Page 14 of Sweet Release
Chapter Seven
Iris
“Areyou sure you got everything in that last store? You might have missed a pair of shoes or something.”
The laughing, perfectly at ease voice is barely audible from behind a mountain of bags, and I swing around, nearly overbalancing myself. It’s almost noon after the spectacular party I enjoyed to the fullest last night, but I’m already feeling the pinch of time. I’m also laden down with a dozen bags and boxes, though today’s shopping trip should have been for a good cause. Not for the outfits—I don’t need the clothes, other than as fodder for charity donations around the city—but to get an understanding of how Kristo works. What he enjoys, what he doesn’t enjoy, what sets him off, what doesn’t bother him.
Unfortunately, it was a total bust. While I typically can figure out a bodyguard’s quirks and weaknesses in a single thirty-minute shopping excursion, Kristo is proving to be a far harder nut to crack.
In more ways than one.
“Did you get the last few bags?” I ask him now, working hard not to blush as I think of everything we’ve already done today. He made the most of our outing by sticking to me like white on a wedding cake—including entering my dressing room in every single shop we patronized. I’ve now made out with my bodyguard under the watchful eyes of at least half a dozen security cameras, and as to the limo ride home…
My whole body goes warm and needy as Kristo peeks over the puff of tissue paper.
“I have you,” he says simply. “That’s all that matters.”
That. That right there is exactly why today’s shopping trip was such a total fail on so many levels. No sooner do I catch my breath after one completely ridiculous, over-the-top romantic gesture he makes…when he hits me with another one. Part of me knows he must be doing it on purpose, but part of me simply doesn’t care.
Except now, the clock is ticking, and I have nothing to show for the past several hours.
I turn again on my heel, hurrying into Uncle Falcone’s beautiful home. Tonight is the night I’ll meet my intended—never mind that I’ve spent nearly every waking and sleeping moment with Kristo for the past twenty-four hours. If my uncle thought being with Kristo would distract me from my future…he’s right. But he probably had no idea exactly how dedicated Kristo would be to the job.
Every time I hit on the perfect way to elude him, he surprised me. First, he bought me flowers at the farmer’s market I identified as my most likely escape route, then he dragged me into jewelry, wine, clothing and perfume shops when all I wanted to do was survey street layouts and Uber routes.
He couldn’t have known what I was up to, and yet…
The worst was in the second to the last shop. He had me try on rings, then pointed out a young couple in knock-off business suits eyeing an engagement set that made them both sigh with equal parts frustration and longing before turning toward a less expensive case. They were so earnest and so very much in love, they took my breath away. I looked up to see Kristo watching me, his eyes turning positively misty as I flagged down the jeweler.
Moments later, we fled the shop and returned to the window only long enough to see the jeweler present the young couple with the ring, both of the lovers obviously stunned and looking around wildly. Kristo pulled me into his arms, kissing me senseless before we dashed away.
I haven’t been able to focus for hours after that.
Now I move down the sweeping halls of my great uncle’s house, smiling with gratitude as one of the house staff opens the door to my suite. I keep walking all the away to the small table and chairs set up at the far end of the main living space, using it as an impromptu staging ground for all my purchases, none of which did their job.
I smile ruefully down at the packages. I didn’t collect nearly enough information on how to escape Kristo today, if I’m honest with myself. I’ll have to try harder, later.
At least the suite has been completely tidied up after Kristo and I did our level best to destroy it yesterday. Now, I can’t help but feel like it’s home. Which is ridiculous. I’ll only be in Charlotte long enough to meet the man my great uncle has picked out for me, make my decision about him, and then—most likely—flee. I certainly am not going to…
The sound of the TV flipping on catches my attention, and I turn, surprised to see Kristo using the remote to scan through channels. “What are you doing?”
“We’ve got a few hours before you need to get ready for the party tonight,” he says. “I had your great uncle’s cable upgraded.”
“You did what—?” My eyes round as Kristo finally stops channel surfing, and a familiar crown-tipped logo appears on the screen. “You can’t be serious.”
“You mentioned you liked them, yes?” Kristo says, grinning at me as he flops down on the couch. “So, show me these movies you love so much. This one is called A Wedding at the Winery. Have you seen it?”
“Only about a dozen times.” I approach him warily, like he’s a wild animal, but Kristo’s attention is solely on the TV.
“What about Love by the Book? Or Seashells, Love and Sunsets? That one sounds fun.” He leans forward as he scrolls through the list of movies. “Or maybe A Ring by Christmas, if they’re actually playing holiday movies?”
“They’re always playing holiday movies.” I can’t help staring at him as he clicks on one to read the description. “And they’re pretty much the same story. Boy and girl meet, fall in love, endure some difficulty that keeps them apart for about thirty-seven seconds, then overcome all obstacles and find a way to true love. No matter where they’re set or what they’re doing, that’s the basic story.”
“Then Romance on the Ranch it is,” Kristo says, clicking the remote and settling back in the couch. He pats the cushion beside him. “I’m especially interested in how their meet sex rates compared to ours.”
“That’s not a thing,” I remind him. “It’s called a meet cute.”
“That’s right.” He grins. “You hungry?”
“I’m…good,” I say, approaching him and perching gingerly on the couch. By some stroke of chance, I haven’t seen Romance on the Ranch…and judging by the square-jawed All American Boy in the cowboy hat riding up in the big truck to find a spunky girl in a checkered shirt and no-nonsense jeans struggling with her frightened horse, I can already predict how this one is going to go.
And I am completely on board.
“I wonder if they’ll end up together,” Kristo says with a deep laugh as the cowboy leaps out of the truck and makes his way to the young woman. Only then do we cut to the woman in his truck. “Uh oh. Trouble already lurks.”
“That’s got to be his soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend, agent, assistant, or boss,” I explain, and in that moment…I give up. Completely and utterly. I don’t know who taught Kristo the finer points of hostage management, but he might as well have me chained to the floor if he’s going to offer me Hallmark movies and his gorgeous Greek body to snuggle up against to keep me in place. I shift over on the couch, hesitantly laying against him, and nearly groan with pleasure as his heavy arm drops over me, cuddling me close.
“Well, I’m pretty sure I already hate her, whoever she is,” he says, and I sigh, happier than I ever thought reasonably possible.
“She’s the worst,” I agree.