Page 8 of Brooding Bodyguard Summer

Only he goes still suddenly. His mouth is gone from my throat. His warmth moves away. The illicit touch between my thighs is gone. I blink, wondering if I am waking from a fantasy. No, he is there, still close, yet so far away it makes my chest ache.

Because there is something in his eyes as they stare down at me. Something distant. I’m new to wanting a man, to wanting his touch, his mouth on my skin, his hand between my thighs, but I am not new to that look. It’s the same look everyone else in my life has when they realize what knowing me, what being close to me could cost them.

Neko shakes his head, his jaw ticking. “You cannot put yourself at risk just to piss me off.”

Just like that, everything in the back of the SUV shifts. The little space between us grows as wide, as deep as the Grand Canyon. The warmth of his mouth, the heat of his touch, the softness in his eyes, it is all gone in a flash. It’s replaced by indifference that cuts me deep.

I am not upset—I am furious.

As soon as the SUV rolls to a stop, I am stumbling from it. I do not even care if we’re home yet. Fortunately for my need for theatrics, we are. I storm up the stone walkway, running from him for the second time in just days. I cannot even look at him because I am terrified of what I might see.

Even if I have no idea how this works, how flirting or dating or wanting someone should work, I am sure he is doing it wrong. You don’t touch someone the way he touched me just now and then stop. You’re not supposed to turn someone on then flick a switch and turn off right before their eyes.

“Miss Noemi we’re not going to break the rules again,” his words follow after me as I reach the front door. “I am not here to play games with a little girl. I am here to protect you. To ensure you stay safe, stay alive.”

Whirling to face him, I cross my arms as I huff. “You're impossible! Do you even have a heart in that big body of yours or was the removal of it what makes you so good at this job?”

“Oh, I have one, it just happens to be worthless, Miss Noemi,” he replies, stepping forward to open the door, gesturing politely for me to go inside

I brush past him, catching the faint scent of soap and cedar that belongs entirely to him. I linger in the doorway just long enough to glance back, searching his eyes for even a flicker of warmth, a crack in the armor, a sign that maybe his heart is not as worthless as he claims.

“I apologize for being foolish back there,” he goes on cooly, not giving me an inch. “It is late, please go to your room while I secure the grounds.”

“You can’t keep me safe from yourself, Neko,” I challenge before I do go inside and up to my room where I pout like the spoiled little girl he sees me as.

Chapter Five

Neko

I am all about rules and parameters, I never go astray.

That is, at least, until I snuck into the bedroom of a beautiful young woman I have no damn business wanting the way I do. From that very first night watching her sleep, wondering what she dreamt about, hoping she stayed oblivious to the danger threatening her, I have forgotten all about rules.

It’s been just over a week since I took this assignment. It feels like a lifetime. I cannot get enough of Noemi. Of her laughs, of her teasing, of the way she sways her ass and flutters her lashes at me. That flip of her hair when she turns to look at me, the bite of her full, pink lips. Fuck, this girl is going to be my ruin—and I fucking welcome it.

“Did you hear me, brother?” Atlas’ voice barks, bringing me back to the present.

“Yeah. Yes I did. Thank you. I appreciate you always coming through,” I call back through the phone, though my focus is not at all on the call we’re finishing up.

Atlas did some of my dirty work for me. We had no idea who was stalking Noemi when I took the assignment. I could not protect her from a threat I did not understand. With a little digging, Atlas gave me plenty of information about who I am up against.

“His name is Vance,” Atlas continues, the sound of him blowing smoke from a blunt coming through the other end “Former intelligence, specialized in asset management. Your girl’s father hired him three years ago to oversee her personal security.”

My jaw tightens so hard my teeth ache. “How long has he been tracking her?”

“Since her father fired him eight months ago,” Atlas replies, with a huff. “Vance didn't just step over the professional line; he erased it entirely. He decided his firing was a test setup by her father to keep them apart.”

I set my phone down to skim through the data he sent over. Vance might be good, but we’re better. Atlas cracked his computer, his phone, every bit of his digital data. To call what I’m looking at a fixation is an understatement.

I trace the edge of one particular photo. It is her at that bar I took her to, when she tried to make me jealous. Well, tried and fucking succeeded. I was livid when that loser put his hands on her. But this is even fucking worse.

He was there, watching her. Stealing moments of her beauty. That dress she has on there, she wore for me. To drive me fucking nuts. It worked, of course, and it clearly did a number on him too. I am livid that I was so taken by her that day I somehow missed him in the shadows.

Can I protect her from someone who got so close? I broke my first promise to her. To be fair, she did everything she could that day to distract me. Only it is my job not to get distracted, not to take the bait no matter how sweet the trap she sets.

If I cannot protect her from myself, how can I protect her from someone wanting her as badly as I do?

“She doesn't even know who he is. There was nothing between them,” I lament, rage and jealousy weighing my words.