Her Guardians - A Paranormal Reverse Harem Romance(7)

“If you need me, for anything, call, and I’ll be there,” he said. “Good night, Eve .”

Yep. He knew my name. There was no way he was lying about working for my mom. I indeed had a guardian and there probably wasn’t anything I could do about it. Ugh .

“Good night,” I said glancing at the card before tucking it into the back pocket of my jeans .

Roman didn’t move, and neither did Gage. I was pretty sure neither of them, would go away until I stepped inside my apartment building. In fact, they’d probably wait outside until they saw the lights go on inside my actual apartment .

“Good night, Gage,” I said walking up to the door. I put my key in the lock and opened the door. “I’m glad you were there .”

“I’m glad I could be of service,” he said. “I hope it won’t be the last time I see you. In fact, I think I’m going to pay this Lorne a visit. See what she has in the way of job openings .”

I sucked in a deep breath and stepped inside my apartment building. When the door closed with a heavy thunk, I was able to breathe normally again .

I closed my eyes and let my body relax, but when I took a step forward an arm wrapped around my body and held me tightly. My eyes bugged out, and I opened my mouth to call out for help, he slapped down his hand to muffle my scream .





4





Eve





I raised my arm up and flung it backward trying to elbow whoever it was behind me as hard as I could. When I made contact, they released a sharp cough .

“God dammit,” he said trying to catch his breath. “She sent me! She said you’d be home .”

I turned and saw a man standing there with a hand on the wall for support. He was holding a set of keys .

After I blinked several times, I realized the man trying to catch his breath was someone I’d seen before. One of my mom’s men from the temple .

“Oh shit, I’m so sorry!” I said placing my hand on his shoulder. “You took me by surprise I’ll have you know. What are you doing here anyway? And why would you grab me like that? It spooked me .”

“Your mom sent me. She said you needed to pull. She also said you’d be OK with me stopping by like this, but clearly you are not. Your mother gave me the keys,” he said sounding somewhat defensive. He winced as he straightened himself .

I let out a slow breath. “Yeah, really, I’m not .”

He frowned .

I shook my head and sighed. “I blame her though, not you. You’re just listening to your orders .”

“Seems as though we may have gotten off on the wrong foot.” He stuck out his hand. “I’m Erik. I’ve been working for your mom for several years .”

“I think maybe I’ve seen you once or twice around the temple. You look familiar.” Yeah, I’d seen him. There was no way I could forget a face like Erik’s .

I crossed my arms loosely trying to hide my frustration. It wasn’t his fault and I didn’t want him to feel bad for doing what he was supposed to do .

He raised his eyebrow and flashed me the mark on his wrist that had been hidden by his sleeve. It seemed as though he wanted to prove he was who he said he was, even though I already knew he was .

“I’ve seen you too, but yeah, I’m usually busy working on top secret jobs,” he said straightening the sleeves on his jacket .

“Hmm.”

“Hmm, what ?”

“Oh, nothing,” I said with a shrug .

Erik narrowed his eyes at me. “No, really. You can’t just do that. Tell me, what was your hmm about? Come on, Eve I can take it whatever it is .”

“It’s just that you’d think someone doing top secret jobs would be a little smoother with his approach .”

“I didn’t want you to scream .”

Erik looked down and swallowed. He couldn’t hide the slight curve to his lips .

“I don’t get a lot of top secret jobs that involve such beautiful women.” He looked away for a split-second before his gaze returned on mine .

I leaned closer. “Do I make you nervous ?”

“No,” Erik answered quickly. “OK, the beautiful woman part is one hundred percent accurate but I’m not usually the guy sneaking about — ”

“No, you don’t say .”

“Ha. I usually help your mom with various business ventures .”

“I think I make you nervous,” I said smirking at him. I took a step back toward the stairs. “It was nice to meet you, but I’m exhausted. Tell your boss that I don’t need to pull and if I did, I could handle it on my own. I don’t need her sending me donors in the middle of the night .”

Erik bowed his head slightly. “As you wish .”

I curtsied awkwardly. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get into bed .”

Erik’s eyes widened before he gestured toward the stairs and cocked his head to the side. “Are you sure I couldn’t just walk you up ?”

“No need,” I said waving my hand behind me as I placed my foot on the first step. “Good night .”

“Night,” Erik said. I heard the main door open and when it didn’t close, I knew he was watching me ascend the stairs .