"I accepted the job for the money" he said finally, his voice deeper than usual. As for sending another member to my team to do the job, I didn't, because my team members have other jobs to handle and your father requested that I be the one to do this... Not my fault that he has so much faith in me" He said.
Kimberly thought he was being cocky, but she didn't say that out loud. She rolled her eyes instead. "I think you are really annoying yourself. You judge before you even get to know me for God knows what reason. You're rude and I think the only thing worse than being kidnapped is being stuck in a house with you." she said.
One side of his mouth lifted in a grin. A flirty boyish grin that made her feel all weird inside. Like she amused him. "Do you really think that?" he asked calmly.
Kimberly decided to reply to that question. So she said instead. "What I think doesn't matter. Obviously, we don't like each other very much, but we're stuck with each other and if we are going to do this, we are going to have to find a way to get along" .
"We don't have to get along," Asher said calmly. "That is not part of my job. I'm not here to be friends with you... or get along with you. Whatever that is. I'm here to protect you, and I intend to do so and do my best, but getting along with you is not one of the reasons why I'm here, so I suggest you drop the idea"
Kimberly wondered if she had ever been that embarrassed in her entire life, because she was sure that if she had, she would gladly go back to that moment. It surely wouldn't beat this moment with Asher Adams.
"Fine. Suit yourself" she said, trying to sound unaffected. She rose and began to clear the dishes. Asher helped, surprisingly, but it was all done in even more awkward silence and Kimberly couldn't wait to be done with it.
After she returned the dishes to the appropriate places, she mumbled a good night to him, not caring if he said it back, but she was surprised when she saw that he was right behind her. She stopped and stared at him, clearly confused about what the hell he was doing.
He read the look on her face.
""I'm going to look in your room, okay?" he said. "I have looked around the house, except in there because I didn't want to intrude. I'd like to know the layout, just in case."
Kimberly wanted to argue, but was trying to channel her inner Spears' manners. She still rolled her eyes though.
"Sure, why not?" She said carelessly. She let him follow her to her bedroom door and swung it wide open for him. "Knock yourself out."
He moved past her, into the room. For a moment she worried about her more intimate things being left out in the open, but it was a baseless fear. She was meticulous, a trait that had bled over from her professional life into her personal one. She'd already unpacked and sorted her things.
"Satisfied?" she asked as she folded her hands across her chest. The gesture brought his attention to her chest as it raised her breasts, but he looked away slowly. Looking at her that way wasn't going to help.
"Yes," he said.
"Then goodnight" she snapped.
He didn't move for a few seconds.
"Very well," he finally replied. "I understand you will be going to your office tomorrow to take care of things. What time will you be leaving exactly?"
"Eight o'clock" Kimberly replied.
"I will be ready by seven o'clock tomorrow morning then." Asher said.
"That's not necessary. I have never had a bodyguard before and I'm not used to this. I honestly don't think I will ever be. But you don't have to come to the office with me. It's not like I will be going there everyday now... Thanks to you and my Dad, I will be doing most of my work from home and only go there when it's necessary"
"I don't agree with you," he said quickly. "If you are my charge, then when you wake, I will be here, and If you are going to the office, I have to come with you. I do not end my day until you do. That is my job"
She bit her lip again and his eyes followed the movement. "I don't expect you to shadow me for so long during the day. I assure you that I'm fine."she said.
"Kimberly," he began. That was the first time he had ever called her by her name, Kimberly noticed, and for some weird reason she liked the sound of it coming from him. She shook the thought out of her head. It didn't matter how hot he was.. Or how attracted she was to him. The man was still an annoying douchebag.
"When I'm given a job" he continued. "I am expected to carry it out word for word," he explained with something that sounded like a tinge of bitterness in his words. "I was given the task of protecting you. I will take it very seriously, as I do all things."
His words weren't loud, but the promise in them was, and Kimberly was so startled by it, she nearly missed his next words.
"I should go," he said. "I have several other things to take care of tonight."
"Yes, of course," she muttered a quick reply to his statement about leaving her for the night. "Please, do what you must." she said.
He nodded, backed towards the door, and left the room. Kimberly stared at it, her heart pounding. She barely had time to run through their very brief conversation when a knock echoed through her room.
She went to the door and opened it. He was standing there. "Call me you need something, or if you are suspicious about anything... No matter what it is" he said.
"Sure. Thanks " Kimberly said before she shut the door.
-------------------
He didn't turn away until the door closed securely and he heard the lock click home. The second he stepped away, his hands fidgeted against his leg and he cursed. Barely a day spent around that woman, and he knew she was going to be trouble.