Guardian For Hire

by Christine Bell

  get rid of the witness who threatened to bring a criminal empire to its knees? Maybe they hadn’t believed that they’d distributed copies of the tapes after all. Her heart raced, and she sprinted for the door, not bothering to close the gate behind her.

  She hustled to the side of the building where Gavin’s room was, pulling the grappling hook from her bag as she went, only to find a ladder already propped against the wall leading straight to his bedroom window. She wanted to scream, make sure he was okay, but she knew that the tactical play was to remain calm and face her enemy while they were caught unaware.

  She muscled up the ladder, leaving her equipment in the bank of grass in order to move unencumbered.

  When she got to his bedroom, her blood ran cold. Ice coated every vein only to be quickly shattered by the scalding hot rage boiling through her.

  She climbed through the window to the thunderous cries of Gavin’s uproarious, barking laughter.

  He was sitting up in his bed, his naked torso partially obscured by the tiny portable television in his hands. Tears were streaming down his face, and his mirth was so violent that for a moment he stopped, apparently unable to breathe. “Thank you so much, I really needed this after the day I’ve had.” He held his TV aloft and collapsed back onto the pillows in another fit of hilarity.

  She crossed her arms over her ridiculous top, jutting out an angry hip. “How did you even know I was here?”

  “Well, I’m a security expert, love. And you tripped every single silent alarm on the grounds.” He raised his eyebrows, the laughter still playing across his lips.

  “You opened that gate?”

  “After watching you fall off the first gate, I didn’t want to see what would happen at that one.”

  Her rage strained at her eyes, forcing angry tears to prick at her. “I thought the mob had gotten in here. I thought you were dead.” Screw it, what had she been thinking? Why would she rush in here to be treated like this? She may as well climb back through the window and head back home. Cut her losses.

  She was about to make for the window when his laughter died off, interrupted by the ferocious, serious tone she was much more accustomed to.

  “Wait, wait, you thought the mob was in here so your response was to come rushing in?” He knit his brows together, and she gave him a silent nod. “That’s basically suicide.”

  “I don’t know, Gavin. It was stupid. You won’t have to worry about me again.” She swallowed hard and placed her studded heel back on the sill, cursing herself for ever trying something so incredibly stupid.

  …

  “Doc, wait,” he called, and she turned, the night air blowing her dark-brown hair over her face. “I need to know. Why would you do something like that? Do you have a death wish?” She was quiet so long, it physically hurt him. He was afraid to hope, but if there was any chance…

  He watched the battle play out on her face. Fear, anxiety and then finally determination as she firmed her chin and faced him head on.

  “I did it because—because I care about you. I…I love you. And I want to be a part of this.” She gestured around his room, then toward her clothes. “This life. I’ve never felt more, I don’t know, alive than when I was here. With you.” Her face turned red, but she continued, shiny trails of tears glistening down her cheeks. “It’s okay that you don’t feel the same way. I understand, I really do. But…but you had to know. I needed you to know that much.”

  He stared at her for a long moment, heart knocking against his ribs as he tried to choose his words carefully. This instant had been his nightly dream for a week since she’d left, and still no words came to him. It was only when she bent her knee in preparation to climb out the window and disappear from his life all over again, that he was able to work the words past his tight throat.

  “Sarabeth,” he started. It was hard enough to have to do it the first time. It had nearly killed him. A second go might be the final nail in his coffin, but still he had to make her understand what she would be getting herself into with him. “It’s not you, it’s me.” He wanted to punch himself for saying something so stupid. But there it was, the truth.

  She laughed feebly. “Yeah. Thanks.”

  “No, I mean it,” he tried again. “This life? You might think you want it now, but it’s not good enough for you. You’re not the girl who should be sitting up at night wondering if I come home, and you’re certainly not the girl I want to worry about getting caught in a firefight. You deserve something better than me. You think I’m your knight in shining armor like in one of your books, but you’re wrong.” He stood and held her gaze, his heart breaking with every word. “And even if I was, what you deserve is a prince.”

  Nothing he’d said or done up to that point seemed to enrage her as much as the speech he’d given. Her whole body shook while her face blanched, her lips twisting into a contorted white line. “What else do I have to do, huh? Skywriting? What do I need to do to convince you that I don’t care about any of that? I don’t care what you were, I don’t care what you think I am. I want you now. I want this. So don’t come up with stupid excuses. Don’t try to say I’m looking for my stupid freaking prince in the wrong castle. I don’t want to hear it. If you don’t love me, be a man and say it. All this other nonsense is a waste of my time.”

  He stared at her, trying to force the lie past his lips. Instead, the truth came tumbling out in a gritty rasp. “I can’t do that.”

  She stepped away from the window. “Come again?”

  Fuck all, what was he doing? He sure as shit didn’t know, but he couldn’t stop it. “I can’t tell you that I don’t love you. I’m miserable without you. Every day without you has been hell.” He ran a hand through the bristles of his hair and let out a short laugh. “I spend half my nights thinking about kidnapping you and flying you to Cairo or somewhere. But it’s not right—”

  “You think too much.” She stalked toward him and leaped at him, knocking the portable security monitor from his hand so that she could push him back onto the bed and straddle him. Her kiss was hot and sweet, her greeting him with her tongue before pulling away to look him in the eyes.

  “I’ve lived my whole life trying to please everyone else. Trying to do what people thought was best for me. And just when I thought I was going to get out of the trap, I made a terrible mistake.” She wet her lips and held his gaze. “I trusted Nico and fell for his lies. It shook my confidence, and I started to wonder if I’d ever get it back or if maybe it was better to sit back and let someone else take the controls after all.”

  She leaned low and pressed a kiss to his brow. “Being with you made me stronger. It made me realize that part of growing means making mistakes and then moving past them. It means taking risks and fighting for what you want.” She flexed her hips against his, and her voice dropped to a whisper. “This is me, fighting for you.”

  Heat surged to his groin, and he shook his head, trying not to let the need distract him. “Your grandparents will never accept me. I may have money now, but I’m far too rough around the edges to ever fit in there. Hell, they might even disown you.” The words were ripped out of him, but he had to be sure she knew exactly what she stood to lose by choosing him.

  “I know it’s sad to say, but I don’t want to be owned by them anymore. I used to. When I was young, I’d wish they’d hug me, or read to me. You know, the things you see families do on TV. Dinners together, vacations at the lake. Picking out a messy, dumb dog.”

  He reached up and brushed a strand of still, dark hair from her eyes, wishing he could take the pain away.

  “But I feel like I can still have that. Not with them, but maybe…”

  With him. The thought filled him with warmth, and images of baby girls with glass-green eyes flitted through his head. Jesus.

  “I—” This wasn’t how this was all supposed to go, but she was making a damned good case, and one thing was for sure. He loved her like crazy, and while he couldn’t promise her life would always b
e easy with a guy like him, he’d do anything in his power to make her happy. “Sarabeth, I…”

  Her fearful eyes went soft, and she smiled. “I see it on your face already, but I need to hear it. If you say it, I’ll stay. But I’ve got to give you fair warning—you’ll never get me to leave once you do.”

  Nothing had ever felt as good as hearing those words.

  “In that case.” He lifted her up and pinned her beneath him, drinking in how incredibly gorgeous she looked there, and realizing, with a thrill, that she’d be there forever. “I love you, I love you, I love you.”

  Epilogue

  Four months later…

  Sarabeth hitched the last of the boxes on her hip and locked her office door for the last time before depositing her key in the lockbox in the hallway. Her heart skittered as she stepped into the warm afternoon air and sucked in a deep breath. This was it. The beginning of her new life. Dr. Sarabeth Lucking was now going to be Security Analyst Sarabeth Lucking, and she couldn’t wait to get started.

  Spring had turned to summer since what she’d taken to calling the DeSalvo Debacle had finally ended, and three of those four months had been the happiest of her life. The first few weeks had been rough. She’d originally planned to take things slow and do the long distance thing with Gavin until the fall when all her ducks were in a row, but it hadn’t worked. She didn’t want to be a psychologist anymore, and her perfect, cookie-cutter house felt like it belonged to someone else. Someone she didn’t even know anymore. She wanted different and fun and contemporary instead of staid and fussy and boring.

  She chuckled at that thought as she unlocked the door of her new Volvo and slung the box into the back. Okay, so maybe she wasn’t entirely a changed woman. Safety was important, but at least this car was cherry red. A fact that pleased her beyond measure. Which reminded her, tonight was the night she was going to have to finally talk to Gavin about maybe doing some redecorating. She’d sold her house two weeks ago and still hadn’t made time to put some feminine touches on Castle Grayskull yet. Maybe she’d ply him with wine and hot sex tonight before opening up a discussion on accent walls and throw pillows.

  She slid behind the wheel and spared one last look out the window at her old office building, surprised by the absence of sadness. After poking around deep, all she could find was excitement…anticipation for her new career to start. It wasn’t as if she wouldn’t get to use her training ever again. Part of her new job at McClintock and Saunders was going to be analyzing criminal behaviors and helping Maddy with their new sister offshoot, McClintock and Saunders Investigation. She couldn’t wait to dig in. But right now, it was time to get home and spend some much-needed quality time with Gavin. She hadn’t seen him in the three days since she’d come back to Chicago to close up shop, and she couldn’t wait to get her hands on him.

  The drive felt like days instead of hours, and traffic was a bitch, but by the time she pulled up to the monstrosity she called home, her irritation melted away in the face of her relief. Finally, she was exactly where she was meant to be, and she’d never have to leave again.

  She left the boxes behind, wanting to be able to leap at her man unencumbered the second she walked in, and ran up the pathway. Before she got to the porch, the door swung wide.

  “Gavin?” she called, surprised he wasn’t standing in the doorway.

  She jogged lightly up the stairs and stepped in, peering down the hall. “Hellooo?”

  The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, and she was about to back slowly toward the door again when he called back to her.

  “I’m in the den.”

  She almost slumped with relief. It was better every day, but sometimes paranoia still got the better of her. Still, it was super weird that he was in the den at all. He spent most of his time in the living room or office. She wound her way through the house, and as she approached the den, a familiar scent hit her. Wet paint. She groaned inwardly. More gray, no doubt, and she mentally kicked herself for not having the remodeling talk before she left.

  Not about to let this latest tiny snafu ruin her day, she sailed into the room calling, “Honey, I’m ho-ome—” but then froze in her tracks as she took in her surroundings, bewildered. The den wasn’t gray at all. It had been painted a lovely sage green, and amber accents were scattered around the room—a candle here, a vase there, a large picture of gerbera daisies hanging over the fireplace. Soft, bluesy music played in the background, and a bottle of champagne flanked by two crystal flutes sat on a low coffee table. Tears blurred her vision as she struggled for words but came up empty.

  “Maddy thought you’d like green, but we can change it no problem,” Gavin murmured from the far corner of the room, the apprehension in his voice making her already-weak knees even weaker.

  “Green is beautiful. Perfect,” she whispered, meeting his gaze and blinking back the tears. She made her way across the room and threw herself into his strong, waiting arms. “Is this all for me?” she asked, trying to keep the tremor from her voice. The idea that he’d gone to this much trouble to make sure she had a space that felt like her own made everything feel so much more real…so much more permanent and solid. She hadn’t realized how much she’d needed that until she walked through the door.

  He circled her waist and squeezed her tight, then lifted her until they were nose to nose. “Of course it is. But first, I need to tell you I have missed you so fucking much, I could barely stand myself.” He pressed his lips against hers in a kiss that rocked her socks. By the time she came up for air and he set her back on her feet, the room was spinning. “Welcome home, Doc.”

  She swallowed hard and got her bearings, turning again to take in the full effect of his amazing and thoughtful gift. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that the front wall had been almost entirely scooped out, and a gigantic walnut bookcase had been set in. It was brimming with hundreds of paperbacks. She stepped toward it, scanning the titles. The Pirate’s Brazen Wench. Deceiving the Count. Reluctant Captive. They were all romance novels, and her favorite kind. A fat, butter-soft chair next to a squat lamp was right next to the shelf, with all the books within easy reach.

  “I-I don’t know what to say,” she said, shaking her head, willing the stinging in her eyes to go away. If she started crying again, there’d be no stopping her. How could this giant slab of a man, so tough, so hard, be so amazingly sweet? It never ceased to amaze her.

  “Say you love it,” he urged, stepping behind her and tugging her hair gently to get her to turn around. “Say you love me.”

  “I love you. God, you know I do.” She faced him, stretching onto her tiptoes for another kiss, but the apprehension on his face stopped her cold. “What? What is it?” Her stomach jumped and did a shimmy as he pulled away from her. Surely, he wouldn’t go to all this trouble just to tell her he’d changed his mind, or—

  “I’m glad because—” He reached a hand into his pocket and pulled out a tiny box before sinking low in front of her.

  Holy shit. “Holy shit,” she muttered, her mouth going bone-dry as the breath sawed in and out of her lungs in panicked gasps. Was this seriously happening?

  Gavin laughed and took her hand. She wasn’t sure which one of them was shaking, but it didn’t matter. She dropped to her knees next to him a second later when her legs couldn’t hold her.

  “That’s not how this is supposed to go, love,” he said, his tone gentle. He brushed the hair away from her face, and she shrugged helplessly.

  “I don’t really care about how it’s supposed to go. I just want to be next to you.”

  “That’s what I want, too. Now and forever.” He cracked open the box and a gorgeous cushion-cut diamond winked up at her. “Sarabeth?”

  She swallowed hard, willing moisture to her mouth with everything she had. “Yes?” she finally managed to squeeze out.

  “I’ve spent my whole life thinking I wasn’t worth loving. Then I met you.” His voice grew husky and with it, the brogue that was bar
ely a trace most of the time thickened. “And suddenly, everything changed. You made me want to be worthy of that love. You made me want to be worthy of you.”

  “You are. You always have been,” she insisted, trying to quiet the sound of the blood rushing in her ears.

  “I love you for saying that, and I’m just now starting to believe you. So, before you change your mind, I need to know.” He took her hand and held it in his own and this time, the two of them were steady as a rock. “Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

  She didn’t hesitate. She yanked her hand away and launched herself at him, knocking him back onto the plush cream carpet, eliciting an exaggerated ooph from him.

  “Yes,” she said, peppering his face with kisses. “Yes, yes, yes!”

  His chuckles warmed her from head to toe, and he closed his arms around her tight. “I’m so glad to hear that, because I told Maddy my plan and she already called dibs on the best man slot and bought a tux. I think she’d be heartbroken if she had to take it back.”

  “Well, we can’t disappoint her, can we?”

  “Not if we want to live to tell the tale,” he agreed through his laughter. He gaze never left hers as the smile on his face slowly faded, but the joy in his eyes remained.

  “I’m the luckiest man in the world and believe me, I know it, Doc.” He paused to gently run his thumb over her bottom lip. “It’s me and you, together forever, and I’m going to spend the rest of my life trying to make you as happy as you make me.”

  “You already have, Gavin.” She stared into the eyes of the man she loved and let the magic of the moment wash over her. “You already have.”