AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She hoped that Leigh didn’t expect her to wear a dress, because if she did, she was going to be sorely disappointed. Dresses were alright until shit started going wrong and then it was a nightmare to try and fight or move fast wearing something totally impractical. Morgan had had this suit specially modified so that she had a greater range of movement in it than she had in an ordinary suit. If anything happened tonight, she would be ready for it.
She left early and sat outside Leigh’s house in her car, not wanting to be too early and come at a time that didn’t suit Leigh. If Leigh was willing to fire someone for folding a napkin wrong, Morgan couldn’t take any chances.
One way or another, she would find a way to convince Leigh to let her stay on, and she would solve the mystery of the death threats that kept coming in. Morgan knew that she was good at her job and she could catch whoever was behind this—if only Leigh would give her a chance to do it.
2
Leigh
“This is a bad idea.”
“Leigh, we’ve discussed this. It’s the safest option.”
“No, it’s not, Jake!” Leigh hissed. “Don’t you remember what almost happened with the last five?”
Jake sighed. “I remember, but keeping a secret isn’t worth your life.”
“Says you. You’re not the one who stands to lose everything. If my mother finds out I’m gay, she’ll disown me.”
“My family will disinherit me too if they find out about me, as you well know.”
“Yeah, but at least you have a savings account in your own name! Everything I have is in my trust fund, and my mother could have that taken away from me in an instant. I never studied after school; I have no skills with which to apply for a job, and no work experience. What would I do? Where would I go? Your savings account isn’t enough to support both of us, at least not for long.”
“I know. Believe me, I know. We’ll just have to be more careful. I’ve already told Mike that we’re going to have to sneak around even more when the new bodyguard arrives. And you’ve broken things off with Renee, so that won’t be a problem.”
Leigh knew that Jake wouldn’t break up with Mike, even to keep their secret. The two of them had been in love for three years. She and Renee had only been together for a couple of weeks, and they were both in it for the sex more than anything else.
Ever since she had realized she was gay, Leigh had known love wasn’t on the cards for her. She respected Jake’s choice, but she didn’t think she could ever give her heart to someone and then hide that from the world. Sex was one thing, but love was quite another.
“What if she gets too close, like the others? I know we said we’d do more to keep her in the dark, but part of her job is to investigate mysteries. What if the same thing happens with her?”
“Well, let’s worry about that if it happens. You never know—maybe once we get to know her, we’ll realize we can trust her with our secret.”
“Not a chance,” Leigh snapped. “I’ve told you already, there’s too high of a chance that anyone we trust will go to the press or my mother, both of whom would offer them a high price for such scandalous information.”
“Not everyone is motivated by money alone. Some people still have principles, you know.”
“Well, I have yet to find them,” Leigh muttered.
Jake nodded sympathetically. “They are few and far between, I’ll admit.”
He put an arm around Leigh, pulling her close into a side hug. Leigh sighed and relaxed into the embrace. She wasn’t in love with Jake, but she loved him dearly. He was her best friend and had been ever since high school. They had bonded over their shared secret and had agreed to start “dating” when people began getting suspicious at their lack of love lives.
It was a perfect arrangement, really. She and Jake were free to pursue relationships or sex buddies as they chose, and Leigh got to live with her best friend.
Sure, there were times, late at night when she couldn’t sleep, when she longed for more. She sometimes wished she could have what other people had—the simple joy of being able to fall in love and hold hands in public with the person her heart truly belonged to.
It wasn’t for her, though. Leigh had long ago come to accept that, even though the truth did still hurt at times. She heard stories about homophobic family members coming around, but every time she brought the subject up, her mother started spewing hate that had Leigh fighting not to cringe. She eventually dropped the topic, as Amanda was just getting suspicious about Leigh’s sudden interest in gay rights.
Amanda wasn’t the type of person to fight for something that didn’t benefit her personally. She gave to fashionable charitable causes, but more because of the status it gained her rather than actually caring about what she was giving money for.
“We can’t go to that charity function without someone watching our backs. That threat you got the other day sounded more serious than any of the others, and the detective himself admitted that they haven’t made any progress. Whoever’s doing this is smart and covers their tracks well. We need the help.”
Leigh knew that. It was why she’d agreed to bodyguard number six in the first place, but she was terrified that this would be one time too many, and her and Jake’s secret would come out.
She’d just have to do her very best to push Morgan away. Leigh was naturally friendly and made new connections easily. She couldn’t do that with Morgan. Getting too close to the last five bodyguards was what had gotten her into trouble in the first place. The closer they were, the closer they got to the secret, and that was unacceptable.
She was still debating whether or not to call Morgan and cancel when the doorbell rang. Crap, too late.
