Barefoot With a Bodyguard Read Online Free Page A

rubbing her fingers together in silent, impatient snaps. She stood and turned away from him, the sun through the French doors giving her a halo of gold and him a view of a long, lean but surprisingly curved frame in fuzzy pink sweater and tight jeans.
    “Is there any way you can pull him out of that meeting?” she asked, almost looking over her shoulder at him as if she half-expected him to pounce on her. “I have an emergency.”
    So that’s what he was. An emergency.
    “A serious emergency.”
    Alec almost smiled, staying right where he was, locking his hands in front of his body like he would while helping a trainee go through the motions of a practice. Oh, she’d be fun to train.
    Find your balance, Kate. Breathe in rhythm. Move like liquid. Dig for power. Now, let’s get on the mat, Kate.
    He shook off the last one, actually jerking his head from side to side as if he could shake the thought from his brain and body. There’d be none of that.
    “Oh, for crying out loud,” she exclaimed, exasperation blowing off her like steam from a whistling kettle. “Put a note in front of him and tell him to call a recess.” At her side, her hand flexed and opened nervously as she tossed him a warning look over her shoulder, even though he hadn’t moved.
    Jeez, she was wound tight. “Oh, yes, Jennifer, you can give him a really simple message. We need to change this arrangement . Immediately.” After a pause, she mumbled, “Thanks,” and hung up.
    With a low grunt at her failure, she dropped her phone into the bag that hung on her narrow shoulder.
    “He’s calling me back,” she said, finally turning to face him.
    “I got that.”
    “We’ll…have to do something else.”
    He let a long pause pass, then leveled his gaze on her despite the fact that she still refused extended eye contact. He was used to that, double takes from people he scared just by being there. But for some reason, he didn’t want her to make it so obvious she wanted to run hard, fast, and far. Well, no mysterious reason. They were stuck together, playing house.
    She crossed her arms, and there it was, that tiny step backward, as if she were afraid of him. Make nice , Nino had said. Okay then.
    “I’m not sure you understand exactly how personal protection works,” he said. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
    Her eyes widened a little, then her pretty features relaxed into the first real emotion, other than ticked off, he’d seen since she’d arrived. “I don’t think you’re going to hurt me. I just want to be alone while I’m here. I have things to do. A test to…pass.”
    “You’re going to pass a test every time you walk out that door and pretend to be Mrs. Benjamin Carlson.”
    Her eyes flashed. “I am nobody’s Mrs. I signed all the papers to make sure of it.”
    “You’re my Mrs. At least for the time we’re here. That’s the deal. In exchange, I’ll break anyone who comes near you into small pieces and crush them.” He added a smile, wishing it could get one in return. “But not you. I promise I won’t crush you.”
    He saw her work to swallow and wondered what she was thinking. “I’m pretty certain you won’t have to do any heavy breaking or crushing. This place seems pretty secure.”
    “The resort is, but you’re defenseless, and I’m—”
    She iced him with a glare and pointed one slender finger at him. “I am not defenseless.”
    He moved one inch closer. He could have her on the ground, under him, screaming for mercy and completely defenseless , in less than a second.
    “What are your stats?” he asked.
    She almost smiled. Almost. “Stats?”
    “You know, your numbers.”
    “My numbers?” She lifted her chin. “The ones that matter are twenty-nine, which is my age; sixteen, which was my Yale Law graduation ranking; and one, which is how I roll: alone at all times, without assistance from any man, anywhere.”
    “Except you called Daddy within fifteen seconds of arrival.”
    She bristled.