Gemma

"Dinner was fantastic, Mrs. Avenetti." Anthony grinned, handing a plate he just finished drying to my mom. "Thank you, again."

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. For the last hour, I had to listen to Anthony play kiss to my parents. Yes sir, this and Thank you, ma'am, that. And now he was in here drying dishes for my mom. His choir boy act was almost more than I could take.

"Thank you for helping clean everything up." My mom eyed me. Subtlety wasn't her strong suit.

He may be fooling them, but he certainly wasn't fooling me. I could see right through it all, especially when I caught him staring at me while I undressed this afternoon. The way his eyes raked over each curve of my body gave me chills that had nothing to do with being cold. They were the kind of chills that started in your shoulders, creeping down your spine and covering every inch of you in tingly shivers. The kind that settled in your core, fluttering and quivering until they turned into a passionate burn.

No, Anthony wasn't nearly as innocent as he let on, but neither was I. If he wanted to play games, we could play games.

We stayed in the kitchen chatting with my family for a little while longer, and then made our way back to the pool house.

I slipped the key into the lock and headed inside, but Anthony stepped in front of me. "Let me check it out first."

He sure was thorough, albeit a little over dramatic. We were at my parents' estate for crying out loud. What did he think? Someone was going to bypass the guards at the gate, somehow make it the mile and a half to the house, not set off the motion sensors, and then break into the pool house that was locked with the alarm set? 

"All good." He said, shoving a gun back into his waistband. I hadn't even realized he wore one.

"Did you check under the bed for monsters, too?" I teased, slipping my shoes off.

Antony chuckled. "No monsters, no gunman, no trained assassins. Not even a spider in this place. You're safe, princess."

"Thank goodness," I put my hand over my chest, feigning gratitude. "What would I ever do without you?"

Anthony was amused by our banter as he leaned back on the couch. "So you want to play cards or something?" 

"Actually," I glanced over my shoulder, grabbing a bottle of wine out of the fridge. "My friend Ryan is coming over tonight. We're going to sit out by the fire. Do you think you can stay inside or do you have to be out here listening to our word?"

"That depends." Anthony furrowed his brow. Was that a hint of jealousy I detected? "Does Ryan know how to keep his hands to himself?"

I let out a sharp laugh. "Ryan is a girl, Anthony."

"Oh...uh..." He stuttered, very obviously embarrassed.

"Although she does get a little handsy when she has too much to drink." I pursed my lips. "I'm sure you'd like that, though."

"Well, in that case, I'll just make myself comfortable on one of those pool chairs out there." Anthony smirked. "Where I have a clear view of whatever goes on out here."

"Perfect." I rolled my eyes, taking the wine and two glasses out to the fire place.

Anthony followed, and perched himself on a lounge chair about ten yards from it. So much for getting any privacy.

I poured myself a glass of wine, trying to ignore his glances. By now, he had slipped a pair of AirPods into his ears and was scrolling through something on his phone. Every now and then, he'd look up at me and I'd try to dart my eyes away as if I wasn't looking. What was this middle school bullshit?

There was so much tension between us, and plenty of it was sexual. It would be a hell of a lot easier to hate the guy if he wasn't so impossibly good looking.  If I didn't know the thought of me even dating gave my dad a coronary, I might think he was doing this on purpose. Hire a hot, young, arrogant guard who he knew would drive me insane all summer long all summer long? Was this some new form of torture he was trying out? 

The problem was that Anthony was just as irritating as he was hot. Arrogant and smug and opinionated. But Jesus, that smile. The way the corners of his thick lips turned up into a crooked curve. A small part of my wanted to punch those lips, but an even bigger part of me wanted him to kiss me with them. I could almost feel them on me, brushing across my skin as we made out. There were those damn chills again.

"There she is!" Ryan grinned as she came out the back of the house. "Sorry, I'm late I was chatting with your mom and dad. They're so sweet."

"Sweet?" I laughed adjusting my weight in the chair. "Or overbearing?"

"Oh, please. They're adorable. You're lucky your parents are still in love like that. I wish mine were." Ryan rolled her eyes, giving me a tight hug and then plopping herself down on the chair across from me. "The only time my parents look at each other like that is when they find out one of them is having another affair. It's like it gives the other one some kind of free pass to do whatever shit they want."

"That's terrible." I grimaced, suddenly thankful for the PDA-packed relationship my parent had.

"Believe me, you have no idea." Ryan poured herself a glass of wine. She glanced up, nodding toward Anthony. "That the new bodyguard your dad hired for the summer?"

"That's Anthony." I rolled my eyes, letting out a heavy sigh.

"Ohhhh." She shot me a teasing grin. "I totally get it. I'd be pissed too, if my father hired a smoking hot guy to follow me around all summer. Really, really pissed."

I clicked my tongue, glancing behind me. "Would you keep your voice down?"

"Oh, please. Thor can't hear me. Hello?" She started waving her arms in the air.  "Hot guy who's watching my best friend all summer? Can you hear me?"

Anthony didn't so much as flinch in our direction. Maybe he really couldn't hear us.

"See? We're fine." She tilted her head taking a sip of her wine.

"Thor?"

She shrugged. "He kind of looks like Chris Hemsworth... just shorter and darker hair."

"Ry, he may be hot, but he's annoying... and rude... and mean."

She arched her eyebrow at me. "What's the problem? Mean and annoying are usually your type."

"Very funny." I rolled my eyes. She wasn't entirely wrong. I spent the last two years wrapped around the finger of a wealthy frat boy who had a nasty temper when he drank. And that wasn't even the worst of his qualities. I stayed far too long, blinded by his love bombing and charm, and could only break up with him once I convinced him it was his own idea. That was a week ago before I came home, and I still had the healing bruise on my shoulder to show for it. I kept the finer details from my family for obvious reasons.

"It doesn't matter anyway, I can't date my bodyguard." I said, pressing my lips to my wine glass.

"Who said anything about dating?" She giggled. "I was just thinking of a hot and heavy hook up."

"Okay... I've had about enough of this conversation." I said.

"You can't tell me you haven't thought about it."

Of course, I'd thought about it. I'd thought about it way more than I'd like to admit. Those strong  hands stroking and manhandling my body. His aggressive and dominant kisses all the way down my body to my most sensitive spots. His fingers tangled in my hair and pulling it back. The moans he'd make when I went down on him. It was those images that got me through my shower this afternoon, and if I wanted Anthony to live, that's where they had to stay. Buried deep in my mind and only coming to life in my imagination when I was alone and taking care of myself.

What the hell was wrong with me? One second I was despising the man and the next I was getting off to him in the shower. Maybe Ryan was right. Maybe I did have a thing for men who were mean to me.

"What are you up to tomorrow?" I asked, changing the subject

"Keegan is having a pool party. Please say you'll come with me." She bounced up and down on the chair.

That was about the last thing I wanted to do. Keegan was her on-again-off-again boyfriend and the last thing I wanted to do was spend the afternoon with him and his skeezy friends.

"Oh come on." She read my mind. "It'll be fun, I promise. He's got some friends in town from out of state. It won't even be the same group of people who are usually there."

Ryan bounded over to the empty spot next to me on the couch, grabbing my arm. "Plllllease, Gem. I've missed you. Everyone has."

"I'll come for a little while." I conceded. A few hours wouldn't hurt anything.

I glanced over at Anthony who was still engrossed in whatever it was he was listening to on his phone. He must have sensed I was looking at him though, because he looked up, locking eyes with me. He shot me a devilish smirk.

Maybe the pool party was a good idea after all. A few hours of watching me parade around in a bikini might loosen him up a little bit.