Falling for Her Bodyguard--A Clean Romance

by Amy Vastine

  Caroline went back to her office and Donovan rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I should have been up here. If I had been, we would have him in custody.”

  She couldn’t blame him. Who would have expected this guy to show up today? At least they knew it wasn’t Lucas Kimball or Hunter the delivery guy. Juliette would have recognized them.

  “I’m going to remember,” Juliette said when they walked out to leave. She was frustrated with herself, as well. She couldn’t place where she had seen the man before, but she had seen him somewhere other than in the lobby.

  Kelly tried to ease her guilt. “I’m sure it will come to you. Don’t beat yourself up. I’m safe. It will be okay.”

  Juliette came out from behind her desk and gave Kelly a hug. “You are the best. I am sorry you have to deal with all this.”

  Kelly squeezed her back, knowing she had said all that more to convince herself than Juliette. She let go and walked out with Donovan.

  “I get it if you’re mad,” he said as he pressed the button in the elevator.

  “I’m not mad at you. I wish this was all over. Maybe it would have been if you had been there and maybe it wouldn’t. Who knows?”

  She couldn’t dwell on it or she was going to start crying again. Part of her wanted to get on the radio and call this guy out. Tell him to show himself or go away. She was done with these games and threats.

  “Are we still going to bring the kids to the market?” she asked, fearing he would cancel their plans because of what happened.

  “I’m not sure if we should.”

  “Are you worried he’s coming after me? Hasn’t he always been coming after me?”

  Donovan nodded. “You’re right. Nothing has really changed. He fluctuates between being in love with you and being angry with you for being with someone else. He’s consistent with being inconsistent.”

  They stopped at the house and got Graham, who claimed he was only coming because of the food. After picking him up, they stopped by the after-school program to get Avery, who was thrilled to be going out with Kelly.

  “Okay, you two, I need your help,” she said to the kids when they got to the K104 booth. “We have to pass out all these fun prizes. We have these flashlight key chains and some can cozies.”

  “What is this?” Avery asked, holding up a little pouch.

  “Those are earbuds. We also have these tiny Bluetooth speakers. Cool, huh?”

  “And lame pens? Some people only win a pen?” Graham asked, giving the wheel of prizes a spin of his own.

  “They can’t all be awesome prizes. It would take the fun out of it. They could win a chance to be entered in the draw for tickets to see Boone Williams and Piper Starling or they could win a lame pen. There’s risk.”

  “Can I win tickets?” Graham asked.

  Donovan shook his head. “You win tickets from me when you make it through the last couple weeks of school without getting in trouble.”

  “You’re going to go see Boone Williams after you almost attacked him at the restaurant?” Lyle asked Donovan.

  Graham looked mortified. “You almost attacked Boone Williams?”

  “I wasn’t going to attack him,” Donovan said defensively. “I was asking him what he was doing there.”

  “That’s so embarrassing.” Graham covered his face with his hands. “What if he remembers you when Kelly introduces us backstage? Can you not come with us? Can we go with Kelly and you stay somewhere else?”

  Kelly tried to hold back a giggle. She felt Graham’s pain. “I promise I will not let your uncle embarrass you. Boone will think you are cool, don’t worry.”

  A couple holding hands walked by and Avery encouraged them to come over and spin the wheel. She was quite the little salesperson. The man won a flashlight key chain and the woman won the earbuds.

  Trish took Graham under her wing and showed him how the sound system worked so they could broadcast K104 over their speakers. Lyle pulled Kelly aside. “I’m rethinking my decision to go get drinks with Trish after this.”

  “Why?” As much as Kelly loved Nancy because she was her best friend, it was hard to find anything wrong with Trish.

  “I’ve been standing here, watching her chat it up with Graham, and I realized something very weird—they are closer in age to each other than she and I are.”

  Kelly’s hand covered her open mouth. He was right. There were many more than seven years between Lyle and Trish. “I don’t know what to tell you. That is weird. You’re not wrong.”

  “I can’t do it. All I’ve been thinking about for the last twenty-four hours is that I’m going out to dinner with Nancy tomorrow.”

  He was really looking forward to that and it made Kelly’s heart happy. “I think you should do what feels right. If going out with Trish feels weird, don’t do it.”

  Lyle looked relieved. Getting permission to listen to his heart was exactly what he needed. Kelly glanced in Donovan’s direction and her heart felt like it was doing double Dutch in her chest. Why did her heart think it needed Donovan? Didn’t it get the memo that he wasn’t interested? That didn’t stop it from reacting to the very sight of him.

  He had crouched down to talk to Avery. His sunglasses hid those hazel eyes that were full of so much warmth. Maybe that was a good thing. If she couldn’t see them, they couldn’t affect her. When he interacted with Avery, though, it didn’t matter if she could see his eyes or not. Witnessing the sweetness of the two of them together turned her insides into jelly.

  “Graham?” A teenage girl came over to the booth. She had curly, golden-brown hair that was pinned up in the front.

  He struggled to play it cool. It was obvious who this girl was. “Hey, Mia.”

  “Do you work at K104?”

  “No, I don’t work there. I’m friends with Kelly Bonner,” he said, motioning in Kelly’s direction.

  “Hi. Mia, is it?” she asked, pretending she had no idea who she was.

  “I’m Avery, Graham’s sister. Want to spin the wheel and win a prize. You would win a chance to win tickets to come to the concert with us. We’re going to meet Piper Starling!”

  Mia was definitely impressed. “You get to meet Piper Starling?”

  “And Boone Williams,” Graham added. “Probably Sawyer Stratton, too.”

  “Shut up.” Mia looked like she might pass out. “I am in love with Sawyer Stratton.”

  “Why don’t you spin the wheel and see what happens?” Kelly led her over to the wheel of prizes.

  Mia tucked some hair behind her ear and glanced over at Graham. He wished her luck. She spun it and it landed on the pen. Kelly knew Graham wasn’t going to be okay with his friend only winning a lame pen.

  “You won this incredible K104 pen,” Kelly said, waving her hand in front of it like they did on game shows. “But if you choose to give us back the pen, you can have another spin.”

  Without hesitation, Mia chose to spin again. “Avery, can you help me? I feel like you might have better luck than me.”

  Avery would have spun the wheel for everyone if they asked. She spun it so hard and fast it took forever for it to slow to a stop. Graham looked at Kelly like she could make it stop. He smiled at Mia, who smiled back even though the whole thing was awkward. Finally, it stopped right on the concert draw.

  “You did it, Avery!” Mia said, giving her a high-five. Avery beamed up at the teenager.

  Trish handed her a raffle ticket. “Put your contact information right here and you are entered in the draw we’re going to have before we leave at six. You don’t have to be present to win. We’ll call you if you do.”

  Mia filled it out and shoved her hands in her jean pockets. “Can Graham walk around with me for a little bit?”

  Graham glanced at Donovan, who was barely paying attention to what was happening at the booth and more
focused on surveying the crowd. “What? Can you go walking around with your friend?”

  “May I?” Graham asked, his eyes begging him to say yes.

  “Go ahead,” Donovan said, making Graham the happiest teenager in all of Nashville. “But be back before six.”

  “We’ll be back for the draw,” Mia said.

  “Can I go, too?” Avery asked, eager to be like the older kids.

  Kelly interrupted to keep her out of Graham’s hair. “I need you here to help me. Who is going to pass out prizes if I don’t have you? And don’t say that your uncle can do it because he has other jobs to do.”

  Graham mouthed “thank you” when Avery wasn’t paying attention. Mia thanked Kelly for the chance to win and off they went. Kelly could only hope that this meant she had considered her options and chosen to be Graham’s friend all the time and not only when it was convenient for her.

  * * *

  “WELL, THAT SHOULD be interesting.” Donovan came up behind Kelly. He wasn’t sure if letting Graham go off on his own was a good idea or not, but Mia came across as a good kid. He just hoped she wouldn’t break Graham’s heart.

  The market seemed busier this week in comparison to last. It was also possible that all that had happened over the last couple of days was making him more on edge. Donovan found himself staring down every man who walked by, waiting for him to announce he was Kelly’s stalker. As if that was how it would go down when it happened for real.

  “I was really hoping it was Lucas. I would have loved to see you wrestle that guy to the ground and haul him off to jail,” Lyle said, coming to stand by him.

  “You really disliked that guy, huh?”

  “He was a terrible intern. I also don’t like people who take advantage of their friendships, and he acted like being friends with Caroline made him something above reproach. People like that deserve to get knocked down a peg. People like Kelly, who are humble and hardworking, they earn my respect.”

  “You are an excellent judge of character. If I ever have to arrest Lucas Kimball, I will make sure to tackle him to the ground.”

  Lyle chuckled. “Perfect.”

  “I feel like I owe you another apology for what happened last week when I thought you were attacking Kelly.”

  “You don’t have to apologize for that,” Lyle said. “You were trying to keep her safe and I can’t fault you for that.”

  Donovan nodded and held out his hand. Lyle shook hands and went back to helping Kelly greet people walking by their booth. Avery was having the time of her life helping out. She was such a people person that getting to be a part of this was like putting a sugar addict into a candy store. She would be exhausted when all this was over and ready for bed.

  Kelly was also in her element. She had a wonderful way with people. She could engage anyone no matter their age, gender or background. It was impressive to watch her interact with listeners. If her boss needed proof that she was a draw for the station, she only needed to come to one of these events to see it live and in person.

  When there was a lull in the activity, Kelly came over to Donovan. “I need to draw a winner for the tickets to the show. Do you think Graham will be mad at me if I don’t pick Mia to win?”

  “Mad at you?”

  “Do you think he’s expecting me to pick her name? Rig it in her favor?”

  Donovan felt bad that she had put that pressure on herself. “He would never ask you to cheat and please don’t feel like you have to do that to make him happy. He’ll be happy when he gets to the concert. He’ll get over whether his friend comes, too, or not.”

  “I hope he’s having fun. This is the girl.”

  He smiled, finding it funny that she wasn’t sure he had picked up on that. “Yeah, I figured that much out.”

  “If she wins and then hurts Graham, her tickets will get lost in the mail.”

  Donovan’s eyes went wide. “Wow, you won’t cheat to make him happy, but you’ll happily wield your power to get revenge.”

  Her grin was wide. “What can I say? I am very protective of the people in my circle.”

  He tried to make sense of how her words made him feel. As much as he appreciated that she had Graham’s back, he wasn’t sure what that meant for everyone in the long run. Once Donovan found this stalker, what kind of relationship could they even have with Kelly? Maybe she could come over for dinner every once in a while? What would happen when she met someone? How would she explain why she hangs out with some guy and his two kids?

  Graham and Mia returned just in time for the draw. Graham was smiling, which was a good sign. Kelly definitely noticed. She announced that they would be picking the winner and called Avery over to be the one to draw the name. Avery pulled out one of the slips and handed it to Kelly.

  “The winner of two tickets to the Grace Note Records Concert for the Kids is...Mia Harris!”

  Mia immediately turned and hugged Graham. She had won fair and square. Donovan could see that Kelly was a little wary about celebrating this as a win for Graham, too. There was no guarantee this girl wouldn’t break his heart down the road. Tickets or no tickets, she was still a teenager and teenagers were fickle.

  “Trish and I will take all the stuff back to the station,” Lyle said to Kelly. “You have had a rough twenty-four hours. You need to go and have a good weekend. Starting now.”

  “Are you sure about that? I can help box things up at least. I have six extra hands to help.”

  “Don’t stop putting the kids to work now,” Donovan chimed in.

  “Um, let’s not stop the nice man from letting us go get dinner, especially since some of us are starving,” Graham said.

  Avery raised her hand. “I’m starving.”

  “Please don’t let the children starve,” Lyle said. “Go get some food and I’ll see you on Monday.”

  “Everyone say thank you to Lyle and Trish,” Kelly said to the kids.

  They were more than happy to do that before begging to go get food. Donovan had adopted two of the hungriest children in the world. They seriously couldn’t go more than a few hours without filling their bellies.

  “Mia, would you like to come with us to get some dinner?” Kelly offered. She was paying, after all.

  “Oh, my parents are here. They own a bakery that sells pies in a booth over on the other side of the market. I told them I would be back after the draw for the tickets.”

  “Well, congratulations on winning the tickets,” Kelly said. “Maybe we’ll see you at the show.”

  “That would be cool. Thanks. You folks have a good night. Bye, Graham.”

  “See you on Monday,” Graham replied.

  Donovan had so many questions but knew Graham was unlikely to answer any of them if they came from him. He could only hope Kelly would ask a few while they were all together so he could hear the answers.

  They walked to the Market House to get dinner. The kids wanted pasta while Donovan and Kelly opted for wood-fired pizzas. They sat around a table like at home and shared about their days. Kelly was careful not to mention any of the bad stuff. She told the kids that the highlight of her day was being at the farmers market with them.

  Avery shared a long story about what she learned during math today. They got to use manipulatives and Todd Gregory shoved one up his nose and had to go to the nurse’s office. The nurse couldn’t get it out so his mom had to come to school to get him so they could take him to the hospital, where a doctor was probably going to stick giant tweezers up his nose to get the cube out.

  As riveting as that story was, Donovan wanted to hear about Graham’s adventures with Mia, the pie girl. Thankfully, Kelly came through.

  She led with, “Mia seemed nice.”

  “She was nice today. We weren’t around anyone we knew, though,” Graham said, sounding more skeptical than Donovan expected.

  “But it’s
a good sign that she wanted to be friends since you gave her the ultimatum.” Kelly’s optimism was helpful.

  Graham shrugged. “I guess. Can we talk about it when we get home and not around...” He glanced around the table.

  Donovan pretended he was only talking about Avery. He liked to think Graham would let him hear the rest of the story as long as he stayed quiet and just listened.

  “Can we get ice cream?” Avery asked before she even finished her dinner.

  “If you eat all of your noodles,” Donovan said. “What do you guys say to Kelly for buying you dinner?”

  “Thank you,” they both said at the same time.

  “You’re welcome. You have fed me and given me a place to sleep. I feel like I’m just paying you back.”

  “You’re our family,” Avery said. “You don’t have to pay us back.”

  “Yeah, you’re our family,” Graham said. “Right, Uncle Donovan?”

  This was Donovan’s chance to set them straight. To reestablish the boundaries and make it clear where Kelly fit in their lives. He wanted to say she was nothing but a friend. Barely a friend. A temporary fixture in their lives.

  But he was kidding himself if he thought they would believe that to be true. Kelly had found her way into the hearts of these kids and there was nothing he could do to change that. The only person who needed to think about how he felt was Donovan.

  Kelly’s phone rang and she answered it. “Whoa, slow down. What happened? Oh, no. Listen, he didn’t want you to find out. No, he wasn’t trying to play you. I knew about it, but—”

  Whoever that was apparently hung up. “What’s going on?”

  “Any chance you can drive me to the station? I need to clean up a little mess.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  IN ALL THE years they had known each other, Nancy had never hung up on Kelly before. She understood why she was mad, but if Kelly could explain, she would see that she was simply trying to be a good friend to both her and Lyle.

  “Why don’t you take the kids home and I’ll text you if I need you to come get me or maybe I can convince one of them to bring me back to your house,” she said when she got out of Donovan’s truck.