HER BODYGUARD
Curvy Women Wanted, 8
Sam Crescent
Copyright © 2017
Chapter One
“Checkmate,” Lucas Evans said, smiling at the frustration on Kate Swanson’s face.
She wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “You’re cheating somehow!”
“You just can’t play chess. No matter how many times you demand we play.” He watched as she rubbed at her temples. Her waist-length raven hair was pulled into a ponytail, and her usually perfect brow was marred with the confusion of what she’d done wrong.
He’d been with Kate for over a year now.
She had to be one of the few celebrities he could stand. Her beauty knew no bounds, and he found her to be one of the nicest people he’d ever met.
She was a pop and ballad singer. She’d burst onto the scene when she was only eighteen, and they’d called her “the plus-size talent.” Her curves hadn’t disappeared with her success like many claimed would happen.
In fact, he’d seen her love of food, even when her managers tried to get her to go on a diet. Still, she was an inspiration to young girls because of her confidence. She was for the many, not just for the few. He’d been by her side, watching as she signed autographs and listened to her fans. Unlike a lot of stars he’d worked for, she knew her success was due to those who listened to her songs. She had all the time in the world for them.
The problem was, there was one person who wanted a lot more than just a signed autograph. They wanted her. Lucas didn’t agree with her team that the threats came from a crazed fan. The wording, the anger, the rage—it all spoke of someone hating her. Like Kate had somehow taken something from them, but Lucas couldn’t figure out exactly what. Delving into Kate’s background because of the threat, he couldn’t find anyone who’d want to kill her. Of course, he could find people who were jealous, but that didn’t always make people send out death threats.
“You break the rules. It’s a silly game. I mean come on, when in the whole world should a character be allowed to go diagonally along the board? It’s total BS.”
He smiled.
No matter how many times she got angry about playing chess, she always demanded a rematch. Her determination won him over every single time.
He also knew she only ever wanted to play to take her mind off something. Out of all of the people around her, he was the only person she allowed to get close. She trusted him, but then she paid him a lot of money to take care of her.
He was her bodyguard. This hadn’t been the only job he’d ever done. After serving his country, he’d retired, and found protecting others was his calling. He ran a security firm that employed a lot of men from the service who didn’t want to go back to run-of-the-mill jobs.
When he’d taken the job, he’d expected to work with a brat. What he got was a woman that set a fire within him, and it was a flame they’d both been walking around for the past year.
She rubbed at her temples, a clear sign that something was bothering her.
“You don’t have to perform,” he said. “You can cancel.”
“It’s not about performing. I can do the job … it’s everything else.”
He reached out, taking her hand, seeing how vulnerable she was. “Talk to me.”
She stared at him with tears in her eyes. “I’m scared. My fans, they mean the world to me, but I’m scared.” Her free hand played with the scar on her side.
Lucas knew that was where the person had gotten her. Before he’d gotten called in, death threats from a suspected crazed fan had been bombarding her every single day with letters and the promise of hurting her because of everything she’d done and taken from this person.
Again, he didn’t believe it was a crazed fan, but he couldn’t for the life of him think of who would hurt her. Whoever it was, wanted to destroy her. They wanted to take everything away from her, and to make her suffer.
To him, this was personal, and he didn’t understand it. The letters were always computer written, with a lot of spelling errors, which to him only showed the anger and rage even more. They didn’t care. All they wanted was their own problems solved. He didn’t think this was just a fan. This was something more, but everyone ignored his warnings purely because who would want to hurt Kate? He couldn’t prove who it was either.
Kate had been with her fans, laughing, taking selfies, when they’d completely swamped her. The guard who’d been with her had gotten cut off, and during those few seconds, someone had pushed a blade into her side. What happened next was one of the worst security jobs he’d seen. There had been way too many people in one space, and the cops that were there to control everything had taken too long to get the place locked down. He knew it had been easy for people to leave, which pissed him off. There was no way they’d talked to everyone there. People had left the moment Kate collapsed, and the police had never found the knife either.
With so many people there, no one stood out. All of his security detail had said it was chaotic. He wasn’t impressed.
Lucas had seen the footage plenty of times trying to figure it out. He’d analyzed it for hours, and had his own crew look over it, just for a chance to catch the person who’d put her life in danger.
Nothing. There had been too many fans in a small space. If he’d been on her security detail, he wouldn’t have let her enter the fucking arena before they got shit under control.
“I won’t let anything happen to you, Kate.”
She nodded. “I believe you. You’re always taking care of me, Lucas. Even playing lame games of chess.”
“I enjoy it.”
“Yeah, and I bet it makes you feel all big and powerful because I don’t exactly pose much of a challenge.”
“You hold your own, sweetheart. Make no mistake about that.” He squeezed her hand, but he didn’t release her. He wasn’t ready to let her go.
She nibbled her lip, and once again he saw the nerves.
She’d been a star since ever since she opened her mouth on her eighteenth birthday, when TV cameras had been rolling through town for a local event, and she’d been caught on them. Everyone wanted to know who that girl with the amazing voice was. She’d rocketed to stardom.
Lucas loved her music. Long before he got this job, he loved listening to her. There was a richness in her voice that called to a part of him.
Watching her perform, knowing her, listening to her, he knew deep down that she yearned for something. She didn’t even know what it was, but he did.
Kate wanted, craved, needed passion.
Her yearning for it could be heard in the songs, with the way she carried herself. The sensual sway of her hips, the flick of her hair, the nibble of her lip.
She took a deep breath and released his hand. “Thank you for staying up with me.”
“It’s a pleasure.”
They shared the same hotel room. He refused to be anywhere else but by her side. That’s what he’d agreed to a year ago. At first her team had tried to keep him away, but he showed them the footage that had gone viral. It displayed how easy it was to get to her, and also to remain hidden.
No one argued with him.
The nightmares she once experienced had lessened over the past few months. Hearing her terrified screams cut him deep, but he always made sure he was there, holding her.
Kate would never be alone again.
****
The crowd went wild like it always did as Kate finished off her latest number one. She loved singing and loved to perform. Even though she loved to do it, it hadn’t been her childhood dream, but she wasn’t ungrateful, and would always be thankful to all of her fans.
Being called fat all of her life, she had no doubt that there were always prettier, more slender women that suited their mold. She certainly wasn’t it, and yet here she stood. When she’d picked up the microphone and begun to sing seven years ago she had no idea anyone watched her.
All she wanted to do was to bring some excitement back into the town. Not only had it brought excitement, she’d gotten a record deal out of it, and since then had been in much demand.
Her set finished, she took a little bow, offering them up a smile knowing Lucas was just behind the curtain. If she tilted her head, she’d see him, and knowing he was there offered her a great deal of comfort.
Giving a wave, she left the stage, and he was there, pulling her into his arms. He was her personal bodyguard, but he’d also become so much more to her.
He was her best friend, and what embarrassed her even more, she’d developed a crush on him. No, more than a crush. He played the starring role in her fantasies.
She tried to steer clear of relationships. Over the years she’d seen many friends who thought they’d found love only to be betrayed a few months later.
Kate didn’t want a kiss and tell story about her, so she steered clear of romantic attachments.
At twenty-five years old she was still a virgin, and no other man had ever gotten her all hot and bothered like Lucas.
“You were amazing. You ready to go?”
“Yes.” She gave him a smile, and they made their way out of the building. The press were there, and the other guards that he always seemed to have around, which helped her to feel safe. He’d been there the moment she woke up at the hospital, asking her questions. Her team had hired him tentatively, but she’d been the one to make the final decision.
Once inside the limousine, she rested her head back against the seat, aware of his thigh pressed against hers.
She found the smallest things a turn-on, and she noticed so much. His touch at the small of her back. How he always seemed to be there. Whenever she had a bad dream, he’d hold her throughout the night, chasing the darkness away.
The partition was up, offering them privacy, and because the event was just a small one, she hadn’t brought her entourage with her. Her privacy meant a great deal to her.
“You were amazing,” he said.
She turned toward him, noticing his green eyes, which reminded her of summer grass. The suit he wore emphasized his physique, the hard, muscular chest, wide shoulders, and at the cuffs of his arms she got a glimpse of his ink, which he kept covered when they were out.
Many nights she’d lain awake, staring at his tattooed body, wishing she could trace a finger across all the different designs.
Not once did she cross that line, afraid to do so.
He cupped her cheek, and there was no way to mistake the tenderness in his gaze.
Staring at him now, feeling his touch, something … changed. She couldn’t stop looking at his lips, wondering what they’d feel like pressed against hers. His thumb traced along her cheek, and heat flooded between her thighs.
She placed a hand against his stomach, noticing how hard he was, and she quickly pulled back. He wouldn’t let her go.
Even as she tried to pull away, he held her still. She didn’t fight him, not once, as she craved his touch more than anything else.
Kate spent so much time working, going from one tour to another, releasing one album then another, that she’d not had a chance to do anything else. Her body was her own, virginal. Her fear of her life being splashed all over the papers had held her back.
No one made her feel like Lucas did.
“Tell me what you want,” Lucas asked.
He was twenty years her senior, but she didn’t care.
“I can’t.”
Lucas smiled, but it wasn’t with humor. No, this was something more, something far more sensual. “We’ve been skirting around each other for some time now, Kate. I’m a professional all the way. You’re going to have to tell me what you want.”
She licked her lips, afraid to say it, scared in case he laughed.
Would he laugh?
“Tell me what you want.”
“I want you,” she said, closing her eyes, afraid of what she might see. She’d never felt so immature in all of her life, and she frowned. This wasn’t what she wanted, not at all. Opening her eyes, she stared at him, determined not to give up or to hide what she wanted.
His thumb moved across her lip, stroking. “I love your lips. They’re so plump. You have no idea how many times I’ve imagined them wrapped around my cock, sucking me.”
She gasped, and her gaze stayed on him. Had she heard right? Did he really mean that?
Her nipples hardened, pressing against the front of her dress. She preferred to wear a bra, but the fashion experts always took over, telling her how to dress. So the bra stayed off, and the dress was somehow secured so that her tits weren’t showing.
“Does that surprise you, little one?”
“I’m not little. I’m not even young.”
“You’re young to me, but I know there’s a lot more going on inside your head. Tell me, Kate. What is it you want?”
She licked her lips, afraid once again.
“Tell me. Whatever you say will stay between us.”
“Is it some kind of client privilege?” she asked.
“No. It’s between friends, and I don’t tell secrets or stories. I never have.”