Protect and Serve Read Online Free Page B

biceps that could have snapped my spine like a twig.
     
    No, that wasn’t right—there was no “potentially” about it. If Nathan hadn’t shown up at that exact moment, that guy was going to put my training to the test. Even if I took him down, one of his men was almost certainly going to kill me and set the whole place on fire, maybe not even in that order.
     
    The sad fact of the matter was that I owed him one. I tried not to think about how, strangely, I didn’t really mind. In fact, if I was being honest with myself, I was a little intrigued. Why did Nathaniel Hale want me as his personal bodyguard?
     
    But I didn’t want to be honest with myself. I wanted to stay safe inside my web of lies where Nathan’s compelling stare couldn’t reach me.
     
    Right, so I owed him one. We’d go with that.
     
    “No,” I told Captain Pierce. “I mean—yes. I’ll do it. I’ll be back in an hour.”
     
    Captain Pierce looked both surprised and almost impressed. “Fair enough, detective. Pack only what you need.”
     
    I nodded, then stepped out of his office and into the hall. My stomach was churning with the implications of what I’d just done—upended my entire life for a man who probably wouldn’t even appreciate it—when I nearly ran face-first into Nathan’s warm, hard body.
     
    “Jesus!” I yelped, clutching at the collar of my blouse as though it would help the breath return to my lungs. “You scared the hell out of me.”
     
    Nathan looked down at me, grinning from ear to ear. “Sorry about that, detective. It’s probably the shoes.” He lifted a foot, showing me the soles. “They’re imported from Japan where this guy, this designer, Shinji Watanabe, started a brand new line of samurai-inspired fashion. His footwear collection is largely based off traditional Japanese designs, and this is his take on the jika-tabi , soft-soled shoes that give you tactile connection with the ground…. and… uh…”
     
    I stared at him. Not a single iota of me cared one bit about his fancy goddamn white-ninja shoes. Two seconds with this guy and I was already ready to shove one of them down his throat.
     
    But goddamn if he didn’t look cute when he was excited.
     
    He must have seen the look on my face, because he quickly summed up:
     
    “Anyway, they don’t make much sound. So that’s probably why you didn’t hear me.”
     
    “Well, I imagine I’ll be hearing a lot of you very soon, not to mention seeing,” I said, moving past him. He fell into step beside me. “Your demands have been met. I’ll be your handler for the next seven days.”
     
    “I thought it’d be for the best,” Nathan explained, handing me a Starbucks cup with my name horribly misspelled— Shonda —across it. “You know, we made a pretty good team back there. And besides, it’ll look good for you—the woman who took down the Irish mafia and convinced billionaire Nathan Hale to testify,” he added, spelling out the headline with his free hand while using an overblown radio-style voice. “And besides… I wasn’t really sure who else I could trust.”
     
    I sniffed the contents of the cup through the little opening in the lid. Whatever it was smelled sweet. I took a tentative sip and nearly melted. Mocha anything was my jam. How the hell did he know?
     
    “That’s only if it all goes as planned,” I reminded him, quickly taking the steps down to the lobby. “Hopefully there won’t be too much more excitement. But I gotta ask,” I whirled to face him once I hit the bottom, “did you come up with our cover story, too?”
     
    Nathan paused two steps above me, clutching his own Starbucks cup to his chest like a shield, like it would protect him from my question, and possibly from me. He hadn’t stopped grinning since he saw me come out of Captain Pierce’s office, but I watched the corners of his mouth curl even more mischievously.
     
    “No,” he said. “Scout’s honor—I would’ve never picked a