Body Guard

"Yeah? I have a couple ideas on what you might pick." Rubbing my chin I pondered then sat up. Shifting so I was half kneeling, half standing while facing her I smirked. "I think you were going to think about my surprise for you. Turning around and seeing me standing there."

I leaned forward, bringing my face closer as I continued, "Maybe about how I looked in the suit. You remarked on it often." Chuckling softly I brought my lips closer to her ear to murmur with a slightly husky note, "Perhaps you plan on thinking about wrestling with me on the couch some more."

Bringing my face back around to her sight I winked and then murmured, "But I think what you really are going to think about is this..." Without giving her a chance to remark on those final words I closed the distance until my lips brushed against hers. I could feel my pulse in my ears at making this move and assumption, and yet at the taste of her lips I let that fade to the back of my mind.

I didn't linger for too long, pulling away to wish her a soft goodnight and the promise I'd see her in the morning. With a flash of a cheeky grin I stood up and hobbled towards my room, unable from stopping the smile from returning once I closed the door behind me.

Julie:

As soon as he smirked at me, I narrowed my eyes with a smirk of my own, suddenly on guard. He had a tendency to strike when I least expected it. If he was choosing now to get me back for the pea, like the ice wasn't enough, I was ready for it.

Except that I wasn't. At all.

The smile melted off my face when he brought his closer to mine. My breath hitched embarrassingly when his mouth was next to my ear and his words made my face turn red.

By the time I could see his face again, I was breathing heavier and nothing had even happened.

My shock turned me into a statue when he kissed me. I barely had a chance to kiss him back before he was pulling away. I wanted to pull him back and spend several hours getting to know this new Cody, who made me blush and kissed me when I least expected it.

As he walked away, I caught sight if his grin and lifted my my hand to my lips with a shake of my head and a smile. Goodnight indeed.

I went to my room after I could feel my legs again and didn't sleep a wink. Because I was much too busy thinking about it. Which was his intention. Which I decided he would have to pay for sometime tomorrow.

I undressed and crawled under the covers, thinking about the day. I felt warm, flushed and I spent some time fantasizing, more in line with what I'd whispered in her ear just with a bit less clothing. Even after I finally relaxed I still went over the day in my head.

The feel of her lips, the surprise I offered her, the enjoyment of just being with her. I finally managed to doze off a few hours before the sun made it's presence known.

Julie:
After a night of almost no sleep, I was jolted away by my phone ringing on my bedside table. I groaned and grabbed it, squinting at the numbers on the device. It was barely 7am, which meant that it was much too early for phone calls.

It was my father and I had a half a mind to ignore it, but I was up now, so better to get it over with.

"Hello?" I mumbled, setting my head back on the pillow.

"Julie Ann Devin, where are you?" he asked, his voice, weirdly calm. I sat up immediately. My full name?

"Dad, its 7am, i'm in bed. Whats going on?" I asked.

"Have you seen the paper this morning?" He asked, still in that calm voice that sent shivers down my spine. It was the same voice he used when I was a child and got caught eating cookies before dinner.

"...no." I said, confused. What could possibly be in the paper that would make him mad at me?

"Well maybe you should get up and check it. I want you and Cody in my office before noon," he said. Then he hung up. That was it.

I looked down at my phone, more confused than before. What did Cody have to do with it? With a yawn, I got out of bed and went to see if Cody knew anything about why we were both seemingly in trouble. I didn't bother taking my Pjs off or fixing my hair, but I did throw my glasses on.

I was dozing still when she came into the room, and when I stirred at her presence all I did at first was scoot over and roll back the covers for her to climb in. I didn't care that it exposed my bare chest but eventually I opened my eyes and peered at her.

"It's too early. What's up?" I complained with a yawn. I figured this was another case of nightmares. It was rare that she came to visit me while I was still sleeping. I could count on one hand the number of times it had happened. I glanced over to the alarm clock then to the window and the light peeking around the edges of the curtain. Maybe it wasn't early.

Julie:
I forgot about the reason I was even in his room when he rolled back the covers and I almost crawled in next to him.

I smirked at his complaining and sat down on the space he provided. "Oh its too early?" I asked, pretending to be sympathetic. "What's the matter? Were you up all night because a certain someone decided it would be funny to be a big fat tease before bed?" I grabbed one of his pillows and hit him with it. "Oh wait, that was me."

"Where is your phone?" I asked, getting to the point. "Did you get any suspicious calls this morning? My dad wants to see both of us today and he didn't sound happy. Did you forget to do what he asked last night or something?" I asked, not super concerned about it. I knew we hadn't done anything bad, so he was probably upset that we left early or something.

"Hey, I had my fun once I got into my room. Helped calm me down." I called out around the pillow. Wrapping my arms around it I peeked up at her with a puzzled frown.

Sitting up I tossed the pillow her way then peered about. "Um...I think my phone is still in my pants from last night. Either in the bathroom or hanging up again." Rubbing my cheek and the light stubble it held I turned my eyes back to her.

"I did everything he wanted me to do, and it didn't seem like any incidents happened."

Julie:
I shrugged and caught the pillow when he threw it back at me. "I don't know what we could have possibly done then," I said.

It dawned on my then what he had said on the phone. "He did tell me to check the paper..." I mumbled, pulling my phone out again. I quickly opened the web browser and typed in my name. It wasn't something I did often, but when there was something particularly scandalous, I liked to see what was being said.

With no hesitation, articles popped up, most from various gossip magazines, but a few pretty big papers. It wasn't front page news, but it was news.

I gasped out loud and clicked on the first headline.

Presidents Daughter, Julie Devin, seen getting steamy in the kitchen

Julie Devin has been out of the spotlight for weeks, makes a startling reappearance!

Mystery Man seen Making Out with Presidents Daughter

Some of the articles had pictures that looked like they were taken on a camera phone or something. It was pretty clear we were kissing, and I dropped the phone to my lap and covered my reddening face with me hands with a groan.

How did I not see someone in the room? Although in the back of my mind, all I kept thinking was that I still didn't know why my father was mad. Sure, it was the embarrassment of the century to be caught on the front page, making out with someone, but it was hardly the end of the world.

"You look thrilled...what happened?" While she busied herself with the paper I'd climbed out of bed and limped to the closet. Snagging a cotton t-shirt I tugged it on just to turn around and find her head buried in her hands.

Moving back over to the bed I plucked her phone from her lap and sat on the edge of the bed to scroll through it. "Huh." A single word was all I could muster. I'd lapsed in my attention then. I hadn't noticed someone else near by. And I couldn't call it all on the kiss.

Julie:
I groaned and looked over his shoulder as he scrolled though the article. "That sucks. It looks like I'm mauling you or something," I said, focusing on a zoomed in picture. "This is libel and not an accurate representation of how I kiss!" I tried to joke, but mostly I felt bad. I had kissed him. I should have made sure we were alone before I did it.

He wasn't used to being front page news. For me, this was nothing big. I peeked at his face to see how he felt about it.

My brows furrowed and I stared off towards the wall. I knew I'd been in the papers before, but usually in the background of Jules's photos. This was the first time I'd been pushed into the limelight. I couldn't quite tell how I felt about that. It wasn't the most comfortable feeling.

Glancing at her I forced a small smile. "I'd say you kiss better than a simple mauler. Though your jokes could be described as such."

Julie:
I smiled softly at him and bopped him in the head again with the pillow. I sat up on my knees behind him on the bed and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. "Are you okay with this? I'm really sorry. Its kinda my fault," I frowned. "My dad probably wants to talk to us about the importance of discretion, which will be awkward." I said, finally understanding what he probably was so upset about.

Leaning back into her it wasn't really her words that had my attention at first. It was more the feeling of her chest pressed into my back that I noticed mostly. A few steadying breaths later however and I glanced at her over my shoulder. "It's a little late to be okay with it or not. It's happened and now I can only deal with it."

Rubbing her arms I frowned at the floor. It was reaching the point where she and I needed to make a choice. One we needed to sit down and discuss. I decided lunch was the best time, after our meeting with her father. "Shall we go see him then? I want to talk to you about something after."

Julie:
I frowned at his response but nodded in understanding. "Its still pretty early, but its probably better to get it out of the way," I agreed. I had a pretty good idea what he wanted to talk to me about and I wasn't sure whether it would be a good conversation or a bad one.

I dropped my arms from his shoulders and slid around him to get off the bed. "I'll go get dressed," I said, turning to head back to my room.

I let out a long breath after she left. This was one of those times where I really hated that duel feelings I had. There was a part of me that wanted to be close with Jules, kiss her again and again, and see just all the little buttons I could push that I couldn't push before.

But then there was the part of me that was more in tune with my old job. The distance that had to be kept, the limits to what relationship I could have with her. The...professionalism I had to maintain.

But I'd have to make a choice. How did I really want this to go? With my bestfriend no less. If we didn't work out what then? That was one of the many questions I wanted to ask her. But first, I needed to get dressed. Muttering under my breath I went for the bathroom to take a quick shower and make myself as presentable as possible.

After I was dressed I went to the shared living area and poured a cup of coffee. One benefit of having wealth was the technology that came with it. In this case having a coffee machine that prepared a pot of coffee every morning without needing to be told.

Julie:
I got dressed pretty quickly, just slipping on a pair of jeans and a shirt. We weren't leaving the manor. My fathers office was only a few buildings away.

I left my room and saw Cody in the kitchen, getting a cup of coffee. Normally, being awake at this hour would mean I was downing caffeine, but I was wide awake now, nervous for the conversations that were going to happen.

"Almost ready?" I asked, leaning against the counter.

Raking my hands through my short hair I glanced about the living room and kitchen of her wing of the manor. I felt this sudden feeling that I might not be coming back here, but I didn't have anything to base that on. "Yeah I'm ready."

Taking a moment I downed the rest of the coffee then looked towards my wheelchair. After a moment to consider I just grabbed my phone off the counter then motioned for her to lead the way. So far she and Greg had been the only ones informed of my new ability to walk. With the surprise over, now maybe others could know.

I watched him debate about using the wheelchair and I hoped he wasn't doing too much too fast. When he gestured for me to lead the way, I shrugged and left the wing, heading for my fathers office. The walk was pretty quiet. It was still early and not many people were roaming the grounds.

When we arrived, I knocked once before poking my head in.

"Hey dad..." I said, trying for a smile. He didn't return in.

I stepped fully in and looked at Cody before looking back at my father.

"Do you two have any idea what kind of attention a news story like that brings us?" he asked, his voice taking on that same calmness that had unnerved me this morning. I rolled my eyes.

"It's not that big a deal, dad. We can be more careful," I told him, trying to sound reassuring. I didn't realize as I said it, that my words implied that we would be in compromising positions again.

"Oh, you wont have to be more careful. This ends right now. I want have it," he told me, standing up from his seat behind his desk.

I looked at him in surprise. "What do you mean?" I asked. He couldn't really be forbidding me from seeing Cody.

"You two have always been close, but I wont have you crossing this line. He still works here!" my father thundered, finally breaking the calm exterior.

I winced as I stepped into the room.  It took only a look to see that he wasn't in the happiest of moods.  But I could only look between Jules and her father as they went back and forth.  I was crossing a line?  How?  I wasn't under any obligation anymore.

Rubbing my temple I sighed through my nose.  It felt like for every step forward there was another step backwards.  "That is no longer in my contract...sir."

Julie:
I watched my father blow a harsh breath out through his nose and his face turn red. "I don't care about a contract. This is about whats right," he said, more to Cody than to me.

I was confused. If Cody wasn't in breech of his contract, what was the big problem.

"What was wrong with Ben? He made much more sense for you..." he said, and suddenly I understood. My father liked Cody just fine...just not enough for him to influence public opinion about who I was dating.

I looked at my father in shock. When he introduced me to Ben, I had been under the impression that it was just a friendly meeting, hoping for the best. Not that he was pushing me towards men of higher class, men who looked better for him.

"I really hope you're not suggesting what I think you are," I warned.

My face went blank though I clenched my jaw for a moment. I had forgotten this little gem about my situation. Within the binding contract I had rules and restrictions but I was someone. It was only as much influence as was given to me, but it was something. Without that mantel I was nothing and no one beyond the connections I'd built up.

I had no words. I couldn't even come up with some quip or sarcasm. Instead I just gazed at the man in disappointment. Not in what he had said, but the disappointment that one felt when one's leader turned out to be nothing more than a sham.

Julie:
I shook my head at my father and waited for him to say something that made it better. He didn't.

"if that's why we're here, then I don't care to stay any longer. You don't get to control who I have feelings for. If you could, Ben would still be here, wouldn't he?"

I backed away from his desk and then turned back around to face him. "And you're so far off. You should be fine without whoever I end up with. But if it happened to be Cody, you should be thrilled. He's the best man I've ever met. He's the best man you've ever met," I told him, standing up straight. I didn't think I had to give examples. Just the fact that he was standing in the room should be enough of a reminder that just days ago he was bound to a wheel chair as a direct result of saving my life.


I wanted to leave, before my bravado wore off. It was only a matter of time before my voice started shaking and my eyes filled with angry tears.

I turned to Cody. "Lets just leave, okay?" I mumbled to him.

I glanced at Jules before nodding. "Alright. Anywhere is better than here." I brushed myself off and looked at her father once more. I started to say something, huffed and just limped out of the room. It took only another look at Jules to read her expression. She was just as ticked off as I was but I didn't know if it was for the same reasons.

I could understand, sympathize perhaps, about wanting the best for your daughter. But if it came down to just what you wanted for your own position..that wasn't looking for the happiness of your child. That was pure selfishness. On top of which I couldn't exactly understand what else I needed to do. If nearly dying to save your daughter, job or not, wasn't enough to make you good enough then what was?

Julie:
I gave my dad one more disappointed look before I stormed out. Once we were far enough away from the office, I couldn't hold it in anymore. It was still early enough that there wasn't anyone roaming the halls. The last thing I wanted was for any nosy people to over hear.

"That was ridiculous! He's out of his mind! He didn't use to be like that Cody..." I said, wrapping my arms around my waist. I sighed and looked at him. "Are you okay?" I frowned. I knew that nothing my father had said was true, but did he?

"I'd be lying if I said that his words didn't bother me." It made me wonder if I could even ask the questions I wanted to ask. The confidence I'd held was gone now.

Stuffing my hands into my back pockets I leaned my head back and sighed. "That...was not what I figured would happen. Not at all."