Free Give in to Me by K. M. Scott Page B

is any clue to how she’s feeling,” I said, leveling my gaze on the one who’d convinced me the whole Nina and Varo plan was a good idea.
    “Nah, she seemed fine the last time I saw her. She didn’t take to the Varo idea easily, but she seemed okay with it by the time I left. Not that I gave her much of a choice.”
    “Well, between the time you left and the time I received her last text, things obviously changed. She’s anything but okay now.”
    “Why? What’s up? She can’t pretend to like Varo? I guess we could have chosen West, but he’s got a weird vibe to him.”
    “It’s not the Varo part so much as the problem between her and Jordan. I guess Jordan liked Varo and Nina’s charade may have been a little too convincing. She moved out.”
    Daryl rolled his eyes and sighed. “So? I wasn’t feeling great about her friend there anyway. Too many players in the game makes this whole thing more difficult to manage.”
    I thought about how angry Nina’s text sounded. I’d asked a lot of her, but losing her friend was too much to expect. “Jordan’s like a sister to Nina. She’s upset about her leaving the house. I didn’t want that to happen. Maybe you could remember how hard this is on her.”
    “Tristan, I do understand the hardship of losing her friend, but losing her life or you would be infinitely worse, don’t you think? She and her friend can make up when all this is over. They can go shopping or do whatever women do when they make nice.”
    It wasn’t up to Daryl or anyone else to make up for all this. I knew that. I was the one who’d have to make amends for the mess of all this.
    “How did Varo take his new assignment?” I asked, trying to mask the jealousy that lingered inside me.
    Chuckling, Daryl stroked his beard. “Considering how it’s a step up from his regular job, he wisely smiled and happily moved his things into the house. It’s not like it’s a chore, really. He’s just adding devoted suitor to protector. He’ll be fine.”
    Devoted suitor and protector. I hated the way Daryl described Varo with those words. I was supposed to be that for Nina, not some bodyguard I’d only hired because of his size.
    “He shouldn’t get too comfortable in his new surroundings. I intend on being back in my own house as soon as possible.”
    My jealousy came through loud and clear, and Daryl knew it. He looked at me as if I were some lovesick puppy to be pitied. I didn’t care. He was just some cynical curmudgeon who thought little of love. So be it. I didn’t need his approval anyway. All I needed was his help to get back to the woman I loved and the life I’d left behind.
    “Not to worry. Varo’s not Nina’s type. I suspect, if those muscles aren’t all from nature, he’s not her friend’s type either,” he said with a chuckle.
    “What?” I asked, feeling the smallest relief from his words.
    “Nothing. We have more important things to do than gossip about lovesick girls like hens. It’s time you returned to the land of the living. Get your stuff, but don’t bother shaving.” He looked me up and down and added, “You look like you’ve been sleeping with your head in manure. That’s good, though. The longer hair works for what we need.”
    I hadn’t touched a razor to my face more than three times in the past months, even after I’d decided to quit losing myself in coke and alcohol. After the initial itchiness, I’d gotten used to the beard and seen it as yet another thing I didn’t have to bother with every day. Not that I had a lot to deal with other than cultivating my self-loathing and missing Nina.
    The hair, on the other hand, drove me crazy. I’d kept my hair short since I became CEO of Stone Worldwide, and having it hang in my eyes was a pain in the ass.
    “I look almost as bad as you,” I joked as I began to gather my things into a duffel bag.
    “You wish you looked that good in a beard. You kids today don’t appreciate the fine art of the beard,” he