Be on the Lookout Read Online Free Page B

that, considering earlier he had thought the same about her.
    â€œDon’t you want to play it safe rather than be sorry?” he asked.
    Kathryn’s lip quirked up at the corner. Her smile wasn’t humorous.
    â€œI’d rather not have to worry about a bodyguard following me around everywhere, watching my every move while I get ready for one of the largest career moves of my life.” She popped her hip out to the side a fraction, he noticed. “That would be my choice if I’d been given one.”
    Jonathan couldn’t decide if the way she spoke was born out of ego or frustration, but he definitely felt a chill wafting from each word. Part of him instantly felt the need to defend his skills and the company that was more than just his employer but an important part of his life. However, Jett was obviously still listening in, so the bodyguard went a more judicious route.
    â€œThe Orion Security Group doesn’t force clients to hire them,” he pointed out. “It was your father who did that, and you consented. As for watching your every move while I’m on the job, I can assure you that—if I’m doing said job correctly—my eyes won’t be on you but on your surroundings, trying to keep you safe. So if you have a problem with this arrangement, it’s your father—and really, yourself—you’ll need to be speaking with.”
    Kathryn didn’t immediately respond. When she did it was clipped, definitely chilly.
    â€œNoted. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to do some work up in my room.”
    She started to turn to go—already testing the boundaries of his job as her bodyguard—when Jonathan smiled once again.
    â€œHey, I’ll walk with you on the way to mine.” She gave him a questioning look. “Oh, didn’t your dad tell you? He requested we have adjoining rooms.”
    Jonathan might not have known the scientist long, but he knew he’d struck a nerve with that comment.
    It was going to be an interesting few days.
    * * *
    K ATE DIDN ’ T WANT to wait for the bodyguard. No matter how attractive he’d turned out to be. The picture she’d been forwarded from her father and Orion’s Nikki Waters had shown her a lightly tanned man who looked like a stock image a website might use to show an everyman, not a bodyguard. He had seemed flat, one-dimensional. Someone who would easily blend into the background and, hopefully, not bother her.
    However, in person she’d been surprised to see that maybe she’d misjudged him in that department. His dark blue eyes had depth, his facial features were sharp and his goatee was trimmed and neat, matching the jet-black hair that stood an inch or two high. He wore a gray tee and jeans and he wore them well. When he turned back to the desk attendant, she even spotted the bottom of a tattoo on the back of his upper arm, peeking out under his sleeve.
    Maybe Jonathan Carmichael wasn’t the type of man to blend.
    â€œThis is a massive invasion of privacy,” Kate commented as she led them into the elevator. Like the hotel, it was dated. She pressed the second-floor button and hoped above all hopes that it didn’t get stuck. Her nerves had been rubbed the wrong way, annoyed at her father and the man next to her. Getting trapped in the small space with him would most likely incite a flurry of rudeness from her. She was already having a hard time being polite without the added close proximity.
    â€œAgain, I’ll remind you that your father hired Orion and you agreed,” he said, not looking at her but obviously surveying the elevator. He was tall enough to reach up and push against the ceiling—trying to do what, she wasn’t sure.
    â€œI meant the adjoining-room situation,” she corrected.
    Jonathan stopped his inspection and gave her a dry smile.
    â€œJust because there’s a door there doesn’t mean I’m going to use it. I