A Bodyguard For The Princess (A Bad Boy Romance) (25 page)

“So...” I started, all but twiddling my thumbs. “How have you been?”

Annie let out a long sigh. Her slender fingers wrapped around her glass of water, drawing patterns in the condensation. “I've been okay,” she said. “Have my own place now. Just visiting Mom... and, I guess, meeting your dad. And you.”

“Yeah,” I said with a forced laugh. “Yeah, what are the odds, right? You look great.” I regretted the words as soon as they were out of my big, dumb mouth, not because I didn't mean them, but because that was exactly the wrong thing to say to the girl whose heart you broke two years ago for a stupid reason with a bad excuse to cover it up.

Across from me, Annie blushed. I knew she wore makeup, but whatever she had put on to make her face look so smooth couldn't hide the flush of color in her cheeks. I thought it was quite flattering. That thought was quickly discarded. I cleared my throat and ran a hand through my dark hair. Dad gave me a look that said 'stop doing that,' so I folded my hands in my lap. She still made me so nervous, and I was making a fool of myself.

“What about you?” Annie asked. “Did you get a job with that architecture firm?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Nah, but it's not a big deal. A smaller one picked me up, liked what I had. They wanna turn an old townhouse into some apartments and gave me the project lead, so that's pretty nice.”

“That's great,” Annie responded. She sounded genuinely happy for me, which eased some of the tension in my chest.

“And you? Where are you working now?” I asked.

“Nowhere special,” Annie said. “But it's okay, and it pays the bills, so I'm happy.”

Was I imagining the implied 'without you' in her tone? I didn't have much of a chance to think on it or, God forbid, ask about it. The waiter interrupted to ask if we were ready to order. While I'd been losing my shit over seeing Annie, everyone else, including her, had picked something to eat. I scrambled to figure out what I wanted. I settled on chicken—boring, but at least it looked good—and I wasn't about to spend a nervous minute with everyone watching me while I tried to decide what to eat. I handed over my menu and pulled at the collar of my shirt. I always felt like a kid when I was around Annie, and that was doubly so now that I was trying to impress her mom as well, for Dad's sake. I really hoped the food wouldn't take too long so I could avoid as much conversation as possible. I really would have preferred to meet Annie again in a more casual situation, not when our parents were on a date with each other.

I tried not to look at her and focused on the questions Ms. Newell was asking me about my life. I guess Dad had told her a fair bit about me, because most of her sentences started with, “Your father told me,” and, “He also said.” At least my interrogation was first. While I was being drilled about my life choices, Annie popped off to the bathroom, and Ms. Newell brought up that her daughter and I had gone to the same school. I dribbled wine down my chin but thankfully didn't get any on my shirt.

“Uh, yeah, I guess we did,” I said, trying to not make it incredibly obvious how uncomfortable the question had made me. I couldn't put my finger on what made me uncomfortable. It wasn't like her mom knew that Annie and I had dated, which was confirmed by her next question.

“Do you remember Annie at all? I think you shared a minor, didn't you?”

“Yeah,” I said, and lied through my teeth, “but I don't think we had any classes together.”

“Well, at least the two of you will have something to talk about.”

I almost snorted. We definitely had something to talk about. But I was pretty sure neither of us wanted to go near that subject. It was a bigger elephant in the room than the amount of awkward being on a date with my dad made me feel. It was the first time I'd accompanied him, but it was also the longest he'd seen anyone. He hadn't exactly had the best track record with women, starting with Mom. That was another subject I didn't want to get into.

I steered my thoughts away from that in time to watch Annie return from the bathroom, her eyelashes damp. I offered her a little smile. She caught my eye, noticed, and returned it. I don't know if it was because she wanted to or if it was because of the company we shared, but my chest tightened. I reached for my wine glass. Thank God Dad was driving, because it was going to be a long night.

I was well past tipsy when it was time to order dessert. Thankfully, all of us passed. I wasn't sure I could sit across from Annie much longer without saying something stupid. Probably shouldn't have drunk so much, but it was on my dad's dime. It was his fault I was stuck here with my ex. Annie had a bit of red to her cheeks, too. It did make me feel better; I wasn't alone in my torment. She probably hadn't wanted to see me. That thought hurt.

Dad led the way out of the restaurant and pulled Ms. Newell aside for a more private goodbye, leaving Annie and me relatively alone. I shoved my hands into the pockets of my pants and scuffed my toe against the ground.

“You need a haircut,” Annie said.

Self-consciously, I ran my fingers through my shaggy hair. That was how Annie had liked it. She used to play with it constantly, and that last night... I stopped myself. That was a dangerous path for my thoughts to go down. I smoothed my hair as best as I could and put my hand back in my pocket.

“So, I guess I'll probably be seeing you around some, huh?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Annie replied. “I guess you will.”

My jaw clenched at her tone. I sighed. “Annie, look, I'm—”

“It's fine,” she said quickly and gave me a smile that was too tight. “Mom, are you ready?” Ms. Newell looked over at the two of us a bit sheepishly.

“Sorry, Annie,” she said and returned to us. She surprised me by pulling me into a hug. “It was nice meeting you, Zach.”

“You, too,” I said, patting her back awkwardly. She didn't hold on for too long. I caught a glimpse of Dad doing the same to Annie. He was a big guy with a bit of a beer belly and broad shoulders, and his hug almost completely winked Annie out of existence. If I hadn't been feeling a dozen other things, I might have found it funny. Instead, I just really wanted to leave before things got any more awkward.

Dad released Annie and said, “I'll call you,” to Ms. Newell. Together, we watched as Annie and her mom returned to their car. I could tell Dad was stealing little looks at me out of the corner of his eye. I waited until the ladies had rounded a corner before I turned my head to look at him and raised my brows.

“What?” I asked. “Do I have something on my face?”

Dad gave me that grumpy 'don't be a smart-ass' look he always gave me when I was being a smart-ass. “Well? What do you think? Do you like her?”

“She's nice, Dad,” I said, because it was what he wanted to hear and because it was my honest opinion. I really couldn't speak as to her attractiveness, but I knew the look on Dad's face. He definitely thought she was the most beautiful woman in the room.

“'She's nice' he says,” Dad said mockingly with a grin and a dramatic sigh. He slung a heavy arm around my shoulders and turned us around, leading us back towards our own car. “Well, I'm glad you think that at least, 'cause if Annie's okay with it, Donna and I have tentative plans for the four of us to go on a cruise around the Caribbean together. It's the perfect time of year for it, and I found a really good deal. Don't give me that look.”

“A cruise, Dad? Really? Isn't that a lot of money to spend on someone you've only been talking to for a few months?”

“Haven't you ever had an instant connection with someone?” Dad asked me. “Now, I know I don't have the best track record with women, but I really think Donna is something else. I haven't felt this way since your mother.”

I bit back a sigh. I tried not to judge the women my dad had met over the years, but it was hard when he came home with sad eyes, trying to put on a brave face for me because I was so young. I didn't really understand what had happened between him and Mom until I was older and he told me when he'd had a few too many beers, but ever since, I'd been overprotective of him when it came to women. I knew he valued my opinion, and for that reason I tried to always be honest with him, even if I knew he wouldn't like what I had to say. This time, he would.

“I like her, Dad,” I said when we got into the car.

“And Annie? She seems sweet.”

“Yeah, she does. I like her, too.” And that was the understatement of the century. “Are you sure about this cruise, though?”

Dad pulled the car out into the stream of after-dinner traffic and turned down the radio so we could talk without having to shout. “The first night we had dinner, Donna talked about how she wanted to visit the islands, but she just didn't have the time or the money while she was trying to raise Annie. Now, between the two of us, it's a completely affordable trip, and I really want to take her down there.”

“Okay,” I said, because it sounded reasonable, “but…why are Annie and I coming?” He gave me that look
out of the corner of his eye.

“Because I think it would be really nice for all of us to spend some time together.”

“Whatever you say, Dad,” I said. “I'm not gonna say 'no' to a vacation.”

“I didn't think you would,” Dad said. He turned the music back up and drummed his hands against the steering wheel. I leaned my head against the window and wondered if Annie would be as receptive to the idea of going on a cruise when she found out I'd be there as well.

I lived kind of close to Dad, which saved me having to stay with him like Annie was with her mom. I could actually have walked to the restaurant and back if I'd wanted to, but my allergies acted up in the spring and a ride was always welcome. I didn't really see Dad much, despite being so close to him. Even if I hadn't liked Donna, I would have enjoyed going out to dinner with Dad. Especially since it hadn't been on my dime.

He pulled up in front of my apartment building and put the car in park to unlock the doors. With one hand, he clapped my shoulder, then ruffled my hair. I smoothed it down again out of habit. Briefly, I thought about cutting it. There was no point keeping it long when I didn't have Annie's opinion to consider, and her telling me I should wasn't the first time it had been mentioned.

“Let me know about the trip,” I said as I opened the door. “I'll have to get the time off work.”

“I'll know within the week,” Dad said. “I hope Donna thinks it's as good an idea as I do.”

“I'm sure it'll be fine, Dad,” I said. I leaned down to look back into the car and give him a smile. “Thanks for dinner.” He waved me off. I waited for him to pull away from the curb before I fished my keys from my pocket and headed inside. Away from family and company, I could let the facade I had put up the second I saw Annie fall from my face. I felt incredibly tired, like someone had tied weights to my feet, hands, and eyes. Seeing Annie had dredged up too many old memories, none of which I could really bring myself to face. If this cruise thing happened... Well, at least we'd have an entire ship to avoid each other on.

I let myself into my apartment and kicked off my shoes, leaving them where they landed. I'd had a lot to drink at dinner, but that didn't stop me from grabbing a beer from my fridge. I cracked open the tab and took a swig, pulling my shirt out of my pants with my free hand. Gratefully, I sank into my sofa, setting my drink on the table and reaching for the remote next to it. I flipped channels, but nothing caught my interest. Eventually, I settled on one of the dozen half-hour block comedy shows and settled back with my beer. Some mindless entertainment might help distract me, but either my thoughts of Annie were too strong or the show wasn't that engaging. Regardless, I wasn't paying attention to the TV at all. I couldn't stop thinking about Annie, about how pretty she'd looked in her summer dress, and how she somehow managed to look different but exactly the same as I remembered her simultaneously.

I'd tried to apologize to her, but if she'd opened any of my texts or listened to any of the messages I left after we broke up, she had never returned them. She left me hanging as much as I had left her. I guess that was only fair. I'd never told her the real reason I'd left her, and as such, I didn't deserve her forgiveness. It would sure be nice if she gave it, though, especially since the relationship between our parents looked pretty serious.

Dad was a careful guy, especially with me to look after, and Donna probably felt the same with Annie. Annie and I had rarely spoken about our parents' divorces because it was a tender subject for me and somewhat awkward for her, but it had been one of the things we'd bonded over. Strange how it was the reason she had come back into my life after all this time.

I stewed and drank and eventually fell asleep on the couch somewhere around eleven, only to wake up an hour later to drag my tired ass to bed. The next morning, I had a headache and a churning in my stomach indicating I probably shouldn't have had that beer right before passing out. Still, hangover or not, I had work to do. Design plans didn't draw themselves.

One of the things I liked most about my job was being able to bring it home with me and work in the little makeshift office that used to be the den. It was my space, a place tailored exactly how I wanted it, and a place that no one but me was allowed to see. If I wasn't in there, the door was closed, and if I was, it was still usually closed. It was quiet and calm and exactly what I needed on a hungover Saturday morning. I took some coffee and a bowl of cereal and sat down at my desk.