“Wouldn’t bodyguarding accomplish that?”
A grimace flashed across his face for an instant, then softened. “Not always.”
“Something happened.” That was easy to see, with how much he dodged questions.
His silence confirmed it.
“So you quit?”
“When you lose a client you’re paid to protect, it’s bad for referrals.”
Renner kept swirling his fingers over her palm, gentle and feathery, as she absorbed his words. He’d lost a client.
“Oh,” was all she could say.
The wrinkles in his forehead deepened as he watched her. Judging her reaction, no doubt, with understandable apprehension.
Cassie placed her hand on his chest, so warm under her fingers. His heartbeat was strong. She wanted to say, ‘I’m sorry’, but it seemed insufficient. “So, the escort thing just came to mind after?”
He shrugged and traced his finger along her arm, up to cover her hand.
It was soothing. Equally strange that it didn’t bother her.
“A friend referred me after I got out of the hospital,” Renner answered. “Said I had that look women would pay extra for, if I didn’t mind the stigma. Even if the agency was high-end.”
“Wait. Hospital? You were hurt?”
He made a noise that sounded like a laugh, only darker. “Well, I can’t protect anyone if I’m not willing to fight. What kind of bodyguard would I be?” His smile didn’t reach his eyes.
Cassie couldn’t imagine going up against someone like him, as muscular as he was. “What happened?”
“Shot in the gut. Tore through a kidney and a few muscles.”
The tight grip on her hand countered the nonchalance in his voice. Every guy had to sound tough when talking about pain, but bodies always told the truth. Muscles remembered pain and tightened to guard themselves. Much like her heart.
“How long ago?”
“About a year.”
“Did the guy get away?”
“No,” Renner grunted. “But not before he finished off my client and another guard.”
“Jesus,” she whispered. “Who would do something like that?”
“You can take a gangster out of the ghetto, but not the ghetto out of the gangster. An old grudge gone bad.”
“With the means to hire personal security?”
“Well.” His heart rate increased under her fingertips. “That’s part of the disclosure agreement. Standard security stuff. Can’t tell you who, or what they were like.”
“Much like the escort business.”
A chuckle rumbled in his chest. “The Knight business…very similar.”
She caressed his pectoral in small circles with the tips of her fingers. It took a moment to realize she was subconsciously searching for chest hairs. Renner’s was smooth. She forced her fingers to stop and just focused on his heartbeat. Strong and steady beneath his bare skin.
His hand closed over her fingers and brought them to his lips. He kissed each one, slowly. Every touch made her heart skip.
“I know you’re curious, Cassie.” His voice, low and sensual, made the hairs on her neck stand up.
If they weren’t covered in darkness, he’d see her blush—the heat was in her cheeks. Because she was curious. Extremely. She didn’t know if she was brave enough.
Brave enough to feel. To want.
To let go.
“You’re in the driver’s seat.” Renner’s words were honey across her cheeks. Warmth drifted across the single foot of space between them. Soothing, musky warmth. “I won’t make any moves until you do.”
A tremor slid down her spine. She took a shaky breath to settle her nerves. Being in the driver’s seat was her life right now. Trying to be strong for her son, be a compass in a world flipped sideways, while reining in the overwhelming desire to crumble into a useless heap in the corner.
A tempting, red-horned devil sat on her shoulder, urging her to let go of her reserves and press her lips to Renner’s. The haloed, sensible voice in her mind told her the last thing she needed was an opportunity for guilt in an already emotion-filled heart, over capacity.
Tightening her grip on his hand, she curled it under her chin. “Good night, Renner.”
She felt him smile—rather than saw it.
“Sleep well, Cassie.”
Renner
“I don’t care what you think, those are my fans out there,” Renner’s client argued from inside the limo. “I can’ help it if they want the flava’ KingMe’s got. Just more money for me.” He flashed a gold tooth from the middle of his crooked smile.
“If you’d told me that you informed more of your friends you’d be here, I would’ve hired more than just two guards. This is unsafe, and I advise we delay your arrival until this thins, or cancel.”
KingMe’s expression darkened. “You do what I say. I’m payin’ you to protect me, so do it. I’m going in.”
He fought hard to keep from rolling his eyes. “Stay in the car until I clear the area.” Renner stepped out and checked his sidearm.
The crowd outside the back door of the concert was much larger than they’d expected. His client’s friends had undoubtedly blasted the rapper’s whereabouts on social media. Something he’d specifically told the rapper/gangster not to do. He already had a big enough target on his chest from the criminal investigation he was involved in for attempted murder, then to add even more attention to his stardom.
The bystanders all wore baggy clothes and heavy coats, making it too easy to conceal a weapon. His private security team didn’t have the right to search them either.
The hairs on Renner’s arms and neck screamed warnings; this was not a protectable situation. Not to mention the video camera on the corner of the building was dangling from a shredded wire, and half the streetlights were busted. Most of the light was from the dozens of camera phones waiting to capture KingMe’s entrance.
He shook his head, and spoke into the microphone in his sleeve. “We need to find an alternate entrance. This one isn’t secure.”
“The principal insists on going in here, right now,” Glicker, the other guard he hired to protect Wilson Rhames, aka KingMe, replied.
The newest cookie-cutter rapper to come out of the shady streets of Chicago, and land a recording deal out of a New York studio. Now here he was in San Antonio, Texas, playing one of the seediest clubs in the state.
Renner bit the inside of his cheek. Professionalism in front of a hundred of his client’s fans was required.
Before he had a chance to reply, the limo door opened again, and their over-zealous client stepped out. KingMe flashed his gangster scowl and nodded towards his fans.
They all surged forward to get a closer snap of him.
Glicker raced from around the other side of the vehicle, and he and Renner did the best they could to keep the mob off their principal.
The chaos was insurmountable between keeping the mob off the celebrity and surveying everyone’s hands for anything suspicious.
“Move back,” Renner barked, not caring if he lost his cool with an un-protectable situation. Just get him in the building.
The door was only fifteen feet away, but KingMe kept pausing to take pictures and flash gang signs.
One sultry female pushed herself in front of him, and lifted her sequined shirt. Revealing her C-cups to KingMe and the rest of the world.
Glicker grabbed the woman’s arm to pull her away, but their combative client grabbed her ass and yanked her forward. Their tongues locked, in a loud and slippery French kiss that would’ve made porn stars gag.
An usher from the concert yanked the doors and held them open.
Ten feet, dammit. Renner leaned over to KingMe. “Bring her in with you, but we have to get off this street. Now.”
Without breaking their lips, KingMe flashed him the middle finger, and ground his dick against the girl’s crotch.
“Back up!” Glicker shouted at another group of fans.
As KingMe blinked and stared at her, Renner dropped his gaze to her hands. Something black and shiny glittered off a camera flash.
His heart stopped, and the world silenced.
He yanked on her arm. A loud bang echoed off the buildings, and Glicker threw himself on their client. Screams followed the echo.
Renner reached for his weapon, and another shot went off.
More screams filled the air.
Years of training blocked out the image of a female or crazed fan in front of him, and all he saw was the black and white range target. He emptied his mag into the center circle.
She dropped, and her pistol skidded out from under her crumpling body.
The mob dispersed faster than cockroaches in daylight, including trampling over Glicker, who still covered their client on the concrete. Blood spots marred the ground.
Whose blood?
“Get the fuck off me!” KingMe barked.
Glicker didn’t move.
Shit. “Glick?”
KingMe shoved the bodyguard off. A small hole dripped blood out of his chest.
His dead eyes glazed up into the sky, and the rapper scurried away on his hands and knees.
“Shit! Is that fucker dead?”
More fans raced away, except for one man who still faced the gruesome scene. With too calm an expression.
“Wilson, run inside!” Renner ordered. “Now!”
“Holy shit!” The rapper continued to stare at Glicker’s dead face.
The man reached behind his back.
Renner bent down to pull another pistol from his ankle holster. “Drop it!”
He moved between his client and the suspect, just as the man fired. The bang clashed against the concrete building. Renner fired, hitting the man in the groin.
The man started to drop, but he also managed to fire again.
Renner jerked awake, grabbing his stomach. The room was dark, and there was no pain. Not anymore.
A gentle moan from beside him pulled his attention.
Cassie. Asleep beside him.
A sigh trickled down his body, and he scraped a hand down his face.
The clock glowed 7:30 a.m. At least he’d had a good night’s sleep before the nightmare. His heart was still racing, too fast to hope to go back to sleep. He leaned over and laid a gentle kiss on Cassie’s forehead, careful not to wake her.
When his feet hit the wooden floor, the cold seeped into his skin.
Shower. Definitely time for a shower. Wash away those memories.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Cassie
The soft whoosh of the shower woke her from another full night of deep sleep. She stretched under the covers, and glanced at the clock. 7:40 a.m.
She smiled. Two nights in a row. Almost as good as hot coffee. Almost.
Until she crawled out of bed and into the bathroom to see the shower stall’s fogged glass. With Renner’s toned, muscular everything on full display. Dripping wet.
Yep, I’m awake.
His tanned skin looked darker against the white tiles, except for several scars on his abdomen. Small puncture marks the size of quarters spread out into spider-like webs. Joined by a long, thin white scar. Probably from surgery.
She stood frozen in place, staring. It hadn’t occurred to her that he’d take a shower here, even though she remembered offering the first night. When she’d woken, the shower sound must’ve subconsciously registered as her husband.
Seeing Renner this exposed—it was hard to think.
“Sleep well?”
Her gaze shot to his face, his half-smirk devilishly lopsided. Extremely appealing. He didn’t bother covering himself, and her cheeks burned.
Just as her tongue decided to swell, and lose all motor control.
“As I said before,” Renner began with that silky voice, “God help any man who sees you at your best. ‘Cause that well-rested, cozy morning look on you is heart stopping.”
Cassie opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
His eyes lowered for a moment, and his gaze darkened. “If you’re cold, I guarantee it’s warmer in here.”
She looked down and gasped. Her nipples strained against her cotton shirt, traitorous mountains peaked in arousal.
When she looked back at him, so was he.
Fully aroused.
Renner glanced down at himself and rubbed his neck. “He, uh…has a mind of his own. Can you blame him?” A tinge of red graced his cheeks.
She followed her feet out of the bathroom. More like stumbled. Stopping at her door to the hallway, Cassie forced herself to blink. Covering her face was the only way to cool the rising warmth on her skin. Other than dipping her head in a bucket of ice.
Okay, so that part of me is still alive. Good to know.
The image of Renner’s hot-as-hell naked body—wet body—would be impossible to forget. Forever branded to her memory whenever she thought of the need to pleasure herself. Because after the life with her husband—however short it was—and then that profound display of male masculinity, how could she possibly expect a romantic relationship with anyone else?
Right?
She grabbed a sweater from her dresser and yanked it over her head. Her nipples still screamed their ardent approval of the man-siren in her shower. At least now they wouldn’t be as visible. Despite her already overheated body temperature.
He just ruined me. One sultry smile and thirty seconds of in flagrante, and I’m ruined.
An agonizing ten minutes later—and still far too soon—they sat at the breakfast table over steaming coffee. She hardly needed caffeine at this point. Cassie couldn’t look at his face. Too embarrassed to see judgment. Or the questions. Or the urge to follow through with her body’s retaliation for being dormant so long.
Not ready to let go of…everything.
“I think you’ve just invented a new shade of red.”
She risked a glance into his eyes. As much as she’d dreaded facing it, his tawny irises only conveyed the same ease and innocence as last night. “What?”
“Too-Hot-For-Coffee.”
Cassie circled her hands around her mug, failing to hide a smile. “I think that would better describe you.”
Renner laughed. The light-hearted sound lit up the room, then found its way inside her. Even the walls seemed shinier. It’d been a long time since she’d heard that jovial resonance in this house. Full of colors, indeed.
“I didn’t mean to make you that uncomfortable,” he continued. “When you walked in, there was nowhere to hide. I figured you’d already seen a naked man before, so why bother hiding?”
“There’s quite a bit of difference between any naked man and…you.” Her cheeks seared again, which she tried to hide behind a sip of coffee.
His smile was so genuine, it hurt. “Thank you.”
Her husband had been fit, lean and tone. She’d been attracted to him from the very first day she’d met him their sophomore year of college. But Renner’s body—damn. The girth had surprised her the most. And smooth skin, well trimmed and…
She bit her lip. “Does it take a lot of effort to keep up that physique?”
He shrugged with one shoulder. “An hour at the gym every day and a good run. An easy regimen to maintain from my military days. Also helps if I limit the fast food trips.”
“What was that life like? I’m guessing you’re a Marine.” A nice segue from the other topic. Something to keep her from this continuous blush and vivid memory.
The smile he gave this time was different. Almost a grimace. “I loved it.” Renner’s voice dropped. Deeper.
She waited for him to continue, but it took longer than she’d hoped.
“Made some great friends, ones I’ll keep my whole life.” He paused again. “Lost a few, too.” The grip on his mug tightened.
Conversations of lost soldiers, how they died, were very touchy. Most combat
men didn’t like to talk about it after they came home. Cassie knew that much. She didn’t want him to feel that way. Not in her home. These walls had seen enough of that recently.
“I definitely don’t miss walking through those sand-covered villages looking for Al Qaeda or ISIS. Those monsters are pure evil. But the Marines taught me how to protect myself. How to protect others. Gave me confidence.”
“And purpose.”
Renner looked into her eyes, instead of the distant gaze over her shoulders. The grimace faded. “And purpose.”
“But you think you’ve lost that.”
He didn’t answer. Just sipped coffee.
Then his phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen and the ease on his face switched off. He morphed into business mode. Knight mode. “I need to head out. Have to talk to my boss.”
She swallowed the lump in her throat. “Another job?”
The look he gave her was hard to decipher. Discretion, discomfort, insecurity… Cassie blinked and remembered the article she’d read online.
As Renner grabbed the bag of goodies he’d brought, she stood and reached for her purse on the counter. “I forgot to tip you. Here’s some cash for—”
“No charge,” he interrupted.
She stared.
“You’re not a client anymore.”
A cold fist gripped her gut, and her lips parted. He’s rejecting me? He doesn’t want to see me anymore? Why did that hurt so much? “Why?”
His deep gaze went straight to her heart. “Because you’re something more.”
She blinked. Tears that’d formed in her eyes dried instantly. She opened her mouth to reply, but once again nothing came out. I’m something more. He wants more. How much more exactly?
The tight squeeze on her stomach released, and her heart felt less heavy.
Cassie followed him to the front door, more on autopilot, because it was still hard to process his statement.
Renner turned at the door. “I’ll be here again tonight, if you want me.”
She frowned. “Won’t I be taking away from your business?”
“Yes,” he replied simply. “See you at seven?”
Cassie nodded, and then realized what he’d said. That she’d said yes.
He grabbed his keys from the table and opened the front door.
Tell Me What You Want: Knights of Texas Book One Page 5