Passenger Princess: A Grumpy Sunshine Bodyguard Pageant Queen Romance (Evergreen Park Book 1)

Jaime picks me up bright and early from my apartment and helps me haul my shit down to the SUV. I ended up fitting it all into the two suitcases and one smaller duffel, a purse, and a ‘car bag’ stuffed to the brim. I did my best, really, I did.

When everything is in, I grab my car bag and start to set up the passenger seat for myself, pulling out my fluffy pink blanket.

‘What are you doing?’ he asks, his hand on the top of the car door, watching me as I drape my blanket over the seat just in case I get chilly.

‘What?’

‘Get in the car. What are you doing?’

‘I’m setting up my seat. We’ve got, like, a four-hour drive.’

Reaching into my bag, I pull out my water bottle and place it in the pocket on the side of the door, followed by a few snacks for easy reach. Finally, I take out a book, my clear and pink pouch with a letter A on it stuffed with pens, tabs, and highlighters, my headphones, my Nintendo Switch, and my phone before finally sliding into the seat and buckling in. He continues to stand here, hand-on the doorframe, showing off arms I definitely should not think look delicious.

‘A real passenger princess, aren’t you?’Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

‘The only real way to travel,’ I say with a smile.

He rolls his eyes, checking to make sure nothing is hanging out of the car before slamming the door shut.

And then we’re off on our adventure.

Jaime is silent as we drive to our first stop in Connecticut. Each time I attempt to start a conversation with him, he grunts out the most basic reply before going completely quiet again, the only noise in the car being the sound of the GPS giving the occasional direction.

Finally, I set down my game and sigh. “I’m bored.”

“We’ve only been in the car for an hour.”

“But it’s been a boring hour.”

“You’re in for a boring summer if you can’t entertain yourself for an hour on a road trip. We’ll be doing a lot of driving in the next three months. Weren’t you just playing a video game?” he asks, and I frown.

“Yeah, but I need to make a pink flower, and I can’t figure it out.”

“What kind of game are you playing where you need to make flowers?”

“A cozy faerie game,” I say with a smile.

“No wonder you’re bored,” he says under his breath. and I roll my eyes before shifting in my seat, smiling at the big man beside me.

“Let’s play twenty questions.”

“What?”

“Twenty questions. I get twenty questions to ask about you.”

There’s a pause before he responds. “I don’t think that’s how you play that game.”

“We’re playing twenty questions, Ava’s version.” He sighs, and it makes me smile wider. Something about knowing I’m getting under his skin makes me giggle and fills me with sunshine.

“Why do you want to ask me questions?” he asks.

“I’ve decided I want to get to know you, Jaime Wilde.”

“What?”

“We’re going to be stuck together for the entire summer, a lot of it will be spent with just the two of us. Shouldn’t we know a bit about each other?”

“I’m good. I think I know all I need to know about you, and I don’t think you need to know anything about me in order to do your job.”

I roll my eyes and reposition myself in my seat, staring out the windshield away from him. “God, who hurt you?” I say under my breath.

“What?”

“Clearly, some woman hurt you, and you’re taking it out on me. Did she like to do her nails and wear makeup? Was she a girly girl who broke your heart or something?”

“No.”

I cross my arms on my chest and shift to glare at him.

“Then why do you hate me so much? What did I do to deserve this overarching generalization that I must be the worst, most irritating person on the planet? I know this isn’t the most exciting assignment, but I promise I’m not trying to make your summer a living hell. I’m not actually the worst person on earth.”

He shakes his head, his eyes locked out the windshield, but I can still see his thick, dark brows furrowing. “I don’t… I don’t hate you, Ava. I just don’t know how I’m supposed to act around you, okay? I’m trying to be… professional.”

“Well, I don’t think being professional is being a dick from day one, but what do I know about bodyguarding? I’m just a…what did you say? A self-centered pageant queen?’ I say, quoting his earlier words about me, and he shakes his head gently.

“I shouldn’t have said that. It wasn’t nice, and now I know it’s not true. You just…you get me all kinds of scrambled. My normal assignments pretend I’m not there. I’m used to blending in and being with my own thoughts. And then there’s you.”

“Then there’s me….” I start and then smile. “And by that, you clearly mean a wildly beautiful, distractingly witty, and unbearably interesting woman you want to be best friends with?”

“Well, let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves now, Princess,” he says, and a small smile tips his lips.

“A smile! He smiles! Look at that!” I gasp.

“You’ve seen me smile, Ava.”

“Yeah, but mostly only when I pick on you.”

“Is this not you picking on me?”

“No, this is me flirting with you. It’s kind of my specialty.”

“Probably shouldn’t be flirting with your bodyguard,” he says.

I reach over, patting his hand. “Oh, you sweet, sweet boy. You have no idea what kind of summer you’re in for, do you?”