Tempted By The Bodyguard

His mind made up, Daniel unbuttoned the damp white dress shirt and ripped it from his shoulders, the scent of Shelby still clinging to him. How could he protect a woman he wanted to kiss, hold and make love to? She’d keep him distracted every moment of every day.

He pulled a black polo shirt over his head and tucked it into his pants. Then he marched toward the door and threw it open.

Patrick O’Hara walked toward him, his face drawn and haggard. When he spied Daniel, he smiled. “Mr. Henderson.”

“Daniel,” he said. “Call me Daniel.”

Patrick held out his hand. “I want to thank you again for saving my granddaughter from that burning house.” He shook his head, tears welling in his eyes. “That girl means more to me than anything. I don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost her.”

Daniel took his hand, prepared to shake it, but was pulled into a firm hug.

“Thank you,” Patrick said over his shoulder. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for her and for taking care of her now.”

Guilt rose up in Daniel’s chest. “You’re welcome, but you don’t have to thank me. I’d have done it for anyone in the same situation.”

Patrick gripped his arms and held him at arm’s length. “But it was Shelby, and for that, I’ll be forever in your debt.” The older man dropped his hands and stepped back. “I’m sorry, but for two weeks, I thought she was gone for good.” He scrubbed his hand through his graying hair. “You’ve given her back to me.” Patrick straightened. “Thank you.”

Made uncomfortable by all the emotion in the man’s face, Daniel cleared his throat. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to check on something.” Leaving Shelby’s grandfather in the hallway, he hurried down the stairs to the main level and went in search of Kate. She had to find someone else to be Shelby’s bodyguard.

His chest tightened when he stepped through the open door of Kate’s office.

Kate sat at her desk. Debra sat in a chair to the side with a computer tablet resting on her big belly, writing on it with a stylus.

“I rescheduled your appearance at North Carolina State, apologizing for the inconvenience. They were understanding and concerned about today’s bombing.”

Kate looked as smooth and together as she normally did. “I want you to cancel all my meetings for today. I want to spend time getting to know my granddaughter.” She glanced up. “Daniel, good. I wanted to speak with you.” She turned to Debra. “Do you mind?”

Debra rose with a smile. “I’ll go make those calls.” She left the room, closing the door behind her.

“Please, Daniel, have a seat.”

He crossed the floor, but veered toward the window instead of the chair. “If you don’t mind, I’d rather stand.”

Kate nodded and pushed back, rising to stand beside him.

For a long moment, neither said a word.

Kate sighed. “It never ceases to amaze me that while our lives are so chaotic and stressful, the world around us continues on. The trees produce leaves, the sun shines and the birds sing.” She laid a hand on his arm. “What’s troubling you, Daniel?”

“I want you to find another bodyguard for your granddaughter.” He hadn’t planned on blurting it out like that, but there it was.

Kate’s hand dropped to her side and she faced him. “Are you worried you might take another bullet?” She stared at him. “I will understand. You’ve put yourself on the line for me already and have the injuries to prove it. I know it’s wrong of me to ask you to do it again.”

Daniel shook his head. “It’s not that. I’m not afraid of being shot at.”

“Are you afraid you aren’t recovered enough to do the job?”

“No.” He pushed his hand through his hair. “I’m not afraid of the job. I just don’t think I’m the right man to protect her.”

Kate snorted softly. “You’re the only man I trust to protect her. You threw yourself in front of a shooter to save my life. Your dedication to duty and your selfless disregard for your own life make you the only person I know of who could protect Shelby the way she needs to be protected.” Kate touched his arm again. “Please, Daniel. If she truly is my daughter’s daughter, I owe her and her mother, God rest her soul, my promise to protect her.”

“Do you have any doubt she’s your granddaughter?” Daniel asked, staring down into the bright blue eyes so like Shelby’s.

The former vice president’s eyes misted. “I thought my daughter was dead. I never would have given her up willingly.” She hung her head and turned away, her voice thick. “That was the darkest moment of my life. I didn’t want to live.”

Daniel’s heart squeezed at the raw emotion.

Kate spun back toward him, tears trembling on her lashes. “I’ll do anything to protect her. I want her to know how much I loved her mother, how much I could love her and how much I want to be a part of her life.” She reached out to him, taking his hand. “Daniel, please help me to keep her safe. I’ve only just found her. I don’t want to lose her.”

Daniel didn’t want to be affected by her plea, but he was. This woman was strong, gutsy and willing to take on any political battle to right a wrong. And when it came to her family, she’d lay down her own life to protect them. She was a real, genuine, good person and it seemed there were too few of those to go around. Especially in the world of politics.

Kate let go of his hand. “Of course, if you feel that strongly, I’ll find someone else. But I won’t feel as confident that he’ll protect her like I know you will.”

Daniel turned back to the window. The trees were still green, the sun was shining and nothing out there had changed. As Kate had said, the world would continue on despite their problems.

If he left Kate to find another bodyguard, she’d worry that her granddaughter wouldn’t have the protection she needed. Whether or not that was true, Daniel couldn’t disappoint Kate. And now that he’d saved her from a burning building and possibly from drowning in her bath, he had a responsibility to keep Shelby alive.

Would he trust someone else to be there when she needed him? And the thought of another bodyguard rushing in to save her when she lay naked in a bath didn’t sit right with him.

“Daniel?”

He drew in a deep breath and turned. “Don’t worry. I’ll do the job.”

Chapter 6

Shelby dressed in the same outfit she’d worn from the hospital, provided by her grandmother. The feel of luxurious cashmere beat the heck out of the blouse she’d worn for two weeks straight, but it still made her uncomfortable, knowing someone else had purchased the garments for her.

She was not a charity case, and she refused to be treated as such. More determined than ever to reclaim the life that had been interrupted so brutally, Shelby stepped out of the room and went in search of her grandfather.

She knocked on the door across the hall. After a moment, when there was no answer, she turned toward the staircase.

Before she took one step, a low sexy voice asked, “Going somewhere?”

Shelby gasped as a shadow detached itself from the wall beside the staircase and Daniel stepped into the light.

“Don’t do that,” she exclaimed, pressing a hand to her racing heart.

He spread his arms wide, all innocence. “Do what?”

“Scare me like that.” She braced herself as she faced the man who’d upended her self-control and left her head spinning and desire rising like molten lava through the vent of a volcano. Heat rose up her cheeks as she recalled his hand stroking along her naked back and clamped around her rib cage and thighs as he’d carried her to her bed. The man had seen more of her than a bodyguard should ever see, and it made her hot all over knowing it. Why did he have to be so darned handsome and aggravating at the same time?

She pushed past him and marched toward the stairs. “I’m looking for my grandfather.”

“He was headed into Mrs. Winston’s office a moment ago. I’m sure he’s still there. Is there something I can help you with?”

“No. I’m quite capable of helping myself.”

“Good enough.” He fell in step behind her.

She could feel the heat of his gaze burning into the back of her neck. Halfway down the stairs, she stopped and turned. “Do you have to follow me everywhere?”

“Yup,” he said with too much cheer in his voice. “It’s my job.”

“Really? Inside this big ol’ house I would think I’d be safe enough to walk around on my own.”

“As you mentioned, it’s a big house. I have to stay with you, just in case.”

Shelby blew a sharp burst of air through her nose like a bull in a fighting ring. “Are you always this irritating?”

“No.” He grinned. “Sometimes I can be even more irritating…when I try.”

She turned and walked two more steps down.

He followed.

She stopped, then he stopped.

Giving up, she hurried down the steps. When she reached the bottom, she heard voices coming from one side of the open entryway. One of them sounded like her grandfather. She headed that direction, slowing when she came close to the half-closed door.

Shelby paused, her hand reaching out but not pushing the door open.

“I told you, I didn’t know our daughter was alive,” Kate Winston was saying. “If I had known, I’d have gone after her. I loved her, and I was devastated when I was told she’d died.”

“So devastated you didn’t bother to verify that she really was dead?” Her grandfather sounded angry, disappointed and sad.

Shelby wanted to go to him and wrap her arms around him. The man had given her so much love and understanding all her life. She loved him so much and couldn’t stand to see him sad or angry.

Shelby started to open the door when Kate’s voice said softly, “My mother told me she’d died when she was born. I had no reason to think she’d lie. Whatever you might think, my mother loved me.”

“You didn’t bother to see the body for yourself?”

“I was in no condition to. I was heartbroken. After carrying her for nine months, to lose her like that… The doctors gave me a sedative. I don’t remember much of anything the first week after she…was born.”

“I find it very hard to believe.”

“Believe what you want,” Kate said, her voice growing more firm. “The fact is, I didn’t get the chance to know my daughter and I’d give anything to have had that time with her. Now that I’ve found Shelby, I won’t give up the chance to get to know my granddaughter.”

“And you’ll have time in your busy political schedule to get to know her? Rumor has it you are being groomed to run for president.”

“It’s true. But my family is more important than anything else. That includes Shelby.”

“What if she doesn’t want to get to know you?” her grandfather asked.

“Whatever our differences, I hope you will give her the choice.”

“Shelby has a mind of her own. It will be up to her. I trust you will abide by her wishes.”

Kate hesitated, then answered softly, “I will.”

“You’re eavesdropping.” Daniel’s warm breath stirred the hairs along the side of Shelby’s neck.

A delicious shiver rippled down her spine and she squeezed her eyes shut. Then she stiffened her back, opened her eyes and knocked on the door.

“Come in,” Kate called.

Shelby pushed the door open and entered.

Shelby’s grandfather stood in the middle of the room. Kate stood behind her desk, as if using it as a shield. The air sizzled with their energy.

“Ah, Shelby, we were just discussing you.” Kate rounded the desk and crossed to her, holding out her hands. “Are you feeling better? I can have a doctor stop by and check you over, if you’d like.”

Shelby ignored the woman’s outstretched hands. “I don’t need a doctor.”

Kate’s arms fell to her sides and she smiled, though the effort looked forced. “I had Debra order clothes for you, but Maddie said you refused and wanted me to cancel. Is something wrong?”

“Yes. I’m not used to people ordering for me, doing things for me or otherwise running my life.”

“I’m sorry, darling. I just wanted you to feel welcome and comfortable after what you’ve been through.” Kate turned to Shelby’s grandfather. “I can’t imagine what you both went through.”

Shelby closed her eyes and opened them again when they reminded her of being in the dark for so long. “I’m not fragile and I’m not going to fall apart, so, please, don’t treat me like I will. I want to put it behind me and get on with my life.”

“Of course.” Kate’s smile grew, becoming more natural. “Your grandfather was telling me you had a mind of your own. You remind me of him when he was eighteen.” Her gaze softened and she cast a glance at Patrick. He didn’t look away, their gazes seeming to connect as if with a shared memory. For a moment, they both appeared much younger than they were. It struck a chord in Shelby. Could it be there was still a spark left between them after forty years?

Pushing the thought aside, Shelby said, “I’d like to get back into my life, starting today.”

Kate’s brows rose. “So soon?”

Shelby’s grandfather stepped forward. “Don’t you want to take another day to recuperate?”

Shelby shook her head. “I can’t sit around and do nothing. I’m two weeks behind in my schoolwork and I need to talk with my instructors to see what I can do to catch up.”

“I know how important school is to you, Shelby.” Her grandfather touched her arm. “But you’ve been through a lot.”

Shelby held up her hand. “Enough. If one more person says I’ve been through a lot, I’ll explode. The only way I can put this all behind me is to move forward, get back into my life and live it.” She glanced at her grandfather. “You know me. I’m no good at sitting around.”

Her grandfather smiled. “No, you’re not.”

“I need my books, class notes, assignments and my own clothes.”

“I’ll have someone sent out right away,” Kate said.

“No. I’m going myself. I need to check on my car and talk to my instructors. If I hurry, I might catch them before they leave for the day.”

“But is it safe for you to go?” Kate looked to Daniel.

His lips pressed into a straight line. “I can be with her every step of the way.”

“You can take one of the cars,” Kate offered.

Shelby put her foot down, determined to do it her way. “No, I won’t be chauffeured around in a limousine.”

“I need to go out to the bar and check on things there,” Patrick said. “We can go in my vehicle.”

“How long will you be staying?” Daniel asked.

Patrick scratched his chin. “I’m not sure.”

“Then I’ll take her in my vehicle. She needs to be at the Winston Estate at night. The security is tighter here.”

Patrick nodded. “Fair enough.” He stared at Shelby. “Do you want me to follow you to the university?”

“No, Granddad. I’ll be fine with Daniel.” Much as she hated admitting it, she felt protected with her bodyguard around. “You need to check on things back home.”

His bar was his livelihood. He needed to be there to manage and keep it running as smoothly as possible. Shelby wondered how much time he’d spent away from it while she’d been missing. Probably more than the staff could handle on their own.

As if reading her mind, her grandfather reassured her, “The staff has been taking care of things fine without me, but I want to make sure they don’t need any more supplies.”

“Go on.” She squeezed his hand. “I’ll be okay.”

Her grandfather hugged her. “Don’t go disappearing on me again. I can’t lose you twice. My old heart can’t go through that again.”

“Like you’re old.” Shelby snorted. “You were a kid when my mother was born, and my mother was a kid when I was born. That makes you pretty young for a grandfather.”

And Kate Winston looked too young to be a grandmother. Perhaps if she’d been old and gray, Shelby would have been more accepting of her. But she was too darned young and looked every bit the formidable political candidate.

Before she’d learned Mrs. Winston was her grandmother, she’d admired her as the former vice president and had hoped she’d run for president. Now…

Shelby sighed. She had a hard time believing the woman hadn’t known her daughter was alive. What mother didn’t go to her daughter’s funeral or ask to see her daughter, even if she was dead?

The jury was still out on Grandma Winston. The thought of calling her Grandma nearly made Shelby laugh out loud at the absurdity. “Come on. It’s quite a way to go to get to Beth City and I want to get there before all the professors go home.”

Daniel frowned. “Beth City?”

“You didn’t think I was going to school here in Raleigh, did you?” She smiled at his disapproval. “I live on the Outer Banks. Beth City was the nearest school with the master’s program I needed.”

“Do be careful,” Kate said. “We still don’t know who is responsible for taking you in the first place.”

“That’s why we’ll be taking the big guns, right?” Shelby rolled her eyes toward Daniel and then relented. “I’ll be okay. It’s broad daylight. I was abducted after dark in an empty parking lot. There will be students and faculty still milling about. If we get there before they all leave.” She headed for the door. “Come on, Granddad. Mr. Henderson and I will walk you to your truck.”

“I don’t know. I think I’d like it better if you stayed here and let someone else do your running around for you,” her grandfather said, second-guessing himself.

Shelby stopped in the middle of the room and propped her hands on her hips. “Let’s all get one thing straight.” Her gaze moved from one person to the next. “I did not escape one prison to be trapped in another. This estate is pretty and tastefully decorated, but if I can’t come and go, I might as well be in that basement in the dark, tied to a chair.” Her body shook with the force of a harsh tremor. “I can’t live like that.”

“But—” her grandfather started.

“Patrick,” Kate cut in. “Let her go. Daniel will take good care of her.”

Her grandfather glared at Kate. “You have three sons. Shelby is my only family. If I lose her…”

Shelby’s eyes stung at the anguish in her grandfather’s voice. She went to him and hugged him close. “You’re not going to lose me. I promise.” She turned back to Daniel. “And so does Daniel.”

Daniel’s brows furrowed and he stood tense, his hands balling into fists.

“Don’t you?” Shelby pleaded with her eyes.

Finally he relaxed his hands and he nodded. “I’ll do the best I can to keep her out of trouble.”

Shelby’s grandfather laughed. “You’ll have your hands full. That girl is as sweet as they come, but trouble seems to follow her wherever she goes.” He kissed Shelby’s forehead. “Okay, then. Go to school, though what good it will do you at the bar, I don’t know.”

“Granddad, you were the one who told me a good bartender is an underpaid psychiatrist.”

“Yeah, and you don’t have to have a fancy degree to be a bartender.”

“I know, but the bar might not always be there. I have to be able to support myself.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “And you were the one who told me to get a degree.”

“You’d have done it without me telling you to. Besides, you already have one.”

“I could never have done it without your love and support and the tip money I make at O’Hara’s. But a psychology degree won’t buy me much. I have to go further and get my master’s.”

“I know. I know. I just like to yank your chain.” Her grandfather smiled.

Maddie poked her head in the office door. “Mr. Kincannon is here to see you, Kate.”

“Send him in, please,” Kate said.

A tall brown-haired man with tinges of gray entered. “Ah, I see the young Ms. O’Hara is getting around. I trust you didn’t receive any injuries from the explosion earlier?”

Shelby frowned at the man. “No, I did not.” Her eyes narrowed. “Should I know you?”

Daniel stepped forward. “This is my boss, Jed Kincannon, director of the Secret Service.”

The older man held out his hand.

Shelby took the hand, but she didn’t get a good feeling when she shook it. She wondered how long it would be before she trusted a stranger again.

“Jed, do you have anything to tell me about the men who abducted my granddaughter?” Kate asked.

“Nothing yet,” he replied.

“I have the feeling this is Cartel related. They use dirty tactics like this.” She gave the man a direct stare. “Don’t you have any undercover agents who have infiltrated the Cartel?”

“We don’t have any leads at this moment.”

“Nothing? Not even a motive? Why would someone want to hurt my granddaughter? Who would have dug deep enough to learn something even I didn’t know?”

“I don’t know.” Kincannon shook his head. “And we have nothing.”

“What about Richard Nelson?” Kate asked.

The director tilted his head. “What about him?”

“He’s made several statements about eliminating the opposition. I’m his competition in his campaign to secure the party nomination for the presidential election.”

Kincannon seemed to consider her words. “That’s a possibility. He wants to position.”

“We’ve had this discussion before. I’ve toyed with the idea of backing out of the race, but I haven’t made up my mind. And I don’t want word of my decision, or indecision, to leave this room, is that understood?”

Shelby could see how the woman had built her reputation as a strong political candidate and opponent. She didn’t mince words and she thought through everything.

Kincannon nodded. “My lips are sealed.”

“As are mine,” Daniel said.

Shelby almost smiled.

Kate didn’t mess around. She demanded loyalty from the people around her, and they seemed willing and almost happy to give it to her.

Kate turned to Patrick and Shelby. “If someone is after me and my family because of my run for president of the United States, can you imagine if I were to actually go through with it?”

She shook her head. “Sometimes I wish I was that eighteen-year-old girl back on the Outer Banks. Before I was forced to marry the man my father chose for me, before I entered politics. My family wouldn’t be under attack and I wouldn’t have to worry about having a target painted on my back every time I step out my front door.”

Patrick stared at her. “It was the life you chose.”

Kate nodded. “Not really, but that’s water under the bridge.” She turned to Kincannon. “I’ve asked Daniel to provide for Shelby’s security.”

“What about you?” Kincannon asked.

“If this is an attack on my family because of my former position or my current politics, I want my family protected. After D’Angelis turned, Daniel’s the only man from your agency I trust at this time.”

“I have more trustworthy agents. Let me assign one to Ms. O’Hara.”

Kate’s lips pursed. “No. I want Daniel.”

Kincannon stared from Kate to Daniel. “You’re on board with the change in assignment?”

Daniel nodded.

A little thrill rippled through Shelby. Watching Kate Winston in action gave her a strange sense of pride. And then for Daniel to agree that he was okay with taking on the responsibility of being her bodyguard…

It shouldn’t have given her that rush of heat through her body. But it did, and she couldn’t fight what she couldn’t control. “If you all have finished deciding what’s best for me, I’d like to get out of here.”

Kincannon frowned. “Where’s she going?”

“To gather her school assignments and clothes,” Kate said. “Then she’s coming back to stay here with us until we get this figured out.”

Kincannon seemed to digest that. “Okay, then. Daniel’s on it. Do you want me to assign another bodyguard to you, Kate?”

“I’ll hire my own, thank you.” Kate faced Shelby. “I’ll see you back here later tonight?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Shelby turned and left before they started talking about her again as if she wasn’t in the same room with them. As she left the front door of the mansion to climb into Daniel’s SUV, she was struck again by how bright the sun shone and how green and colorful everything was. Being in the dark so long was like being blind. When she could finally see again, she couldn’t seem to get enough.

Locked inside a mansion, no matter how beautiful, was not where she wanted to be. If Daniel was going to be her bodyguard, he’d have to get used to following her around or be left behind.

Daniel drove the SUV down the driveway and out onto the highway heading toward Beth City, wondering what the hell he’d done by agreeing to watch over the independent, young Shelby O’Hara. He’d have his hands full keeping up with her.

“I’ll take you to the university and then we head back to the Winston Estate.”

“What if I’m not ready to go straight back?” she countered.

“I want to be back by dark. It’s hard enough watching out for bad guys in the daylight.”

He noted Shelby didn’t agree or disagree with his idea of heading right back to the estate where he could keep her in a defined area that was rigged with security cameras.

Out in the open, he had no way of knowing who might hit and when. His hands gripped the steering wheel as he navigated Raleigh traffic and finally made it out to the highway leading east to Beth City. He checked his rearview mirror periodically to make certain they weren’t being followed. So far, so good.

Shelby pressed a button and lowered the window, letting the breeze blow through the car. She leaned her head toward the wind, her dark hair flying out behind her, her blue eyes gleaming in the sunlight.

Daniel could imagine Kate looking like this when she’d been the same age. He could see why the young Patrick O’Hara had fallen for her. Too bad their affair had gone so wrong. Both had been too young, too impetuous.

He’d seen the anguish in Kate’s eyes when she’d learned her daughter hadn’t died, but had lived to die before she got to meet her. No one could fake that. To have missed knowing your child, missed watching her grow up, her first steps, her first day at school, her first crush on a boy…

Daniel’s mother had celebrated all his and his siblings’ firsts, loving every minute of their lives and loving them unconditionally.

Had Kate’s mother been that cruel, to tell her that her child had died? Why would she do that?

“Do you mind if I play some music?” Shelby asked.

Daniel shook his head. “Have at it.”

She fiddled with the tuner until she found an oldies station.

“Really?” Daniel laughed. “I’d have pegged you for pop/rock.”

She shook her head and smiled. “I live on a beach. This is my comfort music. It reminds me of home.”

He could relate. His family home was on a beach much farther north and rockier than those found on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, but still, the music reminded him of home, as well.

“It was so dark and quiet where I was, all I had were the songs I remembered to keep me company.” She glanced out the window, her mouth turning down, her eyes darkening. “I only sang the happy ones.”

His chest tightened, imagining her tied up in a basement, alone and scared. His fists curled around the steering wheel. He wanted to be on the investigation team searching for the bastards who’d kidnapped her. When he found them, he’d be hard-pressed to control his anger and resist the desire to kill them for what they’d done.

“Are you angry at me?” Shelby asked.

Daniel glanced her way, shaking out of his thoughts. “No, why?”

“You looked like you wanted to kill someone.”

“I was thinking about the men who kidnapped you.”

“And you want to kill them?”

“Yes,” he said through gritted teeth.

“What good would that do?”

“They’d be off the street and unable to hurt anyone else, for one.”

She stared at him a moment, then said, “Despite what they did to me, I don’t wish them dead.”

“You’re much nicer than I am.”

Shelby sat back in her seat and gazed out the window at the road in front of them. “I’d want to know why they kidnapped me.”

“You’re related to a very influential and wealthy woman.”

“But that’s her. I’m not influential or wealthy.”

“Yeah, but she’s known for taking care of her family.”

“Who would have known I was her granddaughter?” She laughed humorlessly. “I didn’t know I was her granddaughter. I still find it hard to believe. Did they demand a ransom?”

“No.” Daniel shook his head. “That’s what has us all stumped. They never demanded anything. Did your captors say anything to you?”

“Not a word. It was as if I was a dog at the pound, to be fed and locked up until it was time to euthanize me.” She sighed. “Well, that was one of the thoughts I had at the time.”

“Not a particularly good one.”

“I know. Thus the beach songs.”

“You were lying on the floor in the kitchen when I found you. How did you get there?”

She straightened, her lips curling. “I broke a brace off my chair and used it to break the zip tie binding my wrists.” She glanced down as she rubbed the sores there. “I would have made it out if I’d run a little faster. But after sitting still for so long, my legs weren’t cooperating.” She smiled. “But I kicked one of my captors in the face and hit the other with a heavy flashlight.”

Daniel’s stomach tensed. She’d been kept in the dark both physically and mentally. It had to have been tough. But she’d been tougher. To have the inner strength to figure a way out of her predicament was a testament to her resilience.

Shelby wasn’t what he’d thought the granddaughter of Kate Winston would be like. But then she’d been raised by her grandfather and thus she was much more down-to-earth. He found himself drawn even more to her, and not just because of her physical attributes—all of which he’d seen and admired, and many of which he’d touched and wouldn’t mind touching again.

Shelby’s head swiveled as they passed a road. “That was our turn.”

Damn. He’d missed his turn off the highway just thinking about her. Being a bodyguard to Shelby was a mistake when all he could think about was getting his hands back on her delectable body.

Once again, he wondered why he’d agreed to continue on as her bodyguard. To be a good bodyguard, he needed to be impartial, focused and free of distraction. Shelby O’Hara had distraction in every ounce of her gorgeous body.