His fingers tightened around mine, and after hesitating for a fraction of a second, I returned his touch.
I never believed people who told me in the past that fingers could be erogenous zones, but I stood 100% corrected now. They were. They so were! Constantijin's fingers slowly brushed my knuckles before caressing them slowly, gently, rhythmically. It was all I could do not to inch up next to him and pull his face down for a kiss.
And then we were alone, the only two persons left heading for the topmost floor. Constantijin was staring again, and I suddenly felt embarrassed without knowing why. I tried pulling my hand away but his fingers only tightened around mine, unwilling to let go.
"My proud and jealous girlfriend, mm?"
Hearing him say the words I had decided to use for ending my note made me giggle, the tension inside me slowly easing. And when he said, "I missed you," I relaxed completely. After, it felt totally natural to take the remaining steps that kept us apart. I stood on my toes just as he bent his head down, and the kiss we shared was short and sweet.
"I missed you, too," I whispered shyly against his lips.
When we finally pulled away, we smiled at each other automatically because everything just felt right in our world – better than it had ever been.
His Dutch accent was thick when he murmured, "Would you like to do the honors of telling everyone you're mine?"
"Uhh … no?"
His smile became sly, sexy, and wicked at the same time, making my heart race even as my mind also went on alert. That smile meant danger. "Constantijin," I began warningly.
"Are you really sure, sweetheart? I promise you will find it easier if you were to indeed act as my proud and jealous girlfriend and tell all the women to keep their hands off me."
I snorted before I could stop myself, making him grin. "You're so full of yourself."
He answered with a lazy shrug, a devious smile still on his lips. The elevator chimed as it stopped on our floor. Before the doors slid open, he murmured, "Last chance, Yanna."
"No," I said very firmly.
The doors slid opened. "Then so be it."
Okay, that sounded ominous.
"Constantijin---"
He raised a brow. "It's Mr. Kastein during office hours," he said solemnly as he stepped to the side so I could go out first.
Ass, I mouthed as I walked past him.
"Oh, and Ms. Yanna?"
I turned around, raising a brow.
He stepped out of the elevator. "You're late, by the way." And then he was walking away, not looking back even once.
It wasn't something to smile at, really, but I ended up smiling anyway.
The details on this week's snowflakes were thankfully not that difficult so I was able to take my lunch on time. George was off again with the 25/F guy so I went to the cafeteria alone.
Since I was finally eating my mid-day meal with the rest of the crowd, it took about ten minutes before I finally reached the front of the line and gave my order. I stuck with sashimi, deciding it was time to pay stricter attention to my diet. With a man like Constantijin as my boyfriend, I knew it meant having as many haters as he had his admirers.
All the tables were occupied except for one two-seater, which had a vacant chair left. I headed towards it but stopped midway when I realized the other occupant was Drake. Right now – it was totally not a good idea to sit with him. Constantijin could get ideas. Feminists might argue about this, but why rock the boat when you didn't have to?
Fifteen more minutes passed before I spotted another vacant table, and I sped to it like a delayed bullet train. My stomach was already grumbling in protest by the time I reached the table.
"Ohh." I closed my eyes in bliss even as I didn't stop shoving raw salmon inside my mouth. God! This tasted super good, especially since I hadn't had breakfast this morning.
When I opened my eyes, Drake stood in front of me, a polite expression on his face.
I choked on the last bite and quickly reached for my tea. Oops. Too hot. I started choking again.
People were beginning to look. I bet they thought it was because I was super flustered at the presence of Drake. If Constantijin heard about it – that was a very, very bad thing.
Clearing my throat, I said lamely, "Hi."
"Can I take a seat? I just need to talk to you."
"Uhh … " I ended with a weak smile since he had already taken the seat opposite of me.
Didn't this look like we were dating? Dear God, I hoped Constantijin didn't see us together. Constantijin acting jealous was terribly sweet and cute, but I knew he hurt, too, and that I didn't want.
I looked at him expectantly. "So … "
"I was hired by Carole Everleigh to act as your bodyguard, incognito."
"WHAT?"
All heads snapped to our direction. I cringed, whispering, "Sorry."
Drake smiled sympathetically.
"Are you serious? Are you still working for my mom? Do you report everything you know to her?"
"Hold on," he said with a grin. "One question at a time." He rubbed his chin. "So, am I serious? Yes. I was your bodyguard the moment you left their house. They gave me all your details." He sent me an apologetic glance. "I even know your underwear size."
I smacked my forehead. Oh God, Mom. She was going to be the death of me one day.
"And for your second question---yes, I'm still working for her. But I will resign---"
"No," I blurted out, surprising him.
He leaned forward, and I had to steel myself not to lean back as his face came inches away from mine. "Why not?"
"Because if it's not you, it would be someone else, and I'd rather have someone I know and trust."
Drake slowly nodded. "I can't say I'm not glad you said that. I like having an excuse to check you out."
"Errr … "
"I like being your Mr. Fix It."
Oh Lord. Alyx and her big mouth always got me into trouble. "I totally don't know what you're talking about," I said airily, but Drake's answering laughter made me feel sheepish. "Well, okay, I did, umm, sort of call you that. Are you mad?"
He grinned. "Of course not. I actually like it. It's nice that you think me as your go-to guy."
Cue for awkward silence, which honestly was happening more and more frequently in my life.
"So … " Drake was the first to speak again. "You're not going to freak out on me, say I betrayed you for not telling you who I was?"
I rolled my eyes. "You've watched too many secret bodyguard movies, my friend." I picked my chopsticks up again, nabbing a piece of sashimi on my plate and popping it into my mouth. "It's not like you're the first one she hired to work undercover."
"Won't Kastein mind about me?"
"He'll get over it," I said, trying to sound like I believed what I was saying.
"I could talk to him---"
"No!" I shook my head vehemently. "That's the worst idea ever. He's very … " I trailed off, trying to think of a way to explain Constantijin's behavior towards me without using the words ‘jealous' or ‘possessive'. It just didn't feel right to use those words myself.
Drake leaned back against his chair, causing his black business jacket to fall to the sides and revealing his striped white shirt underneath. I could feel the women around us staring because he honestly looked very yummy, posed like this on the chair.
The grimness on his face unnerved me a little. "What is it?"
"It finally happened," he said finally. "You're with him now, aren't you?"
It shouldn't have mattered what my answer was. There had been nothing between us. In fact, there was even less than what I thought was there since he hadn't been at the right time and place because he liked being my knight in shining armor. He had always been there because he had been paid to do so.
Even so, all those words simply felt like excuses in my mind. I nodded, unable to make myself speak. I only looked up when he sighed.
"If I was petty, I'd be calling your mother right now---" He smiled wryly when he saw my horrified expression. "I was just kidding."
"Good. Because that would be really bad." I fed myself three consecutive pieces of raw salmon, using its fresh and delicious taste to calm myself. "You know her, you've talked to her. She's crazy paranoid about me." I made a face. "You see how I didn't even have trouble believing she hired you."
"Touché," Drake said, his lips breaking into a wry smile. "Her offer came at the right moment, you know. After my last mission in Iraq---"
My jaw dropped. "No way." I shook my head. "You look more like a pacifist to me. Like, a peace-loving vegan."
Drake's smile turned angelic, and his voice was matter of fact when he said, "It's why I make a good sniper. Nobody sees me coming."
I gulped, deciding then and there I totally didn't want to be on this man's bad side.