My Fiancé’s Bodyguard by Ivy Wild

She fellasleep in that ridiculous outfit she'd been wearing all day, and I wanted nothing more than to peel it off her body. But, I stayed rooted to the chair I was sitting in.

The entire day, I knew what she'd been trying to do to me. She'd been trying to test me, goad me, tease me. Force me into breaking the carefully constructed mask I wore in public.

And, I respected the hell out of her for it.

She wasn't giving in to her circumstances. I got it. She saw me as the enemy. In some ways, I was. And she was fighting against her would-be captors any way she could.

It was a weird sensation. If it had been any other person, I likely would have accidentally thrown them into a wall and let my fists fall into them a few times to help encourage a bit of respect. But, with her, I enjoyed it.

The fuck was wrong with me?

This girl was basically betrothed to Johnny Maldonado. I kept saying it to myself over and over again, and yet, I wanted her. Maybe it was because she was off-limits? But, there were plenty of girls that Johnny had courted in the past that I had to watch. His laundry list of women was longer than a CVS receipt. But, I hadn't had any interest in those girls.

No. Of course, I have to take an interest in this one. The one intent on pushing me to my limit. The one that could cause serious issues for me and for my goals.

The moonlight from the open window fell on her face. She really was gorgeous.

Gorgeous.

And entirely off-limits.

Sunlight hitmy eyes and I shifted slightly atop the covers. My head was pounding and I could feel my outfit from yesterday pressed against my body at weird angles.

I turned over and my eyes fluttered open. Max was a few feet from my bed, his head tilted back against the interior doors, his eyes closed and his breathing even.

I stayed still for a few moments, just watching him. I got the feeling that he was an incredibly light sleeper and for some reason, I just wanted to watch him sleep. In this light, at this angle, in the still of the morning, he didn't look so fearsome.

If someone had shown me a picture, I'd actually have thought that he was just a normal guy. He was wearing a simple long-sleeve tee-shirt, and his black hair was faded and cropped. He didn't look scary. He just looked . . . peaceful.

"See something you like, princess?" he asked as he cracked an eye open at me.

I closed my eyes and rolled onto my back, looking up at the ceiling. I'd been caught staring and of course he had to go and ruin the moment.

"Not particularly," I said with a yawn, finally adjusting the stupid clothes on my body.

"Didn't know you were such a lightweight," he chided, still staying in his seat.

"I'd hardly call a bottle of wine a lightweight," I said in my defense. "Didn't know you were so interested in sleeping next to me that you'd crash in a chair the entire night."

I could hear him make some noises as he stretched a bit behind me. "I can sleep anywhere. Comes from years camping in tents and Humvee's," he said.

"Why is Johnny having you sleep in tents?" I asked.

"Don't worry about it," he said dismissively. "What does her highness desire for today's activities. I'd estimate we've got one, maybe two more days until Johnny gets back."

I scrunched my face as I thought about my options. As much as it was fun to try and crack Max's icy facade the entire day yesterday, all I'd succeeded in doing was getting myself worn out. Today, I really just wanted to lounge around.

"Let's go to the beach," I said. I rolled over on my stomach and looked at him. "But, after we get coffee."

"Is that all you drink?" he asked.

"That and wine, apparently," I replied with a smile.

"Hm, yes, let's wait till later to bring out the drunk version of you."

"Was I so bad that you felt like you needed to sleep in the room with me?" I asked him as I pushed off the bed and onto unsteady feet. The blood rushed from my head and I regretted getting up so quickly as I rubbed my temples.

He stood himself and gave me a small smirk. "You were rather insistent about running away and causing problems for me."

"Yeah, but that's nothing new," I pointed out.

"Two for two, princess. Change, then coffee, then beach," he said, nudging me towards the bathroom.

I noticed him doing that. Touching me. Each time I didn't stop him, he did it more. And, I didn't know what to think about it. Maybe, because I wasn't ready to admit what I already knew.

"Why are you all of the sudden being so nice and agreeable?" I asked, grabbing a swimsuit from one of the nearby drawers and making my way into the bathroom.

I closed the door, but let it hang open just a crack so that I could hear him.

"Are you asking me to be meaner and quarrelsome?"

I shimmied out of the stupid outfit from yesterday and breathed a sigh of relief to get it off my body. The Italian designer whose name was on the inside of each piece would likely have a heart attack if he saw me kick his clothes into the corner in a crumpled mess, but I was past caring at this point.

I started to pull the only one-piece bathing suit up my body, the design of the thing revealing itself and making me grimace on its ascent. What I thought was the one, ironically, conservative piece in the entire wardrobe was anything but. The cut on my thighs was super high, meaning most of my ass was hanging out on the back end, and there was only one shoulder strap. The whole thing was accompanied by a giant diamond-shaped cut out across my chest that was clearly meant for someone with implants. Which was not me.

I sighed as I looked at the red monstrosity in the mirror.

"Looks good," Max said and I turned to catch his eye in the mirror.

"Oh my god!" I yelled as I slammed the door, realizing that he'd been able to see me the entire time.

I could hear him laugh through the door and a blush crept over my cheeks that matched the intensity of the suit.

"I'll be downstairs when you're ready, princess."

"Get the hell out of here!" I yelled at him before I heard his laughter and footsteps fading as he walked out of the suite.

I looked at myself in the mirror. Of all the men to see me naked for my first time, of course it had to be Max Holt.

And, of course, I couldn't stop thinking about the way it made me feel.

"Ready?"I asked as I walked over to him. He was leaning against the post in the same place as I'd found him yesterday morning. I stopped as I took in his appearance. "Oh, you are not ready."

He was wearing the exact same thing he'd been wearing upstairs. Long-sleeve tee and a pair of jeans with combat boots.

"I'm always ready," he said, pushing off the wall.

"You're going to go to the beach in steel-toed boots?" I asked, pressing my flip-flopped foot onto the hard toe of his boot.

"Your point?"

"The fact that you think I need to clarify what I just said with a point is point enough. Come on," I said, "We're getting coffee, then we're getting you proper attire, and then we're going to the beach."

"I'm properly attired," he muttered, but fell into line behind me anyways.

"No, you're not," I said as we made our way out onto the street. "Look around," I said, waving my hand dramatically. "Do you see anyone else wearing steel-toed boots?"

We passed a group of construction workers on the street, and I could hear Max bite back a laugh.

"You're infuriating," I said as we made our way down the street.

"You just don't like being wrong," he replied.

I didn't give him the satisfaction of responding. Instead, we just continued to walk down the street in silence until we made it to the coffee shop.

"Go in and order," I said to him. "I'll be right back." I started to turn but he grabbed my waist. I looked down to see his arm wrapped around me and closed my eyes briefly at the feel of him against me. He could try as hard as he wanted to appear to be some cold, callous bastard. But, he wasn't that at all. I could feel his heat seeping its way into my body.

I looked up at him and we held each other's gaze for just a moment before he seemed to click back into reality.

"I don't think so, princess," he said. "You're staying with me."

I scoffed and tried to push out from his grasp but his hands wouldn't budge. "Um, that's ridiculous. I'm not a child. I can walk down the street by myself."

"You can," he said, his grip still firm on my waist. "But, let's not forget why you're here and who you're with."

The meaning of his words sank in and I deflated a little bit. "Are you telling me I'm always going to have to have some armed bodyguard following me around?"

His grip loosened on me a bit and he let me straighten myself and stand on my own. He shrugged. "That's not my call. But right now, I'm not going to be the one responsible for losing track of you."

"Okay, fine," I muttered under my breath, trying to push the glimpse of my new reality into the recesses of my mind as I entered the coffee shop.

Within a couple of minutes, a different barista from yesterday took our orders and we were making our way out of the shop. I turned to the left and Max followed until I brought us to the same little beach shop that we'd stopped in the day before to grab my sandals.

"I hope we're shopping for you again," he said with a roll of his shoulders.

"Hush," I said as we walked into the store. I grabbed two large beach towels, an oversized bag, another pair of flip flops and a pair of men's swim trunks.

"I'm not against you wearing those, but you might want to consider a top go with them," Max said, clearly trying to crack jokes.

"Ha ha," I said as I brought all the items up to the elderly woman behind the register. "Ma'am, do you have a fitting room by chance?"

"Sure do," the woman replied. She pointed to the back of the store. "There's a curtain on some tracks that will give you a little privacy."

"Great," I said, turning around and looking at Max with a grin.

The woman placed everything into a bag and I smiled at her before getting behind Max and pushing him towards the back of the store.

Or, at least, I tried to. "I'll give you two a moment," she said as she disappeared behind the little door behind the register.

"Max!" I huffed as I tried to push against him, but it was like his stupid combat boots were rooted to the floor.

"Yes?" he replied with a fake yawn.

"Go change!" I huffed.

"Hard pass."

"You promised!"

"I did no such thing."

"Yes, you did," I argued. "When you agreed to take me around the city."

"I agreed to take you around the city, not play dress up."

"But, we're going to the beach. You can't go to the beach in combat boots and a long sleeve tee shirt."

"I assure you, princess, I've worn heavier equipment than this in sandier places."

"I don't even know what that means," I huffed as I tried once again to push him in the direction of the back.

"Give up now and some of your dignity might still be intact when this is over."

"I don't care about my dignity," I sighed, taking a breather. "I just want you to let loose a little bit."

Max turned around and I could feel his gaze on me. I looked up to meet his stormy eyes and his features softened slightly. "It will cost you."

I shook my head. "What do I even have to give?"

"A favor."

"Name it," I said, but he shook his head.

"Not for now. For when I ask it of you."

I twisted my lips as I thought about what he was saying. "Are there limits to this favor?"

"What sort of limits are you worried about?"

"Nothing criminal and nothing sexual," I said immediately.

Max chortled. "You do realize what world you're a part of now, don't you princess?"

"I realize what world I'm being forced to be a part of. There's a difference. I can still maintain my own code. I enjoy sleeping at night."

"I sleep just fine," Max said with a smirk.

"Well, you should probably see a therapist about that," I muttered.

"I agree to your conditions," Max said, ignoring my last comment.

"Then, deal."

Max gave me far too devious of a smile, but grabbed the bag from my hand and made his way over to the changing area. He pulled the curtain halfway, just enough to shield himself from passerby's on the street but not enough from me. I blushed like mad and turned around to the sound of his laughter.

"I thought it was only fair if I returned the favor from this morning."

"That was very ungentlemanly of you this morning," I said, facing opposite his direction.

"You must not have hung around a lot of men growing up, princess. We're all that way. We see opportunities and we take them. Anything less is pussy behavior."

"You're right, I haven't hung around a lot of men, especially not men like you, and I consider that a blessing," I retorted.

I heard the curtain pull back and I turned around. My breath caught in my throat and Max smirked at me. He was standing there without a shirt on, in the pair of neon blue swim trunks I had picked out for him, a towel hanging loosely from his neck.

But, it wasn't the towel that was holding my attention. It was the chiseled body I knew he had underneath the tee-shirt he was always wearing. The one I'd only caught a glimpse of back when I was at his apartment.

A sleeve of ink crawled up his left arm, the majority of it a large rendering of the statue of liberty. A saying was scripted across his left pectoral. I let my eyes hover across it, but he didn't give me the chance to read it carefully.

"Let's go," he said, his attitude suddenly clamming up when I'd been evaluating him for too long. He passed by me and dropped his boots into my hands and I nearly dropped them from their weight.

"How do you walk in these?" I asked him as I shoved his clothes into our big beach bag and hoisted it on my shoulder.

"You get used to it," he replied, putting his shades back on as we stepped back outside. He held both of our drinks and we made our way across the street and to the beach. We traversed the long wooden walkway in silence. When we made it out to the sand, there were barely any people and it was easy enough for us to find a tucked-away spot without any fear of being overheard.

I let the big bag fall off my shoulder as Max threw his towel down. I fished my own out of the bag and stretched it out on the sand before rummaging around again for the sunscreen spray. Max sat down on his towel and put the food and drinks in front of him, and I walked a few paces back.

For whatever reason, I felt extremely self-conscious pulling the cover-up I had on off.

"Just take off your clothes, princess. There's no one here but me and I've seen it all already," he said in a flat voice.

I closed my eyes and let out a sigh to try and control the blush I knew was coming up on my cheeks. But, his words did give me a weird surge of confidence and I pulled the bit of white fabric up over my head, balled it up and chucked it at his head. It hit him harmlessly and bounced down in the sand next to him.

He grabbed it and tucked it under one of his legs.

"Hey!" I said as I continued to spray myself.

"If you continue to throw things, I'm going to have to confiscate them."

"I'm going to need that later," I said.

"Should have thought about that before you threw it away.

I trudged back over to the towels and handed him the spray but he shook his head. I wasn't going to argue with him so I chucked it in the bag. "I didn't throw it away," I pointed out. "I threw it at you. Everything's a weapon."

"Thanks for the clarification," he said, handing me my iced coffee. "Still looking forward to watching you walk back to the hotel in whatever you call this get up."

"I didn't pick it out, you know that," I said, taking a sip of my coffee and leaning back to look out at the blue waters.

Max just shrugged and unwrapped his breakfast. I reached between his legs to grab my own sandwich, and he raised an eyebrow at me as he chewed but didn't say anything.

I was suddenly regretting asking Max to go to the beach. All I'd wanted to do was relax. But, sitting next to him it was clear that was never going to happen.