The Billionaire Bodyguard(4)

'So here we are,' he said softly. Alone and stranded in a beautiful house with a beautiful woman. An unexpected perk.

His  voice had dipped, and deepened, and Keri stared at him, the reality  of  their situation suddenly hitting her for the first time. It was  just her  and him. As her eyes became more accustomed to the gloom she  started to  become aware of him in a way which was too vivid and  confusing. Not as  someone employed by the company who had commissioned  the photo-shoot,  but as something quite different.

As a man.

The first  impression she had had in the car had been the correct one-he  was  spectacular. Very tall-taller than she was, and that didn't happen  too  often either, because Keri was tall for a woman-models usually  were. But  it wasn't just his height which she was inexplicably finding  so  intimidating, it was something much more subtle, more dangerous, and  it  was all to do with the almost tangible masculinity radiating off  him,  and the raw, feral heat which seemed to make a mockery of the  weather  outside.

Keri swallowed, and inside her gloves the palms of her  hands began to  grow clammy, and maybe the place had just telescoped in  on itself,  because right now it felt small and claustrophobic, even  though the  hall was high and spacious. And perhaps he felt it too,  because he  reached out a hand towards the light switch.


'Let's see if we can throw a little light on the … damn!'

'What's the matter?'

'Should  have guessed. No power.' He swore quietly underneath his breath  and  pulled a lighter out of his pocket, flicking the lid off and  sliding his  thumb down over the wheel. His face was startlingly  illuminated by the  bright flare.

'You don't happen to have a white rabbit in your  pocket, too?' she  questioned, but she noticed that her voice sounded  high and rather  wobbly.

He looked her up and down. 'You okay?'

Well,  up until he had produced the lighter she had been fine, under the   circumstances. Tearstained, cold and slightly shell-shocked, true, but   more than a little relieved to be inside-if not exactly in the warm,   then at least in the dry. But the more she saw of him, the more she   realised that the first impression she had got of him in the shadowed   recess of the car wasn't strictly accurate.                       
       
           



       

She had thought that  he was good-looking, but she had been wrong.  Good-looking implied  something that was attractive on the surface but  with little real depth  to it, like lots of the male models she knew.  Whereas this man …

Her breath suddenly caught in her throat.

The  flare from the lighter threw deep shadows beneath the high  cheekbones  and his eyes glittered with a cold, intelligent gleam. She  became aware  of a strength that came from within, as well as from the  deeply defined  muscular build. He looked confident and unshakable,  while she, on the  other hand, was left feeling slightly dazed.

'I'm … I'm fine,' she  managed, thinking that she had to pull herself  together. It looked as if  they might be here for some time-and if that  were the case then she  quickly needed to establish some kind of neutral  relationship between  them. So that they both knew where they were.  They needed boundaries so  that they wouldn't step over them. She  mustn't think of him as a man.  He's the driver of your car, for  heaven's sake, Keri! And a burly  security guard who has been employed  to … to …

'Oh, my God!' she exclaimed.

He frowned. 'What is it?'

'The necklace! You're supposed to be guarding the necklace!'

His  mouth curved into a disapproving line. 'Well, isn't that just like a   woman? Save them from the extremes, find them shelter and safety, and   all they can think of is damned diamonds!'

He dug his other hand  in his pocket and indolently pulled out the gems  so that they fell  sinuously over his hand, where they glittered and  sparkled with pure  ice-fire against the tanned dark skin of his hand.  'There?' He sent her a  mocking look. 'Happy now?'

Keri felt anything but. She was used  to deference and adoration-she  certainly wasn't used to men who behaved  with such unashamed masculine  swagger. Who clipped out orders and broke  into strange houses with ease  and didn't seem a bit bothered by it. 'You  must be the happy one,' she  observed. 'Happy you didn't lose them-after  all, it's more than your  job's worth!'

Jay smiled. It was a  remark designed to put him firmly in his place,  but Miss Beauty would  soon discover that he was a man who did not fit  into traditional slots.  He slid the gems back negligently into his  pocket. 'That's right,' he  agreed innocently. 'Can't have them thinking  I've skipped to pawn them  on the black market, can we? Now, let's see  if we can find a candle  somewhere. We need to get a fire lit, but first  I guess we'd better  check out the rest of the house.'

Her teeth were chattering. 'With a view to finding-what, exactly?'

A  dark sense of humour made him consider making a joke about corpses,  but  in view of the tears he thought he'd better not try. The trouble  with  women was that they always let their imaginations run away with  them.

'With a view, sweetheart, to seeing what luxuries this place has to offer.'

There-he was doing it again. 'I am not your sweetheart.'

Touchy. 'Well, then, I guess we'd better introduce ourselves,' he drawled. 'Since I don't even know your name.'

How  bizarre it seemed, to be introducing themselves like this. As if  all  the normal rules of social intercourse had been turned upside down  and  re-invented. Into what? 'Keri.' She hesitated. 'And I, er, I don't  know  yours either.'

He could hear her skating round the edges of  asking him, unsure whether  or not it was 'appropriate' to be on  first-name terms with him. She  didn't know how to react to the  situation, he thought with wry  amusement. Or to him. Take her out of her  gilded cage and she probably  didn't know how to fly properly! Maybe his  first impression of a woman  who would not bleed or love with vigour and  passion had been the right  one all along. 'It's Linur,' he said  sardonically. 'Jay Linur.'

It was an unusual name, maybe that was  why it suited him. Again, she  felt the need to re-establish boundaries.  'Are you … American?'

He knew exactly what she was trying to do.  That vaguely interested,  vaguely patronising tone. His eyes sparked.  'Fascinating as my name  must be to you,' he drawled, 'I'm freezing my  bones off-so why don't we  postpone the discussion until we've had a look  around? Want to go and  explore?'

'Do I have a choice?'

'Well, I guess we could stand around here and make polite conversation.'

'I'd hate to put you under any pressure,' she said sweetly. 'The strain of that might prove too much for you.'                       
       
           



       

He  gave a brief smile. 'It just might,' he agreed silkily, but the  subtle  taunt set his pulse racing almost as much as the rose-petalled  pout of  her lips.

He seemed to show no fear, and she tried not to feel  any either-yet who  knew what they might find in this strange, empty  place? Keri stayed as  close to him as was possible without actually  touching.

Illuminated only by the small flicker from the lighter,  he led the way  to what was obviously a kitchen-although by no stretch  of the  imagination did it resemble any kitchen Keri had ever seen  before.

From the doorway, she surveyed the faint shape of ancient-looking appliances.

'I'm going to hunt around for some candles,' he said softly. 'Wait here.'

I'm  not going anywhere because I can't, she thought rather desperately,  as  she watched him disappear into the gloom. He doesn't need me at  all, but  I need him. She could hear him opening drawers and cupboards,  and the  clatter of china as he hunted around. He suddenly made a small  yelp of  satisfaction, and when he reappeared it was with two lit  candles waxed  to saucers. He handed her one, the reflection of the  flame flickering in  his eyes.

'Hold it steady,' he instructed.

'I'm just about capable of carrying a candle!'

His mocking eyes seemed to doubt her, but he didn't retaliate.

'Come on-we'll look upstairs first.'

There  were three bedrooms, but they looked ghostly and unreal, for the  beds  were stripped bare of all linen and there was no sign that they  had been  slept in.

'I feel like Goldilocks,' whispered Keri in a hollow voice. 'Any minute now and we'll bump into one of the three bears.'