Chapter Eight
Cruz steeled every muscle and prepared to pounce. Blood coursed through his veins — blood and rage — and his heart drummed. Who was trying to break in to Jody’s place?
It was exhilarating — as exhilarating as anything since his Special Forces days. Which was strange because he wasn’t fighting for his country right now. He was just protecting a woman he barely knew.
Just? his inner tiger growled. What do you mean, just?
That feeling of rage was unusual, too. He usually operated in a calm, professional way. The last time he’d gotten anywhere near as worked up was—
He gulped. That was back when his family had been killed.
Out of nowhere, a memory flashed through his mind — Jody licking the blood-red smoothie off her lips. God, I feel like a vampire.
She’d been joking, but it had brought back all kinds of doubts. Like the fact that the villagers near the scene of the crime had blamed vampires and shifters for the heinous crime. Of course, they would have said anything to absolve themselves, but…
Cruz flexed his fingers while watching the door handle jiggle. If he didn’t watch out, his nails would turn into claws. Jody was definitely getting under his skin. The instinct to protect her was as strong as the instinct to avenge his family.
She’s getting under our skin in a good way, his tiger murmured.
Every move she made, every word she uttered sent tingles through his weary bones and shooed back the darkness framing his soul. Just the way she tossed her hair and looked at the sky made him want to look up and check for shapes in the clouds.
Look, it’s a rocket, he remembered his dad saying one quiet summer day a long time ago when they’d stretched out side by side.
I see an elephant, he’d replied.
His sister had called it a snake, while all his brother had found were sheep. But it didn’t seem to matter because it was just for fun. Fun, like Jody.
She was definitely getting under his skin, bringing back good memories to dilute the bad. Making him smile from time to time. He’d already taken to listening for the quiet jangle of her bracelets and the soft sound of her step.
Give us a couple of days, Silas had said to Jody.
Cruz took a deep breath. In a couple of days, he would be in way over his head with this woman. Even now, her wild rose scent teased and taunted him, and the soft timbre of her voice did all kinds of titillating things to his soul.
Why is that a bad thing? his tiger demanded.
Because it could never work. Because he hated humans. Because he lived in a world of darkness while she inhabited a sunny universe of hope and light.
He worked his jaw. First, he’d kill whoever it was behind the door — unless, of course, it was housekeeping, though he really doubted it — and then he’d figure out how to keep himself immune to Jody’s charms.
With hate? With fear? His tiger growled.
Cruz scoffed. He wasn’t afraid of anything.
Not even of falling in love?
Someone whispered behind the door, dragging his focus back to the intruder. Little clicks sounded as a code was tapped in, and a man pushed the door open. In a flash, Cruz grabbed the man’s wrist and sent him sprawling. By the time Jody yelped and the guy on the floor groaned, Cruz had the second, bigger man thrust face first against the wall.
“Whoa,” the big guy protested, though his words were slurred, given that his lips were mashed against the wall.
“Richard?” Jody squeaked at the man on the floor.
Cruz did a double take. Who the hell was Richard? He glanced over to where the first man lay. A tubby guy with a polyester Hawaiian shirt who smelled of stale cigarette smoke. A guy he recognized from somewhere.
His tiger growled. It’s Slimeball.
“You know this guy?” he grunted.
Well, of course Jody knew Slimeball. He’d seen them talking at the Kapa’akea resort.
Jody made a face aimed more at Slimeball than him. “He’s the product manager for the photo shoot.”
“Call the police, Jody. Quick,” Slimeball urged, rolling away from Cruz.
Jody stuck her hands on her hips. “Sure. I’ll call the cops and tell them you and some hoodlum broke in to my unit.”
“We weren’t breaking in. We had the code.”
“And how exactly do you have that?”
The woman was even more beautiful when she was angry. Cruz grinned in spite of himself.
“We were checking on you,” Richard protested. He stood slowly, keeping his hands up.
“You and who are checking on me?” Jody glared at the second guy, not the least intimidated by his bulk.
The man’s muscles twitched, and Cruz tightened his grip, giving the guy a clear message he’d better not budge.
“Me and my bodyguard,” Richard said.
Cruz nearly laughed. The guy he had against the wall might have muscle, but he lacked reflexes and the most basic training.
“Your what?” Jody screeched.
“My bodyguard. I nearly got shot last night.”
“Wait a minute. I was the one who nearly got shot last night.” Her words cut off before she could tack asshole on to the end.
Slimeball wiped his sweaty brow. “I’m not taking any chances.”
Cruz’s blood boiled. “What about Jody?”
Slimeball looked around, confused. “What about her?”
If Jody hadn’t given Cruz a look of warning, he would have punched the man there and then.
“What about Jody’s safety?” he repeated, grinding the words out.
A burning sensation registered in his eyes — the first signs of a telltale shapeshifter glow — and he blinked hard, trying to wrestle the rage back. That was a losing battle until Jody touched his arm, making his broiling emotions settle down again. Cruz blinked as a new image popped into his mind. Instead of picturing the carnage he’d like to wreak, he saw beams of sunlight breaking through the trees on one of those perfect afternoons in his patch of jungle on the estate. The wild pumping of his heart slowed down slightly, and his fists unclenched.
He took two more breaths then opened his eyes — on Jody.
Wow. Her eyes are so blue, his tiger cooed. Like the sky in summer.
Cruz almost forgot where he was until Slimeball spoke, breaking the magic spell.
“I swear I was going to get Jody a bodyguard, too,” Richard said.
I bet, Cruz thought.
“Don’t need one,” Jody barked.
Richard scowled and jerked his thumb at Cruz. “Oh no? Who is this guy?”
A sly grin flitted over Jody’s face and she crossed her arms. “Maybe he’s my bodyguard.”
The way she emphasized my made Cruz warm, totally distracting him. It wasn’t until a second later that he processed her words and went wide-eyed. Her what?
“No, seriously,” Richard protested. “Who is he?”
Now Jody really looked pissed, and Cruz was, too. Their eyes met, and his mind spun. She was serious. She wanted him to be her bodyguard.
Say yes. Yes! his tiger cried.
But that meant sticking with her, night and day, for as long as it took to find the gunman and close this case. That meant sniffing her intoxicating scent. Watching her graceful moves. Listening to her cheery voice. That meant feeling things he wasn’t prepared to deal with.
It meant betraying his family, too. Letting a human into his heart.
No, it doesn’t. It means living. Maybe even loving, his tiger whispered.
“When did you have time to find a bodyguard?” Richard demanded.
Jody glanced at Cruz with an expression that said, He found me.
His heart skipped, and his tiger whispered inside. I didn’t find you. Destiny led me.
Cruz swallowed hard and answered Jody’s unspoken question with a tiny nod. Yes, I will be your bodyguard. Even if it kills me.
He shoved the big guy against the wall in warning then let go and stepped forward. He bristled, forcing Richard to step back — way back. “Like she said. Her bodyguard.” And just like Jody, he left off the asshole at the end.
Jody stared as if she hadn’t expected him to take her up on the challenge, and in a way, that hurt. She hadn’t expected him to do the decent thing. Hell, he hadn’t expected it either.
So, damn. Just how much of a shithead had he become in the past couple of years?
Jody stuck an accusing finger at Richard. “What exactly are you doing here?”
“Like I said — checking on you. Making sure you’ll be ready for the photo shoot.”
Jody’s jaw fell open. “You’re kidding. I got shot at yesterday, and you want to go ahead with the next session?”
Richard shrugged. “The show must go on, baby.”
Not your baby. Cruz could see the retort flash over Jody’s face.
Richard shuffled closer, and Jody’s nose wrinkled. “In fact, we’re ready to go ahead this afternoon. Unless, of course, you want me to sign the contract over to someone else, along with the paycheck. How would you like that?”
Jody’s face became a tight, angry mask.
“How would you like the paycheck to go to someone else, huh?” Richard goaded. “Someone who could help their sister or mother or whoever—”
“My mother is dead,” Jody said in a totally flat tone.
Cruz whipped his head around. He knew the pain concealed in Jody’s even voice. He knew the feeling of a hole in his heart and the regret of so many important things left unsaid. Words like I love you and Thank you and Sorry for everything I put you through as a kid.
See? his tiger said. Humans mourn, too.
Richard flapped his hand. “Whatever. The point is—”
Cruz’s vision went red. Whatever? He stalked forward. “Now you listen to me—”
“I got this, Cruz,” Jody hissed, clenching her fists.
He glowered at them both. “No photographs today. Period.”
Richard was too terrified to protest, but Cruz could see the gears move in the man’s mind. He would come up with some sneaky way to force Jody to pose — that, or he’d fire her.
“Tomorrow,” Jody said, stepping between them. “I think a day is reasonable, don’t you?”
Richard made a face. “The big boss wants results, and she wants them soon.”
Cruz leaned forward. She? Was that Moira?
“We need to make a splash ASAP and get this campaign in the news. Especially since these two-bit island cops refuse to let me hold a press conference. We can’t even get any mileage out of last night.”
Between two-bit island cops and mileage, Cruz was ready to snap. Dawn, his buddy Hunter’s mate, was an island cop, and she was a damn good one. And as for getting mileage out of an attempt on Jody’s life…
She touched his arm, and he took a deep breath.
“Two days,” Cruz snarled at Richard. “Minimum.” Then he locked eyes with Jody. “As your bodyguard, I insist.”
Just saying the word made his tiger want to roar loud enough for folks over on the Big Island to hear.
Her bodyguard. Hers. Finally, you’re catching on.
Jody’s expression started out steely and grim, but the longer they stood there, the softer it became, and all kinds of emotions Cruz didn’t know he possessed stirred and rumbled inside.
“Two days,” Richard grunted. Keeping the wall at his back, he slunk toward his hired thug and the door. “Tuesday at noon. If nothing else, it gives me more time to arrange for that damned jewel.”
Cruz’s ears perked. Maybe that was a good sign. If there’d been some complications obtaining the jewel, that might mean it wasn’t a Spirit Stone being drawn out by the others.
“Be ready at noon — or else,” Richard snapped. “I’ll call you with the location. And you, idiot,” he snapped at his bodyguard, “are fired.”
Cruz wanted to shove them both out the door, but he refrained, if only barely. He settled for closing the door with a thump and faced it for a moment, getting his shit together again. Then he turned and—
Jody’s shoulders were slumped. She stared at the too-busy pattern of the rug, and her hands knotted tightly. Even right after being shot at, she hadn’t looked so unhappy. Like a bird with clipped wings staring out from a cage. His heart ached just seeing her like that. He reached for Jody’s hand the way she’d reached for his when he needed it.
A moment later, she tossed her hair, back to her usual self.
“Asshole,” she muttered, glaring at the door. She stuck her hands up quickly. “Him, I mean. Not you.”
In spite of himself, Cruz grinned.