Page 6 of Lethal Bodyguard Summer

What was I doing?

Looking for a distraction to keep my mind off work was one thing, but now I was stalking her.

Fuck.

I sucked in a deep breath and squinted against the sun through my shades. The waves in the distance called to me like a siren to a pirate. It was fair to make sure she got back to her sister’s house safely, so that’s what I would do. Go there, make sure she was okay and that she’d found her sister, and then I’d go home and grab my board.

I turned my head, waiting for the traffic to move. The light had changed to green, but it was bumper to bumper with no room to turn.

I scanned the crowd on the boardwalk out of habit. That’s when I caught sight of Aria near The Salty Spoon. The line already snaked past the front windows and the wall of missing flip-flops. She stood there for a few seconds like she was considering joining it, then shook her head and turned away, shoulders tight and restless energy pouring off her. She looked like someone trying to outrun her own thoughts.

I threw the gearshift into reverse, parked along a neighborhood street, and hurried to the boardwalk. Even with my sunglasses on, I squinted against the midday sun. She’d been right there, and now she was gone again.

I strode through the crowd with purpose. There, she was moving through a thicker crowd headed toward the pavilion. She veered toward the water. A man in a dark baseball cap and plain clothes closed the distance between them. He seemed…out of place. Not dressed for the beach.

He reached for her arm. She jerked, already twisting to pull free, and his voice carried just enough for me to catch it over the crowd noise.

“Don’t make this harder than it has to be, Allie.”

Allie? The name registered, but I was too focused on him trying to force Aria to go with him. That wasn’t happening. Not today. Not on my watch.

I closed the gap in six strides and caught the wrist of the hand pulling on her. If there was one single bruise on her… The guy swung toward me, and I stepped inside it, using his momentum to slam him hard against the boardwalk railing. It rattled under the impact, knocking the air out of him.

“Who are you?” My voice was low and flat. Instead of answering, he lunged forward, knocking Aria to the ground and pushing into the crowd. I let him go and turned to Aria, helping her up.

“You okay?”

She nodded once, too fast, then shook her head. “He called me Allie. My sister. He thought I was her.”

The protective instinct that hit me in that moment had nothing to do with a job and everything to do with the woman in front of me. It landed harder than I expected, and I didn’t like how personal it already felt.

“Come on,” I said. “We need to move.”

She didn’t argue as I got her to the Jeep, then scanned the street one more time before pulling away from the curb. Aria sat in the passenger seat with her arms wrapped around herself, staring straight ahead.

“I went to her house first.” She broke the silence after a few blocks. “She wasn’t there, and her house…it was torn apart. Was it like that yesterday when I stopped by and decided not to go in? Was she in there, needing help, and I left and went to abar?” She shook her head, and a quick glance in her direction devastated me. A single tear tracked down her cheek. “I didn’t know where else to go so I came into town. Tried to get lost in the crowds. I just… I need to find her.”

“You will.Wewill.” I turned my gaze back to the road and made my voice steadier than I felt. “But you can’t go back to her place, and everything will be booked solid. Maybe...” I pulled the Jeep into the Dune Garden Inn on the outskirts of town. They had cottages on the beach that were always booked up, but sometimes the ones closest to the street were still available.

Hopping out, I hurried inside.

There was a teenager chewing a huge wad of gum behind the counter. Her tag said her name was Stella.

“Hi, Stella. Got any cottages left?” I glanced over my shoulder through the glass door to make sure Aria was still there. She’d already snuck off on me once today.

“Nope. Sorry. Booked out for the next three weeks at least.” She popped a bubble. “Can get you in then, though.”

“No, thanks,” I said and left. I got back in the Jeep and turned to face Aria.

“No luck here, sorry. It was a long shot. Look,” I said, taking her hand in mine. “You can’t go back to your sister’s house. It isn’t safe. I know you probably don’t want to come home with me after last night, but Icankeep you safe. It’s what I do.”

She looked up at me. Uncertainty and fear and the need to escape all warred in those depths. “Why?” Her voice was soft, but the word dropped between us like an anchor hitting the ocean floor. “Why would you help me? You don’t even know me. If it’s because we hooked up, you don’t owe me anything.”

Because a man tried to kidnap you right in front of me, and it scared the shit out of me. But I couldn’t say that. Because for the first time in a long time, the need to keep someone safe felt like more than just my job. I couldn’t say that either.

I shrugged and went with my gut. “Why not? You need help. I can give it to you. Here’s the thing, though: You have to follow my lead. Deal?”

I let go of her hand and started driving again.