Billionaire Bodyguard 1 : Billionaire Bodyguard(18)

"If you say so."

He sensed her nervous tension as she led him to the fuse box in her hall closet. She pushed aside two coats then rearranged a stack of sealed moving boxes to clear the way. It struck him that she was all packed and ready to go. She could leave town tomorrow. He didn't like it.

"You've been here six weeks and haven't unpacked?"

She brushed off his remark. "Non-essentials. No need."




 



He thought about her sparse furnishings, her bare walls, the lack of anything personal in this space. "Why not?"

Pink arcs crested her cheeks. She didn't meet his eyes. "You never know when you'll have to pick up and leave at a moment's notice."

"No, I don't know. Why do I get the impression you're used to living out of a suitcase?"

"I travel for work," she said irritably. "Wherever the job is, I go."

"How can you do that? Just drift from place to place without anyone knowing where you are or where you're going?"

"Practice."

Her sharp reply left him wondering what was really going on. "Don't tell me you do this by choice."

"You do what you have to do."

He didn't believe her. No one lived like this, without friends or family or home, for no good reason.

"I can change that." The words slipped out before he'd considered them, but he didn't plan to take them back.

"No, you can't."

"I'll extend your contract. You've more than doubled our client reach. It's a no-brainer."

"Not interested. Thanks anyway."

His internal alarm system told him something was wrong. He wanted to know why she moved around so much, what kept her so isolated, why she refused to let him get close. "Allison, what are you so afraid of?"

Once he asked the question, an answer came to him. It wasn't something. It was someone . Go d, it made so much sense. It'd been staring him in the face this whole time. The shadows behind her eyes she thought he didn't see. Her secretiveness. The way she walked around with her guard up twenty-four-seven. It all added up to one thing. She was on the run from a threat that had terrorized her so badly she didn't know how to trust, how to be vulnerable, or admit she needed help.

Unfortunately, wanting to protect her, and her allowing him to, were in direct opposition. He'd faced worse. A nameless threat wouldn't stop him from helping her, going to the ends of the earth to keep her safe, keep her in his life. Probably an irrational response toward a girl he hardly knew, but there it was. Might've had something to do with his long-held admiration for her intelligence, the polished professionalism she'd exhibited over the years they'd crossed paths at security-based functions. The hint of a free spirit hiding beneath her classy formality, that he'd finally seen her release with him in the bed of a hotel room. She'd always intrigued him, caught his attention in a crowded room, made his blood sizzle with desire.

She embodied him that something different he'd been searching for a long time. This wasn't the kind of thing a guy experienced and moved on-this was the real deal. 

Now that they'd spent time together and confirmed his desire ran deeper than surface attraction, he wouldn't abandon her or ignore her, the way everyone else had in her life. Maybe she just needed someone on her side, someone she turned to when she faced the darkness alone. He wanted to be that man. And if Rick thought she was another Natalia, he was dead wrong. Logan knew it this time.

Allison's forced laugh pierced his troubled thoughts. "I'm not afraid of anything. You're too paranoid. Which I guess is a good thing considering your line of work." She pointed to the electrical panel. "You wanted to cut the power, right?"

He nodded. He braced one hand against the upper shelf as he reached for the fuse box.

Their bodies pressed close in the small closet. He notched the fuses to the left. The lights went out. Darkness enveloped them. He inhaled the scent of her hair, her skin. Base urges surged inside him.

As he drew back, he couldn't resist letting his fingertips glide against the indentation of her waist. She pulled in a quick breath.

Before he could help it, he grazed his knuckles up the center of her back, sifting his fingers through her hair. He traced the baby-fine silk at the top of her neck. His erection pulsed.

"Logan." She choked on his name, as she escaped his embrace. He let her go. For now.

"This won't take long." He found his small LED flashlight in his laptop bag. He switched it on and stuck it between his teeth. The stream of blue light allowed him to work in the dark. As he finished connecting the white and yellow wires, he glanced at Allison from the corner of his eye. The glow of his flashlight barely illuminated her. She hunched over the calendar in her day planner. Her eyes skimmed quickly as she flipped pages, her face shockingly pale. He closed the panel then took the flashlight in his hand, spotlighting her. "Counting down the days until your next road trip?"