Grace sighed and followed them both, scurrying in her high heels to try to stop Nolan before he reached Jared. But by the time she arrived at her office, Nolan was already laying into Jared, who was looming over him with his arms crossed. Jared’s expression, looking down at Nolan, was the kind you gave a steaming pile of crap on the sidewalk that you’d like to avoid stepping in.
Nolan was getting in his face. “What kind of threat are we talking here? Do you have the details? Or are you just the muscle?”
“Nolan!” Grace said, stumbling into the room. “For God’s sake—”
“We have a right to know,” Nolan said, throwing a glance at her. “If there’s a threat against you, and you bring it into the office, we have to know what we’re dealing with.” He mimicked Jared by folding his arms.
“Nolan, don’t be a pain in the ass.” But Kylie’s admonishment didn’t even make him flinch.
“Shifters are dangerous,” Nolan said, his voice hard. “If it’s a gang, it’s even worse. If it’s some deranged individual, with a burr in his fur, they could be flat psychotic. A predator. They’re animals, and God only knows what they’ll do. So I want to hear everything you know about this threat against Grace.” Nolan’s words were hard and demanding—Grace was impressed that Jared kept his expression unchanging and inscrutable.
“You’re the speechwriter, right?” Jared’s voice was ice cold.
“What does that have to do with anything—”
“No one cares about you.”
Grace had to stifle her laugh. She really shouldn’t be laughing—Nolan was just trying to protect her. Well, throw his testosterone around a bit, like he was marking territory or something, but also protect her. She knew him—he was genuinely worried. And he had cause to be, only not for the reasons he thought.
Meanwhile, Nolan’s face was slowly turning red. “Maybe they’re trying to intimidate us. Maybe this threat from the shifters is all about derailing the Senator’s plans.” He swung a pointed look to Grace. “We’re not going to let them intimidate us, are we, Grace?”
Jared flicked a look at her, boring into her with his dark eyes.
“That’s why I’m here,” Grace said to both of them. “We continue on, just like normal. We don’t let anyone intimidate us.”
She pursed her lips because she didn’t really want to have this conversation at all.
Nolan and Kylie were both giving her nods of approval. Nolan unlocked his arms and strode toward the door. He brushed past her, giving her a still-angry look, but then he paused at the threshold. “We have that rally at two o’clock. I’m going. Kylie will go. But Grace… I think you should stay here.”
She shook her head. “No, I’ll be there.”
He frowned and raked a harsh look over Jared. “Make sure you bring the muscle.” Then he stalked out of the room.
Kylie rolled her eyes. “Ignore him,” she said to Grace. Then she grinned and crossed the room to offer her hand to Jared. He jumped a little, then slowly extended his to shake.
“My name’s Kylie. You just let me know if you need anything. Anything at all.” She gave him one of her patented please bed me smiles, then turned and sauntered from the room.
Grace closed the door behind her.
“Your boyfriend?” Jared asked coolly.
“Ex-boyfriend. He’s a nice guy.”
“He’s not a nice guy, Grace. He’s a bigot. And if he knew what you were, he’d fear and hate you just like all the rest. That’s what we’re up against.”
Grace leaned back against the door. “I know.” She pressed the heels of her hands to her forehead and closed her eyes. “I need coffee. And time to sort this out.” Then she opened her eyes. “Are you really going to hang out in the office here with me all day?”
He gave her a very small smile—it wouldn’t have been a big deal on anyone else, except that she’d never seen a real smile on his face. It looked like it hurt him. “I’m your bodyguard.”
She snorted a laugh. “All right, Mr. Jared, the bodyguard with no last name. Make yourself useful and get me some coffee, will you?”
He gave her a small scowl, but it wasn’t too harsh. “You’re trying to get rid of me.”
She sighed. “Only for a minute. You can bring your badass self back here if you’ve got coffee.”
That small smile made an appearance again, then he strode toward the door. She stepped aside to let him pass, but when she closed the door again, she banged her head softly against it.