Page 13 of Bodyguard Crush
His eyes get this faraway look as he talks about his favorite place. It’s like he isn’t just telling me about it. He’s visiting the place in his mind.
“Will you take me there one of these days?”
He snaps out of his daze, his eyes moving over to look at me, and nods once. “You want me to take you to a creek to see fish and crawdads?” He’s wearing a smirk.
I smile wide and nod. “Yeah, it sounds nice.”
He chuckles. “You are different from every other woman I’ve met. You know that?”
I offer him a genuine smile. “Come on. Let’s get back to the house for dinner.” I direct the horse to turn around, and she does on command. I look over my shoulder and see that Kaden hasn’t climbed back off to walk the trip home. Instead, he’s trying to ride again, this time looking a little more relaxed than before. I slow Pepper down and allow him to make his way up to my side.
“We’ll take it slow,” I promise.
He looks over at me, and I see a fire light in his eyes. I don’t know what he’s thinking, but I know what that look is making me think of, and I have to turn my head away from him in order to keep him from reading it on my face. My heart is racing as we make our way toward the barn. The conversation drifts off, and it’s nothing but silence all around us. My mind begins to wander, and I can’t stop it. I don’t want to.
Somehow, I see us putting the horses into the barn for the night. One thing leads to another, and he kisses me. I can feel his warm lips against mine. I can taste him on my tongue. He picks me up against him, and he sets me on the wooden workstation as he steps up between my legs. Our mouths move fast and our hands faster. Before I know it, we’re both completely naked as he lays me down in the hay. Just when he reaches between us to slide into me, he snaps me out of my daydream by saying, “Back in the pasture, or are we putting them in the barn?”
I shake the dream from my head as I look at where we are. We’re quickly approaching the barn. “Oh, let’s put them up for the night,” I respond, sounding a little more breathless than I’d like.
After we get the horses taken care of for the night, we walk back to the house side by side. Nothing gets said on the walk, but it feels like there is so much between us that neither of us is saying. I wonder if it’s just me. I wonder if he feels it too? I wonder how we can go about letting it all go. I want nothing between us, but the thought of that makes my anxiety rise and my stomach twist into knots. I’ve never had this feeling before. I’ve never wanted anyone as badly as I want Kaden, and I don’t exactly know how to go about it. I’ve never been the outgoing type.
While I’ve had plenty of boyfriends and lovers over the years, I always felt like I was just doing my job: acting. Nobody ever made me feel like I would die without them. And right now, my body wants Kaden like it wants ice water on a hot summer day. I have an itch that only he can scratch, but I have no idea how to ask him to scratch it or how to manipulate the situation to get him where I want him.
We make it to the house and go upstairs to our own rooms to clean up for dinner. I’m thankful for the alone time as I need it to clear my head. Removing my clothes, I step into the shower, washing off the dust from the trails. As the water runs over my body, my mind fills with thoughts of him, and my skin burns for him to touch me.
8
KADEN
Ishower quickly, not wanting to leave her unguarded. I pull on some clothes, put my gun back in place, and exit my room. Her bedroom door is still closed, so I go to stand beside it. I clearly can’t go into the room, but I need to be close enough to hear her if something happens. Just standing this close to her door allows me to smell her. The scent of lavender, vanilla, and jasmine fills my nose, and I breathe it in deeply. It makes me dizzy, my head beginning to float away from my body like a balloon escaping into the clouds. Goose bumps prickle my skin, and a chill races up my spine. My fingertips begin to tingle with need as they beg me to reach out and touch her, to pull her against me and press my lips to hers. My thoughts begin carrying me away again, and I jump when my phone rings from inside my pocket.
I quickly pull it out and answer it without checking the caller ID. “Hello?”
“Hey, man. Everything okay?” my good buddy Hudson asks.
“Yeah, fine. Why?”
“I don’t know. You just sound like you’ve been running or something.”
It’s only now that I notice I’m breathless. “Nah, I’m fine. What’s up?”
“I was just wondering where you’ve been. I haven’t seen you in a while. Thought we could meet up and go for a ride.”
“I wish I could. My bike is in storage right now. I’m working a job.”
“Oh, I had no idea. Where has the job taken you this time?” he asks, used to me jet-setting all over the country.
“I’m actually still here in town. A high-profile client recently built a mansion up on the mountain. She’s having some problems, and it’s believed to be caused by a stalker.”
“Ahhh, that actress. What’s her name? Abigale Phillips, right?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“You lucky dog.” He laughs.
“It’s not what you think. I’m a professional.”
He laughs harder. “Yeah, I’m a professional too, but I’m still a man. How do you think I met my wife?”
