Her Guardians: Her Guardians Trilogy Book 1 (3 page)

“I’m fine
. Sorry. You have a very firm grip, that’s all.”

He chuckled
, but looked at me peculiarly. “Have we met somewhere before?” He frowned a little, drinking me in, and my heart thumped harder than ever.

“No
. I think I would have remembered if we had.”

Oh
, shit. Am I flirting with him?

He smiled and trailed
his eyes across me. “I think I would have, too. Can I have your name, at least?”

In my fluster
ed state, I blurted, “Cassie. Cassie Johnson.”

Raising
an eyebrow, he looked at me as if he were trying to figure me out. “Cassie…short for Cassandra?”

I cringe
d. I knew that was the name on my birth certificate, but I hated being called Cassandra. I had been called Cassie since I was a little girl.

“Yes.
But people call me Cassie.”

“I see.”
He hesitated slightly, staring into my eyes. “Well, I guess I will be off. Kali, Cassie, it was nice meeting you both.”

“And you
, too,” we said in unison.

Stephen walked
towards the exit, but as he did, he was still looking at me like he was somehow trying to figure me out. I felt a little annoyed that I couldn’t see anything. Now he was a mystery that needed solving.

“What the hell
was that, Cassie? It looked like you were going to drop your knickers for him. You can’t have every guy in the station, you know.”

It sounded as though Kali was angry with me
, and I didn’t want her to be upset. She
did
see him first, and I should imagine that what happened just then did look a little bit too familiar for her liking. “Sorry. Something extraordinary happened and I had to think fast.”

“So
, what did you see? Was it our wedding day?” she joked.

I was still rooted to the spot
. This was the first time this had ever happened to me. “No. I didn’t see anything,” I whispered.

She looked
confused, and I couldn’t blame her. I was as confused as hell.

“What do yo
u mean you didn’t see anything? You
always
see something.”

“I know.” I was
baffled. “He’s a mystery, I’ll tell you that.”

Kali frowned a little
, making a crinkle form at the top of her nose. “Have you lost your ability or something? That never happens.”

“I
know.”

I was
a little worried. I didn’t know why I was worried as it was everything for which I ever prayed, but the thought of not seeing Stephen at all made me a little uneasy.

“Try
Callum!” Kali rose from her seat and grabbed Callum just as he walked through the door. “Come over to Cassie a minute, please, Callum. She just needs to hold your hand for a second.”

I cringe
d. How on earth did you explain something like that?

“Cassie can hold lots of
things if she wants to.” He chuckled a little, but stood at attention in front of me.

Kali
rolled her eyes, but pushed Callum towards me a little more. He glanced down at me, smiling as I shook my head.

“Why do you want to hold my hand
, Cassie? I don’t mind but, I must say, I’m a little intrigued.” Callum peered at me with his dark brown eyes. He was of average build with strawberry blonde hair and eyebrows that kind of met in the middle.

“She’s practising reading palms.
She’s very good at it. Go on, Cassie. Look at his palm and do your stuff.”

L
ooking over toward her, I shook my head again. I didn’t want to do this, but knew I couldn’t back out now.

I did as instructed and dutifully took
his hand. I had to pretend to look at his palm so he wouldn’t get suspicious.

The memory of him as a young lad being beaten by his father
violently came to me. Poor Callum. Through all of his wit and charm, he had the most horrific childhood. I did, however, see a young girl, a little younger than me. He was going to meet her soon and fall in love. This girl was the one he was going to marry. I saw her through his eyes and all I could feel was his love for her. It was a much better feeling than ever. These were the times I liked to see the visions.

“You will meet a young girl very soon and be married within two y
ears.” I smiled up at him sweetly as he shook his head.

“You’re pretty shit
ty at this palm reading thing, Cassie. I’d carry on with your day job, if I were you.”

I laugh
ed at that, but didn’t correct him. If I went into more detail, he’d start questioning me when it came true. I really didn’t want that.

“I know,” I said sheepishly.
“I think I’ll just get back to work. You can go now, Callum.”

“Why
, thank you, ma’am,” he said, bowing, then sauntered off.

Kali
looked at me expectantly, but I had a bone to pick with her. “That wasn’t the smartest move, Kali.”

She looked down at her desk like she was a kid caught in the cookie jar.
“Sorry, but it worked, didn’t it? Did you really see that common psychic shit, or did you make it all up?”

“No, I really did see him meeting a girl very soon.
She’s the one for him,” I said happily. I was really pleased for that outcome.

Getting
back to work, all I had to do was try and get Stephen out of my head. I’m not sure whether that would be possible after our first encounter.

Chapter 2

The workload was as heavy as always.
The amount of traffic accidents people had on a daily basis was phenomenal. We were a team of five and all the accidents just got distributed evenly between us, so it was just luck who got which paperwork. Basically, our job was to read through the cases, gather all relevant insurance documentation, send statements off to any possible witnesses and police officers, then we would recommend a decision to our Executive Officer on any necessary action on the case.

The case I had right now was a bad one.
A pizza delivery boy out on one of his errands was struck when a man pulled out in front of him. The poor guy on the scooter went hurtling over his bike, landing so violently that it caused a compound fracture to his left leg and internal bleeding. He was now on life support.

Of course, cases like
those had to be treated more urgently than others, so I got to work, making sure I didn’t miss a thing. It was only once I was finished that I looked at the front of the report book to see who the reporting officer was. Oh great. Michael again. I didn’t get a single accident of his, and then two come along within a week. He’s like a frickin’ bus!

At one o’clock
, I trotted down the stairs with Kali so that we could get some lunch. I spied Michael straight away, eating on his own like usual. It almost felt like he knew I was there, but didn’t acknowledge my presence. I must admit that it wasn’t the nicest feeling in the world.

I saw
Paul, though, and he seemed anxious to speak with me. With a quick wave of my hand, I stepped up to buy a sandwich and a drink. Once ordered, Kali and I slid into our seats.

“Hi
, Paul. What’s up?” Kali winked at him, then sat next to him, awaiting his answer.

Looking across the table
, he smiled brightly in my direction. “I have two tickets to see
Cats,
and I just wanted to know if you wanted to come with me?”

As he
asked, a bunch of other lads joined us at the table. Stephen slid into the seat next to me and I nervously smiled at him. I really didn’t want to piss Kali off for something he was doing.

Stephen shifted
next to me and looked deep into my eyes for a second. It was almost as if he was searching for something, or urging
me
to. I wasn’t sure why he found me so interesting.

Paul, obviously frustrated by this
, threw his food down on the plate. I could tell he was pissed. He liked control, but this was a situation that he couldn’t. I also knew that if I ever did entertain the idea of going out with him, he would get very possessive, very quickly. Gone would be the days where I would be able to be with a group of men sitting around me like this. I could already see it. He wanted to control me in every way. He seemed to have a heated desire for it.

“We’ll talk later
, okay, Paul?” He sighed, but nodded.

“So, Cassie, tell me about yourself
.”

T
urning my head, I stared at Stephen. This was getting weirder by the second. No man had ever asked me a question like that right off the bat.

He spied
my widened expression and reached his hand to a lock of hair that dropped in front of my face. With a gentle tug, he placed it back where it was, making me stiffen slightly. This was the first day I met this man and he already picked a lock of hair off my face? I’ve never let anyone do that to me so suddenly.

Dragging my shocked eyes away
, I looked at Paul and Kali, who both looked pissed as hell. I suddenly wished I had gone out for lunch.

“There’s not much to tell
, Stephen. I was born and raised in London. I have no brothers or sisters, and have been working here about six months now—same as Kali. Her life’s a lot more interesting than mine. Kali, tell Stephen about all those swimming trophies you won. She’s a fantastic swimmer.” I smiled towards him, hoping to spark some interest from him towards her.

“It’s nothing major
. Just won a few tournaments, that’s all.” She smiled sweetly in Stephen’s direction.

“
There’s no need to be modest about it, Kali. You should see her house. It’s filled with them,” I said, eager to sway the conversation even more. “She has a big family of five sisters and six brothers, and she goes to Surrey every weekend to practice shooting. She likes guns.”

“Really?”
Stephen seemed impressed.

I m
entally sighed in relief. That seemed to gain his attention.

“Yes
. Every Saturday that I can, I practice shooting. I love it.”

“So, what do you love to do
, Cassie?”

Oh dear, back to me again.
What was wrong with him?
“Nothing really. I like to read and go for walks. I’m pretty boring for a twenty-five year old.”

Stephen pursed his lips and nodded
. “You’re twenty-five. That’s interesting.”

I think my jaw dropped.
There I was, talking about gun-toting, swimming phenom Kali, and the only thing that interested him was my age?! This was ridiculous.

“So, do you live with your parents?”

Stephen pulled me out of my trance, but I suddenly wanted to get up and leave. “I’ve just realised that I have to take this book back to the library. I better be off.”

Rising quickly
, I grabbed my sandwich and sprinted for the door. I heard the scraping of a chair behind me, and as I was nearing the exit, close to where Michael was sitting, a hand gripped my arm. When I swung around, I found Stephen standing there.

“Listen, I’m sorry if I came across as bullish back there.
I just want to know about you, that’s all. You seem like a really nice girl.”

I timidly
looked across at Michael and found him staring at both of us. He didn’t look happy at all.

“That’s ok
ay.” I was acting shy, but couldn’t help myself. This was the first person since Michael who had this kind of effect on me. “I’m just not used to being asked so many questions.”

He smiled and rubbed my shoulder affectionately.
It was nice. “I apologise, Cassie. I do hope you can forgive me. Friends?” He held out his hand.

Not being able to help it
, I grinned at him like an idiot. I think it was the mischievous glint in his eyes that did it.

“Friends,” I replied as I grabbed his hand.
It still amazed me how I couldn’t see anything from him.