The Texas Bodyguard’s Proposal

by Karen Rose Smith

  “What happened before he arrived?” Rafe prodded gently.

  “A woman approached me in the ladies’ room. She told me her sister, who was only eighteen, was sleeping with Miko and I should know that. I’m not sure what her reason was for telling me. Maybe frustration because her sister wouldn’t listen to her about the type of man Miko was. Maybe it was just kindness in warning me. I don’t know. But I…Her words just hurt so bad and I felt so stupid, so naive, so foolish.” She said the words before Rafe could.

  “And the tabloid photograph?” Rafe prompted.

  “I couldn’t take the word of a stranger. I couldn’t believe I’d been so wrong. I needed to speak with Miko myself. But when he came into the club that night, he brushed me off, saying we’d talk later. Later happened. He snagged me for a dance. I asked him about Tatiana. He stared me straight in the eye and admitted one woman wasn’t enough for him. He said he enjoyed the chase too much. When I pulled away from him and turned to leave, he grabbed the back of my dress. The strap ripped and the rest, as they say, is history.”

  “What did you do afterward?”

  “After the paparazzi took their money shot, I ran out of the club, got into a cab and went to Miko’s flat. I grabbed everything I thought was necessary and took the first flight for New York. I licked my wounds, made some business contacts then flew to Dallas.”

  When Rafe took her hand, he held on firmly. “I think you were courageous to come back here after all that, to start the PR campaign.”

  “Not courageous. The PR campaign was a diversion for me. During those few weeks in New York, I realized Miko and I never had the emotional intimacy that should be part of a special relationship. We never had shared dreams or goals. I’m not sure we even…shared.”

  When Rafe ran his thumb over her palm, she forgot everything about Miko—and the tabloid shot. She only thought about Rafe and everything they’d shared in the past week. She knew more about him than she’d ever known about Miko. Most of all, she knew exactly the type of man Rafe was—true and strong.

  “Had you heard about Mikolaus Kutras’s reputation before you dated him?”

  “Not really. I saw photographs of him, just as I’d seen photographs of me. I knew better than to believe what I read. And after we met, I thought I was his one true love.” She held up the hand Rafe wasn’t holding like a stop sign. “Don’t even say it. I know how naive I was. Maybe there is no such thing as true love. Yet when I watch my mother and father together, I believe there is.”

  “I remember my mother and father together. They had it. And I had it with Connie.”

  Suddenly, Connie’s name fell between them in a way Miko’s never had. Gabby saw in Rafe’s eyes that he was rethinking this little tête-à-tête they were having and wasn’t surprised when he pulled his hand away.

  He was still in love with his wife. Gabby guessed he couldn’t let himself feel for someone else. He couldn’t let himself feel anything for her.

  She realized with sudden clarity that she felt way too much for Rafe. Falling in love had taken on new meaning. Hearts and roses didn’t always have anything to do with it. Connection did. Electricity did. Seeing some of the world in the same ways did.

  Yet she knew Rafe believed they were so different. He thought she was someone who needed room service and luxury hotels and trips to parts unknown.

  To save them both embarrassment, she stood and motioned to the kitchen. “I think everything in there can wait until tomorrow. I’m going to close down my computer and then turn in.”

  He didn’t argue with her. She wished he’d ask her to stay. She wished…he’d begin to fall in love with her.

  As she went to the kitchen she realized how superficial her relationship with Miko had been. With Rafe she felt as if she had a bond of friendship, as well as the extreme attraction to him. Miko had been a fantasy. Rafe was reality.

  However, the reality was clear. Rafe still loved Connie. He wasn’t ready to move on.

  So where did that leave her?

  The next morning, Rafe opened the manila envelope addressed to him. There was no return address and that made him suspicious.

  He studied the photo before he even looked at the note. A multitude of conflicting thoughts fought for dominance in his mind. Gabby didn’t need this. His career would be in the tank. There was always a price to pay for something sent anonymously like this. However, if blackmail was involved, someone would have to step forward.

  The note read—

  Pay me $500,000 and I won’t send this to a tabloid. Contact me through P.O. Box 2330, The Mailbox Center, Dallas.

  That was it.

  Rafe studied the photo once more. He and Gabby were standing on the balcony, kissing. He remembered every sensation from that kiss—the way his body had caught fire, the way Gabby’s scent had intoxicated him, the way she’d responded as eager and hungry as he was. Now the question was—should he tell her about the photo? Or should he handle it himself?

  This photo would affect him more than her. After all, a lot worse had been printed with her as the subject.

  The door to her bedroom opened and he automatically tensed. He was beginning to do that a lot when he was around her for self-preservation’s sake. Yet tense wasn’t good. When he was tense, he could miss something.

  Gabby stopped when she saw him in the foyer, holding the envelope.

  “Something from Blake?” she asked. Her cousin often sent information by special messenger.

  For a moment, he was distracted by Gabby in white—a white cotton halter top and white shorts that showed off her beautiful legs. His body responded, his pulse rate increasing, adrenaline rushing through him.

  “Rafe?” Gabby asked.

  What was wrong with him? He never lost focus. But now, whenever Gabby was around, he did.

  “You need to see this,” he said, holding out the photograph with the attached note.

  She didn’t look down at what was in his hand. First she studied his features. He attempted to let nothing show—not his reaction to her, not his reaction to the photo.

  She studied the photo first, and then turned her attention to the note.

  “At least we both have our clothes on,” she joked.

  “Gabby.” She was attempting to play this light. She was trying to pretend the photo didn’t matter.

  She sighed. “This isn’t the first time this has happened to me, but it’s probably the first time it’s happened to you. I’m sorry, Rafe. I’m so sorry. This could affect your reputation, your work, what you want to do next with your life. I never meant to get you involved in all this.”

  She’d seen the consequences of the photo immediately and she looked as if she meant what she said. If he hadn’t realized it before, he realized now that Gabby wasn’t a publicity seeker. She wasn’t the kind of celebrity who wanted her name in those tabloids or the papers, no matter what the cost.

  “It’s blackmail,” he grumbled.

  “Yes, it is. Apparently someone had a long lens. As photos go, it could be a lot worse. For me, anyway. But I know, not for you.”

  “Oh, it could be worse,” he said rubbing his forehead. “What’s that old song? A kiss is just a kiss?”

  He thought he saw hurt flash in her eyes and he knew he’d once again said the wrong thing. He couldn’t seem to do the right thing with Gabby. He should have told Blake to find someone else to guard her from the moment he’d met her.

  “What do you want to do?” she asked. “Do you want me to pay him?”

  “Or her,” Rafe murmured. “You’d do that?”

  “I would if I thought it would keep the worst from happening.”

  “You’d have to rely on someone like this to keep their word. That’s a huge risk. The photo’s probably digital, so it’s backed up. This isn’t the old days when you could bargain for negatives.”

  “So you’re saying there’s no point in paying him?”

  “There’s no point at all in paying him. But we don’t
want to let him or her know that. Not just yet, anyway.”

  “Why not?”

  “Several reasons. You’ll have to decide if you want to prosecute. If we want to trap whoever this is.”

  “The P.O. box is probably taken under a false name.”

  “You have been through this before.”

  “When I was being stalked…” She shook her head. “Law enforcement set up surveillance, watched the P.O. box that was the return address on those letters. I know the drill.”

  “And you’re not sure it’s worth it for this?”

  “I won’t be hurt by this, Rafe. You will. So it’s going to be your call.”

  Had he expected her to fall apart? If he had, he’d been wrong about that, too. Gabby had been through a lot, with the press following her since she was seventeen, with fans who tried to get at her any way they could, the stalkers who had probably terrified her out of her mind. And lately, the Greek tycoon who’d tried to own her and then tossed her away.

  When Gabby stepped closer to him, he steeled himself against her stunning fresh face, against her pheromones mingling with his, against needs he didn’t even want to admit he had.

  “I’ll do whatever’s best for you.”

  Whatever was best for him. That was the hell of it. He didn’t know what that was. Right now, the best thing for him would be to carry Gabby into her bedroom and join their bodies until neither of them had a coherent thought.

  Yet he knew that wouldn’t be the best. Not for either of them.

  Because he wasn’t ready to change his life. He wasn’t ready to love again. He wasn’t ready to forget Connie and the baby they’d lost.

  “We’re leaving for Houston,” he reminded her. “Let’s just forget about this until we get back.”

  “Forget about it?”

  “He’s not going to do anything until he hears from us. He wants that money.”

  “And what do you want?” she asked softly.

  “I want to stay out of the papers,” he returned bluntly, cutting off any chance of personal talk.

  Something passed over Gabby’s face. Disappointment maybe, because he wouldn’t discuss the two of them?

  There was nothing to discuss.

  Chapter Ten

  “I’m glad you agreed to have lunch in the dining room.” Gabby glanced at Rafe as they sat at a secluded table, almost completely hidden by potted palms, in the Gallery Hotel in Houston. She liked staying at this hotel for two reasons—the security was great and she enjoyed stopping to gaze at the artists’ paintings on the walls. They were all originals.

  After talking to the hotel security and seeing the setup, Rafe must have realized this was a low-risk hotel. “With the dining room being almost empty, you’re safe.”

  “My cousin Paige recommended this hotel to me a couple of years ago. The celebrity suites, as she calls them, are comfortable, secluded and quiet. I’d love to go swimming in the rooftop pool. Do you think we can?”

  “I’ll check into it. Maybe after it closes to the public.”

  “You’re trained as a lifeguard?” she teased.

  “Absolutely.”

  Gabby had tried to keep a light atmosphere between her and Rafe today. It was the only way they’d get through this trip. She didn’t want to think about that photograph or Miko’s e-mails. She was hoping just to use this overnight excursion as an escape from everything else that was going on.

  “Was your object to shop before your meeting this evening?” Rafe asked now.

  “I know it’s the last thing you want to do.”

  “I’ve survived worse.”

  His dry tone made her laugh. “You survived shoe shopping.”

  “Yes, I did.”

  There was a flash of awareness in his eyes that told her he remembered putting that shoe on her foot just as well as she did. She felt as if she was playing a game with Rafe. Move forward, then retreat. Move to the side, then retreat again. Come too close—Would they both win? Or lose?

  She picked up her menu, knowing she’d decide on some kind of salad.

  When they’d walked in, Gabby had been focused on heading to their table. Now she glanced around the rest of the room. Only a few lunchers remained. As she peered into one corner, at first to study the painting on the wall, she recognized the woman at the secluded table. It was her cousin Penny!

  Gabby laid down her menu and was ready to push her chair back when she focused on the man sitting with Penny. His back was to her, mostly, but she could catch a bit of his side profile. He looked vaguely familiar. Then she realized why. The man with Penny was Jason Foley!

  How could that be possible? The McCords and Foleys were enemies. Penny wouldn’t have anything to do with one of them. But there she was, having lunch with Jason.

  “What’s wrong?” Rafe asked.

  Jason suddenly stood, went to Penny and leaned low to her as he helped her with her chair. Gabby was almost sure his lips grazed her cousin’s cheek. Were they having an affair?

  Gabby hunched down in her chair a little so Penny wouldn’t see her. But she shouldn’t have worried. Penny’s focus was totally on Jason as she stood and the two of them linked arms to leave the dining room.

  Rafe reached across the table and took Gabby’s hand. “What’s wrong?” he repeated. He looked over his shoulder to stare in the same direction she was staring.

  “That was Penny! And Jason Foley.”

  “One of the Foleys?” Rafe inquired with an arched brow.

  “How much do you know?” Gabby knew Blake liked Rafe, but were they friends?

  “Anyone who works for the McCords, anyone who’s ever been around Dallas, knows about the McCord and Foley feud—at least, the fact that the two families can’t stand the sight of each other.”

  “That’s not exactly true. Devon, Blake’s dad, tried to make things better.”

  “Why don’t you tell me how it started? Something about a card game?”

  “It really started way before the card game. The story, not the feud.”

  “Is this going to get confusing?” Rafe teased.

  She liked the sparks of humor in his eyes. She liked…everything about him. Swallowing hard, she admitted, “It’s a long story. Are you sure you want to hear it?”

  “I’m sure with you telling it, it won’t seem long.”

  Was Rafe saying he actually enjoyed her company? Was he saying he more than enjoyed it? She didn’t want to read into it something that wasn’t there. She’d done that with Miko.

  “All right, we’ll try it. If you get bored, let me know.” Once again, she glanced in the direction Penny and Jason had exited and shook her head, wondering if she could believe her own eyes.

  Then she tried to remember as much as she could about the history of the feud. “There was a treasure ship that sank back in 1898 and Elwin Foley was one of the crew.” She went on to tell Rafe about the rumors, the diamond, the mines and the card game.

  “But the mine is still on Travis’s property?”

  “No. Officially, the property still belongs to the McCords.”

  “If Paige and Blake find it, what would happen to the bad blood between the Foleys and McCords then?”

  Gabby sighed. “Blake can’t think about that now. He sees that diamond as the end of the problems he’s having with the stores. That’s what the whole PR campaign is based on.”

  “Canary diamonds.”

  “You’ve got it. And that’s why I’m seeing a designer today to design a wardrobe around those gems.”

  “You look good in yellow. And green. And blue. And red.”

  She laughed. “Are you trying to flatter me so I don’t go shopping?”

  “I’m not trying to flatter you, Gabby. I just tell you what I see.”

  What exactly did he see? A woman who knew her own mind? A woman who’d been fooled? A woman who was beginning to care for him very, very much?

  Maybe all protectees fell in love with their protectors.

  No. That
had never happened to her before, though she had to admit, she’d never had somebody with her twenty-four hours a day before.

  “Are you sure that was Penny that you saw? And Jason Foley?”

  “I know Penny. I’ve been around Jason a few times, mostly at clubs in Dallas. He has a reputation for womanizing. She’d better be careful. My guess is he wants something from her.”

  “It could just be a star-crossed lovers thing,” Rafe offered.

  When had she last heard a man talk about love in those terms? “I really would like to believe that. I might have been naive with Miko, but I’m not naive anymore. If a man comes on too fast, if he’s too charming, if he doesn’t want to share the things that are important to share, then he wants something other than a relationship.”

  Gabby and Rafe stared at each other over their menus. She’d thought of the wife and child he’d lost. “Is it too painful to remember your wife?”

  He looked down at the table, studied the menu, then set it down on the white linen. “Sometimes, I think it helps to remember. But then when I remember, all I get is sadness. I pull the memory into now and it doesn’t belong there.”

  “Did you have a good marriage?”

  “We had a great marriage. She didn’t seem to mind following wherever work led, though it wasn’t easy for her. She was thrilled when she found out she was going to have a baby. With a baby to care for, a child to raise, she’d have company during the times that I was away or had to work long hours. Connie was the greatest. She never complained.”

  Gabby didn’t think she could be that great. If she married someone, she’d want time with him. She didn’t want to sit on the edges of his life—she wanted to be smack-dab in the middle of it.

  As if echoing her thoughts, he concluded, “You wouldn’t make a good Secret Service agent’s wife.”

  Although she knew she wouldn’t, her shoulders squared. She could do anything she put her mind to.

  “Now don’t get all defensive on me, Gabby. You know what I’m talking about. You need to be surrounded by love. Some professions don’t provide an opportunity for that. Secret Service work is one of them.”