The Bodyguard

chapter 8

I took a deep breath and walked beside Alexander toward the house.

The closer we got, the louder everything became.

Children were running across the yard. Someone was laughing near the porch. A woman was carrying a large bowl toward the kitchen while another man stood beside the grill arguing about how the meat should be cooked. I glanced at Alexander.

"How many people are here?" I asked.

"Honestly?" he questioned as he looked around.

"Yes." I replied.

"I have no idea." he remarked with a shrug. I stared at him.

"You don't know?" I stare at him in disbelief.

"My mother invites everyone." He remarks.

"Everyone?" I asked.

"Everyone." He nodded.

"That explains a lot." I laughed. His fingers tightened slightly around mine.

"Just stay close to me." He says.

"Why?" I wonder. I looked up at him.

"Because my family will ask you a thousand questions." He replies.

"That doesn't sound reassuring." I mutter.

"It isn't." He chuckles. Before I could respond, his mother appeared in front of us.

"There you are!" She exclaims. She smiled brightly before looking down at our joined hands.

Her smile somehow became even bigger.

"Oh, look at you two." She gushes I felt my cheeks warm.

"Mom." Alexander sighed.

"What?" she asked innocently.

"You know what." He scolds.

"I don't know anything." She says with a shrug She turned toward me. "Hannah, come meet everyone." she replies happily.

She grabbed my free hand and pulled me toward a group of people standing near the porch. Alexander followed behind us.

"This is my older brother, Michael." Alexander says. A tall man with dark hair and a beard smiled at me.

"So you're Hannah." He says with a smile.

"Yes." I say.

"She's prettier than you described." He looked at Alexander.

"I described her?" He asks. Alexander's eyebrows rose.

"Relax. I'm messing with you." Michael laughed.

"You talk about me?" I looked at Alexander.

"I didn't say that." He replies quickly.

"He talked about you all night." His mother immediately interrupted.

"Mom." He groans.

"This is going to be fun." Michael says looking amused.

I laughed and shook my head. His mother introduced me to more relatives. Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and even a few family friends. Everyone was friendly.

Every few minutes someone asked me how Alexander and I met or how long we'd been together.

Each time, Alexander smoothly gave the same story.

Eight months, Coffee shop, He'd noticed me first, I'd ignored him. That part was apparently his favorite.

"She wouldn't give me her number," he told one of his cousins.

"Because you were being annoying." I looked at him.

"Sounds like Alexander." His cousin laughed.

"Exactly." I respond.

"I was charming." Alexander looked offended.

"You were persistent." I state.

"Same thing." He mutters.

"Definitely not." I smiled.

His hand slipped around my waist. I froze for half a second. He leaned closer.

"Careful." He whispered.

"Why?" I ask.

"I might start believing you're actually my girlfriend." He says gently. My heart skipped. I looked into his eyes.

"Would that be so terrible?" I probe.

For a moment, neither of us spoke. Then someone cleared their throat. We both turned. His father stood a few feet away, watching us with an amused expression.

"Everything all right over here?" John asks.

"Perfectly fine," Alexander said quickly.

"Good." His father smiled

Then he walked away. I looked at Alexander.

"Your family notices everything." I say.

"Unfortunately." He replies..

I laughed. Before we could say anything else, a voice came from behind us.

"Alexander?" A feminine voice rang out.

He turned. His expression changed. Not dramatically. Just enough for me to notice. A beautiful woman stood at the edge of the porch.

She had long dark hair, flawless makeup, and wore an elegant cream-colored dress that looked completely out of place at a family barbecue.

She smiled when she saw him.

"Camille." He says.

I looked at Alexander. Then back at her. She walked toward us.

"I didn't know you were coming." She says with a smile. Ignoring I am even present..

"I wasn't planning to." He responds..

Her eyes finally moved toward me. She smiled. But there was something about that smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"And you must be Hannah." She says.

"I am." I smiled politely.

Camille looked at our joined hands. Then at Alexander.

"So this is the girlfriend I've been hearing about." She says.

Alexander's jaw tightened slightly.

"Camille, this is Hannah." He introduces.

"I know." She says.

"It's nice to finally meet you." She extended her hand.

"Nice to meet you too." I shook it.

Her grip was firm. A little too firm. She released my hand and smiled again.

"I've known Alexander for years." Sh says trying to imply something without saying anything..

"I've heard." I respond.

"Have you?" Her eyebrow lifted.

"He's mentioned you." I nodded.

Alexander looked at me. I could see the surprise in his eyes. We both knew he never mentioned her but I had to make this believable.

"That's interesting." Camille smiled.

"What is?" I asked.

"Nothing." She responds. "You never mentioned you were bringing someone home." She glanced at Alexander

"Things happened quickly." He states.

"I see." She looked at me again.

"And what do you do, Hannah?" She asks.

"I'm between jobs right now." I hesitated. There was no way I could tell her the truth

"How convenient." Camille's smile remained.

"Camille." Alexander's expression hardened.

"What?" She asks trying to sound innocent.

"Enough." He states.

"I'm just getting to know her." She raised her hands.

I could feel the tension growing. I didn't understand what was happening between them, but I understood people. And Camille didn't like me. Not even a little.

"Camille! Come help me in the kitchen!" His mother suddenly called from across the yard.

"Of course." Camille turned.

"It was nice meeting you, Hannah." She looked at me one last time.

"Likewise." I respond back.

She walked away. I watched her disappear into the house. Then I turned toward Alexander.

"She doesn't like me." I state..

"Camille can be... protective." He sighed.

"Protective?" I question raising an eyebrow.

"She's been my best friend for years." He says.

"Right." I nodded slowly.

Something about the way he said it bothered me. Not because I was jealous. At least, that's what I told myself.

"We should probably stop holding hands." I looked down at our hands.

"Why?" He asks. He didn't let go.

"Because your friend is watching." I state nodding my head towards the house.

"Let her." He glanced toward the house.

"Alexander..." I looked up at him. His eyes met mine. "This is supposed to be fake." I say softly.

"I know." He responds.

"Then why are you still holding my hand?" I question. For a moment, he said nothing. Then he gave me that small smile I was beginning to recognize.

"Because you look nervous." He states

"And?" I swallowed.

"And I don't want you to be." He says softly. My heart beat faster.

"You're getting very good at this fake boyfriend thing." I looked away. He leaned closer.

"Maybe you're getting too good at being my fake girlfriend." He whispers.

Before I could answer, a loud crash came from inside the house.

Everyone turned toward the kitchen. Alexander immediately released my hand. His entire demeanor changed. The relaxed man I'd been standing beside disappeared.

His shoulders straightened. His eyes scanned the yard. Then the house.

"What happened?" I ask.

"I don't know." He responds. He stepped in front of me. "Stay here." He says.

"Alexander—" I begin.

"Stay here, Hannah." He demands.

Something in his voice made me stop. He started toward the house. I watched him disappear through the doorway. My heart began pounding. Something was wrong.

And for the first time since I'd arrived at Alexander's family's home, I wondered if the danger we'd been running from had finally found us.