Just Breathe Trilogy Box Set (76 page)

“Maybe,” I goad.

“We’ll snuggle later, I promise,” he announces.

“You’ve got family over,” I challenge.

“That won’t stop me. Especially, when they’re asleep,” Joe reveals his intention.

“Not happening,” I debate, moving to rinse off in the bathroom.

“We’ll see about that, beautiful,” Joe playfully pushes back.

Back at Joe’s, Jimmy tries to insinuate something scandalous between Joe and me, claiming we took a long time. Anna politely scolds him, telling Jimmy to leave us alone. She says that the only reason we were gone as long as we were was because she asked Joe if we could stop by a store for her to get a few things. Jimmy challenges her, trying to find out what things, but Anna rebuts that it’s none of his business and they are personal items.

Despite the craziness of the day, my heart goes out to Anna. She’s earned my respect even more by covering for us.

Jimmy and Allen head to bed by around ten-thirty while Joe, Sadie and I hang out in the living room for a while. Sadie lays with me on the couch and Joe plays the piano for at least an hour. Every time I pick my iPad up to work, I find myself peeking to see what’s been said about me and my friends. The media has now identified Jimmy, Allen, Joe, Maggie and Henry and exposed that they were wearing pieces from Nathaniel’s. Becoming agitate by what’s being discussed, I opt for a book. Finishing the most recent romance novel from the bookclub that Maggie signed us up for fails to distract me completely from the news being generated about me and my friends.

Becoming antsy, I resolve to take a bath in the large tub in my private bathroom. Just as I’m about to get up, Joe stops playing and joins me on the couch, sitting next to my hip.

“Hey,” he greets quietly.

Hey,” I return, setting my book down.

“How’s the book?”

With a smile, I offer, “Better than the last one.”

We don’t say anything for a moment as Joe pets Sadie.

“I’m glad you’re here,” he admits.

“Even with Jimmy and Allen here?” I check.

“Yes,” he confirms. “I’d rather see you and not be able to touch you than both.”

I lower my head bashfully. “I regretfully inform you that I’m just planning on taking a bath,” I mention.

“Can we snuggle a little after?” Joe seeks.

“I’m surprised you’re not asking to join me,” I quip.

“I’m tempted, but you’re noisy,” he jabs. “It would be too risky.”

“I’m not that loud,” I counter, squinting my eyes.

Joe leans closer, placing his face an inch away from mine. “I like the noises you make.”

“I don’t make noises,” I challenge.

“Yes you do, beautiful,” Joe corrects. “And, it’s sexy as hell.”

“Well, I guess we could snuggle afterward,” I reveal. “You didn’t get to earlier.”

Joe’s lips peck mine.

“And, B.O.B.’s not much of a cuddler after sex,” I tease.

“I’d be happy to take his snuggle time,” Joe accepts.

Joe walks me to my room, and just before we part, he requests that I text him when I’m finished. Once I’m settled in the tub, I get the courage to take a photo of myself lounging and send it to Joe before I masturbate. He writes back instantly, thanking me for the photo and checks to see if I’m finished yet. A few minutes later, Joe asks if we’re cuddling with our without clothes. I confirm it will definitely be with clothes, God forbid something should happen.

By midnight, Joe and I are tucked under my covers with Sadie. He stays for a while as we lay facing each other, kissing most of the time. Sadie whines when Joe eventually gets up to leave, following him out the door. She comes back to bed with me a few minutes later, curling into our usual position.

Sadie and I hop right into our usual morning routine easily after our second night at Joe’s. When she and I head out of the building for our morning walk, Joe joins us with his security team. Each time I take Sadie out after learning of Joe’s security detail, I try to see if I recognize any faces. I have no luck discovering who they are or where they might be, and Joe laughs when he realizes what I’m doing. He offers that I’ll meet them later today since his head bodyguard, Hunter, has already found four guys for the job as my team and is still wrangling the last two for Jared’s and Nathan’s. They just need my approval.

Back inside, Joe lets me use his rebounder before Anna’s done making us breakfast. I have trouble staying focused as I jump. Joe’s not in the room, but knowing that I’m in his room is distracting. All I want to do is strip down and wait for him under the covers or in the shower. After stretching, I almost collide into Jimmy in the hallway as I head to the kitchen to eat.

“What were you doing in Joe’s room?” Jimmy accuses playfully.

“Jumping,” I say.

“Jumping Joe’s
bone-r
is more like it,” he presses. “Look at you, you’re all sweaty.”

“I was on the rebounder,” I object.

“Riiiiight . . .” Jimmy baits, clearly looking for a reaction.

“Joe’s not in there. You can check for yourself,” I offer, walking into the kitchen first.

“Good morning, Mr. James,” Anna greets.

“Morning, Anna.”

“Ms. Emma,” Anna comments.

“Good morning, Anna,” I greet. “Just so you know, you don’t need to greet me each time. Okay?”

“Yes, Ms. Emma,” she accepts.

“Good morning,” Joe says, strolling in the door behind Jimmy and me.

I watch Jimmy as he looks Joe up and down and then back to me.

“Right . . .” Jimmy says sarcastically.

I roll my eyes.

“What?” Joe searches.

“Nothing,” Jimmy blows it off.

“I ran into Jimmy in the hallway. He saw me coming from your room and naturally assumed that the reason why I’m all sweaty is . . . .”

Jimmy cuts me off, “I said no such thing. It’s your dirty mind that thought that all on its own.”

“Bull,” I challenge.

“The guys will be here just before lunch, Emma,” Joe changes the subject.

“Thanks,” I comment.

Jimmy snickers, but doesn’t dare say another word.

After we eat, I shower and then get back to work on business since it’s officially Monday. I do get distracted from time to time, as I have the past couple of days, checking the twitter feeds about Naturally Me, Chris and myself. Chris has yet to make an official statement. From what Jared said in a text, Chris is graciously letting Jared and me handle any statements about our assumed relationship. Right as I’m about to tackle more emails, my eye catches the latest tweet that confirms via photos and videos of me, some with Jared and some without, verifying my association with Naturally Me and as well as a wide variety of comments, statements and speculations about me and Chris — I turn off my iPad after reading about twenty of them.

My head snaps around when I hear my name.

“Emma?” Joe says.

“Hey. Yeah. What’s up?” I reply, sounding as controlled as I can at the moment.

“You okay?” he searches, moving closer.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” I lie.

“Hunter and his guys are here,” he informs me.

“Great!”

At least this could be a good distraction for the time being.

Anna leads eight gentlemen into the living room who file into a single line next to each other standing practically at attention. All eight of them are dressed in business attire, which catches me completely off guard. Sadie stays right by my side as I get up from the couch and move in their direction. Upon closer inspection, I recognize one of them — he was the driver when Joe and I had our date as well as for the concert we went to with Joe’s parents.

“Emma,” Joe continues. “This is Hunter, he’s in charge of my team. Ace, Luke and Conor.” Joe gestures to each one when he says their name.

I nod my greeting.

“Who would be in charge for my team?” I check.

“That would be Taylor, ma’am,” Hunter informs me with a slight Southern accent, gesturing toward Taylor.

While Hunter has dirty blonde hair, brown eyes and a stature that is probably five-foot-ten, Taylor is approximately an inch shorter with a two-inch buzz cut, dark brown hair and amber eyes. Both men have chiseled jaw lines and I bet if they smiled, they’d make most girls’ panties drop.

I smirk to myself, amused by the idea that if I had met any of the men standing in front of me in the past, I would have fucked them. Oddly, my body doesn’t respond to them in that way.

“How old are you, Hunter?” I begin.

He looks at me quizzically for a second. “Twenty-six, ma’am.”

With the sweetest smile I can give, I instruct, “Do not call me ma’am. I am not your mother, your grandmother or any woman who is older than you. In fact, I am younger.”

“My apologies, ma’am, I mean Miss,” he corrects.

“That goes for all of you,” I command.

They nod their understanding.

My eyes drift to Joe and I see him fighting a smirk.

“Nice to see you again, Hunter,” I comment.

“You as well, Miss,” he returns with a smile.

“Taylor,” I say, walking toward him.

“Yes, ma’am, I mean, yes, Miss,” he answers.

I smirk when he fumbles slightly. “How long has Hunter known you?”

“Eight years, Miss,” he explains. “We were in the marines together.”

“Who have you brought with you today?” I continue.

“I brought Dale, Dylan and Caesar, Miss,” he reports.

“How long have you known them?” I search.

“I’ve known Dale and Dylan for seven, Miss, and Caesar for twenty.”

My attention turns to Caesar. “Would you trust Taylor with your life, Caesar?”

“Yes, ma’am. I mean, yes, Miss,” Caesar answers without hesitation.

Standing back in front of Taylor, I continue. “Did you all serve together?”

“Yes, Miss,” Taylor continues.

“Were you all in the same regiment?”

“Yes, Miss.”

“What were your ranks?” I inquire.

“We were a part of the marine special operations regiment, Miss. I was a Second Lieutenant, Dale and Dylan were Master Sergeants and Caesar was a Sergeant Major.”

“Did you boys and your regiment serve?”

“Yes, Miss. We all served in Afghanistan.”

“Thank you for your service,” I commend.

“Thank you, ma’am. I mean, Miss.”

“Lose a lot of brothers?” I search.

“Unfortunately, yes, Miss.”

“Why didn’t you stay in?” I inquire.

“Honestly, Miss?” he searches.

“Yes, honestly.”

“I love my country and the people in it, but I do not agree with going to war for the reasons our elected officials choose,” he explains. “Too many innocent people on both sides have been killed all for the sake of power and money.”

My gaze bounces to Taylor and then to Joe. From the look on Joe’s face, I would speculate he knows that this interview is going well. Joe and I have had a number of conversations about politics and religion, among other things, over the past seven months.

With a wicked grin, I say to Joe, “I expect to seem them ready and downstairs in ten minutes.”

Joe gives me a questioning look for a second, before comprehending my statement. He moves to talk me out of it, but I’m already halfway down the hall to my room to change.

The ten of us meet up in the workout room in Joe’s building with Jimmy, Allen and Anna following full of curiosity.

“What are you doing, Emma?” Allen asks.

“The next phase of the interview,” I offer with a smile.

“I don’t get it,” Allen remarks.

“I do,” Anna comments, taking out her phone.

She’s probably taking pictures or video.

Stepping out into the middle of the mat, I call Taylor to join me.

“I’m not sure I’m understanding what’s going on,” Hunter confesses.

“If they’re going to protect me,” I explain. “They need to be able to show me that they can protect me better than I can.”

Catching my drift and eager to prove himself, Taylor gets ready, taking off his suit jacket and rolls up his sleeves. “What are the rules?”

Joe snickers. “There are no rules with Emma when it comes to sparring,” Joe informs him.

Taylor smirks, nodding his understanding. “How long do we go?”

“Until one of us taps out,” I inform.

Taylor nods, and before his head fully rises, I jump in with a lunge and throw a punch, testing boundaries. He barely flinches and deflects my attempt. We dance around the mat for another minute or two, seeing who will strike next. Believing that he’s purposefully waiting for me to attack, exhibiting his self-control and focus, I decide to move in. We take turns striking and deflecting, taking in minimal blows each time as we move around the room for at least five minutes. After a few more minutes, I get bored of toying with him and end up twisting around his body once I’ve knocked him down and secure him into a jiu-jitsu choke hold. Taylor is strong, only weakening slightly under my grip. When his hands clamp on my leg and hits my ticklish spot above my knee, my hands release him. We spin around each other in several different moves as I recover from his hand getting my thigh two more times. Right as I’m about to pin him, Jimmy announces something out loud, completely catching me off guard, allowing Taylor to slam me down on the floor, causing my lungs to choke for air and my head to collide hard with the ground.

Taylor immediately releases me, giving me room. “I’m sorry ma’am. Miss. You okay?”

I roll over onto my hands and knees, struggling to stand, targeting my sights on Jimmy as my head rings and throbs. Joe quickly steps in front of me, blocking me from attacking Jimmy while simultaneously stabilizing me from being dizzy and still trying to catch my breath.

“Babe, you totally messed her up,” announces Allen.

“What?” Jimmy claims innocence.

“What the hell was so important Jimmy that you needed everyone’s attention?” Joe inquires, trying to control his anger and irritation.

“Just ignore it,” I suggest to Joe.

I know what Jimmy said, because that’s the very reason I became so distracted and the last thing I need is for Joe to hear it.

“The news today is that Emma and Chris are engaged,” Jimmy explains.

Joe closes his eyes, trying desperately to control himself, probably for the both of us, as his hands steady on my shoulders. I wonder if he contemplating going after Jimmy himself or letting go of me so I can.

“You okay?” Joe questions with concern and pain in his eyes.

“I will be,” I confirm.

“I’m really sorry, Miss,” Taylor apologies a second time.

“It’s not your fault,” I encourage.

“I think we’re done here,” Joe insists. “Let’s head back up and we can go from there. Okay?”

“Sure,” I agree.

Up in the penthouse, Hunter and his team resume their duties as Joe and I have lunch with Taylor, Dale, Dylan and Caesar, discussing the procedures and protocols that would work best for all of us. I make arrangements for the four-man team to have two apartments in my complex for easy access and watch. Then, they give me the breakdown of how they do their job and my requirement is to just notify them if and when I leave the building. I let them know what I am and not comfortable with regarding a number of things, including when I’m out with Sadie or friends. I sign contracts with them that day and get them paid to start moving forward. They inform me that they’ll be moved into the apartment by the following day, allowing me to return home. The final order of business before having the guards leave is to have Taylor create a team for Jared and Nathan as well. Based off of our interview, I trust Taylor’s judgment and give him my full permission to finish assembling the four men for the task.

Joe keeps a watchful eye on me once Taylor and his team leave, claiming that I hit my head pretty good on the mat. I insist that I’m fine, but he continues to hover. He kicks Jimmy and Allen out until after dinner which allows Joe to dote on me until they return. I take a bath to get some of the tension out of my back and head. Joe stays with me the whole time, being a perfect gentleman even while I’m naked. He sits on the floor with Sadie, propping his head on the edge of the tub with his hand while I soak. We talk and joke until my fingers become wrinkly. When I’m finished, Joe sweetly wraps a towel around my body when I stand and stays close by as I finish getting dressed.

We end up on my bed with Sadie, both working on our computers. I do my best to focus on Raven, but my brain wants to keep looking at all of the tweets about Chris’ and my engagement — and now wedding. Frustrated, I toss the iPad and close my eyes. Joe cuddles more into me, talking to me on occasion, preventing me from falling asleep.

“Hunter and Taylor have the team over with Jared and Nathan,” Joe offers.

“Good,” I say. “Stop distracting me.”

Joe laughs. “I don’t want you to fall asleep.”

“I do,” I counter.

Joe’s lips gently press to mine. “I like having you here,” he admits.

“Hmm,” I hum.

“I hope Jimmy and Allen go home soon,” he adds.

“I’ll be going home tomorrow,” I remind.

“Shhh. Let’s not talk about that right now,” Joe requests, lowering his lips again.

As tired as I am, my body perks up at his touch, wanting more. My hands slide up his body, drawing him closer. Joe shifts, rolling on top of me, pressing his groin into mine. He doesn’t move much, only using his mouth to coerce me. I whine in protest when Joe stops after some time and rests his head on my chest.

“What was that?” I complain.

“What?”

“Coming at me like that and then just stopping,” I explain.

Joe chuckles. “Just making sure you stay awake.”

“Tease,” I claim.

“Maybe,” he argues. “But, it worked.”

“Maybe I should kick you out,” I play along.

“Why?”

“B.O.B. will satisfy me and then let me sleep,” I explain.