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As her hand connected with the doorknob, Gerard appeared in front of her. “Oh,” he said. “Sorry. I was just going to check to see if you were okay.” His gaze swept over her in a brief sweep from head to toe. “You look...okay.” He swallowed, the muscles in his neck contracting. “I’ll just leave you to finish.” Gerard grabbed the doorknob and pulled the door closed between them.
For a long moment, Bernie stared at the door, willing it to open again so that she could drop the towel and throw herself at the man.
The door didn’t open.
She dropped the towel anyway and debated whether to wear a bra or not. Usually, she didn’t wear one at night. She opted for the bra, not wanting Gerard to think she was coming on to him. Then she grabbed a T-shirt from one of her drawers and a pair of stretchy shorts. Once dressed, she stared at the door again.
If she were smart, she’d leave the door closed and go to bed, avoiding temptation.
Yeah. Well, she wasn’t smart, and it wasn’t very late. If she went to bed now, she’d lay awake staring at the ceiling. She might as well watch TV in the living room and quit fanaticizing about sex with her bodyguard.
After dragging a brush through her hair, smoothing out all the tangles, she sucked in a breath and marched for the door.
Her hand on the knob, she breathed in, held it...
A knock sounded on the door, startling Bernie.
She let go of the breath she’d just sucked in, yanked open the door and faced the man who’d been on her mind for half the day.
He grinned and held up a bowl of popcorn. “Care to watch a movie with me?”
She frowned. “Depends on the movie.” That was a lie. He was asking if she wanted to watch a movie with him. Her answer was yes. The movie didn’t matter in the least. Unless it was a horror movie with things that jumped out at them and made her have nightmares. In that case, she would have to sit quietly with her eyes closed throughout.
“It’s a romantic comedy,” he offered with a smile.
“Couldn’t you find an action-adventure movie?” Bernie asked.
“I thought you’d like to watch something light and funny to take your mind off some of the day’s events.”
“Light and funny wouldn’t keep my mind engaged. I need action, fight scenes, dodging in and out of trouble, being surprised at every corner.” She grinned. “That will keep my mind off today’s revelations.”
Gerard chuckled. “Action-adventure, it is.” He nodded toward the sofa. “Have a seat. What would you like to drink?”
“I can get it,” she said. “You don’t have to wait on me.”
Gerard handed her the bowl of popcorn. “It’s my pleasure. Just give me your order, and I’ll be right back with it.”
“I’d like a beer,” Bernie said. “I’d go for whiskey, but I want to remain half-aware and fully awake for all the action scenes.”
“Got it.” Gerard tipped his head toward the kitchen. “I hope you don’t mind that I made myself at home.”
“Not at all,” Bernie said. “Do you need help finding anything?” She started to follow him.
Gerard turned back. “Nope. I already found the popcorn and sodas. I saw beer in the fridge, cookies in the pantry and seasoning salt on the counter. What more do we need?”
Bernie grinned. “Sounds like you have it covered.”
“Find a seat, choose your poison in your favorite action movie. I’ll be right back.”
Bernie smiled as she leaned back on the couch, glad Gerard was setting expectations of a calm night, watching a movie and eating popcorn. Nothing sexual about it. Just a bodyguard making sure his client was sufficiently entertained and distracted from the day's events.
She could handle that and keep calm, cool and collected, resisting the desire to touch the man and feel just how hard his muscles were.
Her fingers tightened on the popcorn bowl, reminding her to keep her hands to herself.
Bernie set the bowl aside and reached for the remote. As she scrolled through the movies offered, she finally selected an action-adventure with a broad brush of comedy, Jumanji, with Dwayne Johnson and Jack Black.
Gerard returned with two cans of beer and a package of cookies. He laid a can and the cookies on the coffee table. After he popped the top open on the other can, he handed it to Bernie.
