In Bed with the Bodyguard Read Online Free

can afford to pay for new glass,” Lance said, with his hands in his pockets.
    Valerie turned to him, having Ari’s back as usual. “Lance Brown, what the heck does that mean? We didn’t send you here to insult my best friend.”
    “Why did you invite him here?” Ari asked.
    “Jason was with him when you called, and I didn’t want you to be alone with the broken window and death threat while we went to Home Depot.” She leaned up to give Lance’s cheek a peck. “You look good without the cast and crutches. Go out back with Jason. He needs help bringing in the wood.” Then she looked at Lance’s leg. “How are you managing? Can you help or is the thigh bothering you too much tonight?”
    What was wrong with Lance’s leg? Ari looked down at it for the first time, not noticing anything amiss.
    “I’m fine. Lead the way,” he said to Jason, and followed him out to the alley.
    “Well?” Valerie turned toward her with a raised brow.
    “Well, what?” Ari asked with a sinking feeling. Oh, lord, had they asked Lance here as a setup?
    “How are you doing? Rough day today, huh?”
    “You know it,” she said, then gave a little relieved laugh. “I thought you were asking what I thought of Lance.”
    Val grinned. “I didn’t want to be insensitive, but now that you mention it, isn’t he a hottie? It’s weird that tonight is the first night you’ve met, since you’re both close to me and Jason.”
    “He’s okay, I guess,” Ari said, hiding her total physical attraction to the agent. Why did all happily married couples try to impose their joy on everyone else? Couldn’t they see she was perfectly fine perpetually dating? Her parents’ multiple marriages left her no roadmap for marital bliss, and she had no inclination even to try.
    However, Lance was way more than okay. If it were any other night or any other year, his height would make her want to wrap her arms around his waist and rub her lips against his lean chest. And a Secret Service agent, to boot. God, that was sexy. She bet he knew his way around a loaded weapon. “Does Jason know you think his friend is hot?”
    Valerie laughed. “Jason is way hotter than Lance, and he knows there’s no competition for my heart.”
    Jason hotter. Whaa? No way. Lance oozed hard-core sex while Jason was cute. The firefighter didn’t hold a candle to Lance, the tall, gun-toting, lip-curling agent. Even if he was acting like a jerk. Well, she attracted jerks. Go figure that she’d be attracted to this one. Nothing new for her.
    The men in question reentered the room balancing a large piece of plywood between them. They carried it over to the gaping, sheet-covered hole and leaned it against the wall.
    “I’ll call the glass company tomorrow, but for now can you nail it up?” Ari asked.
    “Sure,” Jason answered.
    “I’ll order pizza while they’re taking care of the glass,” Valerie said and reached for her phone.
    “Don’t bother. I’m not hungry,” Ari said.
    “Yeah, but we are, and you have to eat,” Valerie urged.
    “Don’t order any meat on mine,” Lance said as he held up the wood for Jason, who was up on the stepladder. The short sleeve of his shirt pushed up his shoulder, showing off a hard biceps flexed under the strain of carrying the large piece solo.
    Ari narrowed her eyes at him while Val made the call. “You don’t look like a vegetarian.”
    “I’m not, but I’m trying to stay in shape even with my injury. Pepperoni wouldn’t help,” he said. “And how does a vegetarian look, anyway?”
    She found her first smile of the night. “I don’t know. Not usually like he-man guys with muscles to spare.” Her cheeks flamed. Oh, God, had she said that aloud? She really needed to stop flirting blatantly with Lance, on tonight of all nights. The flirtation wouldn’t go anywhere. She didn’t have it in her to open her heart to anyone. Her dad’s betrayal had done a number on her. Distantly she heard Valerie snort.
    She turned