Page 78 of Reluctantly His

Just as we neared the stairwell to the lower deck, one of the gunmen spotted us.

He raised his gun. “Hey, you two! Stop!”

Just then Romney, showing courage I didn’t think he was capable of, stepped in front to block us. Placing his hands on his hips, he puffed out his chest. “Don’t worry, Charlotte Manwarring. I, The Honorable Romney Horace Zeigler, future The Right Honorable Lord Zeigler, heir to the Zeigler barony, will protect you.”

The man fired, clipping Romney on the upper arm.

He bent over, clutching his shoulder. When he pulled his hand back and saw blood, he screamed. “Blood! That’s real blood! Are those real bullets?”

The man fired again.

Hunter turned and blocked the fire as he hustled me down the narrow stairwell.

Unfortunately, Romney followed us.

Hunter kicked open the door to a small supply closet and pushed me inside.

Again, unfortunately, Romney squeezed in next to me.

After giving him an assessing once-over glare, Hunter turned to me and said in an urgent tone. “Stay still and silent. I’ll be back.”

I reached out to grab his shirt. “Ginnie. You have to find my friend.”

He nodded. “I’ll do my best. Remember. Silent.”

The closest was thrown into darkness the moment he slammed the door.

A second later, Romney flipped on the light switch. “Who is he to be giving us orders?”

I flipped the switch off and rasped, “He’s my…” I stopped.

I didn’t want to say bodyguard. Bodyguard was such an intimate term. That was Reid’s job. And only his. “He’s my security detail. Now be quiet.”

He flipped the switch back on. “I don’t take orders from you or him. We have to get back up to the deck where the guests can see us.”

I turned the light off. “Why on earth would we need the other guests to see us?”

He flipped it on. “Because they need to see me rescuing you!”

In my shock, I forgot to turn the light back off. I stared at him with wide eyes. “What have you done?”

He leaned his head down into his chest, giving him a double chin. “What? Me? Huh? What? Nothing.”

I grabbed his shirt front and shook him. “What did you do? Did you hire those men?”

He flung my arms off. “Stop asking questions.”

I pressed my hand to my forehead. “Oh my God! Romney you have to stop this! Now. You have to go call this off before someone gets hurt.”

Twisting his torso, he pointed to his arm. “I did get hurt.”

I scoffed. “It’s barely a scratch.”

Just then, there was an exchange of gunfire just outside our door.

I crossed my arms over my chest as I hunched down, curling into a fetal position.

All I could think about was Reid’s big strong body and his large arms and his hard muscled chest as I desperately wished I was in the safe shelter of his embrace in his bed right now.

---