I watched Layla. Always. But it wasn't just because that was my job. It was because I wanted her, fucking badly. I wanted her to be mine, to never know the touch of another man, to look into my eyes and know I’d take care of her.

“Lachlan, location check-in.” Rocco’s voice came through in my earpiece.

“South building of Pearson Hall. Layla should be heading back to the estate within the next ten minutes. I’ll check in once en route.”

“Copy that.”

I leaned against a tree and watched as Layla spoke to some little asshole that I knew was in her economics class. The possessive side of me wanted to come out and stake its claim right then and there. Hell, I didn’t want anyone looking at her, let alone speaking with her.

I clenched my jaw as I watched him reach out and brush a strand of her hair from her shoulder. I wanted to go over there and beat the little fucker to the ground, but I had self-control, was trained to only make a move if absolutely necessary.

Me going over there and being a caveman, throwing her over my shoulder and stalking away to make my claim, was a bad fucking idea.

But even that small touch the asshole gives her pissed me the fuck off.

She was my job, or at least that’s what I tried to tell myself to make it easier to be around her. But being her bodyguard for the last two years made that an impossible task.

Her father, Jonathan Lancaster, was a senator. Even before that, his connections and social standings had made the wealthy tycoon take extra precautions to protect his family, which resulted in him hiring bodyguards twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

I’d been Layla Lancaster’s—Jonathan’s daughter—personal bodyguard for the last two years, before her father took office. I’d already deemed her as mine, even if I hadn’t been a man and told her.

She’d been eighteen at the time I was assigned to her, freshly graduated from high school and starting her first year of college. And from the moment I saw her, she was all I wanted.

From the moment I saw her, I knew she would be mine.

And I’d made sure during that whole time that she was always my priority, my permanent station. The very thought of somebody else protecting her, didn't sit well with me. I wanted to be the one that looked after her.

She ended up walking away from the douche and heading to her car. Layla was stubborn, but I fucking loved that about her. She was independent, which drove her father insane. That included her refusing to have a driver, which was what Jonathan Lancaster wanted. Instead she drove herself wherever she felt like going.

She could be a force to be reckoned with, and it made me want her more.

But the one thing her father would not budge on was her having a bodyguard.

And I was always here, because fuck all to hell if anything happened to her on my watch.

* * *

I felt him watching me. I always felt him watching me. Lachlan was always close to me, always making sure I was protected. He was this big, imposing man, intimidating and powerful, the bodyguard my father insisted I needed. At first it had infuriated me, made me feel dependent, not like myself.

But the truth was that feeling quickly diminished. For the last two years I’d been in love with Lachlan. I also knew nothing would ever come of it. I couldn’t be with him, not without causing issues with my father. It was that uncertainty that had me keeping my mouth shut and never telling anyone how I felt.

It took a few minutes to get away from Dean, one of the guys in my economics class, who was insistent I go out with him. He’d been pushing me for a date for the last month.

I headed to my car, knowing he was following me, feeling his gaze on me. When I got to my vehicle, I stopped at the driver’s side door and turned to look around. Although I knew he was out there, Lachlan was very good at keeping himself hidden. Maybe he thought his presence was unwanted, or he was trying to be professional. Truth was I wanted him close, but I was too afraid to actually admit that to anybody but myself.

Telling anyone that I had feelings for Lachlan, that I loved him wouldn't be good in the long run. My father would have issues with it for one thing. I loved my family, my father as well, but his standards and morals were old-school.

Lachlan and anyone who worked for him were his employees, the help. Although we had money, my father saw us as more than we were. I hated that about him.

I climbed into my car but didn't start it right away. I sat there for a few minutes just watching the students go in and out of the main building. I had insisted that I didn't want nor need a driver, even though my father wanted me to have one. But I’d agreed to have a bodyguard, as long as he didn’t interfere with my life.

That was before I realized I’d fallen in love with mine.

I finally started the car and headed toward the estate. I’d wanted to stay in the dorm, but again, my father had been too paranoid about that. I didn't fight him on everything, because I knew in his heart he was just worried and looking out for me.

I glanced in my rearview mirror a couple minutes into the drive and saw a dark SUV following closely behind. My heart beat harder, faster.

Lachlan.

He had this effect on me, this pull, this magnetism. God, if he were to ever touch me, pull me under his big, hard body, make me come…

I wasn’t ashamed to admit I fantasized about him more times than not. I’d touched myself, envisioned what it would feel like for him to take my virginity, to pop my cherry … make me his.

I wanted all of that. So much.