The 9-Month Bodyguard. Cindy Dees

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СКАЧАТЬ style="font-size:15px;">      A low-level hum of panic vibrated in his gut. As a security man, this place made him feel like he’d already failed. Clamping down on the anxiety clawing its way up his spine, he lengthened his stride to catch up to Silver as they neared the front of the place. His impulse was to pick her up, throw her over his shoulder, and get her the hell out of here. Now. He exhaled carefully. Must go easy on this particular client. Break her in gently to the idea of having a bodyguard, without alienating her if at all possible.

      “Hey, slow down,” he murmured casually from just behind her. He needed to get in front of her, pronto!

      She blatantly ignored him and continued marching on.

      “I mean it, Silver. You need to move more slowly so I can clear the area in front of you for threats.”

      She spared him an irate glance over her shoulder and didn’t even break stride.

      His gaze narrowed. Several extremely unkind names for her flashed through his head. Fine. He could play that game, too.

      He grabbed her by the arm and swung her around sharply to face him. She was a tiny little thing, and her weight was nothing in his hand. He took an aggressive step closer and glared down at her. “I tried to do this the nice way. But now we’re gonna do it my way. I’m heading for the nearest exit and getting you under cover, and you’re going with me whether you like it or not. Got that?”

      She nervously eyed a cluster of people near the front entrance, most of whom wielded big cameras. “Don’t make a fuss,” she hissed.

      “Too late,” he retorted. “I’m making as big a fuss as I damn well feel like. And you are not going anywhere else in this hotel until I say so.”

      “I have to go see Stella. She’s the head costume designer,” she insisted. “She’s expecting me.”

      “You’re not seeing anybody until you and I get a few things straight,” he replied grimly.

      Her eyes snapped and sparks all but flew off her, singeing his fingertips.

      She bit out, “Let’s get this straight. I’m the boss. I say where I go and when, and you follow along like a good employee and do as you’re told. You don’t make public scenes in front of tabloid reporters—of which there are a dozen behind me, right now,” her voice rose slightly in volume, “and you don’t do anything to embarrass me. Got that?” She actually had the temerity to poke him in his chest for good measure.

      He was so aggravated he could strangle her right then and there. He scowled down at her and loomed even more assertively. “I am not your employee. I work for your father. You’re under my protection, and you’ll damn well do what I tell you to do when I tell you to do it and how I tell you to do it. Have you got that?”

      She blanched. “You and me—this is never going to work.”

      His jaw clenched. “I’m entirely inclined to agree with you.”

      If hate at first sight was possible, this was it. The woman drove him crazy, and he’d known her for two minutes.

      He became aware of a surge of movement behind her. The paparazzi had apparently noticed their altercation and were closing in like a pack of hungry hyenas. He swore under his breath. Men in his line of work despised the press almost as much as the public figures they protected did. The last thing he needed was to have his face splashed all over the front pages of the tabloids.

      “Let’s get out of here,” he muttered at Silver.

      “Ya think?” she snapped back.

      “Hey, Silver!” one of the reporters shouted. “Did you hear that the Tears of the Quetzal is in police custody?”

      Another piped up. “Yeah. Luke Montgomery’s fiancée found it in her purse. Do you believe that story?”

      Austin frowned. What were these guys talking about? He opened his mouth to ask Silver, but just then, someone moved forward out of the crowd of reporters, jumping abruptly toward her. Austin registered dark hair and a black, burning gaze, a uniform of some kind. Something about the set of the man’s shoulders, the intensity of concentration in his eyes set off warning bells in Austin’s head. Time slowed as the guy lunged in Silver’s direction, and Austin went into high threat mode. If he’d told his men once, he’d told them a thousand times, don’t question your instincts. Act first. Ask questions later.

      The guy lowered his shoulder and rammed it into Silver, spinning her around as their bodies collided. Hard. Dear God. The guy had an open shot at stabbing or shooting her at point-blank range in a vital organ! Austin went airborne, flinging himself full length through the air for Silver.

      He wrapped his arms around her in a move worthy of the NFL. His momentum knocked her off her feet. While they were still airborne, he twisted to cover her with his much larger body. He released her at the last moment before they hit the floor, catching most of his body weight with his arms so he didn’t crush her.

      An explosion of flashbulbs went off nearby.

      Austin twisted to look for the assailant, and the guy was rushing past, his right shoulder hunched to hide his face from Austin.

      And then the strangest thing happened.

      A wave of heat passed over Austin, a tangible thing tingling across his skin. He saw flashes of purple and green behind his eyelids, brilliant, jeweled prisms of color momentarily blinding him. His blood rushed, pounding in his ears until frantic thumping was all he heard. Suddenly he became intensely aware of the feminine softness below him, molding to every contour of his body as if she’d been made for him. Oh, yeah. A promise of sex, hot and sweaty enough to boggle the mind, pored off her.

      Silver looked up at him, her gorgeous eyes wide with surprise, fear and something else. Something…aware. Of him. As a man.

      Their gazes locked and nothing short of unbridled lust roared between them. All that friction of a few seconds ago had abruptly morphed into something so steamy it set him on fire. She looked ready to come apart in his hands. In fact, a moan slipped out of her throat that was all about raging pleasure. Unseen by the press, her hips undulated beneath his, and he realized his male flesh was so hard he was in danger of busting his trouser zipper.

      He swore under his breath.

      Her pupils dilated until her eyes were nearly black with raw need. He wasn’t in any better shape, himself. Small problem: he was the bodyguard, and a whole bunch of cameras were very publicly recording every second of this.

      “You okay?” he muttered.

      She nodded, looking shell-shocked.

      “I’ll get up first, then I’ll help you to your feet and pull you behind me. Keep my body between you and the photographers, okay?”

      She nodded again.

      He started a quick push-up when a voice shouted from nearby, “Get the hell off my girlfriend!”

      Austin came smoothly to his feet and turned to face this new threat. A beefy guy a little shy of six feet tall was barreling toward them. Austin assessed the threat in an instant. More beer gut than muscle. Had barroom brawled just enough to think he was a hotshot, СКАЧАТЬ