Page 89 of Trust My Bodyguard

I’d never, not about something like this. She deserves a break. She’s been running around for too long. She needs to unwind.

I glance at my watch. If only she’d come out of the damned bathroom.

The door opens, ushering her out.

Good lord.

An unknown force pulls me to my feet. My jaw grows slack, and my head spins.

A red dress clings to Ivy’s frame, and her thick, brunette hair pours over bare shoulders. The neckline of the crimson seduction hangs just above her rounded breasts. Enough to give a hint of smooth, creamy cleavage and nothing more.

I swallow thickly as she sashays my way. I thought I was giving her a treat when I asked for a date, but this is turning out to be a reward for me. For what? I don’t know.

“Hey.” She stops before me, dark-lined eyes drinking me in.

“Hi.” My voice comes out hoarse. I clear my throat and try again. “Hi.”

She giggles, parting red lips to show a dazzling smile.

Fuck. I’m blinded, but I can’t look away.

“Brody, I’m sure we need to get going.”

“Yes, yes.” My head snaps back in place. “You just look so... good.”

Shit. Of all the words. I want to say something profound. Something meaningful that captures how this moment makes me feel. Nothing comes to my head but taking her in my arms and kissing her until I forget my name.

“Thank you?” A frown lines the spot between her brows.

“I’m...” I exhale. I’d never find the words standing here and looking into arresting greens. “Let’s go.”

She grabs a burgundy coat and slips her arms in. The ties come together, hiding her luscious body. Damn the biting cold. I’d have preferred her strutting in that dress the whole way.

Wait, no. I can’t think that way. Tonight is about her, not me. I tear my eyes from her and put on a wool jacket.

All done, I place a hand on her lower back and usher us out of the room.

Tucked away in the car and headed to the restaurant, I steal glances at Ivy’s profile. She fixes her gaze outside the window at the glistening silvery landscape. I can’t see her face, but her brushed-back hair gives me a view of the beautiful, silky skin of her neck.

I’m suddenly no longer interested in dinner. I want to eat her instead. I want to taste every inch of her and then love each spot until she comes apart in my arms.

We turn onto a freshly plowed road, and she spins my way. “Are we headed to the mountains?”

I blink quickly to dispel the onslaught of feelings her eyes stir in me. “You’ll see. It’s someplace special.”

She grants me a small smile and resumes watching the falling snow. The view is compelling. I clutch the wheel harder to remind myself not to get distracted since I’m in charge of ourslow ascent up the steep climb. But it brings me pleasure to see Ivy soaking it all up.

The whirring engine and the tires crunching the snow on the tarmac are the only sounds in the still, white night. The higher we go, the colder the air that nips at my ears and cheeks. Ivy’s unbothered, her face half-outside, getting the most of it.

She seems to like the ride, so I hope she likes the place I’ve chosen, because I love how she’s come.

A final curve past the snowcapped hill brings us to the restaurant. Ivy’s reaction brings me no small pride.

She steps out of the car and twirls beneath the snowflakes falling like heaven’s confetti. “We’re surrounded by mountains!”

Indeed. In every direction, mountains rise, covered in frost made glossy by the wan moonlight.

A chill passes through me as my boot hits the icy ground. If the cold bothers Ivy, she gives no indication, face turned to the sky.

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