I was in the backseat of a Mercedes C class, zooming down the road taking me home. Matt was no longer the jovial guy I had come to know in Paris. His answers were short and professional. I tried telling him that we knew each other, but apparently now that I was officially dating Brian, everything had changed.

Thirty minutes later, we parked in front of the house. It was even more beautiful than in the pictures.

I opened the door and stepped out. Not two seconds later, Hank and Thomas rushed from the car behind us to flank me, while Matt rounded the car.

It took me a second to realize that I had lost privilege to open doors for myself. To apologize without words, I handed Matt the key set.

He snatched them from my hand.

We walked to the front door. I expected them to check the perimeter, but after Matt had the door unlocked, I was ushered inside. I barely had time to admire the décor, because Matt led me to the kitchen.

The small, white table with the four white chairs made me fall in love with the place a little more.

“Please take a seat, Mr. Taylor,” Matt said softly.

I sat in one of the chair. He sat across from me with Thomas to his right. Hank chose to stand by the sink, facing the door behind me. After looking at the other two, I noticed Thomas had his eyes out the window, and Matt was staring at me.

“No one is going to jump me here,” I protested. “Can I at least take a look around? You guys are ruining my experience in seeing the house for the first time.”

Matt pulled out a list and placed it on the table. “This copy is yours. We want to run it by you before we allow you to accommodate.”

I took the list, skimming over it. There was a lot of ‘Mr. Taylor is not allowed to’ and ‘Mr. Taylor should not be alone at any time’ and ‘If by some unfathomable reason something happens to Mr. Taylor, or he gets lost in a crowd, operation Extraction is in motion immediately.’ The list went on and on.

“Am I even allowed to breathe without you guys checking if I do it correctly?” I groaned.

“This is nothing to joke about. Ben said you’d be difficult,” Matt muttered.

“You know I’m not difficult! If you’re not up my ass twenty-four out of seven, I don’t mind company that keeps me safe.” I glared at him.

“Well, I’m not your company. I’m not your friend. I’m your protection – and so are these two. If you listen to us, we get along. You don’t listen to us, we’ll have a problem,” Matt explained quietly.

“Fine. Now can you leave me so I can have some peace?”

“We are not going anywhere,” Hank said sternly. “Maybe you didn’t hear Matt correctly. We’re your protection, Mr. Taylor.”

I stood up, heading to the door. I spun around when I heard their chairs scraping against the floor. “I dare any of you to follow me!”

I spared a look at the living room and sitting room, before I took the stairs to find the master bedroom. I closed and locked the door behind me. The canopy bed was soft as I crawled in the middle of it.

What the hell had been in my head to accept this insanity?

Why didn’t we think it through? Doing it so publicly, the whole country – fuck, the whole world – knew who Brian was dating.

I curled up, closing my eyes.

.

.

.

I startled awake by knocking on the bedroom door.

“Go the fuck away,” I shouted, ready to put up a fight. Couldn’t I get any peace? Did they have to come and check if I had been abducted?

“It’s me,” Brian answered softly.

I sprinted to the door, unlocking and wrenching it open.

The smile on his face fell when he took a good look at me. I hastily touched my tear-stained cheeks, then dove into his arms.

“Please make them leave. I don’t want them in our house,” I begged.

“I already talked to them. Ben might have not been clear. The house across the street is for the security,” he explained.

“Oh.”

Brian brushed the back of his hand over my cheek. “I’m sorry I upset you so much. It was never my intention.”

“I’ll be fine. I just need to wrap my head around all…”

“It took me a while to get used to the security, but they become shadows in the background if you don’t mind them. There is rarely a situation for them to show their faces.”

“So I won’t have Matt on my ass if I go to the corner store?” I checked.

“Definitely not. I’ll have him murdered if he goes anywhere near your ass.” Brian walked me backwards in the room. He pushed me on the bed, grinning. “They’ll keep their distance. You’ll see that they’ll become your friends soon.”

“Matt said they’re not my friends. They’re my protection. I thought I was kinda friends with Matt after all we’ve been through in Europe.”

Brian shot me a puzzled look. “Damn. I wonder what Ben told them to scare them so badly.”

I rolled around so I was on top of Brian. “So Ben took me to his office while they had their little meeting. How on earth did he get a Purple Heart?”

Brian placed his hands on my sides, not meeting my eyes. “Why don’t you ask him? Now…time to christen this bed.”

I licked my lips. “Are we alone?”

“Yes.” He kissed me deeply. “All yours until tomorrow afternoon when I have to go to a TV show, then I’m back here until Monday morning.”

“Perfect.” I hurried to undress him, afraid our time would be up any moment.

Brian stilled my hands on his shirt. “My phone is downstairs. The country could burn and I wouldn’t care.”

I bit on my lips, amazed how much he cared for me, how willing he was to forget his job just to be with me.

By the time we were naked, I was a mass of neediness with desire coursing through my veins. Brian took his time to prep me, before pushing me against the pillows. I hooked my legs around his waist as he slowly inched inside me.

As much as I loved the slow lovemaking, I wanted more. I lifted my hips faster, and when Brian kept my thighs in a vice grip, I flopped him on his back, taking charge. I kissed his throat while bouncing on his lap.

We found our completion too soon, but I knew there was more to come.

“And when we met you were a Top?” Brian chuckled.

I blushed horrible. “I’ve always been a Bottom, but I never found the Top to satisfy me.”

Brian rolled his eyes. “You have a way with words, Painter Boy.”

I rolled on my side, tracing patterns on his chest with my fingers. “If I did, I’d be the Writer Boy. But words don’t come easy...so I paint.”

“Please keep talking in clichés.”

“You’re in a good mood, Mr. President.” I winked, diving in for a kiss.

“Fucking usually puts me in a good mood.” He stretched out, before swinging his long legs over the edge of the bed. He came to my side, taking my hand. “Let me show you the house. The guys said you locked yourself in here after hearing about your unfortunate future.”

I pulled on my boxers, while Brian chose to remain naked. I would probably never have so much confidence as him, but with that body, I would too be eager to show it to the whole world.

We walked around slowly, Brian pointing out rooms and what they could be turned into. We agreed I would use his study as my place to draw if inspiration stroke while at home.

“Can you give me the name of that friend of yours with the gallery? But don’t tell him I’m coming. I want him to decide based on my portfolio.”

“Let me give you his number, but you can drop by to the gallery,” he said.

In the kitchen we found Brian's phone on the counter. He peered at the screen, frowning. “Shit,” he spat.

“What,” I whispered, afraid to hear his answer.

“There’s a fucking dinner party at the Russian Embassy this Saturday.” Brian typed furiously, muttering when his phone pinged with answers. Then he simply called whoever he was talking to.

I busied myself by checking the cabinets and fridge. The pantry was fully stocked.

“What do you mean plus one,” Brian hissed. My hand froze on an apple I had grabbed. “Justin is not ready for that shit. And frankly, neither I am.” Brian groaned, leaving the kitchen.

I stared at my apple. Was I ready for a fancy dinner at Brian's elbow? Nerves swarm in my stomach.

Brian returned to my side, visibly upset. “Up for your first event as First Gentleman?”

I rolled my eyes. “Please never call me that.”

There was a knock on the front door. When Brian made his way to the hallway, I grabbed his shoulder. “Put some clothes on.”

“Like you’re any more dressed.” But he disappeared up the stairs.

I cracked the door open to see Ben on the porch. He pushed his way inside, sparing me a look. “Where’s Brian?”

“Upstairs?”

“What the hell happened to his phone?”

“If it isn’t Big and Burly, or was it Bulky?” Brian shot me a smile, descending. He had a silk robe on him.

“Bulky,” I mumbled.

Ben rolled his eyes. “I got a hold of Mrs. Wonderlust.”

I tried not to laugh at the name, not knowing who the woman was.

“Good. Did she agree to lend me some of her boys?” Brian asked eagerly.

“The price is absurd.”

“The price doesn’t matter. Did you get to meet these two boys? They look so much like Justin it’s uncanny.”

“You’re paranoid,” Ben exclaimed.

“Is that any way to talk to me, Bruckner?”

“When you lose all your sense, YES!”

“What’s going on,” I asked in a small voice. Brian wanted call boys that looked like me?

Brian turned to me, beaming. “I had this genius idea earlier. You gave me this idea, actually. I want to hire two escort boys as being you – tricking the press with your whereabouts.”

“That’s not half a bad idea,” I agreed after a little thinking.

Ben huffed. “Well, you’ll have to talk to Mrs. Wonderlust yourself. She’s not willing to allow some of her best escorts to be tired or unavailable if a customer wants them.”

“In what part of my speech was I not clear? I want them. As in I want them to ditch that old bitch and work for me. They’ll sign a non-disclosure contract and live in nice places.”

“Is that such a good idea? To trust them so much?” Ben checked.

“They’ll have a bodyguard each. They’ll be too afraid to cross them. I was thinking…Vinnie and Scott.”

Ben snorted. “That sounds better. They’ll live in constant terror with a Navy SEAL on their tail, but such is life. They’ll do it for the money.”

“That’s what I hope. Go back and don’t return without them,” Brian demanded.

“This gets all sorts of complicated,” I mumbled.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”