Me, on the other hand, want to find love. I just haven’t found the right one. But now when I do find someone I’m interested in, she’s an internet-famous client, which goes against the bodyguards’ oath. Besides, I can’t compete with the famous people she’s been hanging out with in her posts—movie stars, musicians, pro athletes. I definitely can’t compete with them.
“I’ve checked the perimeter.” I clear my throat and maintain a professional demeanor. “And I contacted the local police department—they haven’t found any leads on the suspect.”
“Do you think he’ll come back?” She lowers herself onto the couch, her arms clutching a pillow tightly to her chest.
I don’t want to scare her by telling her, statistically, that the suspect always returns to the scene of the crime. It’s an adrenaline rush for them. But I also don’t want to lie to her. “That’s why the town hired me. I’m here to protect you.” My hands itch to pull her into my arms and tell her I’ll never let anyone hurt her. But she’s not mine to comfort. “I’ve secured the perimeter. Do you mind if I take a look around inside?”
“No, of course not.” She sets the throw pillow on the couch, then stands, giving me another look at her adorable Calvin and Hobbes pajamas. They’re not the cute, cuddly cartoon characters from the comic. These are the naughty characters who pee on everything. I wonder if now is the right time to tell her I have a tattoo of Calvin on my bicep—not Hobbes, only Calvin. “Let me show you around.”
She leads me through her rental house. It’s a decent size for a beach house, with all the usual furnishings. When we get to her bedroom, it’s a whole different story. The bedroom is decorated in dark black leather and deep crimson red, almost like a cliché sex room, with a giant bed in the middle of the room and black silk sheets.
I can’t stop my mind from conjuring up a vision of Kat lying on the bed naked with the silk sheet draped strategically over hercurvy body, hiding the good parts, but giving you just a hint of the promised land.
I pull my gaze away from the massive bed and look at Kat, and there’s a soft tinge of pink staining her cheeks as she glances between the bed and me. “Can you walk me through the events that led up to you finding the man in your bedroom?”
“There’s not much to tell.” She wraps her arms around herself, a telltale sign she’s trying to protect herself as she relives the break-in.
“Just start with what you can remember.”
“I only arrived in town yesterday. I wanted to take a few sunset shots over the water to post. I must have been in a hurry and forgot to lock the sliding glass door.” Her eyes flick to the door in question, which leads out onto a deck attached to the beach. “It was so relaxing to sit on the beach that I stayed longer than expected after sunset.” She turns her gaze back to me. “When I got back to the house, all I wanted to do was take a long, hot bath and go to bed. But when I walked into the bedroom, he was standing there with his hands in my underwear drawer, touching everything. I was so startled that I started screaming. He escaped out the sliding glass door, and my neighbors rushed over.”
It all makes sense now—the couch with the pillow and blankets, Kat still in her pajamas at one o’clock in the afternoon, bags under her eyes. The trauma of the break-in in her bedroom and the intruder touching her underwear—she’s shielding herself from last night’s events.
“So you don’t think he touched your regular clothes, just your underwear?” I keep my tone professional, but that doesn't stop the image of Kat wearing only a small scrap of lacy underwear.
Stop it. She’s been through enough. She doesn’t need you to go all pervy on her too.
“No, only the underwear. My closet door was still closed, and nothing looked out of place when the police officers questioned me last night.”
“Okay, since this is still an active crime scene, we can’t stay here.” Technically, we can—I already cleared it with the police this morning. But I don’t want Kat to have to stay here where she obviously feels uncomfortable. I pull my phone from my pocket and scroll through a list of places to stay in the area, and I find that the Dune Garden Inn still has a few one-bedroom seaside cottages left. It will have to do for now. I click the reservation and book us a cottage before turning my attention back to Kat. “Get changed and pack what you want to bring and leave the rest. I’ll take you shopping to replace the rest before we check in at the cottage.”
A look of relief crosses her beautiful face before she nervously blurts out, “I’m coming to the cottage.”
“Really? Quoting Heated Rivalry now too?” I tease, causing her face to turn a pretty shade of pink.
“I should probably confess, I say crazy things when I’m nervous.”
I’m not sure why I do it. I’m on a job, not a date. But I lean down, looking her right in the eyes, “Do I make you nervous, Kat?”
“Yes.” She whispers, her warm breath caressing my lips.
“Then I’m doing it right.” At her sharp intake of breath, I step back, knowing I crossed the line. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be.” She smiles, and all the earlier wariness in her expression is gone. I realize that keeping my hands to myself is going to be a lot harder than I ever imagined.
three
Kat
Shopping for underwear withJude is more fun than I thought it would be. Watching his face turn red with every barely there pair of panties I hold up to get his opinion is the best entertainment ever. It’s really taking my mind off the break-in and my lost underwear.
I try to be conservative with my spending since Jude had already threatened me after I told him I was going to buy my own underwear. But every time I glance at something I like, Jude instructs the store clerk to add it to my ever-growing pile of undergarments.
His eyes almost pop out of their sockets when I pick up a sheer pink babydoll nightie and robe set, then hang it back up. Out of the corner of my eye, I see him pick it up, along with a matching black set, and hand it to the clerk. For a bodyguard, he’s acting more like a boyfriend.
“Oh, my God! It really is you, A New Kat-itude.” Two teenage girls rush over to me, using my online nickname.
“Hi. Yes, it’s really me. I’m in town to post about all of Sunbreak Harbor’s best features.”
