Page 7 of His to Keep

“Ms. Bryant?”

I backed away, counting down from twenty as my stomach roiled. I hadn't managed to get breakfast yet, and my nerves were making it harder than usual to keep my center of balance.

I held up a hand, pausing his words as I counted back from twenty once more. I clamped my eyes shut, focusing hard on keeping what little was in my stomach from being removed.

“Breathe,” Gates's voice said to me, a warm, strong hand landing on one shoulder while the other moved to my back, where he rubbed in slow circles. I raised my chin to chastise him, or even just thank him, before moving away, but the feel of that confident, gentle touch made me pause.

It felt good, this simple affection and comfort. Plus, the man smelled amazing, something spicy with just a small hint of mint. I bit down on my lip, letting him continue his backrub.

“Better?”

“Yeah. I just hadn’t gotten to eat yet, and I'm nervous about my first day.”

His hands slowly kept going, and I pretended that I didn’t know that I’d let it go on longer than usual. In fact, I was strongly considering turning into that pressure and begging for more. Maybe he was just as good with my back as he would be with the ache in my feet or the small anxiety tightness in my shoulders.

“Let me get you something.” And suddenly Gates was gone before I could reach out and stop him.

I paused, my mouth working hard to figure out how to stop him. But he was already off, his broad frame barely fitting through my stacks of boxes as he moves towards the kitchen.

I merely stood there until a moment later, my very own giant appeared again. “Ms. Bryant,” he said, ushering me towards the small couch, which had finally arrived the other night.

I plopped down, feeling a little childish as he loomed over me, a sleeve of crackers in one hand, a small water bottle in the other.

“Oh wow, um, thank you,” I murmured, taking the items from him.

With a soft noise, Gates dropped to crouch beside me, his thick thighs making his dark suit pants tighten. I bit into the cracker, the salty, graininess of the snack coating my tongue and triggering a wave of relaxation down my belly.

I sighed, popping the other half of the cracker into my mouth. It was strange to eat with someone watching me so closely. But Gates clearly wasn’t moving, and I wasn’t about to start my first week at my new job by showing up with a vomit-covered bodyguard.

When I hesitated on eating more, I could almost feel his hot stare on my face. “Another.”

My lips quirked. “Is bossing me around a perk of the job or a requirement?”

“Both,” he said calmly.

I cracked a smile before I bit into another cracker. “Are you taking me to work?”

“Yes.”

“Then after, picking me up?”

He nodded.

“So, you’re a glorified chauffeur.”

He looked down, and I wondered briefly if he was hiding a smile from me. Deep in my bones, I secretly hoped he was. Because if I could break through this stoic, smirking wall, then there might be real hope that I could manage this new world I had gotten myself into.

“Not quite. Your driver is named Timothy.”

I rolled my eyes with a laugh, and he continued. “But I will be here every morning, every evening until…”

His deep voice trailed off, and for a second he seemed to hesitate.

I snorted a small giggle, filling in the blank for him. The answer was plain as day on his face. “Until the baby is born?”

He nodded, and I chomped into another cracker, feeling better already. My continued munching must’ve pleased him, because he relaxed, his broad shoulders less tense as he watched me. I ate another cracker, my throat feeling a little tight as the tension between myself and Gates was suddenly ramped up.

I couldn’t remember another man who had ever looked at me like that. I mean, it was his job to watch me, but the way his eyes really searched me every time they met mine. It was as if I was this precious thing, this treasured part of his life.

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