The question was what?
A knock sounded on the door, and I rolled out of bed wearing nothing but a pair of boxers. If someone wanted to knock on my door at this ungodly hour in the morning, then I reserved the right to open it half naked.
But when I opened the door, I wished I’d put some clothes on.
Senator Wallington, Carrie’s father in the flesh, stood on my porch staring at me with what I could only describe as speculation in his eyes. Fucking sneaky bastard. I stepped in the doorway, not letting him inside. “Sir? I didn’t realize you were texting me from my porch.”
“I figured as much.” He looked over my shoulder, so I closed the door even more. “Yet…here I am.”
He craned his neck to try and see past me, but I didn’t budge. Boss or not, he didn’t get to drop in at my place unexpected like this. And Carrie’s clothes were all over my room right now since I hadn’t cleaned them up.
If he came in, he’d know. And I’d be done for.
“Is there something I can do for you, sir?”
“Yes.” He crossed his arms over his flawless gray suit. Behind him, security stood in their black suits and shades, watching us both Men in Black style. Did I look that constipated when I stood behind the senator, not moving or talking? “You can let me inside, for starters.”
I motioned down my body, my other hand gripping the door as tightly as I could. “It’s a mess and I’m not dressed. I wasn’t prepared for company.”
“I don’t care if it’s a mess, and it’s nothing I haven’t seen before,” he said simply, his voice perfectly calm. His eyes moved over my tattoos, seeming to fall upon each and every one. Then he snapped his attention to my face again. “Let me inside, Coram.”
I knew he wouldn’t walk away, and since he was my boss, I couldn’t exactly refuse him entry. Fuck, I wanted to. Standing here talking to Carrie’s dad while half naked with the scratches down my back that she’d made were perfectly visible was not my idea of a good start to my day.
I tugged on my hair and sighed. “You’ll need to at least give me a second to pick up a little bit. Give me that much.”
“You hiding something, Griffin Coram?”
I winced, hating the fact that I was being forced to lie again. I’d hoped my lying days were over when Carrie figured out who I was, yet here I was—lying through my teeth to her father—my boss. “No, sir. The only thing I’m hiding is a mess that I’d rather you not see.”
He sighed impatiently. “Go on, then. Clean up and throw some clothes on. We’ll go out to eat once you’re clean enough.”
I nodded and closed the door in his face, taking a second to brace myself for the upcoming confrontation. If he was taking me out to eat, then it couldn’t be a bad thing that he was here, could it? Fuck if I knew.
I pushed off the door and made quick work of throwing on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. Next, I tossed all of Carrie’s clothes into a box, along with the pink hangers, and shoved it under my bed. After I made my bed, I stepped back and did a once-over of my place.
It looked Carrie-free again, unfortunately.
I smoothed my hands over my hair, took a calming breath, and opened the door. Senator Wallington still stood there, looking as poised as ever. I motioned him in. “If you’d like to come in now, you can.”
The senator walked in, his gaze scanning the interior. His eyes seemed to touch upon anything and everything he could without digging through my drawers. I couldn’t help but shift on my feet uneasily. Knowing my luck, I’d probably missed something. Maybe I’d left out a shirt or a hair tie.
He turned to me with his brows up. “This big enough for you? I can get you a bigger place if you prefer.”
And just like that? The stress faded away. If he was talking about getting me a bigger apartment, I wasn’t getting fired. It pretty much ruled out the possibility of there being another security guy out here with us. If he knew I was in love with his daughter, I would be at the business end of a fist right now.
Everything had to be okay. And my father would still get his retirement pension, and all was okay in the world. Minus the fact that I was a big fat fucking liar.
I forced a smile. “I’m fine here, sir. It’s close to campus, and that makes my job easier.”
“Good.” He slid his phone into his pocket, his eyes on my bed. Could he tell that only a few hours earlier, his daughter had been with me in that bed he studied so closely? “Why do you have two surfboards in here?”
My breath slammed out of me. I eyed Carrie’s blue surfboard and thanked God she didn’t pick a girly one. “Why not? I like variety.”
He gave me a hard look and sighed. “Let’s go.”
“After you, sir,” I said quietly. I followed him outside, my palms sweating the whole time. I scanned the faces of the guards following the senator, then slid my shades onto my nose. “Cortez. Morris. Nice to see you again.”
“You look different out of a suit, Coram,” Morris said, his voice flat. “Like a surfer boy.”
I was a surfer boy, but I kept my mouth shut on that matter.
“You look different in one while standing in California.” I shrugged. “I need to blend in, so surfer boy I am.”
“Makes sense,” Cortez said.
“Yeah. How many of you are there out here?”
“Just us, to the best of my knowledge,” Cortez said, his eyes on the senator, who walked in front of us. “But with the senator?” Cortez caught my gaze, not dropping it. “You never know.”
Well, shit. That sounded an awful lot like a warning. “I’ll remember that.”
“You should,” Cortez said, motioning me forward into the town car.
I nodded to both of them, then slid into the back of the car, settling into the far side of the seat to make room for all four of us. I kept replaying Cortez’s words in my head, dissecting them and trying to make sense out of the whole thing.
My mind raced and my heart raced even faster. Was Cortez trying to warn me about something? Maybe he was trying to tell me that the senator had sent another man out here. If so, it would mean Carrie and I wouldn’t even be able to be together. Could I handle that?
I’d been waiting to come clean for my father, but if I couldn’t even see the woman I loved, would it be so cut and dry? Suddenly, I wasn’t so sure about that.
When the senator sat beside me and closed the door, I blinked at him. “Where’s the rest of your team, sir?”
“They’ll watch Carrie today. After all, I have you with me.”
“I don’t even have my weapon, sir.” I tapped my fingers on my knee. “It doesn’t go with the clothes.”
He waved a hand. “It’s fine. I doubt we’ll be attacked at breakfast.”
“All right.” I cocked a brow and buckled up, not sure how to take the senator’s behavior. “She’ll see them in those suits.”
“I know.” He shrugged and looked out the window, gripping the side of the door so tight his knuckles showed. His entire body screamed of impatience and anger and something a hell of a lot like knowledge. “She knows they’re here now, so she won’t question it.”
Okay, he had a point, but she wouldn’t like them being there. I fidgeted with my seatbelt, but forced myself to stop. It made me look guilty—which I was. Damn it, I hated this shit. Maybe I should come clean. Spit it out. Get it over with.
He wouldn’t really cut off my father without a penny, would he? I didn’t know, and I couldn’t take that chance. If it were just me, I would open my mouth right now and tell him I loved his precious daughter. I’d accept the consequences of my actions. But with Dad months away from retirement, I couldn’t take that chance.