“You’d have my back whatever.”
For a moment, he looked as though he was considering his reply. Then he nodded. “True,” he agreed. But without missing a beat, he leaned toward Charmaine. “The promise of food really helps, though.”
We all laughed as I loaded the last few folders into the filing cabinet.
“Are we all agreed there’s nothing to see here?” I turned the key in the lock.
“Yep.” Charmaine nodded and so did Wes.
“I think we both know a lot more about the business now?” Wes ran his hand through his hair like that knowledge wasn’t that much of a benefit.
“We definitely do.” And I felt closer to my dad for it. Like I could see his world through his eyes.
“Okay. Time to go home for now.” I locked the office door behind us as well, just in case. There was nothing in there to see, but no one else would know that, and locking the door would take away most of the temptation for many.
There was a guy waiting outside. He looked up as we approached, but I slowed my steps. Surely no one was becoming so bold as to confront me at work like this? Wes and Charmaine walked closer alongside me.
“Miss Everly?”
“Yes?”
Wes moved slightly ahead of me now, and as much as I wanted to walk around him, I was glad of his defense. Charmaine wrapped her fingers loosely around my forearm — another defender.
This was all too reminiscent of the other night. They’d known my name, too, and they’d just phoned me at work, so they definitely knew I was here. I was ready to shift and run. Hopefully, the others were as well.
But the man relaxed his stance from the more formal posture and smiled. “Apologies for startling you. Patrick sent me. I’m Girard.”
“Shit, I forgot,” I blurted. “Wait. No. I’m sorry.I’msorry.” Even as I apologized, my heart still beat faster than it should have. I’d been ready to run away.
Wes glanced over his shoulder and laughed at my sudden fluster.
“I’m so sorry. I completely forgot you were coming. I didn’t intend to keep you waiting or hanging around out here.”
Girard smiled. “Don’t worry about it. This is what I’m paid to do. You’re somewhere, and I literally wait. You want to go somewhere? I drive you and wait around. It’s not something that inconveniences me.”
“Where can I find a guy like this?” Charmaine muttered to me as she let go of my arm.
But Girard heard her, and flashed a killer-watt smile. She giggled and fluffed her hair a little, scrunching the curls.
“Miss Everly? Can I take you all somewhere?” He opened the door of a car that looked way too big and way too expensive to be parked outside Gold Moon, and it should have screamed “Patrick” to me straight away, if I’d been paying proper attention to my surroundings.
I needed to start doing that. I’d just never had to before.
I slid into the back seat of the car and breathed in the scent of leather and something coconut. The interior was immaculate and apparently newly valeted. The wealth was obvious but not showy, and I almost sighed in satisfaction as I rested against the interior. Patrick was a man who seemed to value comfort.
“Holy shit.” Wes piled in next. “Look at this baby! Do you see it, Charmaine?” He turned to look at the woman clambering in after him.
She hooted appreciatively. “I haven’t seen anything this fancy since prom night.”
My cheeks heated. She was right, we were sitting in a really nice car. Patrick had spared no expense in providing the protection he’d insisted on.
I’d never been the subject of a man’s attention before. Not like this, anyway. Nothing beyond a bunch of flowers or a box of chocolates on Valentine’s Day.
This was something else. It was so muchmore.
This attention seemed really intense. And really fast.
And maybe the worst thing was that I quite liked it.