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“Annoying,” he agreed.
He strode quickly with her in his arms and she did not lift her head. He smelled of salt and sweat and, amazingly, it didn’t offend her.
A door banged open and then closed and Chandler lowered her feet to the ground but kept his arm around her. “You okay?”
“Yes, thank you.” Her voice was too prim, and she needed to lift her gaze from his muscles. He was over six feet, so even with her heels on, she was eye level with his glorious chest.
She forced herself to raise her gaze and got lost in those blue eyes of his. She knew all the Deltas had those incredible eyes, but Chandler’s had always seemed more intriguing to her than any of the other family members. They had the power to make her forget everything but him. Hypnotic eyes.
“You’ll be safe here. Security won’t let anyone into the locker room. I’ll hurry and shower and then we’ll de-bug you and make a plan.” He gave her a winning smile, released her from his arms, and hurried out of the office, shutting the door behind him. Luckily, the window had drawn blinds over it so she couldn’t see what might be happening out in that locker room.
She sat heavily in a hard chair and took slow breaths, hoping to calm her racing pulse as she fingered her jade necklace. Touching it usually calmed her, but not right now.
Chandler Delta. Holding her close. Claiming he would protect her. Her mind starting racing with visions of the two of them on the run, him sheltering her, being her hero, teasing and laughing together like they had that blissful week, stealing kisses any chance they got.
The office was suddenly sweltering hot. She fanned herself and made a firm promise. No ice cream tonight and no romance novel reading time. She didn’t need to stoke the flame of romance in her mind.
She chuckled at herself and wondered if she was going insane. Tonight she might be dead or hidden away in a closet for her own protection. She might never eat ice cream or read a romance again.
But she might spend more time with Chandler Delta. She bit her lip. He was more appetizing than romance novels or ice cream. And that was saying a lot.
ChapterThree
Chandler rushed through his shower in a daze. His head pounded from all the emotion. The past few hours had been overwhelming, exciting, and worrisome. To go from the rush of a huge win in their last game of the regular season to Kylee Seamons appearing like a gift from heaven. Then to hear that she was in extreme danger, had information about her grandfather probably being a traitor, and needed Chandler’s protection.
He’d happily protect her, even if she hadn’t asked him to. If only he knew how to not get distracted by her beautiful face and curvy shape. He’d thought when he was sixteen and she’d visited his family in Colorado that she was the most beautiful, fun, and sweet girl in the world. He’d deluded himself into believing they had a connection that would last forever. When she told him goodbye at the end of her visit with her grandparents, she’d sweetly asked him to text her. He’d told her nobody could stop him from texting and soon he’d find a way to come visit her.
His first carefully composed text that night had gotten a heartbreaking write-off from her saying he’d just been a summer fling, that she had a boyfriend back in Chicago, and to please not bug her again. It had stung for a while, but he’d been young and eventually his heart had healed and he’d moved on.
Or so he’d talked himself into believing. One interaction with the grown-up Kylee and he was right back to his teenage self, plotting and hoping he could spend the rest of eternity with her.
Comments floated around him, most of them directed at him or trying to bait him. He loved his teammates, but some of them were crude idiots.
“Delta, what’s with you and the gorgeous brunette?”
“Where do I get me a hottie like that?”
“Delta gets all the women.”
“Seriously. They’re all impressed with his huge sponsorships.”
“She has thesweetestbody I’ve seen in years.”
“She’s way too hot for the boy scout. He wouldn’t even know what to do with a woman that fine.”
Chandler ignored all of them, rushing to his locker and quickly loading up his gear bag. They loved to tease that he was a boy scout because he didn’t sleep around or a crazy Christian because he prayed before and after each game.
Speaking of which—he’d never needed communication with heaven so much.
He sat on the bench by his locker in semi-privacy, clasped his hands in front of himself, and thanked the good Lord for a successful, safe game and for sending Kylee to him, then he begged Him to know how he could help Kylee, keep her safe, and do what was best for the Detail Protection Detail and his family back home in Colorado protecting it.
Straightening, he was grateful most of the men were still in the open area or by the showers, bantering and enjoying chattering after the game.
Ty came around the corner. His dark eyes glinted. “Wow. Beautiful brunettes just falling into your arms now?”
Chandler smiled at his friend. “I’m just that good.”
Ty chortled at the line some opposing player had taunted them with back in college, when the truth was the guy’s stick was illegal and he’d been a cheap shot as well.
