Beauty And The Bodyguard. Lisa Childs

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       Chapter 1

      Gage Huxton had survived six months in hell for this? Since becoming a bodyguard on his return from Afghanistan, his assignments had been a mixed bag. His first job with the Payne Protection Agency had been to protect an elderly lady with Alzheimer’s, who had only been in danger from her disease and not her imagined threats.

      But then he had also been assigned to follow the man who was now his brother-in-law. That job had nearly gotten Gage killed. But he had survived being shot at and nearly run down.

      He wasn’t sure he would survive this: wedding duty. He slid a finger between the bow tie and his skin, trying to loosen the stranglehold it had on him. An image flashed through his mind, of a noose tightening around his neck, squeezing off his oxygen until oblivion claimed him. But, unfortunately, oblivion had never lasted. He grimaced as he remembered other horrors.

      “Are you okay?” a soft voice asked him.

      He blinked away those horrific images and focused on Penny Payne. She sprang up from her chair and walked around her desk in the office in the basement of her white wedding chapel. It was in River City, Michigan—where his friend Nick had moved and where Gage now lived.

      Not wanting to worry her, he jerked his chin up and down in a quick nod.

      Her brown eyes warm with affection and concern, she stared up at him. “You look very handsome in the tuxedo.”

      He probably should have shaved the scruff from his jaw so he’d fit in more with the wedding guests when they arrived. But he hadn’t had the time or the inclination. “I must be crazy,” he said.

      “Why’s that?” she asked, and now there was a twinkle of amusement in her eyes.

      “To let you talk me into playing a bouncer for your wedding business.” Penny was his boss’s mother, so he probably hadn’t had much choice. But it hadn’t been any easier for him to tell her no than it probably would have been for her son.

      She reached up, and he reacted as he did whenever someone moved to touch him. He flinched. Sympathy dimmed the usual brightness of her smile. “Gage…”

      Instead of pulling back as so many other people did, she gently laid her palm against his cheek. “I’m sorry,” she murmured.

      He shook his head and dislodged her hand. “I don’t want pity,” he said. “I just want to do my job.”

      “That’s not what—”

      He forced a smile. “It’s okay.” Nobody had known how to react to him since he’d been back. So maybe it was good that not many people knew he’d survived.

      “Where do you need me?” he asked. “Do I need to make sure the bride and groom’s mothers don’t get into a catfight?”

      Penny’s smile dimmed more, and she replied, “The bride’s mother passed away years ago.”

      “That’s too bad.” He didn’t see his mother often since she and his dad had moved to Alaska, but he could call her anytime. He rarely called, though; he didn’t want to worry her. “So no catfights between the mothers. What about the bridesmaids?”

      Penny’s lips curved into a bigger smile. “Why do you sound almost hopeful?”

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