“Me too.” Ethan released her hair, then cruised his hand over her shoulder and held her, bringing her closer. “Though I never thought I’d end up back in Montana again. I wanted to rejoin my unit after my recovery and rehab in Bethesda.”
“But you couldn’t.” His medical discharge meant never returning to the battlefield. “And you loved the life. I could tell by your stories.” She wondered how she’d rebuild her life if she couldn’t perform anymore. No matter how much fame had hampered her life—even before the stalker turned up on the scene—acting was like breathing to her.
“The Marines take care of their own.”
She heard his heart beating in her ear. Harder. Faster. “Like a family.”
“Yeah.”
His voice cracked ever so slightly. She ghosted her fingers over his jaw, felt a muscle jump, and then wrapped her leg over his thighs. “Your folks must be proud of you,” she said.
“My foster father—last family I lived with—he was a tough old Marine, but when he came to my induction ceremony, he . . . he gave me his dog tags for luck.”
Something cracked inside her. Even when they’d lived month to month, her father scraping together a meager paycheck as a ranch hand and her mother cleaning houses, Delaney always knew the security of parents who loved her unconditionally. Her family’s support had given her the courage to pursue her dreams.
“This foster dad come visit you after you entered rehab?” she asked.
“Couldn’t. He passed away during my second tour of duty. Cancer.”
“So, you’re alone.”
“I’m used to it, but now I’ve got this gig with the Brotherhood Protectors.”
Her vision blurred. He’d found another family filled with people who understood the life he’d led before his medical discharge—the sacrifices, the camaraderie, the commitment to serve. “Swede and you seem tight,” she said softly.
“He’s cool. Met him in Bethesda during our rehab. He convinced me to give this job a chance. Recommended me to Hank.” Ethan circled his fingers down her arm. “It’s not the Marines, but this beats the hell out of sitting behind a desk all day. Because I’m sure as hell not cut out for suits, ties, and corporate shit.”
She doubted he was cut out for the glitz and glamor in LA, either. “I’ll bet.” Despite everything that had just happened between them, Delaney couldn’t afford to forget that Ethan would move on to protecting another client after she returned to Los Angeles. She couldn’t give him what he’d found here in Eagle Rock. A family. A brotherhood. A purpose. “That reminds me. I need to get a hold of Kerry Ann and have her send the list of names to Hank and the sheriff.” Best to remember that fabulous sex was just that—fabulous sex. Nothing more. After all, they’d only known each other for a few days.
Chapter 6
A week after Delaney had left him alone in her bed, Ethan stood by the living room windows which overlooked the view. Her mountain house only had one way in via the roads, but anyone could cut through the forest surrounding her place if they had hiking experience.
John Pace had that experience. And the sheriff still had no leads despite the list of possible accomplices Kerry Ann had emailed to his office. Neither did Hank. Frustration burned low in his gut. He wanted to find the bastard himself, but he couldn’t be in two places at the same time. And he’d been hired to protect Delaney, not find the stalker.
Still, even though the sun lit up the brilliant blue sky, an ominous foreboding had the hairs on his neck standing straight. Someone was out there. Waiting. He could feel it. And, unfortunately, the sporadic cell towers in the area made communicating intermittent at best.
A movement caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. Just a stag cutting through the ponderosas on his way to better feeding grounds as winter closed in.
“Kerry Ann just texted me about John Pace’s release,” Delaney said, breaking into his thoughts.
He turned away from the view to look at her. God. She looked incredible in her faded blue jeans, chambray shirt and orange sweater. Once again, he mentally berated himself. He should never have crossed the line with her. He’d even spilled his guts after they’d screwed their brains out. Yeah. Keep telling yourself that’s all that happened. Maybe it’ll be true one day. Fuck. He liked her. A lot. She might be an A-list movie star, but she didn’t act like a prima donna.
Still, she’d cut him off after that crazy night they’d shared. And good thing she did. He knew he should be glad she’d ended it, that he needed to remember she was simply a client. Only he kept wishing he could be back in her bed . . . a wish he needed to knock out of his brain. Otherwise, he’d be too distracted to do what he’d been hired to do: protect her hot Hollywood bod from being attacked again.
“Did she explain why no one informed you about John Pace’s escape?” he asked.
“The warden contacted us, but the email from the Bozeman County Jail landed in the spam folder. She feels terrible about missing it.” Delaney crossed the floor to stand in front of him, held out several sheets of paper. “She made up for it. Emailed Hank and the sheriff a new list of everyone I’ve worked with during the last three films. I made you a copy.”
“Excellent. That’ll help a lot.” He’d follow up with Hank later. “You get in touch with your agent?”
“Yes. He begged for a second chance, but he’s no longer on my payroll.”
“You broke your contract?”
“Yes. He’ll get the commission for my next movie, but he’s not handling my career anymore.” She put her fists on her hips. “There’s no way I’ll let him take advantage of this horrible situation.”
“At least he’s not the mastermind behind the stalker.”
“There is that. His partner confirmed they were in the Mojave Desert and he’d had no access to the Internet until long after John’s escape,” she said, shaking her head. “Laurence can’t be in two places at the same time.”
“True.” But someone had helped John Pace. “You made the right decision to walk away from your agent.”
“Yes. It’ll be a pain to find someone as aggressive at the negotiating table as him.” She combed her fingers through her hair. “But I figure I won’t have any trouble hiring a replacement. Though the damage is done as far as having any privacy while I’m here. The press is all over Eagle Rock now that the news about my attack is public knowledge.”
“You still want to go to the football game?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Every time you go out in public—even in Small Town, Montana—you put yourself in danger, making it more difficult to protect you.”
“I came home to spend time with my friends, and I refuse to sit in my house to wait for someone to come after me,” she said. “Plus, it’s Homecoming weekend. Everyone will be there.”
“That’s what worries me.”
“Me too, to be honest, but it’s been days since I got attacked at Al’s and we’ve gone into Eagle Rock without anything happening,” she said, then suddenly took his hand in hers and held his gaze. “I trust you to protect me no matter where we go. Hank’ll be there. Swede too.”
Her touch seared him, branding him all over again. Quickly, he broke their contact. “Would be good to go over what’s happening behind the scenes in person,” he said. “Kerry Ann going?” Maybe he could tap her for more details about the people she’d listed. He didn’t follow Hollywood industry news, but she’d be a wealth of information as an insider. Something might jar loose that she hadn’t thought about.
“Unfortunately, no. She says it’ll remind her too much of what she’s lost,” Delaney said. “After her parents passed away, she couldn’t face returning. The only reason she’s here at all is because I asked her to come. She’s hunkering down tonight with a classic movie and doing some promo work for me on social media. To be honest, my crowd wasn’t really hers. I know she’s eager to return to LA. She loves the city, and she wants to get back to the dating scene. I think she’d like to f
ind someone—preferably a gorgeous billionaire, her words not mine.”
A niggle of his earlier suspicion raised the hairs on the back of his neck again. “Why’s she looking for a billionaire? I thought she liked working for you.”
“Sure, she does. But we’ve got different goals. If she finds someone who makes her happy, then I’m all for her moving on. It’s not like we won’t still be friends.” Delaney moved to the couch and picked up her oversized handbag. “Let’s head out. The tailgate party starts in half an hour, and I don’t want to miss the parade.”
He glanced outside again, the shadows getting longer as the sun began to drop below the mountain peaks in the distance. Another movement caught his attention. He dismissed it as soon as a doe and her speckled fawn stepped into view.
But after he started the SUV and began backing it out of Delaney’s garage, a cold sensation crawled beneath his skin. And, while driving down the road toward Eagle Rock, he couldn’t shake the feeling that they weren’t alone.
Could it be John Pace? Or was it someone Delaney had always trusted?
“I’m so glad you decided to come after all,” Delaney said.
Kerry Ann smiled. “Yeah. I needed to get out. You were right. It’s fun to relive our glory days.”
“Some things never change.”
“The parade’s exactly the same as I remembered.”
Standing on Main Street’s sidelines with her friends, watching the volunteer fire department’s truck pass by with streamers playing in the wind brightened her heart. The high school cheerleaders and dance crew of three girls followed, tossing wrapped candy into the crowd from a tractor pulling a trailer bed gaudily resplendent with the school’s colors in big tissue flowers.
“Oh, man, some things really don’t change that should,” Allie said as the marching band played a boisterous, slightly off-tune rendition of Panic at the Disco’s Victorious.
Laughing and clapping, Delaney turned to Allie. “Got to hand it to them. They do try.”
“So did we.” Allie grinned. “All fifteen of us.”
“Good thing I only had to ting the triangle on the beat.”
“True.” Allie draped her arm around Delaney’s shoulders. “All your talent went into your acting genes. Guess you can’t have it all.”
“I’d forgotten how crappy we were,” Kerry Ann said. “Think I’ll skip this and grab some seats before they’re all taken.”
“Awesome,” Delaney said. “Save some for the rest of the gang.”
“Will do,” Kerry Ann said, then stepped away from the curb.
Delaney watched the rest of the parade, then walked beside Ethan to the parking lot just outside the stadium. In front of her, Swede held hands with Allie, and Hank had a protective arm around Sadie’s waist. Somehow, despite their differences, they’d found a way to be with each other. Wistful, she shot Ethan a sidelong glance and suppressed a sigh. He didn’t betray a single emotion—not since the night they’d spent together.
Delaney couldn’t blame him. After all, she’d been the one to put the brakes on their roller coaster physical connection.
Still ahead of her, Swede brushed his mouth against Allie’s. Sadie rested her head on Hank’s shoulder. And Ethan stopped another autograph seeker from getting too close.
Though her pulse accelerated, and her nerve endings tingled with adrenaline, she forced herself to pay the young girl some attention when she saw the pleading in her brown eyes. “No. Hold on,” she said, kneeling to sign the little girl’s book and then posing for a selfie with her.
More people crowded in. “I don’t like this,” Ethan said, helping her stand.
Her skin crawled, and her legs trembled. “Neither do I,” she admitted. Another thing the stalker had taken from her. The pleasure of meeting her fans and being accessible to them. “I don’t want to push them away. Or hurt their feelings.”
His grip on her hand tightened and he drew her closer. “You know the drill. We’re out of here.”
His clipped tone brooked no argument. “I agree,” she said. “Hopefully everyone will ignore me after the team suits up and gets on the field.” Even now, the memory of half the band members pulling double duty in the football game, changing into their uniforms before kick-off, made her smile despite the chill crawling down her spine.
Suddenly, another child with a blonde ponytail rushed over. “Miss, can I please have your autograph?” She held up a PR picture taken from Delaney’s last family-friendly movie. “Please?”
Delaney registered the worn cuffs on the girl’s one size too small coat, the patches on the faded jeans. Her chest ached, and a lump lodged in her throat. As much as she wanted to go, she couldn’t pop the little girl’s bubbles of hope currently radiating in her sweet, heart-shaped face.
Delaney had been poor. Often the butt of the richer girls’ jokes in her hand-me-down thrift shop clothes. But she had friends who loved her. And more good times than bad while growing up in Montana.
Simpler times. Not easier. Not better. Just a huge part of what made her who she was today.
“Just one more,” Delaney whispered to Ethan. “Then we’ll head to the stadium.”
“I understand,” he said softly as he released her hand. “Make it quick.”
“I will,” she said, kneeling again.
Before she could sign the photo, a blur of feet in beat-up sneakers streaked into view, knocking Delaney flat on her butt. “What the… ?” She stared into John Pace’s face and felt the cold tip of the knife against her cheek.
Fear rushed through her with the force of a thousand snakes slithering inside her body. She looked away, desperate to escape the sharp blade. “No. Please . . .,” Delaney screamed, and then someone—Ethan—jerked Pace off her.
“Bitch. You think you’re so fucking special, but you’re still the little shit pile I ditched in high school,” he yelled, struggling while Ethan wrestled to jerk the knife from his grip. “You’re nobody without that pretty face of yours.”
She crab-crawled away, adrenaline spiking along her nerves. Her heart thundered in her ears, and her lungs burst with every hurried gulp of breath she inhaled. John continued to fight for release, jabbing the knife and twisting violently. But Ethan didn’t miss a beat, stopping John and bringing him into a chokehold.
A siren blared and flashing red lights came into view. Everything happened so fast, she barely felt Swede’s arms around her as he lifted her from the ground. “The little girl? Is she okay?” she asked, panting, willing her racing pulse to settle and failing.
“She’s fine,” Swede said. “Hank’s got her and her mother covered.”
“That bitch owes me.” John outmaneuvered Ethan and took another swing, the knife held high.
Her heart leapt into her throat, and she clutched Swede's arm. Please. Please no. She begged mentally, every muscle in her body trembling, weak. Ethan easily sidestepped the lunge, then kneed John in the back and brought him down to the road. “Give me a reason to shoot your sorry ass.” He put his gun barrel next to John’s temple. “One wrong move and you’re dead.”
The fight in John evaporated and he went limp. “Don’t hurt me. Please.”
The knot on Delaney’s forehead throbbed. John hadn’t given a damn about her, threatening her and freaking her out just because he was a washed-up has been. But he didn’t deserve to die. “Ethan,” she called. “Please stop. Don’t do anything that’ll get you arrested.”
“The only person going to jail is Pace.” Pressing his knee against Pace’s back, Ethan pulled a plastic tie from his leather jacket and secured Pace’s wrists. “We’ve got the bastard.”
“Damn straight.” Swede moved Delaney to the General Store’s entrance and away from the gathering crowd. “Close call.”
“Too close,” she said through numb lips.
Sheriff Wilson got out of his cruiser, quickly took John Pace into custody, cuffing him and shoving him into the back of the car. Only when the siren’s wail faded and th
e lights dimmed from view did Delaney allow herself to take a full breath.
John had tried to disfigure her. If Ethan hadn’t been there . . . shudders wracked her body and tears pricked hot behind her eyes. Don’t cry. Don’t ever let them see you lose it. She repeated her lifelong mantra. First as a girl, taunted. Then whenever she lost an audition for the lead in high school. And finally, today. John Pace might have tried to take away the one thing that had given her hope, a purpose, joy.
But he failed.
Still, he’d almost succeeded. And someone helped him get to her. But who?
Ethan walked toward her, his limp more pronounced than when they’d left her home for the homecoming game. She moved into his open arms, finally releasing a sob. One of many she’d suppressed.
Chapter 7
“It’s okay.” Ethan stroked Delaney’s back, making sure she hadn’t been hurt and soothing her. “It’s over.”
She shook her head against his chest. “But we still don’t know who helped him escape.”
“Might never know if John doesn’t talk, but now that he’s in custody, he can’t go after you again,” he said softly, tilting her chin up to look into her beautiful green eyes. “He’s going back to Bozeman County Jail. Locked in maximum security. He won’t get another opportunity to run. Plus, it was personal. His rage and jealousy couldn’t be faked. Most likely, whoever helped him get away had no idea what John was capable of doing.”
“True. No way he could have faked that anger.”
“Exactly. You’re safe.” Thank God. When John had first knocked Delaney down and brought out the knife, threatening to cut her, Ethan had more than a bodyguard’s instincts kick into gear.
He had a lover’s desire to protect his woman.
She blinked, tears spilled. “I—get me out of here, Ethan. I don’t want to be here where everyone can see . . .” Delaney choked on another sob. “I just want to go home.”
Brotherhood Protectors: Falling for Her Bodyguard (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 5