I shut the door behind him, feeling all types of awkward. This potent example of the male species was going to follow me around for the bulk of my waking hours? No. Not going to happen. Maybe they had someone else they could send over. Someone who didn’t take up so much room or make me stop and stare quite so often. That would be good. Drooling in public was never cool and could play havoc with a girl’s lip gloss. Wasn’t I dealing with enough? Insert heavy sigh here.

Halfway through my self-indulgent sigh, I managed to convert it into a steadying breath. Because I could pull my shit together and be professional. It would be done. In all likelihood, I just needed to get laid. It’d been months since me and the ex had called it quits, an entirely necessary and mutual decision. I needed to be free, to find some balance when my career and focus changed gears as I hit my thirties. And he apparently needed to be free to have sex with every barely legal football player fangirl who crossed his path. Especially the ones who liked to film themselves having sex with him and post it on the internet. Those were his favorite. Such is life.

Lena raised a hand. “Hey, Ziggy.”

“Mrs. Ferris.”

“Mae’s just tired and a little freaked out. Get her to sleep for a few hours and clean herself up, and she’ll be fine.”

He said nothing. Just stood there with a flinty gaze.

Meanwhile, I looked around for something to seal Lena’s lips shut. For at least the duration of her visit would be nice. Electrical tape maybe. Needle and thread seemed extreme, but not entirely out of the question.

Ziggy cleared his throat. “Miss Cooper, I notice you didn’t engage the deadlock or the security system. We’ll need to discuss that.”

“Ruh roh,” said Lena. “You’re getting spanked already. That was fast.”

My face flamed.

“I better leave you guys to it.”

“You’re going?” Hard to gauge what I was most afraid of, being left alone with the close protection officer, or waiting to hear what Lena said next. Both, perhaps.

“Jimmy has a big charity thing on tonight. I need to go get myself sorted out.” She wandered over and smacked a kiss on my cheek. “Try not to worry, Mae. Everything’s going to be fine. Call me if you need anything, okay?”

I managed a smile. “I will. Thank you again.”

“Anytime. See you tomorrow.”

And she was gone.

Leaving me alone with him.

“So,” I said with a hesitant smile. In these situations, normal people with a functioning brain were often polite. Maybe I should try it out. “Shall we sit? Can I get you a drink?”

“No, thank you, miss.”

That was really going to take some getting used to. Being called “miss” all the time.