finish because Saint interrupted.
"Fiancé."
Xander's eyes went wide as he looked Saint up and down.
I understood the look. He wasn't even thirty, but Saint had this mature, world-weary look about him that was hard to catalog. Even though he looked barely older than me.
Then Xander’s gaze flickered to mine again. "Okay, are you dropping my class?"
Saint lifted a brow. "We have a security concern."
Xander blinked once then twice. "Why? What's the problem?"
Suddenly, Xander had gone from devil-may-care, young, hot professor toI could burn down the world if necessary.
There was something very appealing about that. I could see why half the girls in class swooned in his presence. He had a certain appeal. I couldn't deny that.
"There's been a threat against Kaya. I have a security team for her. We've talked to the administration, but Kaya wanted to clear it with you."
Xander's gaze narrowed and he shrugged. "Of course. What's the level of threat?"
Saint shrugged back. "Right now, probably a three, but it's enough that we want to be careful."
"Of course. Are you sure maybe you don't want to pick up again next semester?"
I sat forward then. "No. Absolutely not."
Saint just pursed his lips, as if to say,I tried to tell her, but she won't listen.
"I'm sorry, Saint, but I can't just be locked in your penthouse all damn day. I need to go on with my life, engaged or not."
Saint sighed and gave Xander an exasperated look.
Xander just smiled. "Oh, I see. It's fine by me. You can have as many men as you need. They just can't be disruptive to class."
Saint nodded. "Of course not. Probably just a man inside posing as a student and one outside as a deterrent."
Xander nodded. "Fair enough. And Kaya, I know the syllabus tells you the upcoming assignments, but I'll give you the additional details in advance so you can coordinate with your security team for your safety."
"Oh my God, that would be brilliant. Thank you. That's wicked."
Xander nodded. "I understand a thing or two about security myself. Is there anything else?"
Jasper gave him a smile that was more teeth than anything else. "Yeah, just one more thing. She's the most important person in the world to me. I will do anything to protect her."
"Of course, she is. She's a dedicated student. Brilliant, actually."
I could see Saint's frustration when he lifted his brow. "What I mean to say is, hands off. She's mine."
Xander sat back with one quirked brow. And then he did the unexpected thing. He laughed. A full, raucous belly laugh. "I don't shag my students."