Guard (Hard Hit Book 11)

by Charity Parkerson

  She meant it. It was in her eyes. Mara truly believed she was unworthy. He knew the feeling well. “Maybe I’m not doing it for you.” Cal surprised himself with the claim. He never talked back or made confessions. He bit his bottom lip to keep it from happening again.

  Mara stood and whipped her dress over her head. She was free with her body. Cal turned his head. He wouldn’t take advantage. He only indulged with permission. Her voice muffled from the material. “I’ll probably faint if you ever call me by my name.”

  “Miss King is your name,” he pointed out.

  “It’s not, actually,” Mara said, bringing his gaze back to her. She still stood in only her underwear, but she was in the process of pulling the clothes she worn there back on. “That’s not the name I was born with. It’s the one I took when I started acting. Fuck,” Mara cursed as she sat and pulled her shoes on. “I hate that you’re seeing me at my worst on your first day.”

  “I get paid to see nothing.”

  Another watery laugh filled the small room before turning into a sigh. “Now I have to make the walk of shame out of here with people taking my pic and speculating.”

  “I won’t let anyone see you,” Cal promised as he crossed the room and helped her to her feet. She didn’t release his hand. He didn’t pull away. “I’ll understand if you don’t want this job.”

  She was such a beautiful woman. He would try harder not to see her. Instead of acknowledging her words, he worked on the problem of getting her out of there unseen. “Do you have sunglasses?”

  Mara nodded. “In my purse.”

  Cal glanced around and spotted the light-pink handbag. Without waiting for permission, he dug through its contents until he found the designer shades. He set them on her nose. Cal couldn’t tear his gaze away from her upturned face. The tip of her nose was red from crying. Even without seeing her eyes, she looked too trusting to be near him. She was a job. He would treat her as such.

  “Keep your head down, and I’ll keep you safe from prying eyes.” He led her toward the door and kept her purse to use as another weapon to shield her from any cameras. His spine didn’t relax until he made it to the car. Once he slid behind the wheel, Cal finally breathed an easy breath. Whatever secrets Mara had, she should get to keep them—like everyone else.

  “Where did you need me to take you next?”

  Mara kept her gaze locked straight ahead. “Cypress Grove Cemetery.”

  They made the drive in silence, and at the cemetery, Cal stood off to the side, keeping one eye locked on her while giving her privacy. He watched as she traced the names chiseled in stone. She didn’t say a word or shed a tear. Rather, she appeared stoic and accepting. Her expression had Cal wanting the tears back. Crying was a release. Acceptance paved a road to bitterness.

  When Mara moved away from the vault to sit at a nearby bench, Cal joined her. He could feel her emptiness—like it was a physical thing. It was the first time he was tempted to touch someone else in years. He wanted to hold her hand. Comfort her. Instead, he clasped his hands in his lap and stared straight ahead, lending comfort with his presence.

  “Do you have a family?”

  “I’m not married,” Cal said, giving more of himself to Mara in one answer than he’d given anyone in years.

  Mara’s deep, sexy chuckle surprised him. He fought the urge to turn his head and watch the sound falling from her lips. “That’s not exactly what I meant,” Mara said, saving him from himself. “I meant, are your parents still living? Grandparents? Anyone?”

  Cal dipped his chin, acknowledging her questions. He went with the bare minimum. “Yes, on the parents, and one grandmother. I also have a younger brother.”

  From the corner of his eye, he saw Mara nod, and he lost the battle not to look at her. When he turned her way, she motioned toward one end of the vault. “I only ever had a mother.” She tilted her head to one side. “Well, I guess that’s not entirely true. She ran away to be with her much-older lover when she was fifteen. I was the result. Her family never forgave her, and, of course, her lover moved on. So it was just us. She died two years ago. Cancer,” Mara added with a shrug. “Now it’s just me. You should visit your family.” Mara didn’t sound as if she’d delivered a lecture, but rather like she was sending him on an errand.

  “They live in Georgia, but I try as often as I can,” Cal admitted.

  “Good,” Mara said, sounding distant. “You don’t want to spend as much time here as I do.” She glanced his way. “Is it okay if we stay a little longer?”

  “We’ll stay as long as you like, Miss King. It’s peaceful here. I like the quiet.”

  “Me too,” Mara said, turning her face away, and going back to staring at the stone. Cal couldn’t stop staring at her face. She chewed her bottom lip, looking broken, and Cal had never felt closer to anyone. It was the first time he could remember not feeling completely alone.

  Chapter Four

  Set life was unlike anything Cal had ever imagined. It swung from constant noise to complete silence, depending on the moment. There was always food. He didn’t know why everyone there didn’t weigh four hundred pounds each. Since he’d shown up with Mara, no one had questioned his presence. No one spoke to him either. Even Michael, who always seemed to be by his side, never said a word directly to Cal. It was like he was an invisible wall. In a way, it was nice. After all, he liked to watch people. Occasionally, Mara would glance his way and smile.

  “She’s worrying about you,” Michael said, appearing out of nowhere.

  Cal glanced over. Michael was playing a game on his phone. “I don’t know how you’d know.”

  Michael looked up and smiled. His eyes were green—like the sea and framed by long lashes. He was stunning, especially while smiling. “I’m watching.” He immediately went back to playing his game. “It’s my job to notice everything, and I do.”

  A sharp pain sliced through his head, making his stomach churn. Cal dropped his gaze to the floor, hiding his wince. It had been a long time since he’d experienced a headache this bad. He lived his life in quiet solitude. That seemed to help. Being around so much nonstop busyness for the past three weeks fucked with the pain management routine Cal had set for himself.

  When the nausea passed, Cal lifted his chin. Mara was headed his way and Michael was gone again. The way Mara’s brow furrowed had Cal searching the room with his gaze, trying to decide who he needed to kill for upsetting her.

  “It’ll take them a while to rearrange the set,” Mara said without preamble. That wasn’t news. It always took them a while to work on the set. In fact, out of the seventeen hours a day they spent working, most of it was spent sitting around waiting on set changes. “Let’s go to my trailer. Your head is hurting.”

  Cal followed on Mara’s heels, wondering how she’d known. He always did his best to hide his aches and pains from her. When they reached the trailer, she opened the door for him before he could get to it. She waved him in ahead of her. Cal always wanted to laugh when she mentioned her trailer. Of course, that was what it was, but it wasn’t anything like the image the word created. When he thought about trailers, he pictured rundown parks. Mara’s trailer was like a miniature mansion on wheels. Aquarium, flat screen TV taking up one wall, a full kitchen, and a huge bed were only a few of its features. Everything shined like new. Michael let it slip the place cost close to a million. As much as he always tried not to be impressed, he was.

  “Sit,” Mara demanded, pointing toward the bench at the kitchen table. Cal dutifully sat. She rummaged through the cabinet and then the fridge before coming back with two pain relievers and a bottle of water. “Take these.”

  Cal took the pills without comment because he didn’t understand Mara’s mood. He was the one hurting, but she sounded pissed off. She moved to stand behind him. He startled when she touched his neck. Cal didn’t like to be touched, but he bit back a moan when her fingers dug into his neck at the perfect spot to ease his pain. He closed his eyes. Mara spent a few mi
nutes massaging his neck before moving to his scalp. Her fingers brushed through his hair. There was a real fear he might fall asleep. When Mara finally spoke, she kept her voice pitched low. “If you’re hurting, you need to say something. Don’t stand there and suffer.”

  “It’s my job to stand there.”

  A low growl came from the back of Mara’s throat. The sound hardened his cock. No one was more surprised than him. Years ago, he’d learned to control his every reaction. He never let himself go for any reason. Control meant sanity. Mara was a wildcard for him. His mind and body never reacted as he commanded when it came to her.

  “If you want me to forget you’re human, I’m sorry. I can’t do that.”

  Cal didn’t understand why she couldn’t. He wasn’t entirely certain he was still human. “I know you’re not like anyone else.” Cal heard the words fall from his lips, and they stunned even him. Fuck. What was it about her? She made him lose his goddamn mind. He wasn’t star struck. She wasn’t the first celebrity he’d ever met.

  Mara’s fingers dug into his neck once more. “Does everyone else forget you’re human?” The humor in her voice said Mara was joking, but she had no idea how close she was to the truth.

  Before he could answer, a perfunctory knock sounded on the door, and Michael strolled in. “They ended up only needing to make some minor changes, so they’re ready for you.”

  Mara stroked Cal’s hair a final time. “Okay.”

  Michael leaned back against the door to wait because Cal had come to realize that was what the man did. He silently ensured Mara followed him to where she should be when she should be there. The man never nagged. He didn’t have to. There was something about his unobtrusive presence that got people moving.

  “Are you feeling any better?” Michael asked, still staring at his phone.

  Fuck. It seemed he wasn’t hiding anything from anyone. Even the dude who never looked at anyone knew he felt like shit. “I’m fine,” Cal lied, because of pride.

  Mara snorted as she moved back to the cabinet. This time, she pulled out a heating pad. He watched in silence as she plugged it in and placed it on his neck. “Put your head down,” she ordered. “If I need anything, Michael will come get you.”

  “I’m supposed to be watching you.”

  “Hush,” Mara argued, hearing none of it. She grabbed him a throw pillow from her bed for his head.

  “I’ll never sleep like this,” Cal argued, incapable of giving it up, even as he let her shove the pillow beneath his head and readjust the heating pad.

  “I told you to hush,” Mara said, heading for the door. “Come find me when you’re better and not a second earlier.”

  Cal gave in and closed his eyes. “Yes, ma’am.” Even as he agreed, Cal knew it was a lie. He fully intended to wait five minutes and then go find her. She was his job.

  “Are you ready to go?”

  Cal lifted his head and blinked. “What?”

  Mara smiled. She’d already pulled her hair into a ponytail and washed the makeup from her face before waking him. Cal was obviously exhausted. “We’re done for the night. Are you ready to head home?” For a moment, Cal stared at her as if she’d lost her mind before looking at his watch. Mara crossed the room and unplugged the heating pad. “It’s a good thing these things turn off automatically. You might have ended up burning to death in the past seven hours otherwise. Are you feeling any better?”

  Cal stretched and winced. “Define better?” Cal asked as he came to his feet. He stumbled, as if his knee gave out before recovering. His gaze didn’t move her way. Still, Mara looked away, hoping to save his pride. The man was the strongest person she’d ever met. She couldn’t imagine him ever wanting anyone to see him weak. “Um, just let me hit the bathroom real quick and I’ll drive you home.”

  “Sure thing,” Mara said, kicking off her heels and exchanging them for running shoes.

  Cal closed himself inside the small bathroom. Mara sat at the table, patiently waiting. She could hear water splashing on the other side. Sometimes, Cal seemed… damaged. Mara couldn’t think of another way to describe the way he closed himself away. She had questions she didn’t know how to ask. The bathroom door opened, and Cal stepped out, looking a hair better than he had going in. He’d obviously smoothed his dark hair back with water, and his light-blue eyes didn’t flash with pain as they’d done earlier. She’d honestly believed he’d drop before they made it back to the trailer earlier. Mara was relieved.

  “Do you think you’ll live?”

  Cal flashed Mara a smile at her question. “Nothing has killed me yet.”

  His statement did nothing to kill her curiosity. “Do you have a lot of experience with things trying to kill you?”

  “You’d be surprised,” Cal said before quickly changing the topic. “How was the rest of the shoot?” he asked as he pulled her to her feet.

  “Productive.”

  Cal held on to Mara. She couldn’t pull away. Oddly, she didn’t want to. “I’m sorry about today. I promise I’ll try harder not to fail you in the future.”

  “Do you ever stop being hard on yourself? You didn’t let me down in any way. You’ve been amazing.”

  The fact that he still held her hands seemed to penetrate his focus. Cal quickly dropped them and stepped away. “Still, if anything had happened to you, I would’ve had to live with that. I have too many things to keep me up at night as it is. It won’t happen again.”

  Mara shook her head. “I was working. You weren’t really needed. Stop beating yourself up before I start.”

  Cal’s mouth lifted in one corner. “Did you just threaten me?”

  As she opened the door, Mara shrugged. “Maybe. I may be small, but I’m fierce.”

  “Oh, I don’t doubt it.”

  Mara turned, ready to tease Cal some more. A flash of blonde hair caught her eye. The woman was gone, and the moment was over as quickly as it happened, but Mara’s heart was still in her throat. Obviously, it wasn’t Early. Early was gone. But the memory overcame her without permission.

  A flash of blonde curls moving in the opposite direction caught Mara’s attention. Why would Early be skulking about? Mara pushed away from her desk, leaving the script she’d been reading behind. She found Early pouring herself a shot of vodka in the game room.

  “Is everything okay?”

  Early tipped back the glass, draining its contents before responding. “Of course. I’m off work tonight, and you’re busy. So, I thought I might get plastered by myself.”

  A chuckle escaped Mara. “I’m not working on anything I can’t set aside for the night.”

  Sexy blue eyes remained locked on Mara as Early poured herself another shot and killed it. Mara’s blood heated. She wanted everything Early’s gaze promised. “Landon isn’t here.”

  “Does he need to be?” Mara asked, taking a step closer, slowly closing the distance between them.

  “No. I’m just pointing out the obvious, I guess,” Early said before tossing back a third shot. Early swiped her mouth and gave up on the glass. Instead, she turned the bottle up and chugged. Mara might’ve thought something was wrong, if not for the way Early kept looking at her—like she was about to get fucked on a bar. Early set the bottle aside. Before Mara saw the move coming, Early snagged her waist and spun, pushing Mara’s back against the wooden surface and boxing her in. Damn, she always forgot how strong Early was. Early’s fingers found the hem of Mara’s shirt and dove beneath. She massaged the bare skin at Mara’s sides. The way she stared at Mara’s mouth had Mara near to panting with desire. “When you were in France last week, everything felt wrong without you.”

  White hot rage pulled Mara from the memory. She just fucking bet everything felt wrong without her while they were getting married and Mara was fucking clueless. She was so sick of lies. Everyone lied. Everything Mara thought she knew about Landon, Early, and herself—all bullshit. She wanted honesty in her life, even if it hurt. Even if it was someone telling her to mind her
goddamn business or to go fuck herself. At least it would come from a place of truth.

  She glanced Cal’s way.

  He tried rubbing his knee on the sly.

  Mara broke. “If I asked you a question, would you tell me the truth?”

  Cal shrugged but didn’t look her way as he unlocked the passenger side door to the SUV and let her in. “I suppose.”

  She gave him a sharp nod but didn’t spring until he was behind the wheel. The moment he was seated, she turned in her seat. “What’s wrong with you?”

  To her surprise, when Cal turned his head, he wore a huge grin. “That’s a long list.”

  Mara swallowed, refusing to let herself get distracted by the sexy way his ice-blue eyes flashed with silent laughter. She waved off his claim. “Hit me with the highlights. Why are you in so much pain all the time but trying to hide it?” Cal sat back, looking thoughtful. She wondered if he was trying to think of a lie. “Never mind,” she grumbled, turning away and focusing on the windshield while seeing nothing. “If you’re just going to make some shit up, I’d rather not hear it.”

  Cal brushed the tip of his finger across the top of her hand, startling her and pulling her attention back his way. His heart was in her eyes. “I’m not one for making up stories, but I’m also not one for soul baring. The short version is, I was in the military and got caught up in some stuff. I saw some horrible shit. Came home a fucked-up mess. Sometimes, my eyesight falters. I have debilitating migraines. This leg is fake,” he said, knocking on his left leg below the knee. “It’s not a big deal to anyone other than me, so I keep it to myself. Plus,” he said with a self-deprecating smile, “no one really wants what’s inside this head.”

  Mara didn’t know if that was true. Every day, she found she craved his thoughts more and more.

  “Do you need to go to the cemetery before I take you home?”

  Without warning, at Cal’s question, Mara’s eyes filled with tears. “How did you know?”

  “I saw it in your face a few minutes ago.”