His Christmas Assignment

by Lisa Childs

  “You’re not going to attack me,” she murmured.

  He leaned closer, pushing her more firmly against the brick wall. It might have been cold and hard against her back, but she noticed nothing of that. She felt only the heat burning between them, felt his body as it hardened and pushed against hers.

  He groaned. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that…”

  “Why?” she asked.

  “I think you know…” He leaned in, pressing his erection more firmly against her belly. And a moan slipped involuntarily through her lips.

  She’d never wanted anyone the way she wanted him. If only she thought they could have a future…

  “Why did you go to work for Chekov?” she asked. “Why would you back to that life?” Was it her fault—like Stacy believed? Had he really been trying to be a better man for her?

  “It’s just an assignment,” he said.

  At least he hadn’t claimed to her what he had to Logan—that he loved Chekov’s daughter. But which of them was he lying to?

  Logan.

  Or her?

  Maybe she was fooling herself—or making a fool of herself again. But she didn’t believe he could love one woman and want another woman like he obviously wanted her.

  But then she’d always known he was a playboy, that he flirted with every woman he encountered. Even Penny Payne…

  But in the year he’d been working for Payne Protection, she’d only seen him flirt. She’d never heard about him hooking up with anyone else. She’d never even heard about his dating.

  “What am I?” she asked him. And she moved against him, arching her hips to rub against his erection.

  He groaned again. “Trouble…”

  “I’m trouble?” She smiled. No one had ever called her that before. She was the buddy. The friend. The person a man could rely on—not one who caused him trouble. To her it was a compliment.

  But then she lost her smile because he kissed it away, his lips moving over hers. He must have released her arms because she was able to lift them, to lock them around his neck, as she kissed him back. She parted her lips, inviting him to deepen the kiss.

  He accepted her invitation. He nipped at her bottom lip, then slid his tongue over it and inside her mouth. She sucked on it before sliding her tongue over it.

  Her heart pounded frantically, in rhythm with his. Even through their coats and clothes, she could feel the beat of his heart. Could feel the heat of his body…

  He groaned and drove his tongue deeper inside her mouth. And she shuddered as desire overwhelmed her.

  How could just his kiss drive her so crazy she didn’t care they were in an alley? She wanted him like she’d had him that night of their first kiss. They hadn’t been able to stop at a kiss then either. The attraction between them was too much—too explosive.

  He pulled back, panting for breath. “I know trouble,” he said. “And you’re trouble, Candace, more trouble than I’ve ever gotten into before…”

  That night she hadn’t believed she’d affected him like he had her. She’d thought she was falling alone. That he’d only gotten what he’d been after—one night. That she’d been a challenge he’d won, a conquest.

  Now she wasn’t so certain. He clearly wanted her again. She arched into him, desperate to feel him inside her—as she had that night. She’d missed him—missed what she’d never imagined she would have. Passion. Crazy, desperate passion…

  “You’re the one who’s trouble,” she said. “I knew it the first moment I met you.”

  Unlike her, he didn’t smile. He obviously didn’t consider it the compliment she had. “I wasn’t trouble then,” he murmured. “But I am now…”

  Because of what he’d done—or was doing—for Chekov.

  “Quit the assignment,” she urged him. “Let Logan give it to someone else. Or, better yet, have him drop Viktor Chekov as a client.”

  He stared down at her, his gray eyes going stormy with conflict. His jaw went taut as tension filled him. He wanted to—she knew it.

  Or maybe she only wished it.

  “Please,” she implored him. And she rose up the scant inches that separated them and pressed her lips to his. “Please…”

  She had never begged before. Not even Logan when she’d wanted him to fall in love with her instead of Stacy Kozminski. But then she had never wanted Logan the way she did Garek. What she’d felt for Logan had been just a silly schoolgirl crush. What she felt for Garek was…

  Madness.

  She kissed him again, sliding her lips over his.

  A groan rumbled in his throat before his lips parted. She deepened the kiss, sliding her tongue inside his mouth. The passion ignited between them.

  She wanted him so much, but she wanted all of him. She wanted his body and his soul. She didn’t want him selling it out to someone like Chekov.

  But most of all she wanted his heart.

  “Garek…”

  He leaned his forehead against hers, panting for breath, and shook his head. “I can’t quit this job. I’m in too deep, Candace. I have to see this through.”

  “What do you have to see through?” she asked. “What are you doing for Viktor Chekov?”

  But he wouldn’t answer her. He only shook his head again.

  Before she could press him for more information, she heard the rev of a car engine—which was odd. She hadn’t noticed any other traffic passing the alley.

  But then she’d been distracted, overwhelmed with her desire for Garek Kozminski.

  “What the hell…” Garek murmured, as he heard it, too.

  Then the car was there, roaring into the alley. With them both standing against the brick wall, they had no place to go—no way to escape.

  The vehicle was certain to crush them…

  Chapter 9

  Logan hadn’t been this angry in a while—probably not since he’d nearly fired Candace. He stared across his desk at her and his brother-in-law and threatened, “I should fire you both.”

  “For nearly getting killed?” Candace asked.

  “Exactly.”

  Garek snorted. “That makes no sense.”

  So Logan pointed out what should have been obvious to the two of them. “Who the hell is going to trust a bodyguard to protect them that someone else is already trying to kill?”

  “No one’s trying to kill me,” Garek replied.

  But Candace shot him a glance that could have done the job. There was more than anger in her gaze, though. Stacy had obviously been right about the female bodyguard’s feelings for her oldest brother.

  “I wasn’t the only one that car nearly ran over,” she reminded him. “You were there, too.”

  “Lucky for you,” Garek said.

  Color flushed Candace’s face, which was good since she’d been so pale when he had first summoned them to his office. They had had a close call. Even though he hadn’t been there, Logan knew—because nothing usually fazed Candace.

  She was tough.

  Now she was embarrassed. But she ruefully admitted, “You did save my life.”

  Garek shrugged off her gratitude and turned away from her. But Logan caught his grimace of guilt.

  Garek may have claimed the driver hadn’t been trying to run him down, but he felt responsible for the attempt. Why? What the hell was really going on?

  Apparently Stacy had also been right to worry about her brother. Logan made a mental note to never again doubt his wife. “Lucky for me that you both survived,” Logan said. “With franchising the agency, I can’t afford to lose any of my team. We’re busy as hell right now.”

  “And don’t need the bad publicity,” Candace said with a resentful glance at Garek—her gratitude gone.

  “There were no reporters there,” Garek said. “And it’s unlikely any would care about a car that could have just had a stuck gas pedal or something…”

  “Or something…” Candace murmured.

  Logan sighed. Had he and Stacy acted like that? Bickered like children?
They had certainly fought a lot before they’d given in to their feelings for each other.

  “We need to get back to work,” Logan said. He had meetings with his brothers about the franchise. He had to focus on Payne Protection, but without his bodyguards, there would be no Payne Protection.

  But these two weren’t just bodyguards; they were family, too.

  “You’re right,” Candace agreed. “You hired me back, but you haven’t given me a job yet.”

  He nodded. “I’ll find you something.”

  But first he wanted to talk to his half brother and learn what Nicholas knew about the attempts on Candace’s life. Had they been random? Or was she really in danger?

  “You don’t have to look for anything,” she told me. “I already know what job I’m perfect for.”

  Garek tensed and began to shake his head—as if he already knew what she was going to say.

  Candace leaned forward and implored Logan, “Give me the assignment protecting Chekov’s daughter…”

  Logan rubbed his jaw as he considered her request.

  *

  Logan was actually considering it. Garek’s heart rate had finally slowed back to normal—or at least as normal as it ever was around Candace—but now it started racing again. Like that car had raced toward them.

  He didn’t know if it had been instinct or his late father acting as his guardian angel that had had him diving out of the way with Candace wrapped up tightly in his arms. He had saved her that time, but if she took away his assignment, he wouldn’t be there to protect her next time.

  And he was pretty damn certain there would be a next time. Why?

  Had Viktor figured out what Garek was up to? Had Tori warned him? She never stayed angry with her father; she idolized him too much. So was Viktor going after Candace as a warning to Garek?

  “Don’t even think about it,” Garek advised his boss. “I brought you this client. This is my assignment.”

  “Why?” Candace asked. “We all know it’s better if a female bodyguard protects a female subject. This should be my assignment.”

  Garek shook his head. “Viktor would never agree to an outsider protecting his daughter. He doesn’t trust easily.”

  And Garek needed the mobster to trust him again if he was ever going to find wherever he’d hidden the murder weapon. His safe?

  But if Tori had ratted him out, he would have disposed of the gun already. So Garek would have to find other evidence, or somehow compel Chekov to confess.

  “I can understand why it’s hard to trust some people,” Candace said, and she turned and glared at him. All her desire for him was gone now. Maybe almost getting killed had brought her to her senses again—like it had brought him.

  He had nearly told her everything in that alley. He’d nearly confessed his assignment wasn’t for Viktor Chekov or Payne Protection. His assignment was for the FBI. But if he’d told her the truth, she would insist on sticking beside him. And being too close to him had nearly gotten her killed more than once. He couldn’t risk her life—even if it cost him his chance of ever earning her love.

  He wasn’t above doing whatever necessary to keep her safe. So he asked, “And really—should she be protecting anyone if someone’s after her?”

  Candace gasped. “Nobody was after me until I went to Chekov’s club. Those attempts have everything to do with him and you.”

  He couldn’t disagree with her. Chekov had to be responsible. “All the more reason you can’t have anything to do with this assignment.”

  Logan had his thumb pressed to his temple. “Okay, enough arguing. You two are giving me a headache.”

  Better a headache than the heart attack Garek nearly had when that car had come rushing toward them in the alley. He still wasn’t certain how they had survived. He must have a guardian angel, which was kind of fitting during the Christmas season. He would have doubted it would be his father, though—except Stacy had claimed the man had been repentant before he’d died. Maybe, in the afterlife, he was trying to make amends for being a lousy father.

  “She never even got checked out after that first assault,” Garek persisted. “She refused to let Milek take her to the ER. She could have a concussion.”

  “I don’t have a headache,” she said.

  Logan sighed. “He’s right. You should have gotten checked out.” He pressed the intercom button on his phone. “Nikki, I need you to do something.”

  “You have an assignment for me?” his sister hopefully asked.

  Garek wasn’t worried Nikki was getting the job with Chekov. Her brother would never risk her safety.

  “I need you to take Candace to the ER to get checked out.”

  “Of course I will,” she said. But Garek heard the disappointment in her voice.

  “But I’m fine,” Candace argued.

  Logan pointed at her. “If you want an assignment, you need to be cleared medically first. Go.”

  Candace jumped up from her chair, glared at Garek again, and then walked out of the office. She slammed the door behind her with such force Logan flinched and Garek jumped. He was on edge now and had been since she had walked into Chekov’s club.

  “Nikki won’t be in danger taking her to the ER?” Logan asked, as if reconsidering the assignment he’d given his sister. “You think someone’s really after Candace?”

  “Two random attacks?” Garek asked. He shrugged. “Hell, anything’s possible in River City.” Rus had a long way to go before he cleaned up all the corruption and crime. That was why he needed Garek’s help.

  “So it is possible someone’s after her?” Logan asked. He narrowed his eyes and glared at Garek now. “Is it your fault?”

  He sighed. “I honestly don’t know. I don’t see how…”

  How the hell could Chekov have figured out his feelings for Candace when he wasn’t even certain of them himself? Sure, he wanted her. He wanted her more than he’d ever wanted any other woman. That desire bordered on desperation. If that car hadn’t sped into the alley, he might have taken her there—against the brick wall in the cold.

  “I can’t give her an assignment if she’s in danger,” Logan said.

  “You have to,” Garek said, as it presented the perfect solution. “You have to give her an assignment that’s far away from River City.” And far away from him.

  Logan nodded in agreement. “The only problem will be getting her to take the assignment without quitting again.”

  “You have to convince her,” Garek said. It was the only way to keep her safe.

  *

  “I’m supposed to bring you to the ER,” Nikki protested as she pulled her Payne Protection Agency SUV to the curb beside the string of Christmas lights strewn over those bare branches. The lights twinkled even brighter since night had fallen completely now. “Not here.”

  “I don’t need to go to the ER,” Candace said. “I’m fine. All I need is my car.” And she’d left it here because Garek had insisted on her riding with him back to the Payne Protection office. As if he’d been worried someone might try running her off the road.

  She could handle herself. Sure, she hadn’t reacted as quickly as he had in the alley. But she would have reacted. She was a bodyguard. She was trained to protect others and herself. She hadn’t needed Garek to save her.

  But she had needed Garek. Physically. Passionately. What the hell was the matter with her? She’d never been one of those silly women who went for the bad boy. She’d always thought those women were ridiculous. Who wanted that kind of trouble in her life? That potential for pain?

  Bad boys didn’t change. They didn’t grow into good men. She never should have been tempted by Garek Kozminski, let alone have given in to that temptation.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” Nikki asked, her brown eyes full of concern. She looked like her mother, whereas Candace actually looked more like Nikki’s brothers—at least in coloring. Maybe that was why they coddled Nikki and treated Candace like one of the guys.

  Garek
didn’t treat her like that, though. He treated her like she was a woman—a desirable woman. She shook her head, trying to get him out of her mind.

  Nikki reached for the SUV shifter. “I’ll take you to the emergency room.”

  “No,” Candace said. “Physically, I’m fine.”

  Nikki turned to her, studying her across the console. “So someone’s trying to kill you—that affects even someone like you?”

  Candace smiled. “Someone like me?”

  “You’re like Wonder Woman or something,” Nikki replied. “You’re tough.”

  The younger woman’s admiration warmed Candace’s heart. But it was unwarranted.

  “Physically, I’m tough,” Candace clarified. Then she sighed and added, “It’s not the attempts on my life that have shaken me up.”

  Nikki wiggled a dark brow and asked, “Garek Kozminski?”

  She wasn’t too proud to admit it. “Yeah…”

  “You agree with Stacy then?” Nikki asked. “He’s gone back to his old life?”

  He had all but admitted it to her when he’d said he was in too deep with Chekov. Did he gamble? How was he in too deep? And should she even try to help him out?

  Yet her lips tingled from their passionate kisses. And she knew she would try. But first she had to find out exactly how he was in too deep.

  “I don’t know for certain,” she said. But she intended to find out.

  “But you’re worried he has?”

  She nodded.

  Nikki sighed. “I don’t think any man is worth the potential heartache. How can you ever trust one?”

  Especially a man like Garek, who’d had a colorful past and was keeping secrets again. Candace would be crazy to trust him.

  But then she saw where Nikki’s attention had gone. FBI Special Agent Nicholas Rus had pulled in front of them and alighted from his Bureau SUV.

  Nikki blinked. “Even my father…”

  Poor Nikki. She would never get over her father’s betrayal even though her mother had made peace with it long ago—before Nikki had been conceived.