Page 1 of Lethal Bodyguard Summer

Chapter one

Aria

The setting sun blazed a trail across the ocean and straight into my eyes. I dug around in my bag on the passenger seat for my sunglasses with one hand and tried to stay on the road with the other.

This night had gone from bad to worse to just plain hell. I’d walked out after my gig at the bar because Lou, the manager, had gotten too handsy. He was one mistake I’d never made, but for some reason he thought I owed him. It didn’t matter that I’d been clear that the one rule I never broke was sleeping with my boss.

I went home. Brad was still on his business trip, and I was still too angry to sleep, so I started to pick up. I swiped Brad’s loose change into his top drawer and noticed the black velvet box. Slowly, as if I thought it would bite me if I moved too fast, I picked it up and opened it. Nestled inside was a diamond ring.

Everything inside me stilled.

After a moment, I closed it and carefully set it back in the drawer. I liked Brad. I did. But I couldn’t marry him—I couldn’t even picture standing still long enough to try it on. The secondthat ring appeared, the walls started closing in. This was what I did. I left before things could get permanent. Before someone could decide I was too much, or not enough, or a mistake they were stuck with.

Dammit, why’d he have to ruin it with a ring?

So I packed my crap, scribbled a note, and was gone in less than an hour, headed to my sister’s place in…

Glancing down at the GPS screen on my dash, I found the name of the town again: Sunbreak Harbor.

Allie, my sister who was only ten months older than me, had moved out here about a year ago. I had planned to get out here to see her, but I could admit I was horrible at planning anything past the day I was living. I was here now, though, and so ready to catch up with her, drink a little too much, and sleep it off on the beach.

The British-accented voice told me to turn right, almost too late, my tires screeching as I took the corner a little too fast. The road led away from the setting sun, so I could finally see without squinting. The little bungalows had trim yards and plenty of palm trees and ferns that offered a shady retreat.

The houses were a mix of yellows and whites and pinks and blended into the landscape well. I pulled into the drive at the end of the lane. It was small but close to town and the beach. Of course, everything on this little strip of land was probably close to town and surrounded by sand. And I could admit a teeny-weenie part of me was jealous that Allie had found this little slice of heaven.

Leaving my bag in the car, I got out and headed up the short walkway to the front door. I knocked and waited. No answer. I peeked through the side window. No movement or sound. Shit. I hadn’t counted on her not being home.

Biting my lip, I looked back at my car, then back at the house. Her spare key was in my bag, but I really didn’t want to be aloneright now. Nope, I’d go explore the town. Find a bar where I could grab a drink and forget about life for a while. Allie was probably just at work. No doubt she’d be home when I came back.

Decision made, I went back to my car. As I pulled out of the drive, I turned the GPS off. The heart of town was just a few miles away. The place wasn’t large, only about twelve thousand or so residents, and it was surrounded by water. Not only would it be hard to get lost, but how dangerous could a beach town be?

Chapter two

Brooks

Ifrowned at the little umbrella the bartender at the Sandbar & Sips had placed in my straight-up whiskey. The little tiki bar was crowded—it was always hopping during tourist season—and I’d usually rather be caught dead anywhere but here.

But three days into forced vacation time and I was already tired of being on land with nothing to do.

Rafi had made it clear: I hadn’t taken a vacation since I’d joined Sunbreak Security five years ago, and I was on leave for the next two weeks. Period. Sloane had backed him up. No operational tempo was high enough to justify skipping it this time. So here I was, clock-watching my way through mandatory downtime, restless as hell and trying not to invent work that didn’t exist.

Surfing had been my go-to, but it wasn’t enough. It didn’t offer the same focus, the same clean parameters, as the maritime rescues or the close protection I typically provided. I lived inside structure for a reason. Without it, my mind had too much room to wander.

Dropping the umbrella onto the bar top, I lifted my glass and tossed back the amber liquid just as someone slid onto the empty stool next to me.

I set the glass down and slid it across the bar, trying to get a glimpse of her in the mirror behind the bottles.

“Whatcha drinkin’?” she asked, her voice low and smooth like the whiskey I’d just downed, and it hit me hard, like I’d just belly-flopped into the ocean from a hundred-foot drop.

“Bulleit. Straight up,” I said, turning to her. Wild curls fell from the top of her head, exposing her throat. Her shirt fit like a second skin, and I could just see a tease of cleavage. The shorts she wore were short enough to make a priest blush. Lust punched the whiskey buzz right out of me, and all I could think of was how soft the skin on her thighs looked.

She pulled a wad of cash out of her overflowing unzipped bag and waved it over the bar. When the bartender ignored her, she let out a piercing whistle. “Two Bulleits, please.”

Bill, the bartender, flashed a look of annoyance her way before snatching something off the bar and heading our way. Without a word, he set another glass on the bartop, but before he could fill it, she placed her hand over his.

“Ice in mine. Thank you.”

He looked at her hand, still on his, then pointedly up at her. She dropped her hand, but I didn’t sense a hint of remorse.