She looked at me, trying to ascertain why I thought I was in trouble.

“I didn’t tell Ryan… yet. He’s going to be so pissed.”

“Did something happen between you two? I mean, you and Kyle?” she corrected.

“No, there’s nothing going on.” I looked over my shoulder to see if I could spot him in the poolroom. Our eyes accidentally made contact and I watched him set his pool stick up against the wall and head in my direction.

“Hey Taryn! What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Kyle asked.

I shook my head. “No, I have a cold.”

Other thoughts ran through my head, like how much I wished Ryan was here so I didn’t have to try and explain all of this over a cell phone. The crowd in the bar was definitely manageable but I started washing dirty drink glasses anyway. Cory looked at me like I was crazy – little did he know I was using it as an excuse to get away from gorgeous Kyle.

“Boss, what are you doing?” Cory grumbled, dropping the bottle of house whiskey back in the tray.

Marie grabbed my arm and hauled me away from the sink. “Go back upstairs. This is all under control. You’re sick. You need to go rest!” she ordered, loud enough for Kyle to hear.

Kyle waved his fingers in the air to say goodbye but I ignored him and kept on walking. The way I felt was odd. Kyle was a professional bodyguard; his presence should have made me feel safe and secure but instead I felt the complete opposite of that. His presence around me was surprisingly dangerous.

It was almost noon on Saturday when my doorbell rang, rousing me from my comfortable resting spot on the couch. I pulled my hair back in a hair tie and grabbed a few tissues along my way.

Kyle was standing in my alley with a large, brown paper bag in his arms. “Hey, how are you feeling?” he asked.

Oh, God, why are you torturing me?

“Worse, actually,” I squeaked.

He held out the grocery bag. “I got you some supplies,” he said happily. “Thought you might need some of this stuff.”

He followed me up to my apartment and set the bag on my coffee table.

“Tissues, nighttime cold medicine, daytime cold medicine, cough drops, and a whole container of chicken noodle soup from my favorite corner deli.” He pulled each item out of the bag. “Oh, and some crackers.”

“Thanks, but you shouldn’t have,” I muttered. Little did he know how many facets that one statement had. I knew for a fact that he had to drive over an hour to get here. It wasn’t like Kyle lived right up the street or anything. He was definitely going out of his way to see me.

“Would you like some soup now?” he asked, testing the temperature of the container with his hand. “It’s still slightly warm.”

I nodded and started to stand up. Some hot soup sounded appealing for my sore throat.

“Sit down!” he insisted. “I’m pretty sure I can figure out how to use your microwave.”

My eyes traveled to watch his incredible body and his nice ass walk towards my kitchen. I covered my eyes and rubbed my face to banish the thoughts. I had to get him out of my apartment – as soon as possible. Then another thought flashed through my mind. This wasn’t just my apartment anymore. This apartment was a home that I chose to share with Ryan; a home where we were living together in happiness and where no other man should be standing.

“Careful, it may be too hot now,” Kyle cautioned, handing a mug of soup to me.

“Thanks,” my voice strained as I set the cup down on the table. “Kyle? I appreciate all of this, but why… why are you here?”

“What, we’re not allowed to be friends?” he quickly replied.

I thought about his question for a moment and replied with one of my own. “If your girlfriend was traveling out of town for work, do you think she’d appreciate another woman being in her home while she was gone?”

“What does that have to do with us being friends?” he countered.

As sick as I felt, I still wasn’t falling for his bullshit. “I don’t think you’re here because you want to just be friends.”

“You think I have some ulterior motive?” Kyle questioned my glare.

“Please!” I squeaked. “You’re a man; you have a pulse. Don’t question my intelligence.” I wiped my snotty nose with a tissue, hoping that would discourage his thoughts even more.

“All right. To tell you the truth, when I saw that you were flying home alone I thought that maybe you and pretty boy broke up. I mean, you’ve got to admit that being with him definitely has its drawbacks!”