Page 76 of The Bodyguard's Fall

“He’s in cop mode,” he said. “He doesn’t do anything fun when he’s like this.” He waited a beat before leaning forward and whispering, “But he definitely does not like this game.”

I looked then. I couldn’t help it. All night long, I’d felt his gaze, like an itch I couldn’t scratch. He raised his brows at me, and I had to turn away.

“Because you’re making his job harder,” I said.

“Probably. But that’s not the reason he’s going to tear into me later.” He looked delighted at this prospect.

When the dance ended, Luke bowed and kissed my hand, making me roll my eyes and laugh, before leaving me alone. It was there, standing in the middle of the dance floor, completely alone, when the entire room suddenly went dark.

For a long moment, there was a heavy hush over the crowd, the shock taking everyone by surprise. A gasp stuck in my throat as I became completely disoriented. Eventually, low murmurs of chatter broke through. My pulse began to thrum in my wrist. My eyes were open, but I couldn’t see anything, and the disorientation struck a nerve inside of me—the nerve that I kept in careful check as much as possible. Someone brushed past me, their arms and shoulders bumping mine. And again. This time, they grabbed my arm.

“Jules?” the voice asked.

“No,” I gasped, yanking out of his grasp and stepping backward, only to bump into someone else.

My chest began to heave, attempting to gulp in air while the room stirred. People scrambled for the flashlights on their phones, while a few loud voices in the crowd cracked jokes. I wound my arms across my stomach, attempting to center myself while my stomach threatened a revolt. I sucked in a breath through my nose, and blew it out my mouth. I was okay. I was safe. I was among friends.

But there was a vulnerability that always came out in the darkness.

Like hearing a thousand creaks and rattles around the house while you lay alone in your bed. I tried to breathe normally, but there wasn't enough air to do the job.

And then, Tate was there.

Even in the dark, I knew it was him. A hand grasped my arm, pulling me into him before he wrapped his arms around my body. With a sigh, I melted into him as his presence crowded out the noise and the dark.

“Are you alright?” His voice was low and clipped in my ear.

Before I could respond, he turned me around to face him. “You’re shaking,” he said. He swore while his hands felt up and down my arms before bringing me closer, my head hitting his chest.

“No, I’m fine. I just…”

“Was that Luke?” he demanded. “I’m going to kill him.”

By now, there was enough light dappled throughout the room as flashlights from everyone’s phones were dancing around. I could now make out Tate’s face and the anger pulsing from his eyes.

“I don’t think it was Luke,” I said, clutching his shoulders. At least, I hoped it wasn’t Luke. For his sake.

There was a hum and a pop, and all of a sudden, light filled the room. Everyone held up a hand over their eyes, squinting at the sudden brightness. Slowly, the room whirled back to life. Families and friends laughed and got back to dancing or chatting on the side. With a couple of good-natured jokes in the microphone, something about giving everyone enough time to kiss their women, the band started back up, playing an intro to a slow song.

Ben made his way over to Tate, holding up his hands, probably protecting himself from the dark look on his brother’s face. “It wasn’t us. Just some kid playing a prank. They’ve got someone watching the generator now so that it won’t happen again.”

Tate nodded tightly. Ben shot me a sympathetic look before he turned away. It was then that I noticed my hand was still clenched, gripping tight to Tate’s shirt.

Maybe it was the song choice. After a lineup of fast, country swing dances, the first slow song we’d heard in a while began to play. Maybe it was the fact that, even after I unclenched my hand from his shirt, we still stood there, facing each other, neither of us willing to move away just yet. It could have been Tate’s gentle eyes on mine, a stark contrast to the way his body was still poised to attack and defend.

Maybe it was none of those things.

But instead of leaving me to go back to his side of the room, Tate’s hand reached out, lightly grasping the sundress at my hip, and pulled me slowly to him. Against him. I went, quite willingly, my body reacting to him like a sigh of relief.

I did sigh in relief.

Once things were back to normal, I should have been perfectly fine to remove myself. I had been scared, and he’d come to my aid, just like a bodyguard should. Just like I’d known he would.

But now, the chorus was playing, the deep melody and raspy voice of Teddy Swims crooning on and on about how somebody should kiss the girl. And I began to feel different things. Things that had nothing to do with comfort or being grateful to someone.

No. These feelings had more to do with the strength of the shoulders my arms were currently resting on. It had more to do with the way he held me tight and close, like he didn’t plan on letting me go. Like I wasn’t something he planned on ever letting go.

At least for tonight.