by Molly Joseph
“Take all the time you need,” he said. “And let us know when you’re ready to work. We’ll reinstate your credentials.”
“Yes, sir. Thanks for your understanding.”
“Thanks for being an Ironclad agent. And Ransom…” He chuckled. “Be sure to take your vitamins. You’re going to need them to keep up with her.”
Ransom grinned at Lola, who leaned closer and mouthed “What did he say?”
“Now go search ‘Worth the World,’” said Liam, “and make sure she’s sitting next to you when you do.”
“Got it. Thanks.”
Ransom hung up and turned to Lola, who was bouncing on the couch beside him. “What did he say? Are you in trouble?”
“I’m not in trouble. In fact, I can keep working on jobs around L.A., if you can spare me now and again.”
“I can’t.” She collapsed dramatically on his lap. “I can’t spare you.”
“Ever?”
“Maybe one or two hours a week you can guard some other celebrity fuck up, but the rest of the time, you need to be guarding me.”
He leaned to kiss her, then tickled her until she almost kicked him in the head. “I’m not paying you either,” she shrieked. “Except with sex. And guitar songs. No, stop. Stop. Stop tickling me!”
He granted her wish and opened a window on his phone. While she caught her breath, he put her song into a search engine and pulled up the results.
“Holy shit, Lola. Holy fucking shit.”
“What?”
She stuck her head in his line of sight as he opened a news story about her impromptu acoustic performance in Sacramento. There was a photo of them embracing, and the headline “Rave Artist’s Torch Song Goes Viral.”
“That’s why I have so many messages,” she said. “I thought a spam bot got me.”
She went back to her phone and scrolled through her inbox until she got to an email from Kym Mecklin at Vanguard. She laughed out loud. “Oh God, look at this. Kym wants to reconsider her position on the ‘bluegrass experiment’ I pitched to her.” She snorted and flipped the bird at her phone’s screen. “Fuck you.”
“Fuck you indeed.” Ransom pulled up the indie music site where she’d uploaded the song. “You’ve already sold almost half a million copies. Holy fucking Christ.” He started to laugh. Everything Lola touched was magic. She was magic, sitting right beside him on the couch. He swept her into a hug and squeezed her until she squeaked. “Your father would have been proud,” he said, and her lips trembled a little.
“Yeah, he would have been happy for me. And he would have liked you a lot. I wish you could have met him.”
Ransom looked down at the smiling woman in his arms. “I think I can guess the kind of man he was.” Anyone who could raise an emotional ball of creativity like Lola was okay in his book. He looked back at the song’s listing, and wondered how much money she’d made in downloads since last night.
Well, it didn’t matter. It wasn’t about the money. It was about the love.
“How did this happen?” She still stared at the screen, half aghast and half delighted. “God, Ransom. They really love our song.”
Our song. He liked the sound of that.
“I guess we all need a good love story to inspire us sometimes.” He took away her phone and placed it on the side table beside his, then swung her off the couch and into his arms. “How about you and I head to the bedroom and make a different kind of music? Something that’s not going to be heard by half a million people around the world?”
“Something soft and sweet?” She squeezed his shoulders and wrapped her legs around his waist.
“Nothing soft. Nothing sweet,” he said in his bodyguard voice.
She smirked at him from under her lashes, a loving gaze and teasing grin, and he knew their song would be enough to sustain them for the rest of their lives.
And if they went through some bad times, well…they knew how to handle that.
They’d just put a beat under it until it worked.
A Final Note
Thanks for supporting my Ironclad Bodyguards series. It was fun to get back into this world. With PAWN, my first bodyguard book, I did a lot of research into competitive chess. With DIVA, I waded into the universe of raves and dance music, a six billion dollar industry. A big shout out to J. Phlip, Cassy, Nina Kraviz, and Tokimonsta, four female DJs who are rocking it in a male dominated business. You can see some of their performances on YouTube. Thanks also to Eats Everything and Calvin Harris, who provided the rest of my writing soundtrack for this novel.
I’d like to extend my appreciation to my readers and editors on this book: Lanie S. Flin, Riane Holt, J. Luna Scuro, and my faithful Audrey K. Thanks for making me a better writer.
If you enjoyed this book, I hope you’ll spread the word to some naughty friends, or leave a review. Your word of mouth means the world to me, as does your readership. May your silver sequined booty shorts always catch the light.
Coming Soon in the Ironclad Bodyguards world
BEARD (Ironclad Bodyguards #3)
Jenna entered a fake marriage ten years ago when she was young and reckless, in hopes it might advance her failing Hollywood career. Ten years later, she can’t undo her mistake. Her A-list husband is too famous—and too cowardly—to admit he’s in a long-time gay relationship with a fellow actor, and at thirty-four, Jenna’s dreams have faded to dust.
Then Caleb Winchell enters her life. The taciturn, Texas-bred bodyguard is as handsome as he is capable, and Jenna’s lonely world is rocked. He’s a true and honest force in her dishonest existence, standing by her side as she fake smiles her way through the smothering farce of her life. Caleb helps her breathe again, but she can’t act on her deepening feelings toward her bodyguard. He’s a professional, and he never breaks the rules.
And she’s a married woman…even if it’s all a sham.
Also Available
PAWN (Ironclad Bodyguards #1)
High stakes chess competition has always been a man’s game—until Grace Ann Frasier topples some of the game’s greatest champions and turns the chess world on its ear. Her prowess at the game is matched only by her rivals’ desire to defeat her, or, worse, avenge their losses. When an international championship threatens Grace’s safety, a bevy of security experts are hired to look after her, but only one is her personal, close-duty bodyguard, courtesy of Ironclad Solutions, Inc.
Sam Knight knows nothing about chess, but he knows Grace is working to achieve something important, and he vows to shelter her from those who mean her harm. When she leans on him for emotional support, attraction battles with professionalism and Sam finds his self-discipline wavering. Soon the complexity of their relationship resembles a chess board, where one questionable move can ruin everything—or win a game that could resonate around the world.
Explore More Worlds with Annabel Joseph
(Molly Joseph’s kinky alter ego)
The Cirque Masters series
Enter a world where performers’ jaw-dropping strength, talent, and creativity is matched only by the decadence of their kinky desires. Cirque du Monde is famous for mounting glittering circus productions, but after the Big Top goes dark, you can find its denizens at Le Citadel, a fetish club owned by Cirque CEO Michel Lemaitre—where anything goes. This secret world is ruled by dominance and submission, risk and emotion, and a fearless dedication to carnal pleasure in all its forms. Love in the circus can be as perilous as aerial silks or trapeze, and secrets run deep in this intimate society. Run away to the circus, and soar with the Cirque Masters—a delight for the senses, and for the heart.
The Cirque Masters series is:
#1 Cirque de Minuit (Theo’s story)
#2 Bound in Blue (Jason’s story)
#3 Master’s Flame (Lemaitre’s story)
The Rough Love series
There’s rough sex, and then there’s rough love. The challenge is learning the difference…
Chere’s a high-class call girl trap
ped in a self-destructive spiral, and “W” is the mysterious and sexually voracious client who refuses to tell her his name. Over the span of four years, their tortured relationship unwinds by fits and starts, encompassing fear and loneliness, mistrust, aggression, literal and figurative bondage, and moments of excruciating pain.
But there’s also caring and longing, and heartfelt poetry. There are two deeply damaged people straining to connect despite the daunting emotional risks. When he slaps her face or grasps her neck, it’s not to hurt, but to hold. His rough passions are a plea, and Chere’s the only one so far who’s been able to understand…
The Rough Love series is:
#1 Torment Me
#2 Taunt Me
#3 Trust Me
About the Author
Molly Joseph is the “vanilla” counterpart of New York Times and USA Today bestselling BDSM romance author Annabel Joseph. Annabel and Molly both love to explore deep and complicated relationships on the pages of their books, except that Annabel’s couples have BDSM dynamics, and Molly’s couples don’t.
You can learn more about Annabel (and Molly) by visiting annabeljoseph.com, where you can sign up for her newsletter to stay current on upcoming releases. You can also find Annabel/Molly on Facebook (Facebook.com/annabeljosephnovels), and Twitter (@annabeljoseph).
You can write to either Molly or Annabel at [email protected].
Books by Molly Joseph
The Edge of the Earth
Pawn (Ironclad Bodyguards #1)
Diva (Ironclad Bodyguards #2)
Beard (Ironclad Bodyguards #3) (coming soon)
Books by Annabel Joseph
Mercy
Cait and the Devil
Firebird
Owning Wednesday
Lily Mine
Disciplining the Duchess
Fortune series:
Deep in the Woods
Fortune
Comfort series:
Comfort Object
Caressa’s Knees
Odalisque
Command Performance
Cirque Masters series:
Cirque de Minuit
Bound in Blue
Master’s Flame
Mephisto series:
Club Mephisto
Molly’s Lips: Club Mephisto Retold
Burn For You
BDSM Ballet series:
Waking Kiss
Fever Dream
Properly Spanked series:
Training Lady Townsend
To Tame A Countess
My Naughty Minette
Under A Duke’s Hand
Rough Love series:
Torment Me
Taunt Me
Trust Me
99-Cent Novellas:
Loaned
Slab Hands
