Barefoot With a Bodyguard Read Online Free Page B

“Extenuating circumstances.”
    “The numbers I meant are your height and weight. Five-five and about a hundred and twenty?” he guessed.
    A frown pulled. “One thirty.”
    “Yoga, I’m guessing?”
    “Occasionally. What difference does it make?”
    “Some light weights and a jog now and then?”
    “What is your point ?”
    “My point is that you might be very smart and in decent shape, but when push comes to shove—literally—you’re defenseless.”
    Her eyes narrowed, and she sucked in a seething breath. “Then your point would be wrong.”
    “Don’t make me prove it to you.”
    “Great,” she muttered, turning away. “Just great. Another jerk trying to run my life.”
    “I’m not trying to be a jerk or run your life.” When she looked back at him, he continued, “I’m trying to do a job, and one hit to a soft target, and you’d be down.” He released his arms and stepped back. A natural move in the face of any threat, especially hands like his.
    He locked them behind him and angled his head to show her he was no threat. “I’m thinking you should stop fighting this plan and get comfortable with the idea of a bodyguard.”
    “A bodyguard.” She looked toward the ceiling like she couldn’t even believe she had to say the word. “Look, I’m more than a thousand miles from some yahoo trying to upset my father by mentioning my name in a few anonymous notes. Yes, if I were walking around the streets of Boston, clueless to my surroundings, then I can see him hiring a…a… man to watch me.”
    She struggled with the word man . Did she hate them all in general, or just the one who appeared in her villa today?
    “So, I’m fine here, and I don’t need a bodyguard, and for God’s sake, I don’t want a husband, real or otherwise. One was plenty.” She added a tight smile to underscore the point she’d made every possible way since she’d arrived.
    “It’s not about what you want, Miss…” Kate. God, he wanted to call her Kate so bad. “ Mathilda .”
    “Excuse me.” Her back straightened as she jutted her jaw. “It’s all about what I want, Mr. Benjamin . This was all done behind my back, and it can be undone by—” The phone in her bag hummed and dinged, and she grabbed it, giving a satisfied smirk. “By this phone call.” She whirled around, putting the phone to her ear. “This is preposterous, Dad!”
    Preposterous. Not stupid, silly, or pointless. Because why use two syllables when four would do for Miss Extenuating Circumstances?
    Shit. His head already hurt.
    “No, I won’t—” She snapped her mouth closed, and in the silence, Alec could hear a man’s voice on the phone, but not the words. The tone was serious, though, and strong.
    “No, you listen to me,” she replied, “a bodyguard is excessive, and one who is supposed to be my husband is patently ridiculous. Who ever heard of such a thing?”
    Patently ? Oh, that’s right. Yale Law School. Maybe she thought she could beat an attacker with her diploma.
    She stepped toward the French doors, then opened one, going out to the patio for privacy. “I am not going to back down, Dad.”
    The door slammed, and the rest was lost to Alec.
    He stayed rooted to his spot, not having to dig too hard for the natural state of peace that kept him sane and alive in situations far worse than this. He honestly could see her point, but he wasn’t going anywhere. He’d made a promise to Gregg that he’d do whatever he had to do, and the deal was to babysit the beauty. In turn, she was his cover, too.
    He watched her through the glass, counting the sighs as her shoulders rose and fell. She ran a hand through her hair and clenched her fist again. And again. Finally, her head dropped in resignation.
    Fighter taps out, and the win goes to Judge Daddy.
    Alec picked up Kate’s two bags and walked into the bedroom—the only one in the villa.
    Oh, she was going to love that.

Chapter Three

    Kate listened to her father with an age-old