THE UNLIKELY BODYGUARD

by Amy J. Fetzer

  He had been hired to protect her.

  Not want her so bad he could taste it.

  Still, he watched her compact body shifting, her hips rocking, and she used the handle of the hoe like a partner, sort of, straddling the upright stick and dirty dancing her way down to a squat to pick at some more weeds. Gabe found himself envying a stick of wood. It wasn't until she whirled around for the big finish that she saw him.

  She froze, nearly tripping over her feet, then blinked. And even in the bright New Mexico sun he could see a blush steal into her face.

  "Enjoying yourself?"

  She switched off the music and stared. "What?" she said, more curious than impatient.

  He didn't respond, his gaze moving over her sweat-glistened skin, the trickles moving down her temples, along her throat to disappear between her breasts. He remembered the sweet taste of her skin.

  "Gonna get sunburned."

  She pulled off her hat and the headset, then fluffed her hair. It was soaked, too. "Is that why you came over here? To tell me to protect my skin?"

  Was she still expecting an apology? Though her tone told him more than he wanted to know, another clue came by the way she was holding the hoe, as if she wanted to wrap it around his neck. And why the hell had he come over? He wasn't about to tell her that her body was like a magnet as much as her untouchable energy. But he'd felt like a teenager not invited to the party that was going on right next door. He'd just wanted a look, as if seeing what he couldn't have would make him feel any better. Masochist, he thought bitterly.

  "You check for snakes?" He nodded to the ground around her feet.

  "Yes, there were a few," she lied baldly. "But after introductions we've come to a compromise. I won't smash them with the hoe and they agreed not to bite me."

  He smirked. "Just be careful. The nearest hospital is forty miles away."

  She nodded. He stared, searching her delicate features and craving a taste of her. He clenched his fists to keep from taking what he wanted. Absently, she pulled her shirt from her shorts and wiped at the sweat on her chest. Gabe's eyes flared as she twisted the fabric in a knot beneath her breasts. Her stomach was tanned and contoured and he wondered what she looked like in a bikini, then his imagination took off in a dead run and he wondered what she looked like naked.

  Oh, sweet mercy, Calli thought. Those pale eyes might lack emotion sometimes, but when they didn't, they had the ability to liquify her insides. She felt stripped and appraised. She could do no more than stare back and tell herself she had to ignore the attraction between them. Her body warned her that it was next to impossible, animalistic desire running through her blood. And she wished she could read him better. It was just a look, she thought, and forced herself to remember each syllable he'd spouted at her at lunch. Inasmuch as Gabriel Griffin was pure erotic temptation, Calli's feelings were smarting.

  Then he tipped his head to one side, sunlight dancing off the tiny gold loop in his ear. It forced reality ahead of desire. As did the tattoos disappearing in the darkness of his tan and the scars marking him with the brutality of his unknown past. They might have had disadvantages in their lives, but they were still from different worlds. Desire could take a person only so far. And a woman didn't get involved with a man like Gabriel Griffin, a man so unapproachable, and not go in with both feet and damn the consequences.

  And she wasn't prepared to risk a thing for him.

  Not until he saw beyond the good girl. No, she needed to stay clear of him.

  "Protect my skin, check for snakes. Was there anything else?" Her expression was bland, her tone implying that he should either apologize for his previous behavior or leave her alone.

  When he didn't respond, she had her answer. She wasn't worth an apology. Calli didn't watch him go and immediately replaced the ball cap and headphones. She switched on her tape player, ignoring the wild pounding in her heart from just being near him.

  "Dammit, Daniel, I ought to beat the stuffing out of you," Gabe snarled into the cellular phone five minutes later. "Why didn't you tell me your company was Excalibur?" Gabe peered around the edge of the barn to be certain Calli was still in the garden.

  "Hello, Gabriel," came dryly through the phone. "And why should it matter?"

  Because Gabe hadn't seen Daniel in years and the last time had been when Gabe was caught burglarizing Daniel's house in a posh section of New Mexico, not fifteen miles from here. Daniel had given him a break: a man to call for a real job. Gabe had taken it and never looked back. He owed him. And when he peered for another look at the woman in his garden, he knew that paying up was costing him more than he had to give.

  Gabe told him about Murdock and the break-in. Daniel cursed, spouting his regret. Gabe didn't have any sympathy.

  Bull passed him carrying a bucket of oats, not sparing Gabe a glance as he leaned against the barn wall and talked into the cigarette-pack-size phone.

  "Details, pal. Now. I need to know everything."

  Daniel was protecting her from a corporate spy who he insisted was trying to steal a copy of Excalibur's winter line of desserts. For which Calli had the only copies. Which was why he'd panicked when she hadn't shown up at the company suites in Acapulco. The memo detailed a suspected scheme to bootleg copies of Excalibur Confections with cheap ingredients, and it would destroy the company financially, not to mention its reputation. And Calli's. And Daniel wanted the memo back before Calli could get involved. She'd accidentally picked it up off his desk with her files and by the time Daniel had figured out where it went, Calli had left.

  "Did you get it?"

  "It's a little hard to search when her briefcase and journal are with her all the time, and if she realizes her stuff's been raked over, guess who's the prime suspect?" He didn't want to think of how she would react to that.

  "Listen, Gabe," Daniel said tiredly. Gabe could hear the frustration and concern in his voice. "Just keep her and that journal together. I'll do the rest. Calli doesn't know she has the memo, so we have nothing to worry about now."

  "She isn't stupid."

  "I know that!"

  "I don't like this."

  "Getting a conscience?"

  Yes. "Screw you."

  "Look. If she knew that memo named one of her chefs as Murdock's co-conspirator, it would destroy her and she'd be on the first plane back here to confront him. I need to get to the bottom of this first. She hired him and she'd feel responsible and betrayed."

  More than if she discovered exactly why she was living in his house? he wondered, Or why they'd met in the first place? A stab of unaccustomed guilt lanced through him and he closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the painted wall.

  "But you have to get it back."

  "I will. In my own time."

  Gabe cut the line without saying goodbye, then collapsed the phone and shoved it into his back pocket. The sooner he got that lousy piece of paper, the sooner Calli would be out of his world. Pushing away from the wall, he walked around the edge of the barn and reached for the broom propped against the west wall. His hand stilled, and from the distance, his gaze greedily raked her like a man starved for the sight. Do you really want her gone, man? As if she felt his stare, she straightened, twisting and arching her arm over her head to block the sun. She stared back. And after a second or two, she smiled slightly. Gabe snatched up the broom, turned on his heels and went to sweep out a stall. He wondered which was worse. Keeping her from discovering someone wanted her journal more than her or that not only had one of her trusted chefs betrayed her, eventually Gabe would, too. Then he decided anything he did wouldn't matter to her.

  But he wanted it to.

  Gabe was out of the barn and leaping the fence just as she peeled down the driveway, the wheels of her car spitting pebbles and dust. She was leaving him. Then he corrected himself. There was no them. Never would be, and again, it ticked him off. He called to her, but she didn't stop and he immediately rushed to his bike, turning over the engine and following he
r. Damn woman. What the hell was she thinking? Then it occurred to him that she didn't know someone wanted to hurt her for those damn recipes. He maneuvered the bike behind her, then alongside, keeping up with the BMW on the narrow, barren rode. He tapped the glass. She didn't look at him. "Dammit, Calli, pull over!"

  She stopped abruptly, fishtailing the car, and threw the gear into park.

  He wiped his face across his T-shirt sleeve and waited for her to send the electronic window down.

  "Is there a problem?" she asked blandly.

  His eyes narrowed and he caught the bite to her tone. That's my fault, he thought.

  "Don't leave this ranch without me, Calli."

  "Why?"

  "The break-in and Murdock good enough reason? Not to mention, I have enemies."

  She rolled her eyes. "I'm a big girl. I've taken care of myself for a long time, bad boy, and you made it rather clear that I am meaningless to you other than my ability to sauté and simmer."

  He looked away then, staring out over the canyon, and Calli was again arrested by his harsh profile, his eyes, a pale green devoid of emotion. He hides everything too well, she lamented silently.

  His fingers flexed on the handlebars. "Running away?" he said softly, then looked at her.

  "Don't flatter yourself, Angel." His eyes narrowed sharply. "And I didn't need you to go with me to grocery shop." Was that relief she saw in his expression?

  "Nowhere without me. Clear?"

  Calli let her gaze travel over his, liking his protectiveness and the way his black T-shirt hugged his chest and arms. She inclined her head. "Come on then."

  He turned off the bike and sent the kickstand down, taking the key and leaving the cycle where it was. He snatched up his jacket where it was thrown across the seat, then slid into the car and slammed the door. She took off like a jackrabbit and he glared at her.

  "I thought you were broke?" Not that he would let her buy his groceries anyway, but he was curious.

  "I was going to see if I could write a check."

  So. She did have access to some money at least. And that meant she wasn't here because she had nowhere else to go. He wondered why she'd come with him, exactly. Hell, he could follow her again and she'd never know it. That she chose his place confused him. Of course, he'd baited her into coming here just so he could keep a close eye on her the easy way. But he never understood her reasons. Who would want to cook for ranch hands when she could be in Acapulco, relaxing in the sun?

  He didn't like being this curious about her.

  He didn't like it at all.

  She shifted gears and drove faster.

  "You're speeding."

  She eased her foot off the gas and coasted, then resumed. "You're staring."

  Gabe couldn't help it. It was obvious she'd bathed and changed, her hair still damp at her nape and held back with a headband. She wore a cropped black top and her lime-green shorts showed off her tanned legs.

  "Liked the outdoor shower?"

  Okay, Calli thought. If that was the safest subject he could come up with, she would play. "You built that, didn't you?" His brows shot up. "I knew it," she said smugly. "I was amazed that the water was so warm."

  "So was I, the first time." An image flashed in her mind, Gabe in the shower, sudsy and lean and … she had to stop thinking like that.

  She gave him a small smile, banishing her imagination. He seemed to relax a little and when they hit town, he gestured to the parking lot on the right. Calli drove into a slot and was out of the car and walking to the entrance before she realized he wasn't with her.

  She faced him. His rear braced on the trunk, he looked as belligerent as a schoolboy. The image would have worked, if not for those tattoos.

  She came to him.

  "Aren't you coming?"

  He shook his head.

  "Oh, no," she warned. "You insisted on tagging along and now you have to come in. You can push the cart," she offered as a grand gesture on her part and grabbed his arm, steering him toward the entrance.

  He stopped short of the walkway. "I'll wait out here." He nodded to the benches under the overhang, then shoved his hands into his pants pockets.

  Calli felt his apprehension. He really didn't want to be in the store. How curious. She stepped closer, breaking her no-touching rule and laying a hand on his arm. Muscles tensed beneath her palm as she gazed up into his magnificent eyes. He met her gaze head-on, then looked away, saying nothing. Calli caught the side of his jaw and turned his head until he met her stare again.

  "Why don't you want to come in?"

  Gabe felt himself being drawn in, like a wave comes naturally to the shore. There was a comfort he'd never known in her eyes, in her hand smoothing rhythmically up and down his arm. And suddenly, he was hungry for it.

  His throat worked before he said, "I never had enough cash to ever go in a store this size." He nodded to the huge market, then waited for her disbelief, her pity.

  It didn't come.

  Calli's heart splintered and she tried to keep tears from forming. What a desolate life he must have led, she thought. And more than he'd believe, she understood.

  "But you do now?"

  He shrugged. "Never got used to it."

  "I know what you mean. Overwhelming, isn't it?"

  His brows drew down, suspicion in his eyes.

  But Calli kept smoothing his arm, aching to trace the intricacies of his tattoos. "I never had the chance to buy anything for myself, not even a pack of gum, until I was about sixteen."

  His chiseled features stretched taut, doubt in his gaze.

  "Oh, I'd learned about money, making change, balancing a checkbook, and being polite," she added with a small smile. "But as to actually doing it where anyone could watch—" She shivered dramatically. "I was terrified the first time I had to actually buy clothes. Let alone, ask for help with sizes."

  "What did you buy?" he murmured suddenly, huskily.

  Her smile was slow, her cheeks staining with color. "Satin panties."

  He inched a fraction closer. "What color?" He let his fiery gaze rip and slide over her body.

  Calli felt her insides jump to life just then. "Red."

  His almost-smile sent her heart tripping up to her throat. "Doesn't surprise me."

  She couldn't hide her pleasure in that. That even if everyone else thought she was Suzy Homemaker on the outside, Gabe knew what she hid underneath.

  "You don't have to do this with me."

  With me, he thought. He couldn't remember when he'd done anything with a woman. And never with one like Calli.

  "I'm good at this, Gabriel."

  He might have rebelled if she hadn't said his name so softly, intimately.

  "Make it quick."

  She smiled, her hand gliding down to his wrist and pulling him toward the automatic doors. As she grabbed a cart, he pulled away from her touch and Calli tried not to frown at the abrupt gesture. Gabe stayed in the background, off to the side, watchful. Silent. But to her, he looked forlorn and ostracized. Did he think she was embarrassed to be seen with him? She crossed to him, scanning the shelves and selecting products, juggling the items and handing some to him. She inclined her head for him to follow and they dropped them into the cart. He didn't retreat. As she headed for the produce aisle, she noticed how people moved away from him, staring rudely. He seemed oblivious that he was intimidating, almost scary-looking dressed in black and tattooed. Calli touched the flames disappearing beneath his shirtsleeve. He met her gaze, his eyes softer than she'd ever seen them, yet she could feel the tension in him like a coiled wire.

  "Are you through?"

  She looked down at the nearly empty cart and had to laugh. His stiff posture calmed.

  "Ever consider meditation? You need to loosen up."

  He stepped closer, his voice low. "You need to hurry up."

  He was near enough that she could see every lash surrounding those crystal green eyes, smell the musky scent of him.

  "Okay,"
she said, a little breathless. "Then help shop." She focused on her fist. "Flour, sugar, yeast and baking soda."

  His eyes widened. "You want me to get it?"

  "Can't handle it?" she challenged. He was grinding his teeth, she could tell, and smiled brightly. "Please?"

  With a low growl, Gabe moved away. Grinning, Calli watched him as he glared up at the lists posted between each aisle, then marched off. He was intimidated. It was a weakness she never thought to see, yet she was sympathetic. She remembered too clearly how she'd hidden in a dressing room and sobbed because she was so overwhelmed with the wide variety, since she'd worn only uniforms since she was two. Turning back to the vegetables, she selected the best and when she didn't find it, she called for the manager.

  Gabe remained back, his arms full, and watched as the manager stepped into the warehouse and came back with another tray of vegetables. He never thought he'd see anyone get so excited over zucchini, but she did. He watched her fingers glide over the long green vegetable and recklessly imagined those hands on his skin. Then he noticed the people staring at him. Gabe glanced to the side and a woman maneuvered her shopping cart well out of his way. A child stood a few feet from him, curiously gazing at his tattoos until his mother yanked him to her side. And when the manager noticed him, he stopped midsentence and stared, too. Calli twisted a look at him and sent him one of her heart-squeezing smiles.

  And he was greedy for more of them, more of the way she made him feel when he was near her. Like he did matter. He strode forward and dropped the baking supplies into the cart, careful not to smash the vegetables.

  She turned toward him slightly. "Now was that so hard?" she said for his ears alone.

  Gabe's gaze flashed up, clashing with hers. "No. Now are you through?"

  She laughed softly. "God, you sound like a kid on a road trip." Then she turned to a mountain of onions and filled a plastic bag.