by Christi Snow
“Where are you going and when?” I asked.
“I’m supposed to be in New York in a couple of days for a big, Broadway audition that’s almost impossible to get. It’s my second callback and a huge opportunity I won’t get again. She knows that and doesn’t want me to lose my chance, but...” I could hear his guilt over wanting to leave when his friend was going through such a hard time.
“You should go. I know the two of you don’t trust me, but you have my word that I won’t let anything happen to her. No matter that ViviAnna hired me, my priority lies with Elle and keeping her safe.”
Trace shook his head. “I hope that’s true, because Elle needs people on her side. She’s been burned by her mother. While I think VA loves her in her own twisted way, it’s not the kind of motherly love that a kid deserves. It’s weird, and it has left dark marks on Elle’s ability to trust anyone.”
He nailed me with a look. “I hope you’re ready, because you’re going to have a continuous battle with Elle before she’ll let you in. Right now, all she knows about you is that you’re here because of VA. In Elle’s book, that makes you almost worse than the asshole that actually kidnapped her.”
Ouch.
“I don’t understand. While I get that ViviAnna can be a diva and demanding, is there something else going on between them? Her mother hasn’t actually hurt her, has she?”
Trace shook his head. “Not in the physical way that you’re thinking, but there are a ton of other ways to hurt a kid. For Elle, VA showed her love in spurts of pampering and devotion where she completely smothered Elle by dictating her life. There were longer periods filled with neglect and abandonment. That kind of yo-yoing of emotions can be devastating for a young child who didn’t want anything besides to be a normal kid.
“VA always reacted to the news stories, though. When they thought Elle was cute as a button, VA wanted her by her side looking like a doll. When the stories went the other direction and caught Elle in a typical child’s tantrum or just plain awkwardness, VA went the other direction and flat out ignored Elle’s presence in her life completely.”
Trace poured himself a cup of coffee. “What you need to know is that VA’s first priority is doing what’s best for VA and her publicity. If Elle doesn’t fit that, then Elle might as well be dead. I think over the years, Elle has tried to appear as hostile as possible just to prevent the push and pull. It was easier to deal with the full-out rejection than to deal with a hope that her mother could love her, warts and all, only to have that hope crushed...again.”
“Damn.” I rubbed the back of my neck, and suddenly, all the news stories I’d read about Elle from the file I’d been given took on a much more sinister edge. How could a child cope with a mother’s love being judged by the whims of the press, who were notorious for blasting even the most beloved, famous people? I was suddenly starting to see why Elle was so abrasive with me.
“Exactly,” Trace said. “But what you haven’t seen yet is that Elle is the most loyal, soft-hearted person in this world. Once she lets you in, she’s never letting you back out again. She has a very small circle of friends, but every one of us would lay down our lives for her in a heartbeat, because we know that’s exactly what she’d do for us. She’s a good person, and she doesn’t deserve any of this—not this insane stalker, or the press, or her narcissistic mother. Elle simply wants to live her life and be left in peace.”
I nodded. “So, why don’t you tell me the real story of how you came to be in her life? Because I have to say...the girl is a lousy liar.”
Trace laughed, humor glinting in his unusual green eyes. “True that.” He shook his head. “But it’s not my story to share. When she wants you to know, I have a feeling she’ll tell you.” He studied me for a moment. “And honestly, I think you might just be the right person to get it out of her. I like you, Jonah Sutton, bodyguard extraordinaire. I just wish I could stick around longer, because I have a feeling you’re going to turn our girl’s world upside down.” He knocked on the countertop. “And now I’m off to bed. A boy’s gotta have his beauty sleep, don’t you know?”
He took off up the stairs to Elle’s bedroom, obviously planning on sleeping with her.
I stood in the kitchen, where we seemed to spend all our time. With her open floor plan, it was the best place to interact with the whole apartment and was an automatic stopping point just inside the door. I watched where he’d disappeared, hoping that he would come back downstairs. But then a light turned off, and a leaden feeling settled into the pit of my stomach.
The idea of Trace lying in bed with Elle, just inches away from her, should not bother me. But, dammit, it did.
I needed help finding perspective here. I opened my texts.
Me: When’s your flight?
It couldn’t happen soon enough.
Dillon: Missing my face that much?
Me: I need your level head.
Dillon: Uh oh. What’s going on?
Me: Hard to explain. She messes with me.
Dillon: Well, color me intrigued.
Dillon: Don’t worry, Romeo. Should be there by tomorrow night. Will email deets.
I blew out a sigh of relief. Tomorrow, I’d have an ally to help handle the difficult Ms. Wilcox. Maybe between the two of us, we’d have an actual chance at corralling her so I could keep her safe.
Chapter Five
Elle
I awoke to the delicious aroma of coffee, the lilting but annoying sound of Trace calling my name, and an entire timpani drum corps playing inside my head. I rolled over in bed with a groan and wiggled my fingers to Trace without opening my eyes. I needed some coffee inside me before my vision would work.
A warm mug settled into my hand, and I raised my head as I lifted the steaming liquid to my mouth.
Trace sat down on the side of my bed and I sat up a bit more to scootch over and make room for him. That brought out another groan of pain.
Trace laughed, soft and low in deference to my aching head. “It’s a good thing I’m not out to hurt you like your boy suspects, or else I could have just poisoned you.”
Jonah. I’d forgotten about him for a moment. I internally sighed with the pretty picture of him in my head, all dark and sexy and charming with that fine ass of his, and the vision eased my headache a bit.
I cocked one eye open to glare at Trace, though. “He’s not my boy.” I groaned and clutched at my head and then lowered my voice to barely above a whisper. “He’s VA’s boy.” And I needed to remember that.
“I beg to differ,” Trace said quietly. “I think if you gave him a chance, he could be yours.”
This had me opening both eyes. Trace was always the first one to urge caution when I made new friends or acquaintances, but now, he was pushing me to give Jonah a chance? Trying to think straight just made my head hurt more. “Why did you let me drink so much tequila?”
Trace laughed that soft, sweet, chuckle of his that made me feel warm inside. “Baby doll, that was all on you. I was actually ditching as many shots as I could without you noticing.”
My eyes widened. “Seriously?”
The corner of his mouth cocked up. “Yeah, we didn’t need to be visiting the ER last night for alcohol poisoning. Can you imagine the headlines?”
He was right. I didn’t usually let myself go like I had last night, and this morning’s headache was a good reminder of why. That and I hated to be out of control. Thankfully, Trace had taken over for me, and I knew he’d probably protected me from myself.
“Shit. I’m sorry, T, but thank you for looking out for me.” I wrapped my hands around his waist where he sat next to me on the bed and rested my head on his shoulder, but then I caught sight of the clock on the nightstand. “Oh, hell, I’m going to be late for class.”
I shot out of bed and then stilled and closed my eyes as the world tilted. I clutched at my temple. “But first, aspirin.”
I staggered down the stairs and stumbled into the kitchen where I fumbled a bottle of a
spirin, shaking several out into my hand and gulping them down with some water. As I waited for my head and my stomach to stop swimming, Jonah’s sleep-tousled head popped up from the couch.
I screamed in surprise, and he leapt over the back of the couch, searching for danger.
“What is it?” he asked.
I couldn’t help it. I laughed at him. His dark hair stuck out in every direction. I never would have guessed the smooth, suave guy I met yesterday could look so damn rough in the morning. I guess he really was human after all.
“Nothing. Sorry. I just didn’t realize you were asleep on the sofa, so you startled me when you sat up. Why are you asleep there instead of the spare room?” I didn’t remember coming home last night, and I didn’t like the guy, but surely I hadn’t been that mean. I wouldn’t have condemned him to a too-short couch when there was a perfectly good king-sized bed in the spare room.
“I actually didn’t sleep at all. I only laid down after I heard Trace get up. My job is to protect you. That means watching for intruders.”
My mouth dropped open in shock. “You can’t do that. Your body needs rest.” My gaze dropped to said body, clad now in a thin T-shirt and basketball shorts that seemed to cling to all his muscles. He certainly didn’t look like he was suffering any ill-effects.
“Going forward today,” Jonah said in a very low voice, “I need you to remember this moment right now and keep using exactly that expression.”
I glanced up at him in question.
He shrugged.
That refocused me back on his curvy, muscular biceps. Damn, tequila must make me horny. But then what he was saying registered, and that flung me out of my horny euphoria.
I screeched in outrage. “I don’t think so.”
“I’m supposed to be here as your boyfriend. The looks you’re giving me this morning are much better than the scorn that you kept flinging yesterday, especially if we want to convince anyone that we like one another. And I realize that me being close is uncomfortable, but I need you to make an effort not to flinch at every little touch. I’ll try to give you warning when I can before I touch you.”
Heat flooded my cheeks. I was too hung-over to realize how blatantly I’d been checking him out, but now I was completely mortified. Could the Earth just swallow me up now, please?
He stepped closer to me, watching me carefully as he slowly lifted his hand and brushed the backs of his fingertips lightly over my cheek.
I closed my eyes at the force of the electrical pulse that thrummed through me at his light caress.
“And now a blush,” he said, his voice lower and more intimate.
He kept distracting me. I yearned to lean into him and to do some touching of my own.
But then he said, “You are just full of surprises, Illumination.”
I yanked back from him. His use of my real name was exactly the wakeup call I needed. What the hell was I doing, letting him touch me? And liking it. Jonah was the enemy. I needed to remember that.
He frowned at me, puzzled like he didn’t know what he’d done.
“Well, if we’re going to do this, then maybe you need to remember my name is Elle.” Then I stomped my way back upstairs to get ready for class.
His mocking laughter echoed behind me, making me grind my teeth to dust.
JONAH
As Elle stomped up the stairs, I leaned over the kitchen counter, my head falling to my chest, and took several deep breaths, trying to regain control of my body. My erection pulsed with need and want. That had been too close.
When Elle had looked up at me with those deep-brown eyes filled with want and desire, it had taken everything I had not to reach for her and shove my dick as far inside her pliant body that I could. I had to remind her that she hated me for both our sakes.
Hell. This assignment was going to kill me. While I needed her to cooperate with me, I couldn’t have her so agreeable that I forgot my reason for being here. If my judgment got impaired by lust, Elle could die. Unacceptable.
To hide my desire, I’d provoked her again. But I wasn’t sure it had been worth it. For a moment, she’d been open to me...receptive. A flash of pain had flitted across her expression when I reminded her exactly who I was. I didn’t want to be the guy who ever caused her pain.
“Man, I really wish I wasn’t leaving,” Trace said, and my gaze flew up to him.
Some bodyguard I was. I hadn’t even heard him come in. Fuck. I had to get my head screwed back on straight—the one on my shoulders, not the one that Trace was blatantly checking out.
He shook his head. “You got it bad, man. But you now have her good and mad, so I hope that works with your plan.”
I wanted to laugh. What plan? God, I felt like I was flying by the seat of my pants. I’d never been this thrown off by an assignment before. I needed Dillon to get here before I managed to get Elle killed.
I nodded. “Yep. Perfect. Everything’s just...perfect. If you can keep an eye on things, I’m gonna go grab a shower in the bathroom down here before we head to the campus.”
“No problem, man.”
FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER when I came out of the spare bedroom, Elle looked up from eating her dry toast at the kitchen island. While still pale, she wasn’t quite as green as she’d been before, so I guessed the aspirin and shower had taken care of most of her hangover.
She wore baggy dark jeans, a large slouchy black T-shirt, and black chucks. The only color on her anywhere came from a worn looking baseball cap holding her long, mahogany hair in a ponytail. I squinted to see what it said. Morning Wood Timber Company Inspector.
I raised an eyebrow at her. “Is that an invitation?”
“In your dreams, security boy.” She eyed my backpack suspiciously. “Why are you carrying that?”
I glanced behind me at my nondescript black backpack and then turned back to her with a raised eyebrow. “What? Don’t most college students still carry backpacks?”
She squinted her eyes at me. “Yes, but you aren’t in college. I am.”
I pulled out my wallet and flashed my New Mexico Tech University ID card. “As of three days ago, so am I.” I widened my eyes dramatically, while really enjoying the way her eyes flashed with anger. “Surprisingly enough, I just happen to be a senior in the Political Sciences and Public Relations degree program, too. A transfer student. Isn’t that a great coincidence, honeybunch?”
“Oh, god,” she groaned. “I’m going to kill VA for saddling me with you.”
I mock pouted. “But I like you, Elle.”
Her eyes widened when I used her nickname and she seemed to soften just the tiniest bit as she blew out a big sigh. “Okay, well, if we’re going to do this, then we need to go. Neither one of us needs to be late today. We’re scheduled for a quiz.” She sent me a look of pure challenge.
“Bring it. I’m ready.” I gave her my biggest shit-eating grin.
Honestly, it didn’t matter if I was ready or not. I could fake my way through the tests and it wouldn’t matter in the long run. The Hawk Works computer guys had made a fake account for the registrar’s lists. I had special permission directly from the President’s office to be armed and that was the only person on campus who knew my real identity.
I had all the paperwork verifying me as a transfer, transcripts, and the correct books if anyone cared to check. They could also fix my grades for me if I needed them to. It helped to have the computer hackers on my side. But this was a huge college campus with thirty thousand undergrad students. I doubted anyone would question a thing.
On the drive to the campus, I began to outline the rules for Elle, since she’d passed out last night, and we hadn’t gotten to cover them. “Number one, I need you within my reach at all times. I can’t protect you if we’re somehow separated.” I reached across the car, making sure she saw the movement of my hand before I rested my hand on top of her thigh.
She flinched, just as I expected.
“Number two, we’re supposed to be dating. You can
not show reactions like that if we plan for this cover to work.”
I could feel her frown from across the SUV. “I don’t understand the whole lie aspect of this. Are you trying to become a spy? It’s not like people don’t know who I am after the circus of the last month. Why not just say you’re my bodyguard?”
“Because this guy is still out there somewhere, gunning for you.”
She shivered, and I didn’t show a reaction. She tried so hard to cover her fear, even though it was written in every inch of her tight shoulders and clenched fists.
“If he realizes I’m a bodyguard, he’s liable to do something that could endanger those around us to get me out of the way. If I come across as a dumb, college student, we’re hoping he’ll underestimate me.”
“You’re hoping to catch him using me as bait.” The blood leached from her face.
“It’s not as blatant as that, but if he’s behind bars, you can rest easy. That won’t happen unless he feels like he can get to you again.”
“No. Absolutely not.” Her voice shook as she began scratching at the door to get away from me.
I was thankful I’d turned on the child locks last night after the restaurant because the last thing I needed was Elle diving out of a moving car and bouncing off the pavement.
“I am not here as your bait.” Her voice rose in panic. “I never want to see him again.”
I checked the lanes around me before I pulled into a parking lot before I got into a wreck, because Elle had spun out into a panic.
When I got the car stopped, I wondered what might be the best way to approach this with her. I didn’t think me touching her would do it, so instead, I used shock factor. “What did it feel like when he first abducted you?”
She froze and looked at me like I’d just shit in her car. “What?” she whispered. Her voice was so quiet, I couldn’t even hear the word over the hum of the engine, but I’d read her lips.
“In those first few moments when you realized someone had kidnapped you, what did it feel like?”