Page 38 of Baby Bodyguard

“Did I?”

“Yes, you did. Maybe you should explain that.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t.”

She stared at him, her green eyes huge and alarmed. “And you’re blocking the exit.”

“I intend to continue blocking it, too.”

“And… and you’re scowling.”

“That comes as a surprise?”

“Not really.” She cleared her throat as she grappled for a different tack to use on him. “Boy, you sure arrived in the nick of time. Thanks for the assist. Ithink I’ll be running along now. Okay?”

“Not even a little.” For some reason he had trouble bringing order to the chaotic words seething in his brain. He finally managed to push them out of his mouth through sheer dint of will, though strangely, his teeth got in the way. Maybe it hadsomething to do with the fact he gritted them so hard they were on the verge of fusing together. “That. Man. Was.Naked.”

She broke into speech. “You noticed, too? Boy, oh boy, he sure was naked. Not a blessed stitch on him anywhere. Idon’t know how I could have missed him stripping down, but I did. Shame on me. Iguess next time I’ll have to pay more attention.” She scrambled for something else to say and he waited her out, since it gave him time to recover his temper. Somewhat. “My goodness, it shocked the heck out of me.”

“I don’t know why.” The words escaped in a roar and he fought to lower his voice, with only limited success. So much for recovering his temper. “It’s clear he planned to offer an immediate response to your ad.”

“I guess you could say he got his hopes inflated. But I noticed you took the air out of his aspirations.” She winced at Noah’s expression. “And I’m grateful. Very grateful.”

“Not funny, Sami!”

“Don’t yell at me. Idon’t like it.”

“I don’t mean to yell.” He thrust a hand through his hair, tumbling the dark waves. “Damn it all! Yes, Ido mean to yell. Have you lost your mind? That man could have hurt you. If I hadn’t come in when I had—”

“You know, I’m glad you brought that up. You came in through the window, didn’t you?”

“So?”

“So, what were you doing out there?”

“Rescuing you.”

“No. Imean before that.”

“Making sure you didn’t need rescuing.”

Her mouth fell open. “You were eavesdropping on my conversation?”

He refused to feel guilty over his slip in ethics, not when considering everything at stake. “You gave me the day off. Idecided to spend it gardening.” He stalked to the window and pointed to the pathetic clump of weeds he’d yanked from the ground. “See?”

She joined him at the window and peered out. “For your information that’s mint, not weeds.”

“Then it’s a good thing you didn’t hire me as your gardener.”

“Were you listening in on my interview?” she demanded.

A hot surge of anger ripped through him. “You’re not turning this around, Sami. Be grateful I was there. Idon’t think good ol’ Thomas would have taken no for an answer. What would you have done then?”

“Gone for help, of course.”

“Really? Let’s pretend I’m Thomas.” He took up a stance in front of the doorway and gestured for her to approach. “Come on. To get help you have to fight your way past me. Show me how you’re going to do that.”

She crept toward him, stumbling to a halt just out of arm’s reach. Her face had turned so ashen he could see tiny pinprick freckles scattered across her nose. “I don’t want to try and get through you,” she said in a small voice. “You’re not Thomas and never could be.”

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