Page 33 of The Bodyguard

His voice is kind, there’s no trace of that smugness or arrogance, and I breathe out, slowly.

“You know what? I don’t think I want to be here anymore.” I didn’t want to be here in the first place, but I had to show my face. I’ve done that now. I’ve turned up, done what was needed, and now I just want to escape.

“It’s your company that’s hosting this event. Shouldn’t you at least stick around for dinner?” His arm loosens its grip on my waist, his hand dropping to rest on my hip.

“Dinner will be endless tiny portions of something prepared by a Michelin-starred chef that still makes you want to stop for a pizza on the way home. I’d rather just cut out the middle man and go straight for the fast food.”

He gives me a half-smile, and it’s so damn hot it’s probably the reason why I’m reaching for that table again.

Seriously, Lena?

“Sounds good to me.”

I’m smiling back at him, and now I really want to get out of here. I’m suddenly craving a large spicy pepperoni with extra onions and a couple of hours away from this crazy circus.

“Okay. I’m going to feign some female-related illness, because that always makes people uncomfortable which means they never question it, and then we’re leaving.”

“I never had you down as such a rebel.” He’s grinning now and, yeah. Still hot.

Really…?

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

And as our eyes lock, and my stomach gives another jolt, I’ve a feeling there’s even more I don’t know about him.

Nine

Bodie

She really isn’t the spoilt, entitled rich kid I thought I’d be babysitting. She’s different, and that makes up for the fact I’m here in the first place, because I don’t – didn’t – want to be. But, you know, when I told her I didn’t have a choice about whether I took this job or not, that was true. I didn’t. I go where I’m told, follow instructions, I do whatever I need to do to keep the people around me safe. And Lena, she’s unlike anyone I’ve ever had to spend time around before. This job, it’s quite different to anything I’ve ever had todobefore, but it’s also true that I like a challenge, and this is definitely one of those.

Leaning forward, I pick up a napkin and wipe tomato sauce from the corner of her mouth, the kind of intimate gesture a person would do for someone they care about. And that’s what we’re supposed to be, right? A couple, enjoying a night out in this busy little Italian restaurant in the centre of town. Nobody cares who we are, or what we’re doing, but I still have to keep my guard up. Remain vigilant. Keep her safe. Because the danger she’s in – well, to be honest, none of us know for sure what that is. It’s my job to find out. It’s my job to find out a lot of things, with Lena’s help. She just can’t know that.

Her eyes meet mine as I pull my hand away, and for a moment I think she’s going to tell me to back off again, like when I kissed her. Yeah. That kiss… But, no. She’s okay. She’s smiling. And she has no idea how pretty she is when she smiles, because most of the time, since I’ve been around her anyway, she’s scowled more than smiled, but that’s partly due to my ongoing unwanted presence, I’m guessing.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

This is progress. Only a few days ago she wouldn’t even let me carry her cases to the car, so wiping sauce from her chin, yeah. We’re getting somewhere.

“I shovelled that slice of pizza in like I hadn’t been fed in days.”

“I noticed.”

She frowns, and then I grin at her, which makes her laugh. I think we’re actually starting to get each other now. But there’s a part of me that wonders whether that’s a good idea. The bigger part of me already knows it isn’t. There’s a line, and I can’t afford to cross it.

“I’m sorry. I’m not usually such a pig, but all of a sudden I was starving, and when I get like that I just want something that’s horrifically calorific and usually smothered in cheese.”

“You don’t look like someone who shovels gallons of saturated fat down in one sitting.”

“Is that a compliment?”

I shrug, but I’m still smiling. Despite everything – this crazy situation, a job I didn’t want to do but had no other choice – I’m actually enjoying myself. And I can do that, as long as I don’t let my guard down, which I’ve never done…

Haven’t you…?

No-one has ever been harmed on my watch…

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