Beauty and the Bodyguard

by Lisa Childs

  Tears streaked down her face. Any other woman might be too afraid after all she’d lost to risk her heart again, especially on a man like him. But she was the bravest woman he knew. And she nodded. “Of course I will marry you.”

  His breath shuddered out in a sigh of relief. And he kissed her again—deeply. “I love you. I want to marry you as soon as we can get a license.”

  “I can see to that,” the wedding planner assured him.

  “But first you want to tell me what you came in to say.” He braced himself. Whatever it was, no matter how bad, he would be able to handle it with her love and support.

  “Richard found Megan and Gage at the safe house,” she said. “He got there before any other Payne Protection bodyguards arrived for backup.”

  He sucked in a breath. “And?”

  “There was a shooting.”

  He cursed and clutched his arms around her, holding her close.

  “Who did we lose?” he asked. Because he knew that someone had died.

  Chapter 26

  The young doctor gasped as Gage pulled off his sweater. “Oh, my God, what happened to you?”

  Gage glanced down at the blood trickling from the wound on his shoulder. It had nearly stopped bleeding now. “It’s just a scratch,” he said. “The bullet barely grazed me.”

  Fortunately, Richard was a lousy shot, but Gage had played dead to buy himself some time. He might have wound up dead for real if Megan hadn’t prevented Richard from shooting him again. She’d saved his life, which had enabled him to save hers.

  He shuddered as he remembered Richard pointing that gun in her beautiful face. Shooting him had been a risk, though. Richard could have squeezed the trigger out of reflex as he went down.

  So Gage hadn’t given him the chance to even get his finger on the trigger. He’d fired as soon as Richard had lifted his gun.

  While Megan hadn’t been shot, she wasn’t all right. She’d barely said anything since the shooting. Nick and the other Payne Protection bodyguards who’d showed up at the condo had asked her questions, but she’d either nodded or shaken her head. She hadn’t said anything to them after she’d asked them about her dad.

  “I’m fine,” he said, dismissing the doctor’s concern for him.

  The only reason he’d agreed to come to the hospital had been for her, so she could see her father. And for a doctor to see her and make sure she was all right. Gage’s gunshot wound had gotten them back to the ER faster than her shock would have, though.

  “You need to check her out.”

  The dark-haired doctor glanced at Megan, who stood near Gage’s gurney. Her skin—usually such a warm honey tone—was unnaturally pale except for the droplets of Richard’s blood that had spattered across her face. The doctor noticed the blood and asked, “Was she shot as well?”

  “No,” Megan replied. “I wasn’t.”

  But Gage flinched as he remembered how close she had come to getting shot—to getting killed. Damn Richard. But he couldn’t hurt her ever again.

  “I think she’s in shock, though,” Gage said.

  She shook her head and tumbled her curly hair around her blood-spattered face. “I’m fine.”

  She wasn’t. And they both knew it. After what she’d seen, she might never be fine again. Too bad she’d opened her eyes right as the bullet had struck Richard. Gage had had to take the kill shot—or risk Richard killing her.

  “She’s been through a lot.”

  The doctor looked from Megan back to Gage, his smooth dark brow beginning to furrow with confusion.

  “She was at that wedding chapel that armed gunmen invaded earlier today,” Gage explained.

  The doctor’s eyes widened. “There was a shoot-out there. Is that where the blood came from?” He gestured at her face.

  Gage wasn’t going to waste time explaining about the second shooting. So he simply replied, “She was the bride.”

  She was supposed to marry the man Gage had killed. How did she feel about his killing her groom? How did she feel about him now? He could tell nothing from her face.

  The doctor looked at her with more concern now. “Your father came through the ER just as my shift started early this afternoon.” His face was easy to read; he didn’t think Woodrow had had a chance when he’d seen him.

  “He made it,” Gage said.

  Nick had assured him of that when he’d showed up at the condo with Garek and Milek Kozminski. They’d been so sorry for not getting there sooner. But Gage had brushed off their apologies. They’d brought good news.

  “He’s tough,” Gage said and offered Megan a reassuring smile. He suspected she was still worried. She wouldn’t believe her father was okay until she saw him for herself.

  “I don’t need stitches or a tetanus shot,” Gage told the doctor as the young man probed his wound. “Just stick a bandage on it.”

  “Looks like you’ve been through a lot, too,” the doctor remarked as he swabbed the injury with alcohol, cleaning it before taping on the bandage Gage had requested. “Where did all the scars come from?”

  Gage didn’t answer. Hell, he wasn’t even sure where he’d been.

  The young man peered closer at the ridges of healed flesh along Gage’s torso, shoulders and arms. “Looks like you were tortured.” Then as he glanced up and met Gage’s gaze, his face flushed with embarrassment at his lack of tact. “I’m sorry...”

  Gage shrugged. “It’s fine.”

  “He was a Marine,” Megan said. He heard both her pride and her regret.

  One was always a Marine. Even her father. That was how he’d survived getting shot. But Gage didn’t explain that to her. He didn’t say anything.

  The doctor spoke again. “Thank you for your service.”

  Gage glanced at Megan and murmured, “The worst wounds leave no marks...”

  * * *

  The worst wounds leave no marks...

  “You’re never going to forgive me, are you?” she asked as they rode the elevator up from the hospital lobby to her father’s room. He’d been moved from ICU to a private room. While she was relieved about that, she was still scared over how close she’d come to losing him. And scared that Gage was still lost to her...

  “Forgive you for what?” Gage asked, as if he truly had no idea.

  “For breaking your heart.”

  His lips parted in a soft gasp. “Do you know what that means?”

  “You were talking about me,” she said, “when you talked about the worst wounds...”

  He grinned. “Well, that, too. But it means that you actually believe I loved you. Or how else could you have broken my heart?”

  Loved. Her heart cracked at the past tense. He didn’t love her anymore. And after what she’d put him through, she doubted he ever would again.

  “I was stupid,” she said.

  “You were not stupid,” he said—as if he needed to defend her to her.

  “Yes, I was,” she insisted. She had been so stupid. How could she have ever considered a cold-blooded con artist like Richard a friend?

  “You were insecure,” Gage corrected her. “That’s how people like Tucker Allison and Richard got to you. You never saw yourself as you really are.”

  “How am I really?” she asked, because she felt like a fool.

  “Beautiful...”

  She snorted.

  Then his hand shot out, hitting the stop button on the elevator control panel. The car jerked to a stop, launching Megan into his arms. Gage caught her and held her tightly, kissing her with such passion. His lips moved over hers, gliding first before sucking her lower lip into his mouth. He nipped it lightly before sliding his tongue over the sensitive flesh. He groaned, and his arms clutched her closely against him, molding her soft curves to his hard muscles. His erection pressed against her.

  The passion and need were real. He was attracted to her. But was it just attraction?

  When he finally pulled back, she panted for breath, and her heart pounded erratically.
>
  “Do you get it now?” he asked.

  She smiled suggestively. “No, but I’d like to...”

  He laughed. And whatever torment he still carried with him appeared to lighten as his green eyes twinkled. “Oh, I’d also like to,” he agreed. “But I have to do something else first.” He restarted the elevator.

  “See my dad,” she agreed as the doors opened. But once he returned her safely to her father, would he consider his mission completed, and would he leave, never to see her again?

  Before she could ask him, he stopped at the nurses’ station. “Woodrow Lynch?”

  An older nurse looked up from her computer monitor and uttered a weary sigh. “Yes. But he’s had too much company and not enough rest. We need to cut off visiting hours for him early.”

  “I’m his daughter,” Megan said.

  The nurse pursed her thin lips as if she didn’t believe her.

  “She is,” Gage insisted in a gruff voice that brooked no argument. They had never discussed it. But he’d been to her house. He’d seen photos of her mother and of her father when he was younger. He had to know she couldn’t biologically be Woodrow’s child. But he also knew that they were family no matter what the DNA.

  “Are you Megan?” another, younger nurse asked as she joined them at the desk.

  Megan nodded.

  “And you’re Gage?” she asked.

  He nodded. “Yes.”

  “He’s been waiting for them,” this nurse told the other one.

  The older woman, with her brush-cut short gray hair, glared at her. “But he’s had too much company and is only supposed to have one visitor at a time.”

  “He was shot at her wedding,” the younger nurse said. “He won’t rest until he knows they’re all right.”

  The older nurse pursed her lips again disapprovingly but nodded her agreement. Like it mattered. Megan had been through too much to let anyone keep her from her father.

  And the same went for Gage. If he tried to walk away, she wouldn’t let him. She’d persist until he gave her another chance. She would never give up on them again.

  The younger nurse gestured at them to follow her, and she led them down the hall to a closed door. “Sorry about her,” she said. “I think she’s jealous.”

  “Jealous?” Gage asked.

  “Of the love...”

  And when she opened the door, they saw the love—Penny curled up against Woodrow’s side in his narrow hospital bed. Penny tensed and tried to ease away, but Woodrow kept his arm around her shoulders. Despite having been shot, he looked happier than Megan had ever seen her father.

  Tears of joy and relief stung her eyes. She rushed forward to hug him. “I’m so glad you’re all right!”

  He clasped her head in his hand, holding it against his, as his breath shuddered out in a sigh of relief. “Me, too, my beauty. I’m so glad you’re all right.”

  “What?” Gage asked with his arms outstretched. “I gave you my word that I would keep her safe. Did you doubt me?”

  “He wasn’t the one doubting you,” Penny said. “You’ve been doubting yourself.”

  Gage chuckled, and it sounded a little less rusty than when Megan had heard it before. “Damn you,” Gage cursed her with a wealth of affection in his gruff voice. “For always being right!”

  “It’s a pain in the ass, isn’t it?” Woodrow said. “Don’t know what I was thinking to propose to this woman. It’s going to be a hardship to have a wife who’s always right.”

  “You’re engaged!” Megan uttered a squeal of pure delight. No wonder her father looked so happy. He was going to marry a wonderful woman. She hugged Penny, too.

  Penny touched her cheek, tipping her face to hers. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?” she asked. “This feels like horrible timing after what happened at your wedding.”

  “I’m so happy something good came out of such a horrible day,” Megan said.

  Penny nodded in agreement then she glanced up at Gage. “Is our engagement going to be the only good thing?”

  Gage shrugged. “I guess that’s up to Woodrow.”

  “Me?” Her father tried to mimic Gage’s gesture of stretching his arms out but winced. He was going to be okay. But it was going to take him a while to heal completely. “I already proposed.”

  “Yes,” Gage said. “But will you let me?”

  Megan’s pulse quickened. Could he be asking what she thought he was asking?

  Her father grinned. “Convince me you’re worthy of my daughter.”

  “I love her,” Gage said. “I’ve always loved her.”

  Megan turned to him, unable to believe what she was hearing. “Loved—you said,” she reminded him. “Past tense—as in you did once but don’t anymore.”

  “I never stopped,” he said then uttered a ragged sigh. “God knows I tried...”

  She flinched. “I’m sorry,” she murmured. “Sorry for everything...” If only she hadn’t been such a fool... “You quitting the Bureau—reenlisting—it was all my fault.” How could she expect him to forgive her when she couldn’t forgive herself?

  Gage pulled her into his arms, his hands smoothing over her back. “I’m the one who’s sorry,” he said, and he leaned his forehead against hers, staring deeply into her eyes. “I acted like an idiot with wounded pride. I shouldn’t have run away. I should have stayed and fought for you.”

  She nodded and lightly tapped his chest with her fist. “Yes, you should have.”

  “I will,” he promised. “I won’t give up on us again.”

  “Neither will I,” she said.

  “It won’t always be easy,” he warned her. “I’m not myself yet. But with you, I’m more myself than I’ve been since we broke up. And for you, I will work on getting completely whole again.”

  How had she ever doubted his love, even for a moment?

  Then she remembered. “But you were going to let me marry Richard...”

  “That’s why,” he said. “I thought he would be the better man for you. I thought I was too broken, that the sleepless nights and my nightmares, the flashbacks... I thought it would all be too much for you. I didn’t want to put you through what I’m going through.”

  “That was noble,” her father said, as if he agreed with Gage’s reasons for not wanting to be with her again.

  Megan snorted. “That was stupid. And rude...”

  Gage stepped back as if she’d slapped him. “I thought—”

  “You thought I wasn’t strong enough to help you through this,” she said.

  He nodded. “You’re right. I was stupid and wrong. And you proved that to me. You proved to me how strong you are.”

  Until today—her wedding day—she hadn’t even realized how strong she was. That she was capable of stabbing someone with scissors or tricking armed gunmen...

  But she knew not thinking her strong enough hadn’t been the only reason for his hesitation.

  “You probably also thought I didn’t love you enough,” she said. “And that is my fault.”

  He shook his head. “I never should have believed you that day. I should have known that you were just saying you never loved me to protect yourself—that you were scared.”

  “Not anymore,” she said. “Back then I was so afraid of getting hurt. But I had no idea what pain was until I thought I’d lost you forever. I don’t want to ever go through that again.”

  “So you’ll marry me?”

  “You haven’t asked,” Penny pointed out, but there was amusement in her voice. She pointed to the floor, apparently wanting Gage to drop to his knees.

  “And I haven’t given my permission,” Woodrow said.

  Gage turned to his former boss. “Sir? I promise you that I will spend the rest of my life doing everything in my power to make your daughter happy.”

  Her father nodded. “You have proven to me over and over again that you’re a man of your word, Gage Huxton. Your word is good enough for me. You have my permission.”

  Ga
ge nodded, too, and there was a hint of moisture in his green eyes. Megan knew her father meant a lot to him.

  Woodrow reached out and squeezed her hand. He stared up at her and asked, “What about you, Megan? Is his word good enough for you?”

  Like they had, she nodded. She would never doubt Gage’s word again. “Yes.”

  Her father released her hand—as if letting her go. She turned back to Gage, who had dropped to his knees as Penny had directed. Tears rushed into her eyes; she had to blink them back to focus on his handsome face.

  “Will you marry me?” he asked. “Will you be my wife?”

  She opened her mouth to reply. But he pressed his fingers over her lips.

  “I promise that you will never doubt my love again,” he said. “I will make sure that you always feel secure and safe with me.”

  “I do,” she told him. “And I will marry you, Gage Huxton. I will be your wife.” She threw her arms around his neck and held him closely while Penny and her father cheered.

  * * *

  “What the hell’s going on in there?” Nikki Payne asked of the nurses who stood near the door of Woodrow Lynch’s hospital room.

  The younger nurse smiled. “More love.”

  The older one snorted but blinked back tears as she hurried away, as if embarrassed at getting caught either at the door or with tears in her eyes. The younger one pushed the door open a little farther so that Nikki could see inside to the two couples embracing.

  “Two engagements today,” the younger nurse said as she closed the door again. She glanced down at the diamond on her own hand. “My fiancé could have learned something from these two guys about romance.” She blinked back tears of her own and hurried off.

  Nikki was happy for her mother. So happy...

  While Penny had always had all of them—and whatever other kids she’d emotionally adopted as her own, like the Kozminskis—she had still been alone. She had been the only parent. She had been the one offering comfort and never receiving it.

  Woodrow had apparently been the same, raising his daughters alone as both father and mother. He’d also been a father figure for all of his agents. Like Penny, he had been there for everyone else while no one had been there for him with support, with comfort, with love...