The Billionaire's Bodyguard

by Elana Johnson

  “I’ll make sure we patrol,” Carson said.

  “Are you on duty tonight?”

  “Yes, sir. I’ll personally see to it that we check on the property throughout the night.”

  “Thank you.” Jason ended the call and finally fully relaxed. With Jasper and the gated community, Jason thought he could afford to take a nap and Lexie would be okay.

  He kept jerking awake, thinking he’d heard something hit the door, and it wasn’t until Jasper finally came back outside and said, “She’s upstairs asleep,” that Jason allowed himself to drift off completely.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Lexie wasn’t asleep, but she was very good at faking something when she needed to. At least with most people. If Jason had come to check on her instead of Jasper, he would’ve known immediately that she wasn’t really sleeping.

  Instead, she stood at the window in the bedroom Jasper had given her on the second floor and looked down at Jason lying on the lounger beside the pool.

  Luke had texted to say the restraining order had been delivered without incident, and she’d sent back a quick message that simply said thank you.

  She couldn’t help wondering if she should cut Jason loose. She didn’t truly need him as a bodyguard, not anymore. Not with the restraining order back in place. Surely Victor Bunce would leave the island immediately instead of opting to be arrested. He might be mad, but he wasn’t stupid.

  And she certainly didn’t need Jason getting hurt because of her.

  And while she’d never had a problem with the secretive nature of the Nine-0 Club, she hadn’t anticipated keeping secrets from him. Jasper had argued that they weren’t engaged, and therefore she didn’t need to tell him anything.

  So while all the married men in the club had told their wives about the nature of their meetings, Lexie wasn’t quite to the relationship stage where she felt comfortable.

  “Doesn’t matter,” she muttered, her hot breath steaming up the window. Jason had already guessed it. The man was so observant and brilliantly keen about things. He might play a valet, but he didn’t miss a single detail of the men and women who came in and out of Sweet Breeze.

  When Lexie had told Jasper that, his solution was to simply move the meeting somewhere else.

  “Where?” she’d asked. “Can’t have it at my house, and your place is now obviously out. And there’s no way I could get away from him to even go to a meeting at this point.”

  “I’ll tell the others,” he said. “They might even be able to help with Victor. Fisher would kick him out of the hotel, if you wanted him to.”

  Lexie didn’t know what she wanted, thus why she’d escaped upstairs to try to figure things out. She sat in the recliner in the room and tried to relax.

  A while later, her phone chimed, rousing her from a doze. It was Jasper, asking her if Sasha had mentioned being late that night.

  A tremor ran down Lexie’s arms. No, she typed. Is she not back yet? The light beyond her window had dimmed considerably, and Lexie wondered if Victor had gone by her house and not found her there. So he’d gone to The Straw, hoping to catch her. What if he’d caught Sasha instead?

  She couldn’t endanger her friends. She wouldn’t.

  She’d left New York to spare herself. Could she leave Hawaii to spare others?

  Someone knocked on her door, and she got up to answer it. Jason stood in the hall, fully clothed and obviously showered. “Can I come in for a minute?” He gazed evenly at her, and she knew exactly what would happen once the door closed behind him.

  “Sasha’s not back,” she said.

  “She just came in,” he said, hooking his thumb over his shoulder. “Jasper’s with her in the kitchen.”

  Lexie wanted to see for herself, but she also wanted to kiss Jason, maybe one more time before she took the next steps to keep him and everyone else she loved safe.

  Loved.

  The word bounced around inside her head. Was she in love with Jason Burnes?

  She backed up, keeping one hand on the door, and Jason pressed into her personal space and past her.

  She brought the door closed and barely had time to lock it before Jason swept her into his arms and pressed his lips to hers. She matched his kiss stroke for stroke, the forbidden nature of it as exciting as it had been all those years ago.

  “You don’t have to tell me about your club,” he murmured, moving his lips to her neck. She held onto his shoulders and tipped her head back.

  “It’s not a big deal,” she whispered. “Stuffy, boring meetings for billionaires.” She didn’t care what Jasper said. It wasn’t like she was going to invite Jason to the meetings. “Business stuff.”

  “I like your business.” He kissed her again, his urgency dying off quickly and his kisses turning sweet and gentle before he pulled away completely. “I still feel like you’re retreating from me.” He stroked her hair off her face and looked at her. “Am I right?”

  Lexie sighed and tucked herself against his chest so she wouldn’t have to look right into his face and lie to him. “No,” she said. “I’m fine.”

  His chest rumbled with a laugh. “Lex, you can’t lie to me.”

  No, she supposed she couldn’t. Why she thought she’d be able to was a mystery. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  “Lexie—”

  “I don’t want Sasha to get hurt. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”

  “We’re going to get this Victor thing sorted out, and then your life will go right back to normal.”

  Ah, and he was the liar now. She wanted to call him on it, tell him that he’d changed the course of her life for a second time, and she’d never be the same now that they were back together. The thought of losing him for a second time was enough to make her thoughts derail, and she worked to push the panic back.

  “And while we’re sharing secrets,” she said. “Those women on the beach? They have a little club too.”

  “Oh? And you’re just joining it?”

  “As a matter of fact, yes. I guess it’s a safe space for them. It started off as all single women who were done with men, but four of them are married now.”

  “Hmm.” He swayed with her. “And do you see yourself getting married, Lex?”

  “Depends,” she said, though she’d always wanted to get married, and she and Jason had already had the marriage conversation, the kid conversation. A long time ago, sure, and maybe things had changed.

  He stepped back and held her at arm’s length. “Depends? That doesn’t sound like the Lexie Keller I know.”

  “I told you, I’m not the Lexie Keller you knew.”

  He gave her that sweet yet sexy smile, and asked, “If I was the one down on one knee with the diamond, do you see yourself marrying me?”

  Lexie felt like she’d been struck dumb, because she had no idea what to say.

  After several long seconds, he said, “It’s okay, Lex. I can see your answer on your face.” Before she could ask him how she’d answered, he kissed her again, and she imagined it to be the slow, sensual, passionate kiss they’d share as man and wife.

  She and Jason hung around Jasper’s house the following day. He and Sasha left to go hiking, one of their favorite activities, but Lexie wasn’t what she would categorize as outdoorsy, and Jason didn’t want to have to deal with the security in an unknown place. So they sat by the pool, and lay in the loungers and kissed, and by the time he suited up to go to his job at Sweet Breeze, Lexie had thoroughly confused her bodyguard with her boyfriend.

  Jason had told her that he’d discovered that Victor had come to Getaway Bay with his family for a routine vacation. But he’d seen Lexie, and sent his family back to New Jersey. He’d stayed, and he had no plans to leave that Jason had been able to find.

  “Owen said he’s on a day-to-day at the hotel, and he has to let them know the night before if he’ll be checking out the following day. I’ve asked him to alert me as soon as that call comes in.”

  Jason seemed to
think Victor would simply give up, but Lexie wasn’t so sure. They had cops driving by her house day and night to make sure it didn’t get vandalized. She’d been forced to relocate. It didn’t sound like Victor was simply going to give up and go away.

  As she waved to Jason from the front porch, she considered simply calling Victor and asking him how much it would cost to get rid of him. But Luke had been adamant years ago that Keller Investments didn’t pay unless the courts said they had a legal obligation to do so. And the ruling had been in their favor in this particular case that Victor had already tried to win.

  But is it worth it? Lexie wondered, securing the huge wooden door behind her. Jasper and Sasha had not returned from their Sunday-funday activities, and his house suddenly loomed around her, a menacing presence she didn’t like.

  And she couldn’t leave.

  She wanted to talk to Luke again. Find out what had really happened all those years ago. She believed Jason, she did.

  He’s not right for you.

  He’s not husband material.

  Lexie wanted to shake Luke’s words out of her head, but they’d been plaguing her since yesterday morning, when she’d last spoken with him.

  She’d just wandered into the kitchen when the doorbell rang. Her feet froze to the floor, and she had no idea what to do. This wasn’t her house. There’d be no way for the visitor to even know someone was home. Still, she held very still as if the slightest movement from her would trigger an alarm and alert the person outside to her presence inside.

  Her phone sounded then, and she cringed as she slipped it out of her pocket. Luke had messaged: I’m on the front porch. Come let me in.

  She squinted at the words, trying to get them to make sense. The doorbell rang again, and loud banging accompanied it. She scampered to the threshold of the kitchen and looked toward the front door across the vast lobby.

  Jasper said you’d be at his house, Luke’s next message read. Are you there or not?

  Without answering, Lexie started toward the front door. She guessed she was about to have a talk with her brother, whether she wanted to or not. She opened the door, almost expecting to see Victor and his goons and not her brother. Then again, if they used smoke bombs, maybe they weren’t sophisticated enough to hack into a phone account and impersonate her brother.

  “Luke,” she said, the taller version of her father swimming before her eyes. She blinked and his dark features came into focus. “You need a haircut.”

  He grinned at her and gathered her into a hug. “And you sound like Mom.”

  Lexie laughed as she embraced her brother. “What in the world are you doing here?”

  “I—You sounded distressed when I called yesterday. I wanted to come check on things with Victor. It’s my understanding that he’s still in town.”

  “He is.” Lexie stepped back into the house. “How did you know where I was?” True, Luke might have more resources than Victor, but she didn’t want to be traceable at the moment.

  “You’ve mentioned Jasper a time or two,” he said. “I think you went out with him a while ago? Anyway, he’s got a unique name, and it didn’t take our cyber team long to get a number for him. I talked to him this morning before I boarded my plane.”

  Lexie nodded, so many words piling up behind her tongue. “You always did have a good memory.”

  Luke flashed her a smile. “So this is where you’re hiding out.” He cast his eyes around the place, with all the high-end wood finishes and twenty-foot ceilings. “I gotta say, Lex, it could be a lot worse.”

  Like your brother lying to you for seven years. She cleared her throat. “It could.” She indicated the living room, and Luke went that direction, only a briefcase in his hand. He wore a dark suit, and he probably slept in one too.

  “Luke, I need you to tell me what happened seven years ago.” She sat down and folded her arms, ready to listen, her mind and ears wide open.

  He exhaled and glanced around. “Do you think Jasper has anything to drink? This time difference is no joke.”

  “I don’t know,” Lexie said, her voice hollow. “You drink?”

  Their eyes met, childhood memories flowing between them freely. “Only a little,” he said. “When I’m stressed. It relaxes me.”

  “You’re stressed? People come to Getaway Bay to you know, get away from it all.”

  “Yes, well, I came to tie up some business.” He cocked one eyebrow and smiled at her. It had been so long since she’d seen him, actually been face-to-face with him, and her heart swelled.

  “So seven years ago,” he said. “The housing market crashed, because there were financial institutions that loaned money to people who couldn’t pay it back.”

  Lexie waved him into silence. “Not that.” She looked right into his dark eyes so like her own, only a hint lighter. “I need you to tell me why you told the press about me and Jason.”

  Luke’s eyes widened and his mouth worked but no words came out. She simply watched him, waiting, while he composed himself.

  “I already told you I didn’t,” he finally said.

  “But I have it from an excellent source that you did.”

  “Who?” Luke challenged.

  “Jason Burnes. Said you texted him later about how you were sorry about how it had to go down.”

  Fear, true fear, entered her brother’s eyes. “Lex, you have to understand what things were like at the time.”

  “I know what things were like at the time, Luke. My name was on all the indictments. Mine, not yours.”

  “Exactly,” he practically spat, his patience clearly gone already. “Your name. Your reputation. It couldn’t be attached to his.”

  “Why not?”

  “He’s not who you think he is.”

  “He’s exactly who I think he is.”

  Luke shook his head. “Jason’s really good at playing a part, Lex. The bartender. The party animal. The artsy, loft-living guy who just wishes he had enough money to fill his place with paintings about people and their feelings.”

  “He was your best friend.”

  “I felt sorry for him. That’s the only reason I brought him around for holidays. He had nowhere else to go, and no one should be alone at Christmas, you know?”

  Confusion raced through Lexie. She’d felt like this before about Jason—like she’d spent all this time with him, had fallen in love with him—only to discover that she hardly knew him.

  But that was when she’d believed he’d told the newspapers about them. Now that she knew—she suspected—that he hadn’t, she didn’t know what to believe.

  “Lex, why are you so hung up on him?”

  “He’s here on the island,” Lexie said, her voice coming out as a whisper. She wasn’t sure why, only that she didn’t seem to have the energy to make it louder. She wanted to tell Luke she was in love with Jason, and he wasn’t her father and couldn’t keep them apart. She pressed her lips together and looked at Luke. “Who is he?”

  “You’ll have to ask him, Lex.” Luke shook his head. “I’m here to make sure Victor Bunce disappears from our lives for good.”

  “How are you going to do that?”

  Luke unlatched his briefcase and pulled out a folder. “Write him a check.”

  Lexie listened to him detail how they’d be meeting with Victor in the morning and that by lunchtime, everything would be over. But Lexie couldn’t help wondering if she’d lose everything this time the way she had last time—all by noon tomorrow.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “What do you mean, I’m not invited?” Jason didn’t care that his cereal was getting soggier by the second.

  “Just that.” Lexie wouldn’t look at him. She’d barely let him touch her when he got home from work an hour ago, and his brain felt sloppy and sluggish after a night of standing at the valet podium.

  “Luke’s in town, and we’re going to handle it.”

  “What are you going to do?” Jason asked. “Pay him off?”

  Lexie�
��s gaze flitted around the room like a butterfly trying to find the perfect flower to land on. Jason groaned and wanted to shove his cereal away. “Lex, that’s not a good idea.”

  “Why not?”

  “How many more people will come looking for a payoff? What if he asks for more next year? Or the year after that?” Jason shook his head. No, in his experience, dealing with angry customers was never easy, but paying them off was also never the answer.

  “Luke has legal paperwork,” Lexie said, and he hated that everything about her was exactly where it should be. Not a hair sat out of place though it was only seven-thirty in the morning. Her makeup was flawless and added accents to her face he hadn’t seen before. She wore a deep blue skirt set that flared at the knee. A pure professional, and he liked her in these clothes as much as the short shorts and halter top from the pool.

  But he really didn’t like that she’d paid so much attention to such details. And he wanted to rage that she was not going to meet with Victor by herself. “I’m coming,” Jason said, a note of finality in his voice. “You owe me that much.”

  Lexie finally looked at him, doubt and desire and determination in her gaze at the same time. “Why would I owe you that?”

  “I should get to face Luke, at the very least.”

  “You can do that after the meeting.”

  “When’s he flying out?”

  Lexie scraped butter onto her toast though the bread had cooled long ago. “I’m not sure.”

  “Liar.”

  Lexie lifted her eyes to his again. “Fine, he’s got a flight out at three-ten.”

  “Wow, nice of him to stay for twenty-four hours.” Jason didn’t mean to bite the words out, and by the sour look on Lexie’s face, she didn’t appreciate it. But Jason tasted desperation in the back of his throat. He felt so out of control, like if he didn’t go with Lexie to the meeting, he’d lose her all over again. That she’d be on the three-ten flight, buzzing out of his life to destinations unknown, and he couldn’t stomach the thought of being without her for another seven years.