Bedding The Bodyguard (4 page)

Kat had been twice nominated for an Oscar, had attended premieres in London and Tokyo, and had been paid an obscene amount of money to endorse a beauty cream, but in all that time, she’d never been as content as she was right now, sitting on the porch of the cabin she’d rented and looking out at the spectacular view of Lake Tahoe just before sunset. Granted, her contentment was closer to relief than pleasure. After she’d almost been run off the road, she’d fled, seeking refuge somewhere else since not even her own home felt safe anymore. She’d wanted privacy, and she’d taken great care to make sure she hadn’t been followed. She’d even considered dying her red hair so she wouldn’t be recognized, but had settled for braiding it and hiding beneath a baseball cap and glasses. Then she’d holed up inside her cabin despite her fear of becoming a shut-in just like her mother.

Two days ago, she’d finally forced herself out onto the porch. Nothing horrible had happened, and that had given her the courage to venture outside again the following day. This morning, rejuvenated by the fresh air and the beautiful scenery, she’d even gone for a morning run, something she hadn’t done in months. She still was a little jumpy, and carried a canister of pepper spray around with her constantly, but for the most part, she’d managed to put things in perspective and stop thinking that at any moment, someone was going to jump out of the surrounding woods and try to kill her.

Even as she’d sought privacy, she’d been too afraid to be completely isolated. This cabin had been her compromise. She was only about a mile from the casinos and a few blocks from the beach. The cabin had a hot tub, Internet, and a flat screen television. All of the amenities of home without the paparazzi.

And hopefully without any crazy stalkers.

Even better, if she needed help, there were enough people in the vicinity that they’d hear her cry out. In fact, there was now someone in the cabin next to hers.

When she’d first checked in under her mother’s maiden name, a persona she’d used before, the cabin had been empty. Yesterday, she’d watched from her window as a big, hunky guy moved in with a suitcase and a few packing boxes. He’d also had a dog with him—a chocolate brown Labradoodle with tightly curled fur resembling a sheep’s coat.

She’d watched the man suspiciously at first, but when she’d seen the dog, she’d relaxed considerably. Talk about a mismatched set. The dog was designer adorable while the man looked equal parts dashing and dangerous. Yet when the silly thing ran back and forth under his feet, he didn’t get upset. Instead, he put down his box or whatever he’d been carrying and crouched down to rub the dog’s tummy. The man was the epitome of masculine sexuality, yet even more attractive was the fact he was so obviously self assured— he could own whatever kind of dog he wanted, even if it was a fuzz ball, and didn’t care that it might ruin his macho image.

He was just over six feet. His shoulders broad, the muscles obviously well-defined, even through his shirt. The dangerous vibe he exuded wasn’t so much scary as it was the “I will protect my woman at all cost, so back off” kind. It made her wonder if he had a wife, one that would be joining him and the dog soon. The presence of a wife would make her feel even better about him being next door to her, but surprisingly, she wasn’t all that concerned either way.

It helped that he showed absolutely no interest in wanting to get to know her.

Or even that he knew who she was.

When he first caught a glimpse of her, there’d been no widening of his eyes, no catch of breath with recognition. He’d simply given her a blank half-smile, then gotten distracted by his dog and promptly forgot about her.

This morning, when she’d gone for her run, he and his dog had been returning from a walk. They’d made eye contact and he’d said good-morning in a voice that oozed masculinity but almost immediately he’d looked away and headed toward his front door.

“Good morning,” she’d called back, feigning a casualness she didn’t feel. Even though he hadn’t looked back at her, she’d spent far too much time on her run wondering who he was. What his name was. What he did for a living. Whether he was good in bed.

With his looks and hot body, his sexual prowess should be a foregone conclusion, but she’d been with enough good-looking men in her time to know that wasn’t always the case.

Just as she had the thought, her neighbor appeared, obviously having just finished an evening run with his dog. Both were slightly out of breath and his t-shirt was stained with sweat.

Before she knew what she was doing, she called out, “Hello!” Almost immediately, she mentally cursed. Why the hell had she done that? She’d come here to hide out. To protect herself and to think about whether quitting acting was a viable option for her. She shouldn’t be talking to a strange man no matter how harmless he seemed.

He blinked as if he hadn’t seen her. It was what she was looking for—anonymity—but for some reason she almost ached for him to really notice her.

“Good evening,” he said with a polite smile.

Since she had no choice now but to engage him in conversation or ignore him (which would make her look insane), she said, “Your dog is so cute. What’s his name?”

He chuckled. “Bella.”

“Oh, sorry Bella. I should have known she was too pretty to be a boy.”

The big guy laughed again and she waited for him to say something flirty. Instead he looked at her steadily with his steely gray eyes. “You have a good night.”

“You too, thanks.” She watched him and the dog disappear into his cabin. Even as his disinterest in getting to know her smarted her pride, it also filled her with relief and buoyed her spirits. See? She was a good judge of character. She could take care of herself just fine. She didn’t need to rely on bodyguards that would disappear when she needed them most. That would be even truer once she gave up acting.

If
she gave up acting.

She just wasn’t sure if she wanted to do that. What would she do instead? She wasn’t trained to do anything else. Sure, she could go back to school, but the thought of doing so intimidated her. She tried picturing herself as a college co-ed. At twenty seven, she’d be so much older than everyone. The girls would be giggly. The boys would be boys, not men.

Not like the man next door.

There was something tough about him. Strong in a way that only a select few men were strong. Strong in a way that had far more to do with inner character than physicality.

She found herself imagining what he did for a living. Cop? Contract killer? Ex-CIA agent in hiding? Boy, her imagination was running wild. She’d obviously read too many scripts and mystery novels. And, she realized, because she’d spent so much time thinking about her neighbor, the sun had set and darkness was rapidly descending. With a shake of her head, she got up and went inside to have her dinner, locking the door securely behind her.

She fixed herself a bowl of tomato soup and a Cobb salad, and took them into the living room. She set the TV tray up in front of the recliner and opened the book she was reading. It was nice to have time to sit and read for a change. Usually her schedule was packed with filming and personal appearances and photo shoots, and by the time she made it home at night she was ready to pass out.

She started reading as she ate, but the more she pushed thoughts of her hot neighbor out of her mind, the more she thought back to the night she’d almost been run off the road. Her hand trembled slightly at the memory and she had to put her spoon down.

You’re fine. You had every right to be freaked out, every right to run, but now you have to be practical.

There’d been no real evidence that someone had wanted to hurt her. It could easily just have been a careless driver. She’d given in to her fear and paranoia for a bit, but she couldn’t go overboard. Even her bodyguard’s disappearance had been the result of alcohol, not foul play. But instead of comforting her, the mental reminder made her frown.

She’d known she shouldn’t hire a bodyguard! If she hadn’t been relying on him, she’d have done things differently that night. She wouldn’t even have attended the party thrown by a former co-star. To make matters worse, she’d been so preoccupied—wondering where the bodyguard had gone and if anything bad had happened to him—that she’d been unusually distracted, and she hadn’t seen the car coming at her until it was too late. Relying on someone else to protect her was what had truly made her vulnerable, and she wouldn’t make that same mistake again.

The only person she could rely on was herself.

* * *

After showering and changing clothes, Luke did a final check of his cabin’s living area, making sure the accessories he’d brought with him were displayed to his liking. Shit. Accessories. If his buddies could see him now, they’d laugh their asses off. Not just Cole, but Jamie, Eric, Ryan, and Gabe, too. His best friends weren’t cavemen, but he’d bet none of them had framed pictures normally kept in a shoebox only to agonize about where to place each one for maximum effect.

They’d understand the need to get a job done, however, and if that job meant presenting himself in a way that made him as approachable and trustworthy as possible, so be it. The best accessory he’d brought with him, Bella, had done wonders to win Kat Bailey over already. Good thing his sister had been okay with loaning the dog out; notably, she hadn’t asked why Luke needed her and Luke hadn’t offered up an explanation. She’d just rolled her eyes, hugged him, and told him to take care of himself
and
her dog.

He walked into his bedroom, where his surveillance equipment and weapons were stored under the bed in a locked bag, just in case someone broke in while he was gone. Of course, his men, who were holed up in a different cabin not far away, had eyes on the place and would know if that happened, but he didn’t want to take any chances with Kat so close by. Dragging the bag out, he laid it on the bed, opened it, and studied what was inside.

Tools of the trade. After some careful consideration, he removed the gun strapped to his calf and returned it. Then he selected a different gun, a smaller one with a silencer attached to the mouth, and placed it in his leg harness. The sleeker gun had less firepower but would also be harder for Kat to spot, even if she was looking for it, which he doubted she would be. Confident that he was sufficiently armed, he ignored the rest of the contents of the bag, including several small grenades. Some might say the weapons were overkill considering Kat had “only” been threatened by a stalker and almost run off the road, but again, he wasn’t taking any chances.

He’d come prepared for any eventuality, as was his habit. And as far as he was concerned, there was no downside to that.

After once again locking the bag and stowing his things securely under the bed, he returned to the living room, noting that Bella had taken her normal spot in front of the fireplace. He went to the window and looked outside. Kat was gone.

His phone rang. Craig Lancaster’s ring tone.

“She’s safely inside,” Craig said when Luke answered. “You going to head out?”

“Getting ready to,” Luke said. “Did you take care of the rental office’s phone line?”

“Affirmative. It’s set to be rerouted if the incoming call comes from either your line or Ms. Bailey’s.”

“Great. Then let’s hope everything goes as planned.”

* * *

Kat was only a few bites into her meal when the entire cabin went dark. She froze. Fear spiraled through her, and she forced herself to take several deep breaths.

Calm down. It’s probably just a blown fuse.

She peered outside and saw that Mr. Hottie’s cabin was still illuminated. She could hear the wind blowing outside. Random creaks. When a shadow in the house shifted, likely because of some swaying tree branches outside, she suddenly found herself back on the set of
Love Me
, the thriller she’d starred in. She’d only been nineteen at the time. In the movie, an older man had stalked her character after she’d made casual conversation with him at a gas station, and she’d barely escaped with her life.

Carefully, letting the dim light coming in from the windows guide her, Kat made her way to her purse and pulled out her phone. She winced when she saw all the old notifications, mostly from Charlie who’d been trying to get hold of her. She’d already texted him back, telling him she was fine and simply needed a bit more time to herself to figure things out, but he hadn’t stopped trying to reach her. She’d have to call him back, but right now she had to deal with the matter at hand. She thought about calling the rental office, but it would take a while for them to get here, and she was getting more and more nervous being inside the darkened cabin with every second that went by. She considered trying to find the fuse box, but it was just as dark outside as it was inside. Granted, there was probably a flashlight somewhere but…

Her neighbor’s dog barked, and Kat jolted.

Damn it! She couldn’t stand it anymore. She’d rather risk heading over to her neighbor’s cabin for company than risk sitting here all by herself, at the mercy of some psycho (imagined or not). She grabbed her purse, stepped outside, locked the front door behind her, and headed over to the cabin next door.

Stepping up to the front porch, a tickle of worry attacked her belly again.

What if her imagination hadn’t been so far-fetched and this guy
was
a contract killer…

What if the person who’d been threatening her had sent him?

But no, her gut told her he was a good man so she walked up to the door and knocked. Suddenly, there he was—big, sexy, exotically-colored silver eyes—standing in the doorway. “Hi,” he said.

He had on a pair of reading glasses that made his eyes look even sexier and he was holding a book. His hair was slightly damp, as if he’d just showered, and he wore a dark blue polo shirt and jeans. She breathed in his clean masculine scent. After a few seconds, she realized she’d been staring at him with her tongue practically hanging out, so she cleared her throat and forced herself to speak. “I’m sorry to bother you but my electricity went out. I was going to call the rental agency, but…would you mind if I do that here? And maybe wait until they can send someone out?”