Page 59 of Not the Bodyguard's Princess
Andrew’s brows raised. “What?”
Jordan tried to clarify. The faster she talked, the more she used her hands to emphasize each word. “Not you as in Andrew, you as in my bodyguards. It’s pretty well-known that I don’t use disposable water bottles. It’s on my website, Instagram, everything. Tonie often carries a disposable with her. So the water bottle was meant for her, not me. Then the shooting. I only saw the clips the police showed me, but I think he was shooting at Blake, not me. Why else would he keep shooting after I was protected? I know it sounds crazy.”
Leaning toward her, Andrew captured her waving hands, but it wasn’t his grip that stopped their movement—it was the electric shock radiating up her arms.
“It doesn’t sound crazy at all. I’ve wondered the same thing.” He released her hands.
“You have? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Mostly because I don’t have any evidence. Why do you think someone’s after your bodyguards?”
“First, there’s the change in my contract about using Hearthfire bodyguards, who, except for Stu, seem to be better at acting than guarding. Second, at the airport, only Blake was hit. In the video I saw, Blake was hit the first time before he got me to the ground. Third, I rarely use disposable water bottles. I will when the water is unsafe or tastes really bad, but I think I’ve only used one or two on set since getting here. Tonie sometimes refills her water bottle, but she’s just as likely to use a bottled water if it’s handy. If she dropped the water bottle and it spilled, then Princess would have gotten some just by licking it off the floor.”
Andrew nodded. “I’ve been thinking the same thing. However, if your bodyguards are the target, then you are too. Because they are trying to eliminate those most likely to protect you.”
“I don’t want someone to hurt you.”
“We talked about this before. My job is to protect you. Sometimes there isn’t a choice.”
“I could fire you.”
Andrew hung his head and rubbed the back of his neck.
Jordan wanted to shout her frustration. Andrew didn’t get it. He wasn’t just a bodyguard. He was her friend—maybe more than, if they were honest. He had to have felt the same things she did. Never had a bodyguard, or even a costar, looked like he had at her earlier this evening.
He took her hand before speaking. “Is firing me going to protect you?”
“No, but it might protect you.”
Andrew winced. “A couple years ago, Adam made a mistake. He started to have feelings for his principal, and one night he acted on them and kissed her. The next day he quit.”
“September?”
“Adam has a lot of regrets. He says he should have talked things out more. Or rotated off the job earlier and had someone else lead the detail and not crossed the line. I think I may need to get myself rotated out of your detail.”
“Because you think I have feelings for you, or because you have feelings for me?”
He bowed his head a moment before he raised his eyes to hers. “Yes?”
Jordan’s heart rate jumped. “So what do we do?”
Andrew pulled lightly on the hand he held and leaned forward until their lips touched. His kiss would have easily passed the censors for a G-rating, but as Jordan leaned into him, it surpassed any kiss she’d ever filmed as her heart sped up and a feeling of joy filled her. Andrew’s other hand came up and cupped the side of her face. He deepened the kiss before pulling back. All the sensations she’d only acted out were happening in real life.
Andrew rested his forehead against hers. His blue eyes burned into her soul. September needed to write that song about the Hastings’s blue eyes even if they only sang it in private.
“As soon as Adam gets here, I think I need to tell him—”
“Tell him what?” the voice from the doorway caused Jordan to pull back.
Andrew continued to hold her head. “That after my first kiss with Jordan, I think I should be rotated off her detail so I don’t repeat your mistakes.”
Adam crossed his arms. “Considering we entered the house and you didn’t notice, I’d say that’s a pretty good idea.”
They saw? Her first unscripted kiss in forever and she’d still had an audience? A woman and two other men appeared behind Adam. Hopefully only his brother had witnessed the embrace.
“Deidre, will you get the others set up? I need to have a private conversation with my brother and his client. I’m assuming Miss Lee is using the master suite. Assign rooms accordingly. If there is a doghouse out back, leave it for Mr. Andrew.”
Adam pointed to an office with multipaned French doors. “Shall we?”
