“Kayla.” Robert snapped his fingers in an attempt to get my attention. “You keep looking at him.” He jerked his head in Troy’s direction. “He has nothing to do with this conversation.”
My face heated at the realization that he’d caught me staring at Troy one too many times. I wasn’t sure what to say. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be rude.”
“It’s against Bad Boy Bodyguard’s policy to have relationships with clients. If he’s been unprofessional—”
“Nothing is going on between us. I can’t believe you would even imply something like that.”
“I’m not implying anything. Just thought you should know their protocol.”
“And how do you know about this policy?”
“I checked.” He crossed his arms and gave me an unapologetic stare. “I wanted to make sure you’re in good hands.”
I squirmed in my seat and wondered if that was the true reason. He had a thing for me, and I wouldn’t put it past him to try to exert influence over my love life if I ever decided to have one. The air between us grew awkward and tense as the seconds passed. He had always been the steady, patient friend I could count on, but his watchful eye was starting to feel a little suffocating. Even so, he was my friend and I didn’t want to hurt him.
One thing was crystal clear. It would be cruel for me to have a relationship with Troy, the man he was paying to protect me. Not that Troy was even interested, but if he was by some small chance, I wouldn’t be able to proceed in good conscience. At least, not while I was a client of Bad Boy Bodyguards.
A sick feeling washed through me as I thought about this whole situation. By paying for my protection, Robert was putting himself in a position where I felt indebted to him. He’d done it out of the kindness of his heart and wouldn’t want me to feel that way, but how could I go on like this? I had to figure out a way to pay for these services myself. Unfortunately, I was nowhere near being able to afford an expense like that.
Robert cleared his throat and folded his hands on the table. “You look…upset. Did I offend you?”
“To be honest, yeah, a little, but I’ll get over it. The bigger issue is that I need to pay you back for the bodyguard services. It’s too much, Robert. I shouldn’t have accepted your help in the first place.”
The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled, and he relaxed his posture. “You’re special to me, Kayla, and I always look out for my friends. I practically forced you into this, so don’t worry your pretty little head about anything. I’m helping because I want to help. Because I can’t stand the thought of someone hurting you.”
My heart warmed at his words, and I let out the breath I’d been holding. I was overthinking things and finding problems that weren’t there. Robert was a kind man. He was not trying to make me indebted to him. He truly cared. Troy wasn’t an option anyway, so I needed to get my little crush on him under control.
I could do that. I really could. All I had to do was keep my thoughts centered. And then what Lillian said earlier came back to me. She’d said Robert might have to file bankruptcy. If that was the case, then he definitely shouldn’t be paying for bodyguard services he couldn’t afford. Surely, he wouldn’t have offered if he couldn’t afford it, but I needed to double-check. I wanted to bring it up right then, but I knew if I did, he’d ask if someone from the office had said something to me since I’d just been there, and I didn’t want to throw Lillian under the bus. I’d have to ask him about it another time and be careful about how I worded the question.
***
Later that evening, I met Lillian at Busy Bean. Troy came with me, of course, and once we had gotten our coffees and were seated, he sat at a table right next to ours. It was quiet, and the only other customers were on the other side of the room. Troy was close enough that he would hear our conversation, but I trusted him not to say anything.
“I can only stay a few minutes,” Lillian said, appearing slightly frazzled. “I almost chickened out, but I didn’t want to leave you hanging.”
“That’s fine.” I leaned in so we could talk quietly. “What’s going on? This sounds serious.”
Lillian grimaced, and after looking both ways, leaned in even closer. “You have to promise you never heard this from me. I trust you, Kayla, and that’s the only reason I’m here, but I don’t want to get involved…”
My stomach twisted in anticipation of what she was about to share. Did this information have anything to do with Daniel? And if it did, would it change everything I knew about him? “I promise. I won’t mention your name to Robert.”
She glanced at Troy with a smile. “Can we have some privacy, please?”
I turned to Troy with an apologetic glance. “I’m sorry, do you mind?”
“Not at all. I’ll be right over there if you need me.” He pointed to the other side of the room, and I nodded.
Lillian leaned in and winked. “He hasn’t taken his eyes off you the entire time we’ve been here.”
I cocked my head to the side and gave her a look. “It’s his job. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t be so sure about that. I’m sensing more brewing under the surface.” She cleared her throat. “All right, let’s get down to business.”
