Guarding His Fortune

by Stella Bagwell

  Well, he’d made that plain enough. And though his feelings toward her shouldn’t matter, she felt downright deflated.

  Nolan awkwardly cleared his throat. “Okay, I can see my presence is no longer needed so I think it’s time I head on back to work.”

  Her brother’s announcement sent a rush of panic through Savannah. She quickly jumped to her feet and snatched a hold on his arm.

  “I’ll show you to the door,” she said.

  Without glancing in Chaz’s direction, she practically jerked Nolan out of the living room and down the foyer to the front door.

  “Savannah, you hardly need to play the hostess with me,” Nolan said as she continued to cling to his arm.

  “I’m not being a hostess. I’m being a sister,” she said in a hushed tone, then motioned her head toward the living room. “I want you to tell me how I’m supposed to deal with this? With him?”

  To her disbelief, Nolan grinned at her. “Savannah, you’re an attractive young woman. Surely you know how to deal with a man.”

  Deal with a man like Chaz? The men she’d spent any kind of company with had all possessed mushroom complexions from spending all their time indoors. Their muscles were softer than hers, and the gleam in their eye was usually caused by a glare of light on their glasses.

  “I can see you’re not going to be any help at all.”

  Chuckling, he gently patted her cheek. “You’re worrying way too much, Savannah. Just relax and enjoy having a strong man around to take care of you. You might actually like it. In the meantime, call me or Lizzie if you need us.”

  Nolan was making light of the whole situation and Savannah supposed she should, too. Otherwise, she was going to wind up looking like a frantic little mouse who should’ve never left home.

  Doing her best to smile, she leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “You’re right. I don’t have a thing to worry about. Except making a good impression at the university.”

  “And I have no doubt you’ll do just that,” he said as he opened the door and stepped onto the porch. “See you later, sis.”

  With a little wave, he strode off down the driveway. Savannah watched him slide behind the wheel of his car and drive away before she finally shut the door and engaged the dead bolt. The last thing she needed right now was to get a lecture from Chaz about leaving the apartment unlocked, she thought.

  When she returned to the living room, Chaz was gone, so she walked straight to the kitchen. To her delight, the room was equipped with beautiful oak cabinets with glass doors. A work island with an inlaid cutting board, along with a large indoor grill, was located in the middle of the room. The appliances were stainless steel and very up to date. Above the deep double-sink, a wide window overlooked a small backyard with a brick patio, where a group of red motel furniture was shaded by a massive live oak.

  At least if she started feeling too suffocated by Chaz’s presence, she could escape to the patio.

  “Your brother is gone?”

  The sound of Chaz’s voice had her turning away from the window. “Yes. I think he’d had all of me he could take for one day.”

  He moved into the room and Savannah noticed he moved quietly, with the grace of an athlete. “It’s obvious he’s very fond of you. Have you two always been close?”

  Telling herself to relax, she walked over to the island and ran her hand lightly over the cutting board. “I’m close to all my siblings. I’m not sure what my father has told you about our family, but there are seven of us children. I have four brothers and two sisters.”

  “And they all live in New Orleans, except for you and Nolan?”

  She nodded. “That’s right. He and his wife, Lizzie, married last March. They have a baby girl, Stella. Lizzie is from Austin and since Nolan is a jazz musician, he loves it here. And me—well, you already know why I’m here.”

  “Yes. To study.”

  He made it sound as though she were causing a great deal of problems over something she could be doing safely back in New Orleans. Or was she being overly defensive? Since she’d only met Chaz a little more than an hour ago, she couldn’t assume what was going on in his head. He might not be thinking anything of the sort. After all, during their ride from the airport, he’d called her studies admirable. She’d felt certain his compliment was sincere. Now she wasn’t sure about that or anything else.

  Oh, God, she had to get a grip, she thought. Her mind was jumping in all sorts of directions and the last thing she wanted was for this man to think she was scatterbrained and unable to take care of herself.

  “Well,” she said with the most positive tone she could muster. “I’m going to deal with my bags and have a look at the rest of the apartment.”

  “Um, I think you should know that I’ve already put my things in the smaller bedroom. But if you prefer it over the larger one, I can easily move everything.”

  He’d already moved in? Before she’d even had a chance to see her own apartment? Oh, her father was definitely going to hear about this, she promised herself. But to keep the peace for now, she was going to do her best to get along with Chaz Mendoza.

  “I appreciate your offer, but I’m sure the room will suit me.”

  One of his black brows arched as though he were surprised she was being agreeable, for once.

  “Fine. I’ll help you carry your bags,” he said.

  “Thank you. I’d appreciate that.”

  They started out of the kitchen and Chaz said, “The apartment is actually large for one person. Are you planning on entertaining friends while you’re here?”

  Did he mean friends in general, or men? Did she look like a party girl to him? She supposed it didn’t matter, but the question left her a bit uncomfortable.

  “Don’t worry,” she replied. “I have no plans to do any entertaining. Other than Nolan and his family, I don’t know anyone here in Austin. If I invite anyone over, it will be them.”

  They entered the living room and Savannah paused to take a closer survey of the space. Besides the leather sofa and matching armchair, there was a platform rocker and footstool done in a knobby burgundy fabric. At the far end of the room, a large flat-screen TV sat atop an oak entertainment center. A remote for it was lying on the end of a long glass-topped coffee table.

  She rarely watched television and had no plans to change her habits, but perhaps Chaz might enjoy the diversion, she thought.

  He walked over to the window and peered out at the small front lawn. Savannah got the feeling he was studying more than the perfectly manicured St. Augustine grass and blooming oleanders. Did he really believe that Charlotte Robinson or her paid cronies would actually try to cause her harm? The idea seemed fantastic.

  He said, “I’m sure you’ll be making new friends at the university. If you do decide to have company, or a dinner party, be sure and tell me about it beforehand. I’ll have to—”

  “Do background checks on my guests?” she interrupted.

  He walked over to where she was standing. “Maybe. Maybe not. I just need to be prepared. It’s a part of my job—to keep you safe.”

  “Yes. By all means, I’ll tell you every move I intend to make.”

  His gaze slipped over her face and for a moment Savannah was totally disarmed by his chocolate-brown eyes. As a bodyguard, she would’ve expected his gaze to be razor sharp. Instead, his eyes were soft and alluring. And it suddenly dawned on Savannah that if she weren’t careful, she might easily get lost in those deep, dark pools.

  “I’m sorry you’re so displeased about this,” he said. “But one day you might be very thankful your father was so concerned about you.”

  She couldn’t imagine herself being thankful for having her stay in Austin invaded by this man. But she didn’t want to appear like an ungrateful brat, too spoiled to deal with reality.

  “I understand my father has worries about
my safety. It’s just that—well, I’ve not had time to get used to all of this. Especially when I thought—”

  “You thought what?”

  She shrugged, while telling herself to step aside until there was three or four feet of distance separating them. That might be enough space to get her breathing back to an even keel. But looking into those dreamy eyes had done something to her feet. Both of them seemed stuck to the floor.

  A nervous flutter suddenly attacked the back of her throat, forcing her to swallow before she could answer. “I thought—well, you see, like Nolan pointed out, this is my first real venture at living away from home. I was looking forward to it. Being just me—taking care of myself, doing things for myself. Now, all my plans have been turned upside down.”

  Before she could guess his intentions, he stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. It felt big and warm, and the mere fact that he was touching her sent electrical currents shooting through her entire body.

  “I promise, Savannah, this isn’t going to be as bad as you’re thinking. I will stay out of your way as much as possible. Okay?”

  His voice was low, and husky, and just as seductive as the touch of his hand. “Okay,” she murmured. “And I’ll do my best not to cause you any major headaches.”

  One corner of his lips cocked upward. “Let’s not worry about future problems. Certainly not for the rest of today.”

  His hand eased off her shoulder and Savannah decided it was high time to step away from him.

  “I’m all for that.” She walked over to the bags she’d dropped earlier and collected them from the floor. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll take these to the bedroom.”

  Inside the master bedroom, Savannah placed her luggage on the end of a queen-sized bed with an ornate head-and footboard made of brass. A green and navy comforter, along with pillows in matching shams, covered the mattress. However, a quick peek beneath the comforter revealed there were no sheets. She made a mental note to put them on her shopping list.

  The sound of Chaz’s footsteps had her turning away from the bed to see him entering the room with her remaining bags.

  “Where would you like these?” he asked.

  “Anywhere will be fine. Thanks,” she told him.

  He put the suitcases on the floor at the foot of the bed, then promptly returned to the open doorway.

  Pausing there, he asked, “Are you okay with this room?”

  “The room is fine. But I realize I’m going to need more things than I anticipated. Does your bed have linen?”

  “No. But I don’t need a set of sheets to be able to sleep.”

  Not knowing how to respond to that, she simply said, “Oh.”

  Her one word reply put an amused look on his face. “I was in the army,” he explained. “Fluffy beds with nice linens aren’t always available to a soldier.”

  Intrigued, Savannah took a few steps toward him. “You were in the military?”

  “For eight years.”

  She stared at him, while trying to picture him in a uniform, following the rigors of the army. “Eight years! Really?”

  A faint smile touched his face. “I can see that surprises you.”

  “Very much. I thought—” She broke off as she realized that up until now, she’d not been thinking about Chaz’s background. She’d been too preoccupied with the present and how to control her unsettling reaction to him.

  “Thought what?” he prodded. “That I spent my younger years being a bouncer in some sleazy nightclub?”

  Embarrassed heat swept over her face. “No! Not exactly. My father would never hire anyone without excellent credentials. I just assumed you had probably worked for a security firm or in law enforcement.”

  He shook his head. “After having army buddies around me for so many years, I wondered what it might be like to go solo. Turns out I like it.”

  He was talking about his work, but Savannah was thinking more along the lines of his love life. Did he also like living alone? That was definitely a question she was going to keep to herself. It was none of her business if Chaz shared an apartment with a woman, or dated a bevy of them.

  “That’s good. I mean—that you like working solo.” Flustered by her straying thoughts and the way his lazy gaze continued to meander over her face, she purposely moved back to the bed and picked up one of the pillows. “There are so many things I need for the apartment. I’m going to put off unpacking and make a trip to the nearest shopping center.”

  “I’ll have to go with you,” he said. “So we’ll take my car.”

  Frowning, she turned to look at him. “Are you planning on driving me everywhere I need to go? Because I’ve already booked a rental car. In fact, I’m supposed to pick it up this afternoon.”

  He stroked a thumb and forefinger over his black goatee as he contemplated her question. “We’ll pick up the car after you finish your shopping. There might be occasions while you’re at the university that I’ll have to be elsewhere. But that doesn’t mean I want you driving around town or to and from campus without me in the vehicle with you or following directly behind you.”

  She struggled to keep from rolling her eyes toward the ceiling. This had to be the most ridiculous waste she’d ever heard of, but she knew from experience it would be fruitless to argue the point with her father.

  “Fine. At least, I’ll have a car of my own,” she said, then walked over to the door. “Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to change clothes before we leave.”

  His dark gaze swept over her and Savannah got the feeling he’d already undressed her. The notion shot a plume of heat from her toes to her head.

  “I’ll be waiting in the living room.”

  He turned away and Savannah couldn’t shut the door between them fast enough. After turning the lock, she slumped against the wooden panel and waited for her heart to quit pounding and her breaths to become more than shallow sups.

  Dear Lord, what was the man doing to her? At this rate, she was going to end up fainting at his feet! A fate that would be worse than humiliating.

  No, she thought, as she marched over to the bed and began to shed her blouse and skirt. Before she made a complete fool of herself, she was going to convince herself that she disliked everything about the sexy Latino. And that included his tall muscular body, those dark dreamy eyes and husky voice. She would trick her brain into believing she didn’t find anything attractive in the way his black hair waved gently away from his face or the way his trimmed mustache bracketed a pair of very kissable lips.

  Kissable?

  Damn! What did she know about kissing a man? Not just a young college boy, but a mature, masculine hunk of man like Chaz Mendoza? Very little. And while she was here in Austin, she didn’t plan on learning.

  She was here to study diseases. Not to fall prey to a chronic heart condition.

  Chapter Three

  “I hate to tell you this, Savannah, but I’m not sure we’re going to get everything loaded into the car,” Chaz told her, as he positioned sacks of groceries into the back seat.

  For the past few hours, he’d followed her around an upscale department store while she gathered bed and bathroom linens, along with dishes, cookware and kitchen utensils. Those items were jammed tightly in the trunk. Since then, they’d moved on to a nearby supermarket where she’d filled three baskets with anything and everything that happened to catch her fancy.

  “No problem,” she told him. “I’ll go back inside and tell customer service we need to have the rest of our purchases delivered to the apartment.”

  Something about her words and the way she’d said them reminded him of Allison. And suddenly he was thinking back to a time when his heart had been open and the future had been as bright as a blue sky. But that had all slowly and surely changed.

  Shaking away the memories, he said, “Wait a minute before
you do that. I might be able to fit everything in.”

  He emerged from the back seat and as he looked at her standing there so chic and pretty in a pair of tight black jeans and a white off-the-shoulder blouse, he was reminded that she was a Fortune. Money made it easy to fix most of their problems. On the other hand, it sometimes created huge difficulties for them and for the people who tried to love them.

  “You’re thinking I’ve gone overboard.” Tilting her head from side to side, she contemplated the remaining sacks to be loaded into the car. “Maybe I did get a little carried away. But I like to eat. Don’t you?”

  “It is an enjoyable necessity,” he answered. “From the looks of all this, I think you have enough food to last for weeks.”

  “Not the fresh things like milk and vegetables. Our cook at home told me those sorts of things only last a week or so.”

  Chaz doubted she’d ever prepared anything more than a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich and that simple task would probably be stretching the limit of her cooking skills. But she seemed eager and excited about trying her hand in the kitchen and Chaz had no desire to burst her bubble.

  To be honest, he already felt bad enough about Savannah’s plans being thwarted by her father. Chaz was thirty-one, but he still remembered how excited he’d felt when he’d first ventured out on his own, away from the watchful eye of his father, Esteban, and older brothers, Carlo and Mark. He’d been like a young stallion finally released from the corral. If his father had hired a bodyguard to follow him, Chaz would’ve put up a far bigger fuss than Savannah had.

  Pulling his thoughts back to the present moment, he said, “With all that cold cereal you bought, I’m sure the milk will be used before it spoils.”

  She chuckled. “I guess you noticed I like the round fruity cereal that’s coated with sugar. Awful of me, isn’t it? I study diseases and I’ve learned how bad sugar is for me. But I confess. I have a sweet tooth. That’s probably my worst sin. That and losing my temper.”

  She considered eating sugared cereal and getting angry her worst sins? At the age of twenty-five, could she really be that innocent? Miles had described his daughter as always studying instead of enjoying any kind of nightlife. Maybe the man had been right about that part of Savannah’s life. Still, she was so beautiful and sexy that it was hard for Chaz to imagine there hadn’t been a line of young men knocking on her door, begging for dates.