Page 8 of Big Bodyguard
“You’re reckless,” he counters, his voice sharp and biting as he sets me back on my feet next to the bed. “You think the world out there is just waiting to welcome you with open arms? Youdon’t know how many people would pay to get their hands on Charlotte Freeman.”
At the sound of my name, my blood runs cold. “What did you just say?”
His jaw tightens, his eyes drilling into mine. “I’m no kidnapper, Charlie. I’m your bodyguard.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your father hired me to protect you. I’ve been following you from the second you left home.”
It feels like the floor is falling from beneath my feet. “He—what?”
“You think your father would let you go exploring the world on your own?” he asks in a flat tone. “He wanted you to have a good time, but he wanted you to stay safe even more—so I’ve been two steps behind you the entire time.”
My chest heaves, fury and humiliation twisting inside me until they’re indistinguishable. I can’t wrap my head around the fact that all this time, I was still in my dad’s shadow, under his control.
“You bastard!” I shout, slamming my hand against his chest. “You had no right—”
“I had every right,” he growls, leaning closer. His grip tightens, his face inches from mine. “There are active threats against your father, and that wasn’t just some random stranger at that club. Without me, princess, you’d be in some real danger by now.”
I shiver at his words, but whether it’s from the danger he speaks of or the way his voice sounds when he calls meprincess, I don’t know.
“Don’t you dare call me that!” I say, my voice cracking. I try to shove at him again, but somehow my fingers grip his shirt and pull him closer. “I hate you!”
Something dark flashes in his eyes and before I know it, his mouth crashes down on mine, hard and demanding. I freeze at first, shocked to my roots. Then my body reacts of its own accord, pressing closer into his body, one hand sliding up his firm chest and around his neck.
He makes a sound deep in his throat as he drags his mouth away from mine, down my jaw and up the side of my neck until his lips are resting over my earlobe.
“Stop fighting me, princess,” he whispers in my ear, his voice sending shivers through my body. “Please…”
Chapter Four
Jack
The kiss was supposed to shut her up. It was just a distraction. A way to put her in her place.
But fuck me…now I’m the one reeling.
Every ounce of desire I’ve been holding back, every wall I’ve put up between us, comes crashing down the second her lips touch mine.
I’ve never once crossed this line with a client before. I’ve walked away from temptation more times than I can count. But Charlotte Freeman? She’s been undoing me since the second she stepped out of that hotel room in that damn dress.
One kiss has me questioning every fucking rule I’ve ever lived by.
She’s breathing hard, cheeks flushed, lips swollen. Her brown eyes look dazed, wide and uncertain, but burning with something that mirrors the fire in my own chest.
“W-why?” she whispers, her voice trembling slightly. “Why did you kiss me?”
I drag a hand down my face, fighting to rein myself in, get myself back under control, but the truth slips out anyway.
“Because I’ve wanted to all damn day,” I say simply. Anything else would be a lie.
Her eyes widen, a faint pink creeping over her skin, painting her like temptation itself. “So why did you stop?” she whispers.
I pause, shocked at her words. In the short time I’ve spent with her, I’ve discovered that she has the unique ability to surprise me. And that in itself is a surprise.
“Did you not want me to stop?” I ask with a slow smirk.
“What if I don’t?”
