Free Fall

Chapter 8

"May?" Damian calls from the front entry way, pulling me from my daydream.

I set my mug of now-cold coffee down on the coffee table and watch a tall, serious looking man follow Damian into the apartment.

I watch him for a moment before standing and turning my inquisitive attention back to Damian.

"Where'd you go? You were gone when I woke up."

He steps right up to me, slinks an arm around my back and drops a quick kiss to my lips that shocks me. The gesture seems like it should follow a cheerful "Honey, I'm home."

I get the sudden urge to tell him there's a pot roast in the oven.

He turns, and the man I hadn't originally recognized in my confusion, now looks an awful lot like my neighbor-slash-watchdog Damian had ordered to live across from me for years.

"Cherry, this is Orlando."

I note that when I knew him as a random neighbor, his name had been something like Kyle--Kurt, maybe? Something that started with a 'K.'

I extend a hand and Orlando steps forward robotically to give it a short jerk.

"It's nice to officially meet you," I say politely and shoot Damian a confused look.

"Orlando will be your bodyguard. He'll never be far away."

I turn my body towards Damian, excluding Orlando from the conversation. From the corner of my eye, I see him take a few steps and practically blend into the grey painted walls.

"A bodyguard?" I hiss. "Why? You won't even let me leaving the f*cking house."

He looks taken-aback. "It's just an extra precaution. I have a lot of enemies, which means you do now, too."

I gape at him for a moment. "That's not fair, I didn't ask for this."

"I know," he replies, unashamed. He gives me a slow once-over with dark eyes and them moves so I'm mostly blocked from Orlando's sight. I'm suddenly aware how little I'm covered in my cami and shorts PJ set.

I lean into him to hiss at him softly, for only us to hear. "What's the point in appointing me a bodyguard if you can't even trust him not to eye-f*ck me."

He smirks devilishly and brushes the tips of his fingers across my exposed stomach, leaving goose-bumps in his wake.

"Look at you. No man could possibly resist the urge."

I shove him away with a scoff. "You're an asshole. Don't talk about me like that in front of strangers."

His eyes narrow and he tries to reach for me again but I step further away.

"I'm going to change. Don't go anywhere, we're not done talking about this."

He says nothing and doesn't try to touch me again as I brush past him toward the bedroom.

I pull on a pair of jeans and the first cotton t-shirt that I find.

"Be honest," I call loudly, interrupting their hushed conversation as I emerge from the hallway. I cross my arms and Damian's eyes fall to my chest, despite being completely covered up.

I drop my arms when I realize he can probably tell I didn't bother with a bra.

"Is he here to protect me from what's out there, or to keep me in here?"

He smiles crookedly, but says nothing. I blow out a loud breath and shake my head.

"I'm not happy about this, but something tells me I don't get the choice."