Determined to Protect, Forbidden to Love
Page 61
“And now we must be on our way,” King Bjorn said. “We have a flight to catch this afternoon and many plans to make in the meantime.” He held out his hand to Tanner.
Anna watched the two men in her life shake hands, and again tears threatened to fall. Tanner—her heart cried—I don’t want to say goodbye!
“Ready?” her father asked.
She nodded and picked up the overnight bag that Tanner had carried with him into the store. Flanked by bodyguards, she and her father and the general left the convenience store.
“Somebody want to tell me what’s going on?” The ready voice belonged to the teenage male working the counter. His eyes were huge and his protruding Adam’s apple danced up and down.
“Don’t worry about it, kid,” Tanner said, then turned his attention out the window.
His heart hurt as Anna’s final private words to him went around and around in his head, mingling with Zack’s advice about regrets.
He hadn’t meant to fall in love with Anna. He hadn’t meant to ever fall in love with anyone. Love hurt too much. He’d learned that lesson with his mother’s death, and at that time he’d done exactly what Anna had accused him of doing…built fences around his heart.
But now, the fences were tumbling down and raw emotion swept through him. Would he be satisfied living forever with regrets or was he man enough to face his fear and go after what he wanted more than anything else in the world?
Anna. Her name cried out from his heart. Anna, with her flashing blue eyes and sparkling blond hair. Anna, with her sweet lips and womanly curves. She intoxicated him.
Anna, with her determination to be something more, with her sense of humor and warm laughter. She already held his heart in her hands. So, what was he waiting for?
He watched her get into the back seat of the second car with her father and energy ripped through him. He tore open the store’s door and raced outside as the roar of their engines sounded.
“Wait!” He ran to the car that held the king and his daughter and pounded on the window. He saw Anna’s face through the window, her eyes huge and her mouth forming an O of surprise. He ripped open her door and stared at her.
“Don’t go.” The words tore from his throat, a desperate plea like he’d never voiced before.
He’d expected her to bolt out of the car and into his arms, but instead she remained seated, staring at him with those gorgeous eyes. “Why not?” she asked. She waited only a moment, then continued. “You have to say the words, Tanner. I need to hear the words.”
“I love you. I love you, Anna, and I can’t imagine my life without you.” Once the dam had burst, the words seemed to come without thought, driven out of him by sheer emotion. “I need you to make me laugh. I need you to remind me that there’s more to life than work. Anna, I need you to help me be the man I want to be. And I’ll help you be the woman you want to be.”
Tears filled her eyes and for a dreadful moment he wondered if he was too late or if perhaps she’d realized her love for him wasn’t real after all. “You heard what my father said. There might still be danger.”
“Then I won’t just be your husband—I’ll be your lifetime bodyguard,” he replied. His heart hammered as she leaned to the side and said something to her father. Then she turned back to Tanner, and in the smile she gave him he saw his future.
She stepped out of the car and set her overnight bag on the ground. He started to take her into his arms, needing her close, wanting to embrace her forever, but she held up a hand to stop him. “Throw me over your shoulder, Tanner.”
“Excuse me?”
Her eyes flashed with the impatience he’d come to love. “You heard me—throw me over your shoulder.”
“Why would you want me to do that?” he asked.
She smiled, her charming dimples flashing. “Because that’s what cowboys do when they love a woman.”
With a burst of laughter that seemed to fill his very soul, he grabbed her and lifted her over his shoulder, then bent and picked up her overnight case.
“She’ll be in touch,” he said to a surprised-looking but smiling King Bjorn, then turned to carry her to his pickup truck. The men who had been tapped for guard duty clapped and cheered, and in that sound Tanner heard his future calling.
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DETERMINED TO PROTECT, FORBIDDEN TO LOVE
Harlequin Books S.A. 2009.
First published in Great Britain 2009
Harlequin Mills & Boon Limited,
Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR
The publisher acknowledges the copyright holders of the individual works, which have already been published in the UK in single, separate volumes, as follows:
Ramirez’s Woman © Beverly Beaver 2005
Her Royal Bodyguard © Joyce David 2004
Protecting the Princess © Carla Bracale 2005
ISBN 978-1-4089-1400-7