Her Billionaire Bodyguard Bridegroom (3 page)

Luke held up a hand, shaking his head. “Oh, no. There’s no way I’m going there. We had a deal I wouldn’t draw details on spoiled heiresses, remember? And I know you haven’t forgotten why.”

Liz met his haunted, green-eyed gaze, her own blue brimming with sympathy. “No, I haven’t forgotten. But I wouldn’t be asking you to take on this assignment if I had any other option. I need someone who can slip into this young woman’s life undetected, and your cover as
Intrepid Explorations
’ editor-in-chief allows you to do that better than anyone else on our team. Dimitriou’s daughter works for Upwords Development. Her boss is a friend of mine, and he’s agreed to task her with creating a seminar for
Intrepid
. You’ll be in a position to stick close to her without arousing her suspicion.”

“That’s a nice plan, but you’ll have to put it into play with a different agent. Why not have Parker execute it? His cover would fit.”

Liz shook her head. “Not nearly as well. Parker’s landscaping firm has a much smaller staff than
Intrepid
. It doesn’t lend itself to a development seminar the way your magazine does. I need you on point on this one. An innocent young woman’s life is on the line. If you won’t do it for her, do it for me.”

Luke blew out a frustrated breath. His boss was well aware he was indebted to her. She was the reason he was doing what he loved.

“That’s a low blow, Liz.”

As a teen growing up in the bitter desolation of a New York ghetto, his widowed father’s drunken abuse had been as much a part of his daily struggle as the relentless gang terrorizing that had infiltrated his neighborhood. When liquor had claimed his father’s life, Luke had stepped up to care for his younger sister. He’d scratched his way through college, determined to make something of himself.

He majored in journalism, but he’d discovered he also had a knack for investments. Using that talent to parlay his limited savings into a fortune, he’d clawed his way to a life far removed from the poverty he and his sister had cut their teeth on.

He’d amassed more than a billion before his twenty-fifth birthday, but his success hadn’t left him satisfied. He wanted to do something
more
. Something that mattered. He’d been looking for that something when Liz recruited him to join her covert bodyguard agency. She offered him a chance to save lives; a chance to make a difference. He’d jumped at her offer.

Capitalizing on his journalism background, Liz helped him establish a cover career at
Intrepid Explorations
magazine. The placement was a perfect fit.

He shook his head now, looking at his boss pointedly. She’d been his rock when his fiancé had been murdered. She knew better than anyone what Tanya’s death had cost him. “You’re asking too much.”

“I’m fully aware of how difficult this would be for you.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t take this assignment. I don’t need another murder I failed to prevent on my conscience.”

“When are you going to get it through that thick head of yours that you weren’t responsible for what happened to Tanya?”

“I might as well have pulled the trigger,” he countered vehemently. “I should have realized something was wrong. I missed the signs. If I hadn’t been so blind, she’d still be alive today.”

“You couldn’t have known she was in danger. There was absolutely nothing you could have done to protect her, under the circumstances. I know you think there are parallels between Tanya and this package, but that isn’t the case. Brianna Atwood may be a newly minted heiress, but she’s by no means spoiled. She comes from a very modest background. She’s refusing any financial assistance from her father, so clearly tapping into the family bankroll isn’t on her agenda. I need someone on this assignment I have complete and utter confidence in. I want
you
on this case.”

Luke took a swallow of ice water, wishing it were something stronger. “I’m sorry,” he reiterated, the firm set of his lips telling Liz this was one mountain she wouldn’t be moving. “I’m not your man.”

“Okay,” she surrendered, disappointment clearly reflected on her beautiful features. “If that’s your final word, I’ll pass the dossier on to Parker. We’ll just have to figure out a way to make his cover work.”

She picked up the case file and began to tuck it back into her portfolio. A photograph fluttered loose and Luke grabbed the picture, catching it before it fell to the floor. He sucked in a surprised breath when he saw the subject in the snapshot.

He would recognize those blue eyes and long, ebony curls anywhere. The face staring back at him had dominated his dreams for the past two months.

“How is this woman connected to the case?” he blurted.

“Actually, that’s a recent photo of Philip Dimitriou’s daughter. She looks strikingly different from the publicity photo that ran alongside the news story, doesn’t she? She managed to elude the media when the scandal broke, and since the press couldn’t nab a picture to run alongside the article they pulled one from her college yearbook. She’s grown her hair out, and she no longer dyes it blonde.”

If Liz had sucker punched him, she couldn’t have caught him more off guard. Heather Wright and Dimitriou’s daughter were one and the same. He’d held the Reluctant Heiress in his arms and never realized it.

“I’ve met her,” he murmured, still staring at the photo. “I ran into her while I was on vacation.”

“Oh,” Liz replied. “That’s possible. Trevor has a summer home in Maine not far from yours. He mentioned Brianna had vacationed there. Why didn’t you tell me you’d met the Reluctant Heiress?”

“I had no idea that’s who she was. She didn’t introduce herself.”
At least not with her real name.

Liz’s eyes narrowed in speculation. “Well, it sounds like your encounter with her wasn’t entirely unmemorable. It seems she made an impression . . .”

“She’s a very striking young woman.” And that was the mother of all understatements. He’d lost count of the number of cold showers he’d taken in an effort to chase away the memory of their brief encounter at the lake—and the self-imposed water torture had barely taken the edge off.

He wished he could scrub her from his mind. She’d invaded his dreams nightly since that mind-blowing encounter, wreaking havoc on his carefully controlled libido. The memory of her delectable body covered in nothing but lake water made his blood rush to areas it had no business loitering in during a business meeting.

“And it’s Sentinels’ responsibility to keep her safe,” Liz reminded him. “I’d better put a call in to Parker. The sooner I appoint an agent to her, the better.”

“Don’t bother,” Luke asserted, tucking the photo into the breast pocket of his suit jacket.

“Why not?”

“Because you won’t need Parker. I’ve changed my mind. I’ll take the assignment.”

I can’t let him catch me.

Brianna ran faster, every molecule in her body reverberating with the need to escape her pursuer. Fear clawed through her, propelling her leaden limbs forward and overriding the pain as she struggled to draw in oxygen. Her lungs burned and her legs screamed in protest, but she kept running. Her life depended on it.

She didn’t need to look behind her to know her assailant was closing the distance between them with alarming speed. The heat of his foul breath on the back of her neck told her there was no way she was going to outrun him. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears as he reached out and clasped a clammy hand around her arm, jerking her back toward him. A cry of terror, fierce and primal, bubbled to her throat and catapulted from her lips.

And then suddenly
he
was there, an avenging angel shooting icy waves of fury at her attacker.

“Let her go,” he growled.

His deadly tone left no room for argument. Evil retreated, leaving her alone with the man who’d held her spellbound since they’d met in the Maine wilderness.

He opened his arms, inviting her into their refuge. “You’re safe now. Come to me,” he murmured.

She went willingly, trusting the promise she saw in his eyes. He drew her to him, wrapping strong arms around her. The circle of his embrace felt like home.

He dipped his head, his laser-sharp gaze focusing on her lips, and her heart tripped a beat before resuming its frantic pace. Attraction sparked and ignited with a fiery intensity. As his shielding hold turned seductive, she realized she’d simply traded one danger for another.

The thought should have terrified her, but it wasn’t a frisson of fear that tangoed down her spine. It was a delicious tingle of excitement . . . an intoxicating melding of heady attraction and potent temptation. She’d run from this man before, but she wouldn’t run this time. She couldn’t. Not without knowing where this was headed.

Her bravery didn’t go unrewarded. He captured her lips, melding his mouth with hers in a repeat of their first kiss that was far more impactful than its earth-shattering predecessor. His masterful tongue invaded every sensitive nook and cranny as he pressed her to his hard length, leaving no doubt as to how this encounter would end.

He slipped off her bra, freeing her breasts to the ministrations of his waiting hands. His skillful fingers teased her pebbled nipples, eliciting a moan of pleasure. He captured the errant cry with his mouth before bending to worship their peaks, his tongue tantalizing each one in turn, drawing out the sweet torment.

And transforming her.
For certainly she wasn’t the same woman she’d been only moments ago. The old Brianna never would have been bold enough to rip open a stranger’s shirt, sending buttons flying in the wake of her impatient fingers. And surely the Brianna she knew wouldn’t burn with the need to feel that stranger’s bare skin against hers while her hands trespassed all over the muscular, tanned territory she’d exposed.

The old Brianna would have jammed on the brakes, calling a halt to this insanity. Instead, she panted her encouragement while her hands journeyed downward over his chest—and lower. After undoing his belt, she unbuttoned his jeans.

Was that her husky voice, she wondered, pleading for his possession; urging him to finish what he’d started?

Her avenging angel didn’t need any encouragement. She gasped when his fingers found their way past the obstacle of her shorts to launch an intimate invasion. He was already well on his way to making good on the steamy promise behind his sensual mastery. The next cry she uttered was borne of pleasure, rather than fear.

Her own hoarse cries of sensual gratification woke her. It took a moment for her sleep-woozy brain to process that she’d been roused by the same bizarre compilation of a dream—part nightmare and part erotic fantasy—that had interrupted her sleep for the past three nights.

Ever since she’d walked in on the burglary.

She didn’t need a psychiatrist to tell her that her subconscious was working overtime. Her mind was simply blending two very different types of incidents that were emblazoned on her brain—the theft she’d interrupted at Upwords Development and the random vacation encounter with a sexy stranger that was now firmly ensconced among her fantasies.

She rubbed her eyes drowsily. Her alarm was set to go off in ten minutes. She might as well get a head start on the day.

The day, it turned out, was determined to earn a spot in the Mondays from Hell Hall of Fame. Her coffeemaker went on strike, depriving her of a much-needed infusion of caffeine. Then she went out to her car only to discover she had a flat to deal with.

The conspiracy of the fates continued when she arrived at her office and booted up her computer. There was an e-mail message from her boss in her inbox, asking her to see him as soon as she arrived. Rolling her eyes, she headed for the elevator that would take her to Trevor’s office at the top of their New York high-rise headquarters. She adored Trevor, but she simply didn’t have time in her schedule for any add-ons today. Her calendar was already groaning under the weight of an overloaded agenda.

Trevor’s receptionist greeted her when she stepped off the elevator. “Go right in and make yourself comfortable, Brianna. He’s running a few minutes late. Can I get you anything while you wait? Coffee? Tea?”

“Coffee would be fabulous, ” she enthused.

She was enjoying the delicious brew when Trevor strode through the door fifteen minutes later. The harried expression on his face told her his Monday was going about as well as hers.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” he apologized, massaging his temples. He helped himself to a cup of coffee from the service his secretary had provided before settling into his desk chair. “I know you’re busy, so I’ll get right to the point.
Upwords
has been approached by a new client, and now I’m facing a too-many-projects-not-enough-presenters conundrum. I realize you’re in the middle of preparing a customer-service seminar for Computech Industries, but I’m hoping you can break away for a bit. I need you to shift your focus to a new assignment.”

“No problem,” she responded. Despite her busy schedule, she was always eager for a fresh challenge. “Who’s the client?”

“
Intrepid Explorations
magazine. Their CEO would like to retain us to present a seminar to his staff on utilizing social media. He’d also like us to assist him with the final preparations for their annual conference.”

“That’s terrific news!
Intrepid Explorations
is one of the top publications in the country. Why aren’t you bouncing off the walls with excitement?”

“I’m not certain we can commit to the project. The timeline is tough. The conference is just three weeks from now.”

Brianna quickly ran through the logistics in her head. It would be a crunch, but she did some of her best work under pressure. She could juggle a few projects around to make it happen.

“It’s doable,” she confirmed. “You can bounce away now.”

Trevor forced a halfhearted smile. “It’s hard to get into the bouncing spirit when all I can think about is the robbery. If you’d been hurt . . .”

“But I wasn’t. And they didn’t get anything of any major value, so it’s all good.”

Although walking in on a robbery was an experience she would have preferred to miss. She’d been working after hours. Returning to the empty office building after stepping out to grab a bite to eat, she’d spotted a stream of light filtering out from under her office door. She was certain she’d shut the lights off when she’d left. She always did.