Bodyguard/Husband (7 page)

“Sure you will. I mean, that’s what you guys do, right?”

His fingers lightly brushed her cheek. His eyes softened. “You better believe that’s what we guys do.”

The warmth of his hand went all the way through her. She had an urge to lay her cheek against his strong wrist, but she resisted. “Thank you,” she said.

He raised a brow. “For what?”

“For being straight with me. For explaining things to me. I’d rather know what to expect than be kept in the dark.”

He smiled, barely a movement of his lips, but she could see the ice melt in his eyes.

“There goes that need to be in control again.”

She laughed softly and shrugged.

He reached to turn on the water in the sink and groaned quietly.

“Move over, gimp.” She nudged him out of the way with her hip. The casual touch was like flint striking rock. It sent sparks dancing across her skin.

“I’ll take care of the dishes,” she said quickly. “It’s after midnight and you need to put heat on that shoulder. There’s a heating pad in the top drawer of the
chest in the guest room. We have to be up early tomorrow.”

“Early? Why?”

Holly turned toward him, her hands on her hips. “Because the whole town is probably going to be on my doorstep at daybreak to check out my new husband.”

Jack grimaced. “Small town,” he said.

“Small
southern
town,” she retorted. “Jack?”

He’d started toward the bedroom. He stopped and angled his head. “Yeah?”

“I don’t know how to act with you. What are we supposed to do?”

His gray eyes sparkled as he grinned. Her heart fluttered. The transformation was amazing. His whole face lit up and his harsh features turned devastatingly handsome. She tried to focus on what he was saying.

“We’re supposed to be married. So act like a newlywed. Remember, it’s
me
he wants. His purpose is to keep you pure, by killing those who threaten your purity.”

“You keep saying ‘he,’ as if you know.”

Jack nodded. “Serial killers are virtually one-hundred-percent male.”

“S-serial killers?” She started to shiver.

“Go to sleep. We’ll go over to the police station tomorrow. I want to see the originals of those notes.” He lifted his hand as if to touch her face, but instead he backed away and headed down the hall.

Holly stood there, his words echoing around her like a disembodied voice in a horror movie.
Stalkers. Serial killers.
How had her life gotten to this point?

“Oh, by the way.”

She jumped. Jack stood in the doorway, his face planed in shadow.

“I put my stuff in the guest room, but I’ll be sleeping with you.”

Holly’s throat closed up. Shock and panic raced each other through her body, all the way to the tips of her fingers and toes.

“You’ll what?”

“We can’t take the chance that your stalker might see anything that would tell him we aren’t sleeping together. We’re pretty sure he has access to your house. So everything must point to a happy newlywed couple. You have a king-size bed, don’t you?”

Holly nodded slowly. She felt paralyzed. A vision of him in her bed, tangled in her sheets rose before her eyes. The inside of her mouth tasted like cotton and a thrill of something that felt a lot like fear streaked through her. She realized she was still nodding, and stopped.

Jack looked amused, which would have infuriated her if she’d had any room for more emotion.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll stay on my side of the bed. I’m an honorable man.”

J
ACK DIDN’T ENTER
Holly’s bedroom until he was sure she would be asleep. He’d walked through the house, turning off the lights, checking the doors, listening for any sound that might indicate that the stalker was watching. With the house completely dark, he peered through the living room blinds at the street, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

When he eased open the door to Holly’s room, the candles he’d lit earlier illuminated her bed like a pale spotlight. Her eyes were closed, her face relaxed in
sleep. She looked young and untouched by the worries of the world. Her hair was spread across her pillow and one hand rested near her cheek.

Her innocence and beauty made his throat hurt. He stepped over to the window and peered through the blinds he’d closed earlier on his inspection of the house. He made a mental note to remind her to leave them closed.

He wondered as he blew out the candles what she’d thought about them. He’d lit them to lend a romantic glow to the room, so whoever might be watching from outside would see what was expected from a new husband and wife on their first night home.

He sat down on the bed and looked at the gold wedding band on his finger. It felt odd. He’d never worn a ring, and this one had bothered him all day. He twisted it, considering its symbolism. Although this marriage was only a cover, although he was Holly’s husband in name only, he was sobered by the meaning of the vows he’d taken and what the ring represented. He’d vowed to honor and protect her, and he would do that with his life.

He lay down, acutely aware of the woman beside him, her soft breathing the only sound disturbing the silence.

He’d never had a long-term relationship with a woman. He’d never thought much about the rest of his life, but he’d always assumed he’d live it alone. Somehow tonight, that thought was not comforting.

He shifted, trying to relax his tense muscles. It had been a very long day, and from what he could tell, it was going to be a very long night. His shoulder ached, but that wasn’t why he was wide awake. The image of Holly lying there, her face and arms golden in the
candlelight, her hair spread over her pillow, was still burned into his retina like the afterimage of an explosion.

It was no leap to imagine being over her, his body molded to hers, bathed by her dark amber gaze as she opened herself to him. He threw an arm over his eyes in a futile attempt to stop the vision, and controlled his growing arousal by sheer force of will.

What the hell was wrong with him? He had never reacted sexually to a victim before. To him, stalking victims were to be protected, not lusted over.

Grimly, he recited the Code of Federal Regulations and ran his thumb along the smooth surface of the gold ring until he finally went to sleep.

Monday, June 23

“So the chase takes up one’s life, that’s all.

While, look but once from your farthest bound

At me so deep in the dust and dark,

No sooner the old hope goes to ground

Than a new one, straight to the self-same mark.”

Yes, love. Although at first a rage burned within me when I saw another defiler had turned your head, a new hope was born in me when you looked out your window into the darkness and saw me there, watching you. I watched as he forced you to close the blinds. You cannot come to me yet, I know. But it is still me you really want. Until then, my dearest love… “So must I see, from where I sit and watch.”

H
OLLY RAN ALONG
the early morning streets, lifting her face to the breeze that evaporated the sweat from
her skin as she stretched her gait and found her rhythm. It wouldn’t be long before the south Mississippi air became as hot and suffocating as a sauna, but this morning it was invigorating. Green overhanging branches along the boulevards shaped sunbeams into pixies that danced on the ground around her feet as she ran. The air smelled faintly of honeysuckle and gardenias. The streets were quiet as the little town of Maze began to wake up.

But inside Holly, a huge argument was raging. When she’d woken up this morning, she’d been shocked to find Jack in bed beside her—until her sleepy haze evaporated and she remembered.

He was sound asleep, his thick eyelashes resting against his tanned cheeks, his hair mussed as if he’d been restless in the night, his breathing soft and even.

She’d watched him for a few minutes, fascinated by the beauty of his face and body. He couldn’t be considered traditionally handsome, his features were too strong. But the curves and planes of him were harshly elegant, like the stark beauty of an untamed desert.

She’d almost touched him. The urge to trace his features, to slide her fingers along the sinewy muscles of his arm was almost irresistible.

How was she going to sleep in the same bed with him? His presence reminded her of how safe she’d felt with Brad beside her. And how lonely a bed could be.

She almost stumbled over a crack in the sidewalk. Taking a deep breath she admonished herself.
Pay attention. Concentrate on the rhythm of the exercise.
There was no future in dreaming about waking up with Jack at her side. When all this was over, he’d be gone.

Deliberately, Holly concentrated on her pacing, and
on the familiar houses and streets she passed. But it was all different today. A curtain fluttering in a window; Mr. Parr glancing up as he swept the sidewalk in front of his barbershop, a shout echoing through the early morning air. All sorts of things she’d never paid attention to before today seemed ominous, because she knew a stalker watched her. The thought that there was a killer living among her circle of friends and neighbors brought terror to her heart.

As she turned down Spring Street, she heard a car behind her. That wasn’t unusual. Several of her neighbors went to work early. She always waved at them as she ran. She kept jogging, waiting for the car to pass and the driver to wave, but it stayed behind her, its engine whirring and the smell of exhaust tickling her nostrils as it slowed to keep pace.

She glanced around quickly, but all she could see was a dark blur. With the hairs on her neck prickling and her pulse hammering, Holly lengthened her stride, preparing to sprint the rest of the way to her house.

Suddenly, tires scraped against the curb and a horn blared.

Holly jumped and almost lost her footing. She felt the heat from the car engine against her leg.

“Hi, Holly,” the driver said, rolling his car window down.

“Stanley!” Holly breathed deeply to stop the runaway pounding of her heart. It was just Stanley. He worked for the University of South Central Mississippi, on the Buildings and Grounds staff.

She propped her hands on her hips and waited for her breathing to return to normal. It irritated her that she was so jumpy. “You scared me. What are you doing on this side of town so early?”

Stanley’s blue eyes skimmed her face, his plain, even features lighting up as he grinned at her. Holly relaxed. Stanley had always looked after her, walking her to her car at night after her aerobics classes, making sure there were fresh towels, helping her put away equipment.

“I’m so glad you’re back. The ladies in your aerobics class are complaining about Coach Jones.” He pushed a big-knuckled hand through his brown hair.

Sharing his laughter at the thought of Betty Jones, the women’s basketball coach, leading her elderly aerobics class, Holly brushed damp strands of hair off her forehead. “Betty is disciplined, to say the least. I’ll be there tomorrow night.”

He nodded. “Good. Your ladies will be happy. Everybody missed you while you were gone. I heard a rumor, Holly, that you—” He stopped as his gaze slipped past her.

Holly followed his gaze. Jack was coming toward her, a coffee mug in his hand. Her heart fluttered at the sight of him. He sported a smile, but she could see it was forced.

“Good morning, sweetheart,” he said with false cheerfulness as he came up beside her and kissed her quickly. “Who’s this?”

Holly made herself link her arm with Jack’s. “Stanley, this is Jack O’Hara, my husband. Jack, Stanley Hanks. He takes care of the gym at the university.”

Stanley nodded, his grin noticeably absent. “Hi, Jack. Nice to meet you. Well, I’d better go. It’s good you’re back, Holly.” His car pulled away from the curb.

“How the hell did you sneak out of bed without me hearing you?” Jack demanded as Stanley drove away.

She stared at him. He was dressed in crisp khaki pants and a white shirt. His hair was damp and combed, and his face was as dark as a thundercloud. How could he look so handsome and so angry at the same time?

“Good morning to you, too,” Holly said to the back of his head as he turned to watch the disappearing car.
“Dear,”
she added pointedly.

“We agreed that you would stick close to me.”

“No. You
decreed
that I would stick close to you. We didn’t agree on anything.” Holly blotted sweat from her brow, thinking about the irony of their conversation. “And I didn’t sneak out of bed. You were obviously exhausted, because you were so sound asleep, a train wouldn’t have woken you.”

“The fact remains that you shouldn’t be out here alone,” he muttered.

“You’d better be careful in public,
honey.
Mrs. Ross will have it all over town by noon that we had our first argument right in front of her house this morning.” She smiled and waved in the direction of Mrs. Ross’s front porch, where that gray-haired lady stood ogling them.

“This isn’t a joke.”

Holly took a deep breath. “I know it isn’t a joke. But if you want to be inconspicuous, you’re not doing a very good job of it.”

“I’d rather not attract attention, but that’s not my first priority. Your safety is. Listen to me. You cannot go out alone. The killer could be anyone. You could’ve run past him this morning without even realizing it.” He gestured in the direction Stanley’s car had gone, still scowling. “It could be that Stanley guy.”

She stared at him. “Stanley?” She looked down the
street, then back at Jack. “Stanley is sweet. He adores the little old ladies in my elderly aerobics class.”

Jack looked at her sidelong. “From the way he was looking at you, I don’t think it’s the little old ladies he adores. Why wasn’t he on your list?”

“List? Stanley? I’ve never dated Stanley.”

Jack’s sharp icy gaze studied her. A memory flashed through her brain, and she felt her face turn pink.

“Okay, he took me to the prom in high school, but that was only because Brad had injured his ankle. Brad told Stanley to take me so I wouldn’t miss the dance.”