The Bodyguard

8

I bit the edge of my cup as my eyes darted around the room. The last party I went to was in July, and now I was at Lissa's annual Halloween basher. The four of us girls always picked a theme to go with. This year it was DC villains. Lissa, with her perfect long blonde hair went with Harley Quinn. Sydney went with Killer Frost, and Mia went with Cat Woman, leaving me with Poison Ivy.

I had to admit, with Dimitri following through with teaching me how to spar and our weekly rock climbing, I looked fantastic. My mother rolled her eyes at the state of my costume, but I like it. But a part of me genuinely wondered if Dimitri liked it. I silently thought he did with how careful he was when he looked at me, and how his eyes stayed firmly at mine.

But I couldn't exactly call my costume a costume, it was more like a ivy bikini and vining wrapped around my legs and nylons. I looked hot, and I was very proud of it. Lissa fanned herself dramatically when I came out of her bathroom with it on. I used a can of red hair spray to make my hair red and I added some glitter over my body to complete the effect.

"Too much?" I had asked the girls, but they all shook their heads.

"No. We're all glad to see some of old Rose out and about these days," Sydney said with a smile, "You look hot!"

But now, in the middle of the party, I was a little hesitant. I knew almost every person here, and still, I went uneasy.

An arm slipped around my waist and I jumped, my fist balling before noticing it was just Lissa's older brother Andre.

"Why are you hiding in the corner?" he yelled in my ear.

"I needed a minute!" I replied, my eyes moving around the room. "Have you seen my cowboy?"

Andre jerked his head to the side. "Just a few feet away."

I looked and spotted Dimitri a few feet over, talking to Tasha with hawk eyes on the party. He glanced in my direction, but must have been aware of where I was this whole time. I wasn't exaggerating when I called him a cowboy. All he did was wear cowboy boots with his duster and put on a hat.

"How have you been doing?"

I turned and looked at him, nodding slowly. "I'm doing okay. Better. The nightmares aren't as frequent," I said, "But I still get anxious out in public without someone else there."

Andre smiled. "It's progress," he said with a nod. I nodded too and gestured to my cup before departing. I was doing good so far. I had only had three since I got here, and we were well into the night. I slipped into the kitchen, seeing the hired bartender at the island.

"Can I get a whiskey smash?" I asked. She nodded and took my cup, and I leaned against the counter. I looked over when I heard the shuffle of feet. It was a shuffle I started to recognize. Dimitri was light-footed, but he always tried to make noise so he didn't startle me.

"Hey," I said with a smile.

"Hey. I figured I would escape while I can. Tasha keeps trying to hook me up with people at the party," Dimitri said and reached for a beer in the cooler. I snorted a laugh.

"Hey, it's not like you couldn't find someone good here," I joked.

Dimitri smirked and popped the cap off the beer and took a sip, leaning against the counter as well.

"Yeah, but it doesn't help that one, I have my eye on someone, and two, my job makes it a little difficult to start a relationship."

I bit my lip. I was a little disappointed to hear him say that. I had started to develop some heavy feelings for him over the last few months. We had our own jokes, and special ringtones, he would offer for me to come walk Bailey with him on his day off. There were a few times when he would work from his place, and I would spend my day cuddling with Bailey and gang up on Dimitri while Ivan taught me words in Russian.