Her Billionaire Bodyguard Bridegroom (10 page)

If he was aware of his appreciative female audience, it wasn’t apparent. It seemed he only had eyes for her.

“Very nice,” he murmured in approval, spearing her with a look that had her toes curling in her sandals. “That color suits you.”

The man’s smile had the power to turn the simple act of drawing a breath into an endurance sport. “Thanks,” she managed to croak.

They spent the morning exploring. The beach was packed with vacationers enjoying the perfect summer weather. The calls of seagulls mingled with the happy chatter of tourists. Noticing a crowd had gathered around a lovely pavilion on the beach, they decided to walk over and see what the stir was about.

“It’s a wedding,” Brianna said as she smiled, enchanted by the sight of the beautiful bride and her handsome groom exchanging vows in front of their family and friends. The groom’s heartfelt proclamation to forsake all others made Brianna’s heart pang with envy. When she’d accepted Peter’s proposal, he’d promised he’d always be faithful to her. They hadn’t even made it to the altar before he’d broken that vow. Worse, everyone in their circle of friends knew he’d been messing around behind her back. She’d been the last to learn of his infidelity.

Not wanting to intrude on the intimate celebration, she and Luke continued walking along the beach until they grew tired. Claiming a spot on the sand where they could sit and enjoy the view, they laid their towels out a few feet from the water’s edge. From that vantage point, they had a fantastic view of the beautiful Atlantic Ocean.

“You’re turning pink,” Luke observed, touching a finger to the tip of her nose.

Her stomach clenched at the electricity the simple gesture generated. When he took off his sunglasses for a better look, she melted under his heated gaze. His eyes trailed a path of adoration from her face and down to her shoulders before lingering on the soft swell of her breasts above her bikini top.

“Did you forget to apply sunscreen?”

“I guess I did.” Her heightened color deepened at the realization he’d distracted her enough to make her forgo something she always did automatically. She needed to get her head on straight, and stop fantasizing about the man stretched out on the towel alongside her.

Grabbing the lotion, she fumbled open the cap and squeezed out a generous dollop. At least concentrating on smoothing the sunscreen onto her exposed skin gave her an excuse for not meeting those compelling green eyes of his.

Luke slipped his sunglasses back on and covertly scanned the beach, sifting through the crowd to sort possible threats from seemingly innocuous passersby. He couldn’t conceal his handgun while he was wearing a swimsuit, but he was trained to be just as deadly without a firearm. And although bringing Brianna to a highly populated tourist spot made his job trickier, it would do her good to enjoy some fresh, salt air and sunshine after last night’s close call.

He’d watched closely for tails on the drive here, and he hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary. Brianna was safe, for now, but he wouldn’t let his guard down.

Being with her in this relaxed setting was like playing with fire—for reasons entirely unrelated to her security. It was sheer torture watching her slender hands, with their violet-lacquered fingernails, rub sunscreen over every inch of her delectable body.

The coconut scent of the sunscreen mingled with the vanilla fragrance she favored, teasing his senses and stoking his appetite for her. He ached to have those long, tanned legs wrapped around him as they made love.

“Can you do my back?” she asked.

“Sure.” He didn’t intend for his reply to tumble out so gruffly, but his pent-up sexual frustration was beginning to make him edgy. With any other woman, he would simply be able to take what he wanted. He couldn’t afford that liberty with Brianna. He deserved to be nominated for sainthood.

He concentrated on squeezing the lotion out of the tube, trying to focus on anything other than her half-naked, beautifully sun-kissed body. She was wiggling her feet in the sand, her violet-polished toenails playing peekaboo with the glittering granules. As he rubbed the lotion on her back, he couldn’t prevent his fingers from straying. His devious-minded digits wandered, dipping below the indent of her spine to where the fabric of her bikini bottom met the curve of her perfect derriere. Her swiftly indrawn breath in response to his caress stoked his already raging libido. It took every ounce of self-control he possessed not to pick her up and carry her away to a secluded sand dune so he could undo the thin ties that held the barely there swimsuit she wore together. He ached to explore every inch of her.

The pulse at the base of her throat was beating at warp speed, telling him she was just as affected by the undercurrent of sensual electricity pulsing between them as he was. He knew she’d capitulate if he pressed his advantage.

He thought of the no-strings fling Brianna had proposed last night. He’d been intrigued when she’d parroted his earlier proposal. The attraction between them was a compelling force, of that there was no question. But he needed to remember that taking her up on her offer would be a huge risk, compromising his attention to the job at hand. Acting on that attraction would be a misstep that could prove deadly for both of them.

“Are you having a good time?” Luke asked Brianna as they lazed on the warm sand.

“How could I not be? This is wonderful! The past few months have been crazy, so it’s nice to relax. I seem to attract trouble like a magnet lately.”

“You can tell me to mind my own business, but I get the feeling by ‘trouble’ you’re referring to more than just the bombing.”

“Well, there’s you,” she replied, her eyes alight with mischief.

He feigned innocence. “Me?”

“Yeah. I nearly drowned in the hotel pool because of your hijinks.” The spark of humor in her eyes dimmed. “And then there’s the burglary.”

“What burglary?” he queried, needing to pose the inquiry to conceal that he knew about the incident. The break-in hadn’t been publicized. The only reason he was aware of it was because Liz had clued him in.

“The
Upwords Development office was broken into last week. I was working after hours, and I walked in on the robbery. By the time the police arrived, the intruders were gone. The whole incident has made me paranoid. Afterward, I was so unnerved I even thought someone might have broken into my apartment. How bad is that?” she asked, shaking her head in self-derision.

She was trying hard to make light of the situation, but her show of bravado didn’t fool Luke. Her eyes reflected a vulnerability that struck him to the very core.

“Well, you don’t have anything to worry about on this assignment. I’ve got your back.”

“Sort of like my own private bodyguard, hmm?”

Her teasing remark hit too close to home for his comfort, so he tossed her what he hoped was a nonchalant smile. “Did you report your concerns about your apartment being broken into?”

“No. I decided it was probably nothing. It’s just that I’m a ‘place for everything and everything in its place’ kind of girl, and I can’t shake the feeling someone’s been in my home and gone through my things. Crazy, huh? I told you I was paranoid.”

“It’s not crazy. You’re prudent to be cautious.”

“It sounds like you speak from experience.”

He nodded, pausing for a second as he pondered how much to share with her. Decision made, he pulled the waistband of his swimsuit aside to reveal a thin, puckered welt running across his left hip. “This is my constant reminder of what can happen when you drop your guard.”

“That looks like a scar from a knife wound.”

“It is.”

“What happened?”

“I was on a camping outing with a group of
Intrepid
staffers. Our first morning there, I decided to go for a short hike before the others woke up. I figured I’d do a quick loop and be back in time for breakfast.”

“You went alone?”

“I edit a magazine that caters to outdoor enthusiasts. I
do
consider myself a seasoned hiker. Anyhow, I’d hiked a few miles out when I came across an older man sitting alongside the trail. He’d taken off one of his hiking boots, and he appeared to be in pain. I assumed he was injured, so I stopped to help. That’s when he pulled out a knife and demanded my wallet.

“I would have gladly given him my money, but the odds were good he’d use the same ruse on other hikers if I left him there to strike again. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt, so I disarmed him and called the police. Unfortunately for me, he’d concealed a second knife in his discarded boot. He grabbed the weapon and got a swipe in before I could subdue him.”

“You could have been killed!”

Luke couldn’t refute her statement. Had the attacker’s blade landed a millimeter higher, it would have sliced an artery and he would have bled to death before help arrived. It was the ultimate irony he’d been injured in the tamer of his two professions. “I got lucky,” he shrugged. “Anyhow, my point is that you’re prudent to listen to your gut. There’s no such thing as being too cautious.”

“You’re right. But it’s a fine line between being cautious and shirking from letting yourself experience new things. I don’t want to be afraid of my own shadow.”

“It sounds like you’re doing a good job of finding the right balance between taking risks and acting judiciously to me.”

“Thanks for making me feel better about my borderline paranoia. Forgive my babbling. I think my blood sugar must be dropping,” she teased.

“If you’re getting hungry, we could go grab a bite to eat.”

“As wonderful as that sounds, I’m not sure I want to move. I think every bone in my body has quite happily liquefied.”

Luke eyed a nearby pizza stand. He could make a quick food run while still keeping her in sight. “No worries. If you’re up for pizza, I’ll bring lunch to you.”

“That would be awesome.”

He was returning to Brianna—juggling a brown paper bag, a drink carrier, and two enormous slices of pizza on paper plates—when he spotted a heavy-set man in board shorts looking in Brianna’s direction. When the man pulled a camera out of the pocket of his shorts and began taking photos, Luke altered his course to intersect with the stranger.

“Care to explain why you’re taking pictures of my girlfriend?” he seethed, playing the role of jealous boyfriend to gauge the stalker’s intent.

The man’s face turned as red as the flowers on his board shorts. “Uh . . .” he stammered, “Other than her hair color, I thought she kind of looked like that heiress chick. You know . . . the one who was in the news a while back?”

Luke’s furor subsided to a simmer as it became apparent the man’s motive for photographing Brianna wasn’t sinister. “Hold these plates and give me the camera.”

“I don’t want any trouble, dude.”

“And I don’t want to cause you any. Just give me the camera.”

Hands shaking, the man complied. He watched wide-eyed as Luke deleted the photos he’d taken of Brianna.

“Now say ‘cheese’,” Luke instructed, focusing the lens on him and taking a picture before returning it and reclaiming the claiming the pizza slices. “Bug the lady again, and the next picture someone snaps of you will be a mug shot,” he advised darkly.

The man didn’t argue. As he hurried off in the opposite direction, Luke made his way back to Brianna.

“What was that about?” she asked.

He couldn’t very well tell her that he’d been concerned for her safety, so he brushed the question aside. “Just a tourist traveling alone who was looking for someone to take his photo,” he replied, glossing over the details.

Satisfied with his answer, she turned her attention to the pizza he handed her. Once the steaming slice had cooled a bit, she took a bite. The crust was covered in just the right amount of tangy sauce and cheese, and topped with generous amounts of pepperoni, sausage, and hamburger.

“Yum! This is delicious.” She tilted her head, considering him. “You surprise me. I didn’t have you pegged as the kind of guy who would choose pizza on a sandy beach over a gourmet meal in a five-star restaurant.”

“Despite what you seem inclined to believe, I don’t wear a suit from breakfast until bedtime. I’m not afraid to get a little sand between my toes.”

And he’d kick off his shoes more often if it meant spending time with her, like this. She sparked an appetite that had nothing to do with food, but everything to do with tangled sheets and entangled bodies. Better not to contemplate that, though, since he wasn’t in a position where he could satiate that particular hunger.

“Sorry. It’s unfair of me to make assumptions. But you can’t deny that a lot of things about you scream excess. Your fancy sports car for instance, or those designer shades you’re sporting.”

He tipped his head in acknowledgement. “I enjoy a few luxuries, but I don’t need material things to be happy. With the possible exception of whoopie pies, of course.”

“Of what?”

“Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of whoopie pies?”

“Guilty as charged.”

“Well, you’re in luck.” Grabbing the paper bag, he produced their dessert with a flourish. “Voilà, a whoopie pie in the wild. There are dozens of flavor combinations, but we’ll start with the traditional: chocolate with vanilla frosting. Prepare to be blown away.”

Brianna doubted the decadent dessert he handed her could top the heart-stutteringly amazing sight of the perfectly honed body stretched out on the towel beside her for sheer wow factor. Still, savoring the sweet confection might help distract her from her current fantasy of smearing the dessert’s thick, creamy frosting onto his chest to lick off at her leisure.

She sampled the treat, sighing in pleasure as her taste buds swooned at the first decadent bite.

“I’m guessing that means you like it,” he grinned.

“It’s heavenly,” she enthused.

He gestured to a spot at the corner of her mouth. “You have a little frosting right here.”

He brushed the sugary remnants away, his thumb warm against her lip. A half a heartbeat later, his mouth swooped down on the spot, and his masterful tongue retraced the path his thumb had taken.

Brianna closed her eyes at the sheer magic of his lips on hers. He coaxed her mouth open, and she eagerly granted him access.