Page 5 of Guarding the Athlete
“You’re a writer doing a magazine feature on me,” I repeated dutifully. “But I don’t know why that would require you to sleep over at my house. I mean, if someone notices us together, which I’m assuming they would if I’m being watched.”
There was noif. I felt eyes on me whenever I left the house.
Cassie nodded. “Yeah, we should agree on how we’d respond to that, especially since someone is clearly watching you.”
“It’s love at first sight,” I said.
Cassie reared back just the tiniest bit, the only sign of a reaction. “What?”
“You came to do the magazine story and the minute we saw each other, we fell in love. Now you’re staying at my place while we explore our passion.”
She bit her lower lip into her mouth and for a second I swear I could see two of her teeth expanding, like little fangs. I blinked, and then her teeth looked normal again. Clearly the stress was getting to me.
“That could work,” she said slowly. “But then we’ll need to, uh, act cozy together around other people.”
“No problem,” I said quickly.
My father looked between us as if he could sense some undercurrent that he couldn’t define. He walked closer, studying Cassie.
“Ah, you are a vampire, yes? This is why you are so pale. I have heard that your company employees many from the supernatural community.”
“Dad!” I protested. “You’re being rude. You don’t ask strangers personal questions like that.”
Cassie swung her gaze to me and back to my father, her spine stiffening.
“Yes, I’m a vamp. Is that a problem?”
My father shook his head. “No, I had many vampire friends back in Poland. Here people are a little more circumspect, Americans don’t have the healthy respect for the magical world the way we do in Europe.”
I had the sense that Cassie was relieved by his comments, even though her expression never changed. I could see why. Even though we all knew that supernaturals and humans shared the same world, no one really talked about it. But as far as I knew, I’d never met a vampire before.
“Your last name is Weatherby? You are related to Anson?”
Cassie’s eyes turned cold. “Yes. Now let’s figure out the rest of our plan.”
She pulled a laptop out of her bag and set it on the small conference table on the far side of the office. “I want to review your schedule too please, Ruby.”
“Of course.”
We spent the next hour going over schedules and security protocols. Cassie was organized, with a no-nonsense way about her that instilled confidence. I could tell that my father was impressed with her too.
When I’d arrived on my parents’ doorstep last night I’d been super freaked out. Over a glass of vodka – because vodka cured everything in my family – we’d discussed a plan. Dad had a friend who’d hired Sapphic Security when their daughter got involved in some kind of mob thing and they couldn’t say enough about the work the agency had done to keep her safe.
Within an hour of our call, a woman named Lois arrived at our house. She was unconventional looking, but somehow her gruff confidence immediately put us at ease.
“I’ll assign you a team in the morning,” Lois told us. “You’ve got a decent security system here, although it could be better, but you should be safe here until tomorrow. I’ve got two agents patrolling your property just in case. They’ll be here all night.”
“Right now?” Dad had asked. “They’re patrolling already?”
Lois nodded. “We’re very thorough. Program our emergency line into all of your phones. If you see or hear anything tonight, even if you see a shadow, call the number and my agents will be in here in minutes.”
None of us bothered to ask how they’d get in. I had a feeling they’d already tapped into our security system.
My parents had been apoplectic when I told them I wanted to go back to my own place. I’d agreed to spend one night with them until I could get a bodyguard assigned, but I was adamant that I was not going to let some stalker asshole keep me away from my own home. Lois assuring them that her team would set up security at my condo finally calmed them down.
“You have practice now,kochanie,” Dad reminded me, calling me the Polish equivalent of ‘dear’ or ‘beloved’.
“I’ll go with you,” Cassie said immediately. “I need to be with you at all times. Don’t go anywhere unless I know about it.”
