My Bodyguard Keeps My Secrets And My Underwear Chapter 05

My Bodyguard Keeps My Secrets And My Underwear Chapter 05

After that, I stopped chasing Preston. I redirected all that energy toward Declan instead – by making him

tutor me.

Kensington Enterprises was my father’s company, and I was the only heir. Sooner or later, it would fall on my shoulders.

Declan had always been terrifyingly smart

the kind of student no one could touch in class. My dad had

made me take martial arts as a kid – self–defense, he said. I was hopeless at it. Declan, who’d sat through every class beside me, picked it all up like it was nothing.

He had his black belt before most people had their driver’s license.

He never partied, never went clubbing – the complete opposite of someone like Preston, who treated nightlife like his second major.

“Miss, if you’re not going to focus, don’t bother.”

He was close

too close. His breath grazed my ear, and I caught something clean and warm on his skin.

Was he wearing cologne?

I tilted my head to look.

Dark eyes behind long lashes, locked on the page. His mouth kept moving, but the words stopped reaching

me.
His voice was flat, clinical.

His eyes gave away nothing.

“I I get it now,” I stammered, sure he’d caught me staring.

His gaze flicked to my face for half a second. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to.

I clearly still didn’t get it, because he picked up the pen and walked me through it again without complaint.

My face burned. I was sure he thought I was an idiot and that was exactly the push I needed. After that, I went all in.

I paid attention in every class. I read during meals. I listened to business podcasts on my walks across campus.

Everyone who knew me thought I’d lost my mind. The Harper they knew was the spoiled party girl who couldn’t spell “ambition” the one whose only hobby was stalking Preston.

[Why is the villainess suddenly grinding?? Is this another play for the male lead’s attention?]

[Lol the villain is FUMING – he bought another collar. And it’s pink again. This man memorized her favorite color, I can’t.]

[He put it in his nightstand too. He’s not even trying to hide it lmao.]

The comments never stopped. Most of them were about Preston and Hazel’s slow–burn romance, and I learned to tune those out.

But whenever Declan’s name came up, my attention snagged.

Another collar.

Pink.

In his nightstand.

Curiosity won.

I crossed the room in a few quick strides.

His room was empty. I straightened up, and my eyes went straight to the nightstand.

One look inside that drawer, and I’d know if the comments were lying.

For the record, I’d never been the sneaky type. Even when I did awful things, I did them loudly and with my name all over them.

Sneaking around someone’s bedroom was new territory.

My mouth went dry.

Curiosity won.

I crossed the room in three quick steps.

One look.

That was all I needed.

My fingers had just brushed the handle when a voice low, rough, entirely too close

“Looking for something, Miss?”

I turned, slowly, like a kid caught stealing.

Declan stood in the bathroom doorway, fresh from the shower.

A towel around his waist. Another draped around his neck. His hair still dripping.

A bead of water traced a line from his jaw down his neck, over the ridges of his abs, and disappeared into the

towel at his hips.

I was staring.

I knew I was staring.

I was staring.

I knew I was staring.

My brain was screaming at me to stop, my face was on fire, and I still couldn’t look away.

“Put some clothes on

right now!”

He didn’t. Instead, he started walking toward me.

Step by agonizingly slow step.

I backed up until my back hit the wall, and there was nowhere left to go.

“Don’t come any closer! I swear I’ll have my dad fire you!”

Both my palms were flat against his chest – holding him back, not pulling him closer, definitely not pulling him closer. I turned my face away, cheeks scorching, my voice coming out way too high.

The threat didn’t land.

His eyes stayed locked on my face, dark and unreadable.

Like he was memorizing every shade of red I turned.

“Do you know how this looks, Miss

sneaking into my room in the middle of the night?”

“I – I don’t!”

I shoved him back and bolted.

Back in my room, I wanted to scream.

The house staff had told me he was out!

And I still hadn’t seen what was in that drawer.

If anything, now I wanted to know even more.

The next day, Preston cornered me in the hallway – in front of everyone.

“I’m begging you, Harper – drop the act. You don’t have to pretend to study just to get my attention.”

He paused, making sure the whole hallway could hear. “I don’t like you. I won’t like you if you suddenly play the genius. I wouldn’t like you if you were the last girl on earth. Are we clear?”

Disgust was written all over his face – until Hazel walked past.

Then his whole expression changed.

He watched her like she was the only person in the building.

I was wallpaper.

She was the view.

[I’m gonna be sick. Why does she keep throwing herself at this man?]

[She literally used her family’s money and connections to bail him out – fixed his family’s problems, helped him climb, everything. And NOW he thinks she’s gross??]

[GIRL. WAKE. UP. Stop letting the script control you.]

[I’m so mad. She needs to stop trying for him!]

I wasn’t studying for Preston.

I was doing it for my family’s future!

But he really thought he could humiliate me in front of the entire hallway?

Before I could open my mouth, a fist shot past me from behind and sent Preston crashing to the floor.

“Who the hell do you think you are? You’re not even good enough to look at her.”

[YES. FINALLY.]

[The villain is RIGHT. She’s out of the male lead’s league and everyone in this story knows it!!]

Hazel pushed through the crowd the second Preston hit the ground and pulled him to his feet. She opened her mouth to defend him then saw who’d thrown the punch.

The fight drained from her face.

She turned back to Preston, torn between worry and frustration.

“The dean warned you about getting into fights. Why do you keep doing this?”

[Wait – the female lead is into the villain right now?? But she kinda likes the male lead too…]

[OH. It’s a love square.]

[Spoiler alert – the villain is the female lead’s first love, and the male lead is the one she actually marries.]

(A scholarship girl and a foster kid. Of course they get each other. Of course they’d bond.]

[The villain is going to fall for the female lead eventually. The villainess was only ever a placeholder.]