“I don’t have any skeletons… At least I didn’t think I did.” Her brow creased and he wanted to rub his thumb over her forehead and erase it along with all her worries and fears.
“You aren’t sure about what Evan said, are you?” he asked as the elevator opened on the ground floor. He raised his hand, indicating she should stay put as the doors opened and he stepped outside. Sweeping the empty lobby area of her apartment building, he beckoned for her to follow.
“I forgot how much fun it is having a bodyguard.” She stepped out into the lobby and dodged his question.
“I’m here to keep you safe,” he told her.
“But my kidnapper is under arrest. So I guess I won’t be needing you.” She didn’t say the words unkindly, more matter-of-factly.
However, there was no way he could walk away from her now. He needed to spend time with her and convince her he was the man for her. If she knew about shifters, he would simply have told her they were mates.
But she didn’t, he was certain. Which meant he was going to have to be creative. And fast.
Chapter Five – Madison
They’d caught the kidnapper. She didn’t need a bodyguard.
This should be good news for Madison. But somehow it wasn’t. For a couple of very different reasons.
The first. How hot was her bodyguard? Madison was tall, but he was taller, six-foot-five, with close-cropped fair hair, ice-blue eyes that smoldered when he looked at her. Smoldered…
Was that what they taught now at bodyguard school? Or was that smile for her and only her? Because Rob certainly made her feel as if she were the only person in the room, the only woman on the planet. Her insides turned to liquid fire and her knees went weak every time he looked at her.
Rob had more of an effect on her than Evan and his possibly loaded gun.
Which brought her around to the second reason her day had just gone south. Evan Olsen and his story about why his dad got fired. It wasn’t true. At least in her version of events it wasn’t true.
But when she looked in Evan’s eyes, she could see he believed every word he said.
Had her mom fired his father? Was Madison’s family responsible for his dad not getting hired?
“Any suggestions for great coffee?” Rob asked, dragging her back to reality.
She looked up at him, startled. “Yes. McGregor’s across the street.” She pointed, her feet unwilling to move now that they were out on the sidewalk.
Rob looked at her. That was the thing about him, he really looked at her.
That might sound like a strange comment since she was a model and people looked at her all the time. Looked at her and assessed, often critically. Which she was okay with. She knew when she decided to become a plus-size model that people would judge her. It went with the territory and she was strong enough to take it.
But Rob looked at her differently. She tilted her head to one side.
“You’re staring.” He was right. She was.
“Sorry.” She brushed her hair back from her face. “It’s been a weird day.”
“Let’s get some coffee and talk.” He dipped his head, locking his gaze with hers, and nodded reassuringly.
“Sounds good.” He held out his hand and this time she took it, needing the reassuring touch of another person. What she didn’t expect was the warmth that flowed between them. The connection.
Her eyes flashed up to his and she saw the same wide-eyed response mirrored back at her. But before she could speak, he guided her across the street to McGregor’s, her favorite haunt when she needed good coffee and good conversation.
“Wait, I need to let Holly know I’m running late.” Madison quickly tapped the message on her phone, explaining what had happened. When the reply came back take your time, Madison let the tension in her shoulders go, and focused on Rob. And coffee.
“Hey there, Madison,” McGregor looked up as she walked in with Rob, curiosity etched his face, but he kept his questions to himself.
“Hey, McGregor.” She forced a smile onto her face, trying not to look like a wide-eyed fool.
“The usual?” McGregor asked.
“Yes, please.” She turned to Rob. “What do you drink?”
“Americano. Hot and strong.” The irony of those words was not lost on Madison or McGregor, but the barista made no comment as he went about his work.
“Shall we get a table?” Rob asked, scanning the coffee house.
“Sure.” She looked around the room, trying to see the coffee house through Rob’s eyes. “How about over there in the corner?”
“Good choice.” He grinned and put his hand in his pocket for his wallet as McGregor placed their coffees on the counter.
“I’ve got it.” She fished some cash out of her purse, but Rob had already paid.
“My treat.” He arched an eyebrow at her expression. “Sorry, habit.”
“You don’t think a woman can pay for her own coffee?” Madison asked.
“Hey, don’t knock it,” McGregor said as he handed Rob his change. “It’s nice to know chivalry isn’t dead.”
“That’s your idea of chivalry?” Madison bounced back at the barista.
“In here, lady, that is the best I’m gonna see all day.” McGregor winked at Madison and then turned away, ready to serve his next customer.
Rob led the way to the table and set the cups down. Madison sat down quickly, just in case he planned to hold her chair for her, too.
“So why did you pick this table?” Rob asked as he seated himself in the corner.
“Back to the wall, eyes on the door.” Madison shrugged. “Most rich kids get raised by a nanny, I was partly raised by my mom’s bodyguard.”
He frowned. “Really?”
“I was farmed out to a boarding school at an early age. My mom was always too busy working to come get me while my dad was always too busy…playing golf. So Joe, my mom’s most trusted bodyguard, would come pick me up.” She sipped her coffee, knowing she’d revealed too much about herself in that one statement. “But before you feel sorry for me, I should tell you that I like Joe a lot. He treated me like his child. He’d talk to me about school, music, and he’d teach me self-defense and how to look after myself.”
“He prepared you for the world.” Rob drank his coffee, his eyes roaming the room before coming to rest on Madison once more.
“He was as close to a real parent as I ever got as a child.” Madison rubbed her finger back and forth over the polished wood table.
“So your mom?” Rob asked. “She’s a diplomat.”
“I thought you didn’t Google us?” Madison asked.
“I didn’t. But Guy, my boss, gave me a file on you, or particularly your mother.” Rob watched Madison’s expression change.
“Of course, because this had to be about her.” Madison didn’t mean to sound so bitter. But Evan’s comments still rang in her head like a broken bell.
“She’s an important person. It’s common for the children of diplomats, particularly those working on sensitive projects, to be targeted for kidnapping and ransom.” His eyes narrowed. “But you know all this, don’t you?”
“Your file no doubt lists the other attempts to kidnap me.” She picked up her coffee and nursed it between her hands. “I thought when I grew up, I’d live a normal life. You know, be able to take care of myself.”
“Before you blame your mom for this, we should talk about Evan.” Rob tensed as a couple of customers raised their voices, but he relaxed as they got their coffee and left.
“Yeah. Evan.” She sighed and looked away.
“His motive has nothing to do with your mom and her job now. Or your life as it is. This is about what happened in the past.” Rob was trying to coax information from Madison, information she didn’t have.
“I honestly have no idea what he’s talking about. I was told his father left because he got another job.” She splayed her hands on the table. “But he is so sure his version is true.”
“You know, sometimes, when there are two versions of the same story, there is a place in the middle somewhere where the truth lies.” His jaw tightened. “I know as a bodyguard, I’m supposed to be seen and not heard, so I’m sorry if that is over the line.”
Her brow furrowed. “No, no, it’s not. I was thinking the same thing.”
“Does it matter? Does the truth matter?” Rob asked. “Evan is under arrest for two attempted kidnappings. He doesn’t pose a threat anymore. You can leave the past in the past because whatever happened does not give him an excuse to kidnap you.”
“He planted the worm of doubt in my head, though, didn’t he?” Madison leaned back in her seat. “My mom is good at bending the truth. So maybe his version is true, and I was fed a version that kept me happy.”
“All parents are good at telling their children what they think they should hear. Evan’s dad could easily have made up his version, too.” Rob made perfect sense.
“It’s hard to see my mom objectively,” Madison confessed. “She could have been worried her little girl was getting too friendly with the hired help.”
“Why not ask her?” Rob suggested.
“And expect to get the truth?” Madison scoffed. “Sorry. My mom is good at evading questions.”
“You never know.” He drank his coffee and placed the empty cup down on the table.
“Thank you.” Madison hadn’t talked openly about her life or her past for some time. She was always very careful to keep her mom out of her work life. “I’m sorry you’ve had a wasted trip. I’m sure my mom will pay you in full.”
“Wasted trip?” Rob asked, sitting up straight.
“Yes, I don’t need a bodyguard now.” Madison drained her coffee cup, too, and stood up. No matter how attractive Rob Newman was, she didn’t need a bodyguard.
“I’ve been hired to watch over you,” Rob insisted. “And until they formally charge Evan with both attempted kidnappings, I’m not going anywhere.”
“He admitted it.” Madison was about to argue for her freedom, but when she looked at Rob, she realized she didn’t want it. There was a connection between them, one she hadn’t felt with another person for a long time. Maybe it would be good to have him around for a couple of days.
At least that way her knees wouldn’t feel weak every time she thought about going into her empty apartment alone. She wouldn’t feel a stranger’s arm slip around her waist and a dirty, smelly cloth covering her face.
“Madison.” His hand touched hers and she jumped.
“Maybe you could stick around for a couple of days.” Her sudden change of mind confused him, but he brushed it off as he stood up.
“So where to?” he asked.
“I have a dinner engagement tonight, for charity. Will you come? But not as my bodyguard. As my date.” Her cheeks flushed pink. “I mean, could we keep it a little informal and you just pretend to be my date?”
“That I can do.” His smile made her heart flutter. Did he know the effect he had on her?
“We need to get you a tux.” She inclined her head toward the door. “Are you sure you’re ready for the world of modeling?”
“What you should be asking is whether the world of modeling is ready for me.” Rob straightened his tie and arched an eyebrow in a special agent kind of a way that made her heart flutter.
“Oh, I think the world of modeling is going to love you.” She pressed her lips together and swallowed hard. She knew women who would want to eat Rob alive. Literally. He was the kind of man some women liked to wear on their arm like a trophy.
Wait. Was that what she was doing?
“I will be glued to your side,” he promised as he held the door open for her.
“You don’t have to. I mean, if you get propositioned by a beautiful woman, you’re free to…” She shrugged. “You know.”
Rob grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her toward him, sandwiching her between his rock-hard boy and the hard stone wall. “No, Madison, I’m not free. Not anymore.”
His eyes flashed with hunger, the heat of his body penetrating her thin dress, which barely contained her heaving breasts. There was an animal magnetism emanating from him that backed up his words.
She was caught in his eyes, as if he’d snared her in a trap, one she never wanted to be freed from. Unconsciously, she moistened her lips, waiting for him to kiss her. Willing him to kiss her.
“Because my mom hired you,” she croaked. “I get it.”
She was pushing him away. He confused her on so many levels, and after the day she’d had she wasn’t ready to explore those levels. Not yet.
His hunger flared as his eyes scanned her face as if committing her to memory. Then he took a step back. “Sorry.”
She wasn’t. Madison longed to pull him back toward her, wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him until her lips were swollen and sore.
“Practice,” she squawked. “In case I’m attacked.”
He chuckled. “Practice.” But he didn’t say what for. And her cheeks flamed red as she fantasized what he was practicing for. She needed to get herself together, to stop reading too much into his actions.
It was the shock of the day. Yes, she would blame her thoughts on the shock of the kidnapping attempts. Because otherwise, she would have to admit her intense attraction to Rob.
And she was not ready for that. Not yet.
Chapter Six – Rob
After Madison gave a statement at the local police department, they grabbed some food and then went to rent a tux. Which she insisted on paying for.
“I insist.” She placed her credit card on the counter. “Thank you.”
The assistant looked from Madison to Rob and then back again. “You’re welcome.” She gave a nervous smile. “Do I know you?”
“I don’t think we’ve met, but I’m the new face of Holly and Jones’ Just for me clothing line.” Madison’s cheeks flushed pink. She’d never been recognized like this before.
“Oh, yes. My sister was talking about the Just for me range last night.” The assistant handed the tux to Rob. “It’s great to see such a positive role model. Wait until I tell her you bagged a handsome date, too. She’s always so afraid she’s never going to find love. Boys, teenage boys, can be fickle.”
“Oh, we’re…” Madison began.
“We’re not out…as a couple yet.” Rob winked and the store assistant giggled.
“Your secret is safe with me.” She watched them leave the store before she picked up her phone and tapped the screen.
“Do you think she’ll keep our secret?” Madison asked as she glanced over her shoulder.
“Does it matter?” Rob asked as they headed back to her apartment. He was happy for the whole world to know they were dating. The more people who knew, the fewer men he would have to fight off at this party tonight.
But you aren’t dating, his bear reminded him.
Technically, no. But I’m not going anywhere until I’ve won her heart, Rob answered.
And once you’ve won her heart, you won’t be going anywhere either, his bear reminded him.
“I don’t want this to taint your career.” Madison reached the door to her apartment building first, keyed in the security code and then held the door open for him.
“Thank you.” He flashed her a smile. “And don’t worry about my career. My bosses are very understanding.”
“You’re going to tell them you’re coming to the charity gala with me?” she asked.
“Yes.” He looked at his watch. “I should check in now. And I need to call my sister.”
“You have a sister?” Madison asked. He liked that she was interested in him and was curious enough to ask questions about his life. It showed she cared. Even if it was on a small level.
“I do. She’s going through a tough time right now.” He held up his phone. “Do you mind?”
“Why should I?” Madison asked as they took the elevator to her apartment.
“Because I’m on the clock.” H
e stepped out of the elevator first when they reached Madison’s floor. The threat might have been neutralized, but he still had a duty to keep Madison safe.
“I’m going to make some coffee and take a shower. Please, make yourself at home, and that includes calling your sister. I don’t believe I need a bodyguard, but you’re here, so it would make me feel more comfortable if I treated you like a house guest.” Madison opened the door to her apartment. “Do you want to do a sweep first?”
“I’d feel more comfortable if I did.” He grinned and watched the heat creep across her cheeks. “Stay here.”
They entered the apartment and he closed the door securely. Leaving Madison standing by the door, he went from room to room checking for signs of forced entry, ensuring the apartment was free of anyone, or anything that might cause Madison harm.
“Okay?” Madison asked as he came back to her.
“Okay.” He watched her as she moved from the doorway, down the hall, and into the kitchen.
“Now who is staring?” she asked over her shoulder.
“Sorry.” He followed her into the small kitchen, which was clean, neat and tidy. “My kitchen used to be like this once.”
Madison swung her head around to look at him. “Small?”
“No, clean, tidy. Then my sister came to live with me. She has two young sons.” He leaned back against the counter, waiting for Madison’s reaction.
“Oh, did her marriage break up?” Madison switched the coffee pot on and instantly the aroma of fresh coffee filled the room.
“Not exactly. Her mate…her husband was killed by a roadside bomb.”
“Oh my goodness. Really? That’s terrible!” Her eyes misted with tears. “How long ago?” Madison was too upset about Colm being killed to notice his slip up.
“Not long enough for any of us to get over it. They never found the body. Or what was left of it.” He gave a tight smile and ran his hand over his short-cropped hair. “Sorry. I’m sharing too much.”
“Overshare away. I don’t have too many conversations with normal people. That’s why I head over to McGregor’s for coffee. I sit at the counter and talk to random people, just so that I keep myself grounded. As you can imagine, my career is filled with people who are often shallow.” She turned to face him, her arms crossed in front of her. “That is too much of a generalization. There are some great people in the industry, and things are changing, but all too often it’s everyone for him- or herself.”
Savior Bear Page 4
