Page 2 of Lethal Bodyguard Summer

Bill added ice, then filled our glasses with whiskey. She laid the money on the bar and picked up her glass. “Bottoms up.” When I didn’t lift my glass, she raised an eyebrow. “We drinkin’ or what?”

I shrugged and picked it up, then clinked it against hers before tossing it down in one gulp. “That’s three for me.”

She tossed hers back, then set her empty glass on the bar. “Is this the place to be on a hot summer night?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder at the crowd.

“Closest to the beach.” I didn’t come in here often, but it was always packed.

A guy wedged between us. “Hey, Bill,” he called. “Beer me.” He turned to the woman. “Oh, hey.” He stepped closer to her. “You’re new here? I’m Mickey. You are?”

“Not interested,” she muttered, the smile dropping from her face.

“Oh, come on. Don’t be like that. Just trying to be friendly.” Bill set the beer in front of the man, and he gulped about a quarter of it down. “I could show you around.”

“Mickey,” I said, my voice low and controlled.

He looked over his shoulder and pointed at his ear. “Can’t hear you, buddy.”

I leaned closer. “You have less than five seconds to walk away before I make sure you don’t walk out of here. Hear me now?”

Mickey paled and stepped away from the woman, then leaned back in to snatch his beer off the bar. “Sorry, dude,” he mumbled before disappearing into the crowd.

“So are you?” I asked over the rising tide of voices.

Her gaze darted to mine, color in her cheeks. I wondered if she’d heard what I’d said. “Am I what?”

“New here?”

“My sister lives here. Came to visit but she wasn’t home. Thought I’d look for her in town. Thank you for that, by the way.”

“Take it you didn’t find her. It’s tourist season, you won’t find a room. And you’re welcome.”

Her shoulders relaxed. “Offering me your spare bedroom?” Before I could respond, she shook her head, the curls dancing around her face. “I have her spare key.”

Her fingers tapped on the bar, then with a smile that made her blue eyes sparkle, she said, “What about you? Come here often?”

An unwanted smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. “Are you picking me up?”

“Still deciding.”

Curiosity got the better of me. I leaned closer. “What’s holding you up?”

“A lifetime of bad decisions.”

I knew I should walk away. Anyone that made a claim like that had baggage, and I saved people from the water, from external threats. Not from themselves. Every instinct screamed at me to get up off this barstool and find another distraction. I didn’t need more trouble. But there was something about her that drew me in—chaotic, impulsive, the exact opposite of everything I ordered my life around. I stood up and held out my hand. “I’m not a bad decision.”

Her gaze caught mine and held it. For a second, vulnerability shone in her eyes. “Not so sure about that.”

“Give me a chance. Let me prove it to you.”

After the briefest hesitation, she slid her soft hand into my palm. “Okay.”

Chapter three

Aria

Ifollowed the guy in my car, my radio cranked as loud as my ears could stand it, and sang along to the surf song currently playing. It kept me from thinking about what I was doing. I didn’t even know his name. I’d just left my entire life—again—this morning, and I was already jumping in bed with another guy.

I could turn at the next street. Chances of running into him again, even on an island this small, were slim, right? Shit. I was second-guessing.