4

The door slammed behind me and for a moment I regretted the dramatic exit, but then my fists curled at my sides and my anger returned.

How dare my mother try to control my life again? Did she think I was that seventeen-year-old girl she could tell what to do, what to wear, and which school to attend? Well, if she did, then I quickly disabused her of that notion.

And him!

Of all the men on this planet, it had to be him standing in her apartment. What kind of sick sense of humor did fate have? As though I wasn't humiliated enough the other night, I had to be faced with the one man who found me so off-putting that he couldn't even sit and have a twenty-minute coffee date with me.

Oh no, I would not give either of them the satisfaction. I was tired of being the biddable daughter. I would not be told what to do.

I inhaled, and my shoulders loosened at the realization that I had done it. I had walked out on my mother and fired a complete stranger simply out of spite. While it may seem immature, for me it was finally a step in the right direction. I was putting myself first.

"Nikole, wait."

Jacob called after me. I pressed the ‘close door' button in the elevator and watched as he came dangerously close to reaching me. His body moved faster than I would have imagined a man his size would move. His arms were the size of my thighs. When he was only a couple of feet away, I waved at him as the elevator doors pressed softly together.

The old me would have thought that rude, but not now. Setting boundaries with my mother was exactly what I needed to do. Firing Jacob, in particular, was just a happy coincidence.

The elevator made two stops on the way down and with each descending floor, my spirit felt lighter and my smile grew brighter until the doors opened and Jacob stood in front of me.

His chest heaved with each breath, and when he saw me, he grasped his knees and lowered his head, panting.

His black pants stretched over his thighs and I realized they were just as muscled as his arms. After only two breaths, he straightened and speared me with his eyes. If I didn't know better, I would have thought it possible that this man could blow fire from his nostrils.

"We need to lay out some ground rules before you head to work," he said.

"I don't know what you're talking about. There is nothing for us to discuss. I just fired you."

I pushed past him on purpose, but the plan backfired when I was the one who stumbled from the contact.

He moved closer to me, blocking my exit. "You can't fire me because I don't work for you. I work for your mother, and if she tells me to guard you, that's exactly what I will do. Now about those rules."

"Move out of my way," I grumbled, and this time sidestepped to avoid him altogether.

He sighed loudly; I figured it was on purpose to exaggerate his frustration, but I ignored his attention-seeking ways.

"Fine," he said behind me. "Let's do this your way."

A small smile crept on my lips, but I quickly slammed it straight. I would not find him amusing.

I didn't have to worry about my smile because the next voice erased it completely.

"Nikole May Adams," my mother called from the elevator. Her heels clicked along the marble floors and it seemed to me that everyone in the busy foyer stood still. Just like when the teacher called out a student's name, the whole class would stop what they were doing to watch what would happen next.

I was twenty-six years old, graduated at the top of my class at law school, and was offered an incredible opportunity at one of the best law firms in the country, but at that moment, none of it mattered. I became a twelve-year-old girl standing in her bedroom, cowering at my mother's words. Those three words, ‘Nikole May Adams', always incited Pavlovian fear.

You're not that girl anymore. She can't make you feel this way unless you allow her to do it.

I inhaled sharply and turned around. "Yes, Mother."

"I don't care which fancy firm you work at now. You will not walk away from me."

An instant apology flew to my lips, but I swallowed it. Pressing my lips together, I waited for her to say something.

"If this tantrum is over—"

"This is not a tantrum," I ground out through gritted teeth. How could I not feel twelve when she spoke to me as though I were still a little girl? "I do not appreciate you making decisions about my life without consulting me first."

She sighed. "Fine. Let's go back upstairs where I can explain the situation to you in more detail."

I hesitated at first but realized that this was what I wanted—to have a mature conversation with my mother.

She motioned to the elevator down the hallway and allowed me to precede her inside.

I'd nearly forgotten about Jacob until I turned to face the elevator doors and found my nose only a few inches from his back. He stood in front of us with his arms crossed like some sort of gargoyle.

"Does he have to come up, too?"

"Yes," my mother said just as Jacob responded, "I go wherever you go, Nikole."

I didn't like my name on his lips. The rough sound made my body react.

When we reached my mother's apartment, I sat down at the dining table but left my coat on. "I don't have much time. I have to be at work in thirty minutes."

While my mother booted up her laptop, my eyes wandered about the room. I'd only been inside her suite a handful of times. We usually met for lunch since my mother was always in one meeting or another. She had been this way my whole life. When she ran for governor, I wasn't surprised. It was the next logical step in her career. I just wished I hadn't found out while at a friend's dorm room with the news on. My friend congratulated me, but I told her I wasn't the one running, so there was no need. My tone must have been gruff because she never brought it up again.

"Here it is," my mother said, turning her computer towards me. "I received the first email two months ago."

"Two months," I said, pursing my lips. "And you're just telling me about it now."

"Well, as you can see, this first email was only a personal attack—I'm used to those—but scroll down to the next one."

I moved the cursor to the next email, and the tone had changed. The letter no longer just accused her of being a fraud, it now threatened to do something about it. ‘If you don't change your mind on Bill C125, then I will change it for you,' the anonymous sender wrote.

"I can see how that would unnerve you. But what does this have to do with me?" I asked after reading to the end.

"There are more emails, and with each one, the threats become more and more aggressive. The last one sent on Friday made me reach out to Western Security."

"Why?" I asked.

"It's hard to say, but I'm worried he could hurt you," she said.

Jacob turned to my mother. "You never said that. You only said one could never be too careful."

I fought back a smile. Jacob was learning that my mother was prone to exaggerating. She also liked the shock and awe approach, hence this ambush at her apartment.

"And you think he's serious?" I scoffed. "This is probably some keyboard warrior who feels big and strong sitting at their desk, but would never do anything in real life."

Jacob crossed his arms. "And you know this how?"

I rolled my eyes. "Do you have any social media accounts? If you did, you would know that trolls exist everywhere and many people get their thrills by being mean online."

"I don't think they're trying to hurt your mother's feelings. When it comes to politics, we find words often precede action."

"So, you think he would actually try to harm me or my mother?"

"Yes." He didn't even hesitate.

I laughed. "Of course you do. If you didn't make us think that our lives were in danger, then why would my mother hire you and your company? You obviously have a vested interest in scaring us. Otherwise, you'd be out of a job."

"Is that what you think?" he asked, his brow furrowed. "That I would be the kind of man that would want to scare a woman so that I can make a buck out of it?"

I narrowed my eyes. "I think you're the kind of guy that doesn't care about a woman's feelings at all."

He held my gaze, and his eyes simmered hot coals.

"Nikole, that wasn't very nice."

"Yes, well, it wasn't meant to be."

"What's gotten into you? Ever since you moved to New York, you've been a completely different person."

If she thought her words would hurt me, she was mistaken. They only puffed out my chest and encouraged me that I was on the right path.

"I've grown up if you haven't noticed."

"Be that as it may, I am still your mother, and I will protect you by any means necessary. Jacob will provide around-the-clock protection."

When my mother got something in her head, she wouldn't let it go. It was what made her a formidable politician.

"Since we are both grown women, let's come to a compromise, shall we?" I said. I was good at negotiation, after all.

"All right. That sounds reasonable." My mother sat back in her chair and folded her hands on her lap. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well, I will add an alarm system to my apartment, and I'll allow you to track my phone. Also, I will notify you if I plan any weekend trips."

"That's not good enough," Jacob said.

I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, I smiled at him. "This is between me and my mother."

"Your mother hired me to do a job, so I'm doing it. Your plan is reactionary. My plan will prevent anything from happening in the first place."

My mother reached across the table and grabbed my hand. My heart skipped, and I blinked at the vision in front of me. "Please, Nikole. This is important. I don't know what I'd do if something were to happen to you." The look of genuine concern on my mother's face stopped me. My mother rarely showed affection and I couldn't remember the last time she hugged me. Staring at her long fingers clutching mine, I wavered. Perhaps there was a compromise.

With a loud sigh, I asked, "How long are we talking about? A week? A month?"

Even though I'd asked the question to my mother, Jacob responded, "As long as it takes to neutralize the threat."

I ignored him. "I have a demanding job, and I'm the new lawyer. I don't want this to be a spectacle."

My mother turned to Jacob. My eyes automatically followed. His eyes crinkled. "I don't even know what that means. I have no plan to alert the paparazzi, if that's what you think."

"I mean, I don't want anyone to know what is happening. I don't want it to interfere with my work or anyone else's in the office. Is that clear?"

"Crystal," he sneered.

My mother pulled her hands away and smiled at our seemingly new pact.

"Oh, and one more thing," I said, staring at Jake. "I don't want him. Find me someone else."

My mother shook her head. "We already discussed it. I believe Jacob is the best man for this job."

"Ha," I huffed with a fake chuckle. "He doesn't exactly have the best track record when it comes to showing up for me."

My mother looked from my face to Jacob's. "What's going on? Do you two know each other?"

"No," I answered at the same time the hulk of a man said, "Yes."

Bouncing her head between us, my mother crossed her arms. "Well, which one is it?"

I didn't want to tell my mother what had happened. It was humiliating enough that my best friend knew. "He's Sarah's brother, and I don't think it's a good idea for us to work together."

"Your best friend, Sarah?" my mother asked.

"Yes."

"Well, that is perfect. Who will ensure your safety better than someone who has a stake in the game? He's not just a hired guard, he'll care about keeping you safe."

I shook my head. "You overestimate his emotions."

He narrowed his eyes. "Just because I don't show them as willingly, doesn't mean I don't have them."

My mother arched her brow at his words, and a smile played at her lips. Then she clapped her hands.

"It's settled. Jacob will be your bodyguard until such time that he deems us rid of this threat. He will keep his distance and not become a spectacle at your work. In return, you will cooperate with him and his plans. Agreed?"

Jacob stood up and stuck out his hand. "I agree with those terms."

I rolled my eyes, but stood up, anyway. I placed my hand inside his palm, and he squeezed. The shake was firm but not painful. Judging by the size of the biceps pressing against the fabric of his shirt, I knew he could crush my hand without much effort.

With my hand still in his, he leaned closer. "You have to say it."

His cologne threw me off. It had a fresh scent of eucalyptus, which I hadn't expected, and I immediately thought of a spa.

"Nikole," he whispered.

"Wh-what?" I stammered. His stupid cologne was doing strange things to my brain.

"You have to agree. Say the words"

"Oh." I pulled my hand away. "Fine."

He raised an eyebrow, and I noticed how dark his hair was. With a shaved head, I couldn't really determine the color, but his eyebrows reminded me of the shade of his truck. "Fine, what?"

I straightened my arms by my side. Did it count if I said the words after we shook hands? Because then it meant we didn't shake on it. Yes, that made sense to me. "I agree."

"Great, I'll meet you out front. I just have to get my car."

I turned toward my mother. "I'll talk to you later."

"Yes, make sure to check in with me each night. I want to know that you're safe."

Her words were exactly what I wanted to hear, yet my body reacted to the feeling of needing to check in with her instead of her concern for my safety.

I forced a smile to ease my discomfort and followed Jacob out the door.

When I closed my mother's door behind me, he turned to me and put his hand on my shoulder. "Look, I want to apologize for the other night."

I shrugged his hand off of me. "As far as I'm concerned, I've moved on. You are not the man from the other night. You are the man my mother hired. You work for her. I will try to ignore your presence as best I can for what I hope to be a very short period of time."

He straightened and pushed his hands into his pockets. "I plan to make this as painless as possible for you."

I smiled because I had no such plan for him.

Not for Jake.

To him, I planned to be the biggest pain in the ass.