Guarding Miranda (8 page)

Stylish leather shoes, polished to a military shine, covered feet that were indeed
big
.

Big socks, that’s all,
Miranda admonished herself.

It was upon raking her gaze back up his legs, hips and torso that Miranda realized she had been so utterly awed by his body that she had forgotten to pay attention to his face. 

What she saw there, upon looking, made her breath halt in her chest.

To say that he was
ruggedly handsome
, in Nurse Sally’s words, was a dire understatement. 

To say that he was
breathtaking,
as Lynn had insisted, was perhaps a more accurate description.

His pitch black hair was every bit as dark as her own, glossy with the sheen of health and short cropped in thick waves. 

His face was a collection of valleys and ridges, masculine and angular in a manner that was appealing to the female eye. 

His was a lean face composed of high cheek bones and deep laugh lines, a stubborn, defiant jaw and a nose that appeared to have been broken once. 

She guessed that he was in his mid-thirties. 

His lips were firm looking and very male, in a kissable sort of way... yet most appealing of all were his eyes. 

As he neared, she could tell that his eyes were the dark grey of storm clouds, with an innate darkness that seemed authoritative, though at the moment their depths seemed more friendly than stern. 

She sensed that he was a man capable of a great range of emotions, most of them earnest. 

As he smiled at her, showing an attractive flash of white teeth, she found herself smiling back, with enthusiasm.

Miranda was fascinated by her attraction to Brian, as surely as she was taken aback by it. 

Was Richard to be so easily forgotten, with the appearance of one lone, virile man? 

She shamed the memory of her former fiancé even further as she tore her glance away from his face, her gaze fell to his left hand, where she noticed there was no wedding ring. 

So far as she could tell, he was unmarried...

“Miranda,” he began, his Australian voice thick with warm recognition as he extended his right hand. “I’m Brian.  Brian Logan.”

She reached for his hand and took it in hers. 

His was so much larger, firmer, stronger than hers and yet gentle was the pressure of his hold, a grip that was reassuring, friendly.

She was amazed by the warmth of his hand and the awareness of what that warmth did to her...  A current not unlike electricity flowed through her hand, up her wrist, to her arm, numbing the crook of her shoulder. 

Her knees weakened a little at the contact.

All the while, she was staring up at his smile.

Miranda was by no means a short woman, at five feet nine inches tall but he towered over her, a looming, formidable form. 

He was the personification of male sex appeal.

Every incredible inch of him. 

She caught the scent of his cologne and decided that it was well matched to him.

An earthy, enigmatic, unmistakably male fragrance.

“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Logan.” She managed to utter this in reply and in realizing that she had been holding both her silence and his hand for too long.  She released that warm hulk’s hand as though she had been stung by it. “Australian, is it?  Your accent, I mean.”

“It is.” He grinned at her.  His dark eyes softened with amusement, as he added, “Good ear on you.” 

“Thank you.”

The scent of him was making her feel a bit... fuzzy headed. 

She remembered the first time she had smelled the combination of his cologne and body and decided to confront him on it.

In as friendly a tone as possible, she said, “You came to visit me, when I was in the hospital but you left as soon as I woke up. Why did you leave?”

He looked pained by the memory.

“I didn’t think you’d care to see a strange face, when it was family and loved ones you needed to be surrounded with.”

“Yet you weren’t on the visitor’s list,” she concluded, intrigued.

“You’re right.  I wasn’t.” His words were full of mystery. 

She took his bait.  “Then how did you get by the nurses and guards? There were two very intimidating young men perched outside my door the entire time I was there.”

“The nurses, I had to charm,” said Brian, dazzling her with another smile, “But as for the guards, I happen to be their employer.  I’m owner and operator of Logan Security and Investigations, you see.”

“I see.” Miranda intentionally breathed deep through her nares, inhaling more of his enticing scent. “Well, I suppose I have a lot to thank you for, Mr. Logan-”

“- call me Brian, love.”

“Brian, then.” She took another breath.  This time, a steadying sobering one, through her mouth. God, he smelled amazing… “They say that I would have bled to death if not for your swift action.”

Miranda watched as his mouth curled down into a frown and then wondered why it seemed as though he had to force his lips back into a smile. 

His eyes darkened for the span of a few heartbeats and then lightened. 

She wondered at the emotions crossing his face.

“Miranda, I did what anyone with First Aid would have done, that’s all.”

“Still, I owe you my life.”

“So they say.” Brian gave a heavy sigh that made her all the more curious about the brooding look in his stormy grey eyes. 

“Please know that I appreciate what you did. I really do owe you a lot.”

“Love, you don’t owe me a thing.”

His eyes had a hardened look in them now.

He seemed to be struggling with the memory of the night.

Miranda wanted to press the issue, wanted to understand his shift in mood. 

In good taste, she decided to lighten the conversation. “I’m curious – were you there for the baroque, that night?”

“The what?”

Her brow furrowed with confusion. “At Tillings Hall.  The baroque performance...”

“Uh, yes – it was, uh, wonderful.” Brian lied, though he hated having to lie to so beautiful a dove. 

Russ had already explained to him that Miranda was not to be made aware of the investigation. 

Not now, possibly not ever. 

He sighed, raked a hand through his dark tousled hair and tore his eyes away from the inviting curves of her cherry-red lips.

“Wonderful until… well, what came next.” Miranda shivered at the chill of the memory.

Brian felt his heart flood with sympathy at the sight of the frown on her sweet lips. “It’s a shame that the night had to end in tragedy.”

“Indeed,” said Russ, joining them in the living room. “Nancee says that supper is ready, so won’t you come along to the dining room?”

“Certainly.” Brian extended his hand behind Miranda. “After you, love.”

She stiffened as his hand brushed the small of her back. 

It was the same gesture Richard had used, time and again, to urge her in some direction or another. 

The likeness of the motion was enough to give her a moment of pause, made her heart lurch with longing. 

Richard.
As his name touched her mind, she was stricken with grief.
How I miss you…

Struggling to keep from crying, battling with herself to keep her senses in check, she placed one foot in front of the other and bravely made her way to the dining room, though she feared her legs might collapse beneath her at any moment. 

Miranda felt as though she were walking on rubber bands. 

Whether it was thoughts of Richard that caused it to happen or the guilt of feeling drawn to Brian or the attraction to the tall dark haired hulk itself, she couldn’t be certain.

Brian pleasantly surprised her by seating her before he himself took a seat, another gesture that was as full of chivalry as it was, similarity. 

How many times before had Richard seated her, in the same genteel manner? 

As Brian seated himself next to her, his thigh brushed hers and she started as though she had been brushed with electric current.

Her breath caught in her throat.

She felt heat rush to her cheeks, her throat.

Her mouth went dry and she hoped no one had seen her reaction to his nearness.

“Security and investigations,” said Miranda finally, finding her voice. “That must be an interesting field.”

“Sounds glamorous,” Lynn added, a sultry smile on her painted lips.

Brian gave a light laugh. “Oh, it’s not nearly as interesting or glamorous as some would think.  It has more than its share of dull moments.”

Miranda found Brian’s modesty rather becoming of him.

He turned toward her in his seat, giving her the full attention of his slate grey eyes. Their stormy depths seemed to see right through her, through her facade of cool collectedness. 

That eye contact was almost too much for her.

She felt like her every thought was being revealed to him with a single glance.

Could he see how deeply his nearness disturbed her? 

“My work?” He continued. “Loads of married couples digging up dirt on each other, a lot of Silicon Valley security detail... Lots of photos to sort through, a literal shit-tonne of paper work if you’ll pardon the expression.”

“Still, what a fascinating line of work.” Lynn piped up, from the opposite side of the table. 

Lynn propped her head upon her fist, a dreamy smile upon her pink lips.

Brian gave another small laugh and turned his gaze unto Lynn who looked apt to coo when he turned his attention on her. 

For that Miranda was grateful as the intensity of his stare had nearly burned a hole right through her.

Being near him like this was very unsettling for her. 

Exactly what it was about him that unsettled her down to her very core… she couldn’t exactly
name
it. 

But he was… unnerving.

“Fascinating?” Brian smiled at Lynn. “Tell that to the guards I have to fire for falling asleep on the job.  Not that you can blame them, at times.  Some of the work is pretty dull.  Still, it’s the principle of things that leads to some of them losing their jobs.”

“Lack of discipline in your ranks?” Asked Russ.

“Not anymore,” said Brian. “At least, not often. I find that if you make a good enough example out of a lazy few, the rest abandon suit.”

“Lynn, a hand in the kitchen, please!” Nancee called from the direction of the kitchen. “Russ, a nice chardonnay to go with the chicken, please!”

For a small woman
, thought Brian,
she’s got a rather large voice.
 

He guessed that no matter how large-and-in-charge Russ appeared to be, Nancee had the final say on the goings-on of the Gundy household. 

It was no wonder, then, that Russ didn’t want to fully disclose the findings of the investigation with her.  She would probably give him the vicious brow beating that he might even deserve.

“Is your firm very large?” Miranda asked of him, though not looking directly into his intense grey eyes.

“Well, I’ve got sixty two – no, sixty four – security guards under my employ.” Brian began, with shrug. “I don’t know – is that large?” When no one answered, he added, “I’ve three men who install and maintain security alarms full time, a secretary, Caroline and an accountant who comes to do the books at month’s end.”

Miranda gave this a moment of thought.

“So if they compose the security component of your firm, who does the investigations?” She asked.

“That would be me and a select handful of the guards trained in the specialty.” He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Curious little bugger, aren’t you?”