“It was nothing.” He needed to downplay it, or else Jack would tell Ford, and Stone didn’t want anyone knowing how far he’d stepped over the line yet. He knew he’d have to come clean to his boss at some point but he’d cross that bridge when he came to it.
“Again I call bullshit. Have you fucked her?”
“What? No.” Stone attempted to clear all emotion from his voice but he wanted to reach through the phone and wrap his hands around Jack’s throat for talking the way he was. He didn’t want anyone speaking about Soph and fucking. Unless it was him.Shit. “She’s a job, Jack. Nothing more.”
Stone turned around as Jack disguised the word “bullshit” as a cough in his ear—and found himself staring at a wide-eyed Soph.
Hurt swam in her gaze.
Fuckme.
“I gotta go.” He hung up without bothering to wait for Jack’s reply. “Hey.”
She smiled but the curve of her lips resembled more of a twist. “Hey.”
He kept his gaze on her as she moved past him to her suitcase and pulled out a shirt and pants. He didn’t protest when she slipped into the clothes. Didn’t argue when she walked to the far side of the bed and crawled beneath the covers. Couldn’t offer a word when she curled up on her side, facing away from him.
The urge to punch the wall had him fisting his hands at his sides. He’d screwed up. First by touching her and now by saying what they’d done was nothing. He needed to tell her she was more important than a quick fuck but his tumbling mind couldn’t come up with the words.
With a sigh, he scrubbed a hand over the back of his head and wondered if he should crawl in beside her, or put his clothes on and take the chair as he had last night.
It took him a few minutes to decide which was the best option. He checked the lock on the door and moved the chair against it for an added barrier. Checked the window was shut and locked and made sure the curtains were properly drawn. He thumbed through his phone, checked his messages and emails. Shot off his nightly check-in email to Chip and Jack.
Finally he was out of things to procrastinate with.
Glancing at the bed, Stone contemplated the likelihood of Soph kicking him out of it and decided it—she—was worth the risk.
***
Sophie held her breath as Stone slipped into the bed beside her.
She wasn’t sure why his words hurt so deeply. She couldn’t expect anything, despite the amazing sex they’d had or the connection she’d felt when he was deep inside her. They’d known each other twenty-four hours, and while he returned her attraction, he didn’t return her affections.
And really, who fell for a guy in one day?
Rolling her lips between her teeth to keep her sigh inside, she admittedshedid. God. She was a cliché.
She’d fallen for her bodyguard.
Reginald would yell at her for sure. And she didn’t even want to think about what her parents would say. Not that they’d say much beyond asking when their next check was coming. She couldn’t stop the sigh this time.
“Come here.”
The bed dipped and Stone’s arm slid under her and curled around her waist, his hand splaying over her belly, while his other hand smoothed over her hip. With the gentlest of tugs, he pulled her back against him.
“Relax. You’re safe.”
Sophie knew, without a doubt, he’d keep her physically safe. It was emotionally she was worried about.
She’d have thought by now she’d have a thicker hide, be less likely to let anyone get too deep and hurt her. She’d been in the music industry for years, had seen the way some celebrities were chewed up and spat out, had witnessed numerous meltdowns and humiliations, and not once had she thought she’d be a victim.
From the very beginning, she’d shielded herself.
Hard not to erect emotional walls when her parents were money-grabbing, fame-seeking, coattail-riding parasites. It was one of the only things she could thank them for.
Stone squeezed her closer and nuzzles behind her ear. “You’re more.”
Shutting her eyes tight, she held still.