Page 7 of Drawn Together

It took me a few seconds to snap out of it and lift my hand to shake his. My stomach did a flip as our skin made contact. Was this the feeling Liam had told me about?

I felt clumsy, small, and insignificant… a sensation that was totally foreign to me. Sebastian, on the other hand, stared blankly at me, like someone looking at a freaking park bench, utterly indifferent.

I hurried to put on my sunglasses. I needed to organize my thoughts and keep from showing how much meeting this man had affected me.

“I’m leaving you in good hands, don’t worry,” Logan said to me before shaking Sebastian’s hand.

I looked on as Logan said something that I couldn’t hear and didn’t care to. I was drinking in the sight of Sebastian Moore. He was tall, a few inches taller than Liam—whom I had to stand on my tiptoes to kiss—and looked strong enough to pick me up with one arm… just the way I liked them. He had light brown hair, a hint of stubble on his chin, which I imagined was prickly to the touch, a square jawline, and an athletic build, with large biceps visible even through his nice suit jacket. He honestly could’ve passed for one of the millionaire New Yorkers who lived in my neighborhood, although he seemed incredibly young.

How old was he? Twenty-five? Twenty-six? Suddenly, I was dying to know everything about him… What was happening to me?

Surprisingly, I was able to be coherent enough to say goodbyeto Logan. But as soon as he left, I was hit with the realization that I was now alone with my new bodyguard. I began fidgeting with my hair, unsure of what to do or say. Fortunately, I didn’t have to stress for long.

“I didn’t park too far. Come on, I’ll grab your bags.”

Whenever I was with my father, we always had a driver pick us up and drop us off, but in New York, I’d always gotten around just fine by taxi, Uber, or even the subway. This time, however, Sebastian had a black Audi waiting for us in the airport parking lot. He walked to the driver’s side as I waited for him to open the passenger door.

“You sit in the back,” he said over the hood of the car.

I blinked several times. It had sounded like an order, which was a bit strange, and he hadn’t opened the door for me either. It’s not that I was some princess, far from it, but I was so accustomed to my father’s strict protocol for his employees when they were around me, that this guy’s mannerisms took me by surprise. Lupe was the only one who would drop the formalities from time to time, and only when we were alone.

I rode in the back seat, glancing constantly at his reflection in the rearview mirror. He didn’t seem to have any trouble orienting himself, and in just three minutes, we were heading into Manhattan. We still had to cross all of Queens, which would take us over half an hour. Did he ever plan on speaking to me?

“I’d like to know what orders, exactly, my father gave you…” I said after fifteen minutes passed, silent as the grave.

Sebastian took his eyes off the road and rested them on my sunglasses for a fleeting instant. “Orders?” he asked.

Suddenly, the word sounded insulting.

“Well, instructions, directions, guidelines, whatever you want to call them.”

“It’s my job to protect you and keep your father informedon anything that might come up unexpectedly while you’re with me.”

While I’m with him. Of course, not the other way around.

I didn’t want to talk anymore. His cold, clipped tone was starting to irritate me, and at the same time, his deep, baritone voice was giving me goose bumps.

We reached my street in record time. It was clear that speed did not figure among the safety risks he was concerned with protecting me from. We parked the car in the garage and, as he followed me into the elevator, I remembered that I was going to have to share my apartment with him.

Fuck.

The silence inside the small space of the elevator was deafening. Never in my life had I been quiet for so long in another person’s company. Liam would’ve been proud.

Eventually, what felt like twenty minutes later, thedingof the elevator indicated we had reached my floor. Sebastian led the way, stopping in front of my apartment and taking a key from his pocket. Opening the door, he motioned for me to go in first.

So, chivalry wasn’t dead, but…

He had a copy of my key?!

Hold on.

Had he already been here?

“Not now,” he said, as if reading my thoughts. “Come inside.”

I did as he said, and took in my apartment. It looked like it always did, but it didn’t feel the same, and I wasn’t sure if and when it ever would again. The last time I’d left the house, my only concern had been whether or not I should call that guy from the bar whose name I’d already forgotten.

I set my bag on the kitchen island and, feeling restless and uncomfortable, turned to look at my new roommate. “This is strange,” I said.