The Author and Her Bodyguard

Chapter 32

WOAH... Did I just fall into a "Men and Black" movie? I thought as I stared up at five identical, silent clones. Well, not clones, but the bodyguards certainly acted like it in their matching crisp black suits and aviator sunglasses. My gosh... Aiden is a freaking ray of sunshine compared to these stone statues.

"Um... Hi," I said lamely, past my mouth full of scrambled eggs. I waved awkwardly at the silent men when they didn't respond. After a beat, they all nodded a silent hello in unison as they looked down at me sitting across from Tate in the hotel buffet.

With the sudden display of the Men in Black showing up and surrounding my table in the middle of the hotel's breakfast rush, the stares had doubled. Looks like they are going to cause me to be even more noticed.

"Ms. Summers, these are..." Tate paused. "Actually I didn't catch any of your names."

When they didn't offer them Tate looked back at me with an exasperated expression. "...Your new bodyguards."

"New Aidens," I said, turning to smile at the men once I had swallowed my mouth full of food. "Hi. I'm Laliana Summers." 

And that was the one and only sign of communication we shared for the next week. Great...

Book tour had gone from chaotic to routine in a matter of hours. With the arrival of five new bodyguards, all silent, all staring, and all surrounding me like a freaking bubble everywhere I went, it was the most well-protected I had ever been but the most isolated.

Tate was quiet, looking physically uncomfortable as he sat next to me in the back of the car a week later. It was the first time I had been around him since the "Aiden knock-offs" were introduced to me. But it wasn't much of a reunion. I was sandwiched in between Tate and another bodyguard in the back of a car as we drove towards Toronto, which so happened to be FOUR HOURS AWAY. Worst sandwich ever.

I felt like Darryl from The Office, stuck in a car with Michael Scott when he and his girlfriend were in the middle of a breakup. I didn't want to be Darryl. I wanted to be free. Even if it meant walking for seventy-nine hours which would come out to... about three and a half days. This train of thinking left me pulling out my phone and comparing the driving time to taking a bike, or a bus, or... well you get the idea.

The entire thing was awkward and left me tempted to crawl over Tate and make a break for it. But there were five Aiden's and a Tate and I was pretty confident that I would run out of sprinting energy before they did. Especially since they would just drive slowly next to me until I gave up and crawled back into the car.

In the silence, my mind drifted to Aiden. He had all but vanished since the new bodyguards arrived. Tate had been cryptic about his whereabouts, most likely due to the forever gazing of the others, but I was able to piece together a few things.

Aiden had gone to the doctor and much to my surprise had headed back to Los Angeles without a word of goodbye. It left me confused and convinced of two things. One, him being my fake boyfriend was WAY worse than him being my real bodyguard, and two... he totally remembers our kiss and had to get as FAR away from me as possible as soon as he remembered.

First date, terrible. Second date, no show. First boyfriend— First FAKE boyfriend... nonexistent. First kiss... caused said fake boyfriend to run away. Go me.

It was hard not to think about him. Especially when every single question at my book signings was about him. I didn't blame my readers' curiosity. I was right there with them, wondering about him, thinking about him, feeling like a vulnerable idiot about him. It took a lot of acting to pretend to know things that I was oblivious to...