Despite his apparent disappointment, he pulled away from me, respecting my wishes. Grabbing my hand in his, he placed a chaste kiss on it. “At least you’re not saying no.”

Pulling my hand from his, I tried to subdue the butterflies flapping in my stomach at the sexy, coy look on his face. “I’m not saying yes, either.”

“Not yet, but you will,” he murmured against my ear, causing a spine-tingling chill to rush through me.

I had missed those chills.

~~~~~~~~~~

“ELI WILL BE DROPPING your car off within the hour,” Tyler said, hanging up his cell phone as the chauffeured SUV pulled into the parking lot of my condo. “He can bring your keys up to you or leave them at the front desk. Whichever you’d prefer.”

“The front desk is fine. I’m planning on pouring myself a glass of sparkling water and soaking in the tub.”

“Tired?”

“Growing a human is a lot of work.” I smiled at him as he leapt out of the SUV, running around to open my door for me.

I held out my hand for him and was caught breathless when he grabbed my waist and lifted me from the back seat. I remained suspended off the ground for several long moments, simply staring down at him, his smile wide. It felt like my first crush all over again…the excitement, the unexpected. I never wanted to stop living in this moment. Earlier this morning, I was furious with him, but his patience and initiative to share even the deepest and darkest parts of his soul spoke to me on another level. With each brush of his skin on mine, each tender word, each caring gesture, I felt my resolve begin to crack. His mother’s words continued to play on repeat in my subconscious, urging me to consider forgiving him because he needed it and not because he deserved it.

My feet slowly met the ground, our gaze still locked. “Thanks,” I whispered.

“You bet, princess. I need to make sure you have your footing. You are carrying precious cargo, after all.” He winked and grabbed my hand, walking beside me toward the building.

Wyatt bolted up from his desk when he saw Tyler and me enter. “Sir,” he said curtly, taking purposeful steps across the lobby towards us. “Your brother called and apprised me of the situation. The team is on standby and is happy to stay at their posts.”

I tore my hand from Tyler’s and took a few steps away from him, a chill washing over me once more. Crossing my arms, I glowered at him. “Team? There’s a team? I knew about Wyatt because he told me, but there’s more?”

Tyler let out a long breath. “I meant to tell you on the flight home, but I guess I was enjoying our conversation and didn’t want to bring up anything that would ruin it.”

“Well, now I know, so start talking,” I hissed.

“This is Martin,” he said, gesturing to the built older man standing next to him who I had known as Wyatt. “He’s Alexander’s version of Eli.”

“We’ve met, but I thought he was the only one! How many others?”

“Six total on your protection team,” he said sheepishly.

“Six?!” I exclaimed in disbelief, wondering how I could have missed six people watching my every move and spying on me.

He sighed, apparently unsure of how to handle my outburst. “After everything went down, I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to give you space, then Alex came to me with a new assignment. The thought of abandoning you, of not being there to look out for you and ensure your safety… I couldn’t stomach it. The only reason I ended up taking the assignment was because Alexander promised you would be better protected than the president. It’s been the only thing that’s given me some sort of peace of mind over the past few months.”

I remained speechless, absorbing his words.

“Like I told you earlier, Mackenzie. I never let you go.”

Staring between Tyler and Martin, I straightened my spine. “Who are the others?”

“Three of your new employees at the restaurant,” Tyler admitted, running his hand through his hair.

My eyes widened. “How? I do all the hiring!”

“We made sure their qualifications were such that you couldn’t say no,” Martin offered.

“Who?”

Tyler hesitated briefly. “Chris, one of your line cooks; Gretchen, a server; and your bar manager, Kevin.”

I gasped. “Kevin?”

He nodded.

“Okay. Who else?” I couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen it all earlier. I thought Kevin was sucking up to me and that’s why he always seemed concerned with how I was doing.

“Did you notice the new guy working the front desk at your gym?”

I nodded.

“And I’m sure you noticed a new personal trainer there who tried to hound you?”

I nodded once more.

“That’s it, plus Martin.”

I stood, dumbfounded, unsure of what to think of Tyler’s confession. I knew Wyatt…Martin was keeping an eye on me, but everyone else? I didn’t know why it made me feel as if I was being lied to all over again, but it did. And I hated that feeling. I hated wondering what else Tyler was keeping from me.

“I see,” I finally said, turning and continuing across the lobby toward the elevator.

“Wait! Mackenzie!” Tyler shouted, running after me. “You’re not mad, are you? I just–“

I spun around, my eyes fierce, anger pooling in my veins.

His expression turned pleading as he attempted to reach for my hand. I ripped it from his grasp, refusing to fall under the spell his touch had on me.

“I couldn’t let you go, Mackenzie,” he said softly. “I needed to make sure someone was looking out for you wherever you were.”

I glared at him as the elevator dinged, announcing its arrival. His confession hanging in the air, I entered the car.

Just as the doors were about to close, leaving Tyler behind, I huffed. “Well, are you coming or not? I didn’t realize you needed a written invitation.” I allowed a small smile to cross my face.

“Yes, ma’am!” Tyler beamed back, jumping into the elevator right before the doors closed and it began to ascend to the twelfth floor.

“You’re not mad, are you?” he asked softly, breaking the silence.

I sighed, leaning against the wall. “No, Tyler. I’m not mad. Perhaps a little irritated or annoyed, but not mad. You just need to start being open with me. I don’t want you to wait to tell me things until you have to and are on the spot. I don’t want things to be like that between us. After everything, I need you to be honest with me. No lies. No keeping information from me. I want to learn to trust you again, Tyler, but I can only do that if I know I’m getting full disclosure from you. Okay?”

“Okay,” he said, grinning a mischievous grin at me.

I scrunched my eyebrows. “What?”

“Nothing,” he replied, shoving his hands in his pockets, his grin growing wider as he rocked on his feet. His dimples popped and I almost heard a whimper escape my mouth at how adorably sexy he looked at that moment.

“Tell me!” I pinched his side. He grabbed my hand and before I knew it, he had me pinned against the wall and was hovering over me. My breath caught, my patience with taking things slow wearing thin.

“Us,” he murmured, nuzzling my skin with his nose.

“What?” I breathed.

“You said ‘us’. I can’t tell you how that makes me feel.”

The elevator dinged and I pushed against him, exiting into the corridor. Glancing over my shoulder, I smirked. “Out of that whole conversation, that’s the only thing you’re taking away from it?”

“No,” he said. “I get what you’re saying. I will be nothing but an open book with you from this moment forward, regardless of the consequences. But that word…” A wide smile crossed his face. I tried to hide my own smile at the excitement that seemed to ooze from every inch of him. “It gives me hope that I didn’t fuck up the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“You’ve got a long way to go, Mr. Burnham.”