Billionaire Bodyguard 1 : Billionaire Bodyguard(3)

"With terabytes dedicated to identity search engines and linked to your company's computerized profiles, an intruder doesn't stand a chance."

The panel stared unblinking. The head of Homeland Security pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "Is this system available immediately ?"

Logan resisted the urge to punch the air in a gesture of victory. "We've started taking orders. The system rolls out next week."

Questions flooded him. He took the abundant attention in stride.

Allison singled out the Louvre Museum assistant-curator, who instantly warmed to her presence. Logan heard her speak to him in fluid French. She was one of the best investments he'd ever made. They worked the room likes pros, independently and together.

Now if only he could get their connection to extend beyond the demonstration room and back into the bedroom. During the six weeks he'd worked beside her, he hadn't figured her out. Most women wore their hearts on their sleeves. They spilled their life story after one martini at the bar, but Allison wore a shell impossible to crack.

It drove him crazy.

She drove him crazy.

He noticed a quizzical frown form between her eyebrows, and he came to her side should she need technical information about the system.

"Can I help answer any questions?" he offered. Allison took a few steps back. Frustration tensed his muscles. She seemed to avoid his presence unless absolutely necessary to their work. To stop her retreat, he placed his hand on her lower back and drew her close. "Everything okay?"

"Excuse me, Mr. Stone."

She darted away, leaving him to stare after her at a loss. This dance they did around the obvious irritated him. He was determined to get her alone and get some answers. "Allison-"

"Be right back," she said over her shoulder before disappearing into the elevator at the end of the hall.

He gritted his teeth. Why does she keep doing that?

*

Allison pulled in a deep breath, then let it out slowly.

Only six more weeks .

That's all she had to endure before she took the eye-popping amount of money Logan had offered for this contract job and created the life of her dreams in Paris. Leaving the U.S. and her painful experiences behind.

She'd worked so hard for this, making personal sacrifices along the way. The notion of starting over completely on her own terms, with no one but her controlling her fate, shimmered like a mirage on the horizon. Freedom was so close she could almost taste it.

Unfortunately, at the moment she couldn't think about tasting anything.

Leaning against the bathroom stall, she held her stomach until her sudden bout of queasiness passed. This wasn't the first time she'd felt ill out of nowhere.

The word pregnancy popped into her head. Cold chills streamed down her arms. Dizziness overwhelmed her, as did an avalanche of fears about what would happen if she became pregnant at this uncertain stage of her life.

Immediately, she shut out the thought. That was impossible. She and Logan had used protection.

Discounting that theory, she hoped the sinus infection that had plagued her a few weeks ago wasn't returning. She rarely got sick, and she didn't need this right now. Not with back-to-back presentations for Logan's Elite System looming. The next six weeks would be grueling but well worth the prize at the end. She'd leave with no strings attached and enough money to start the life she'd been steadily aiming for the past four years.




 



Logan, however, was making that no-strings idea harder than she'd expected.

Magnetic confidence and raw sexuality radiated from him, weakening her resolve when he came near. He constantly dropped hints about the night they'd made love, recreating in her mind the passionate moments she'd spent with him. She relived the breathtaking sensuality every time. It had been so easy- too easy-to give up her precious control to his intimate touch, his tantalizing mouth, his hard body, and his protective strength as he'd held her in his arms.

Those memories made it difficult to keep her distance. Yet she had to stay focused. Her future, the final release from the emotional destruction her ex-husband had left in his wake, depended on it.

Her attraction to Logan was seriously inconvenient. Possibly life-altering if she let him consume her existence the way her ex had. She refused to repeat past mistakes. Devastation gnawed at her, because she never wanted to consider Logan a mistake . He was one of the few good things that had happened to her.

But nothing-not even the secret wish to see if they could build something good together-could keep her from achieving true freedom for the first time in her life.

Focusing on what was within her control, she left the bathroom stall to run her hands under cold water until the last of her feverishness faded. Firm in her resolution, she returned to the lower demonstration rooms.