Joselyn stared at her plate of scrambled eggs and bacon with disgust. She dropped her fork and pushed it away. This constant worrying she was suffering had all but killed her appetite.

She pulled her laptop out, placed it carefully on the table and pressed the start button. The whine of the fans from the aging cooling pad underneath reminded her she needed to get a new one soon. Mentally, she added a trip to the electronics store to her growing to-do list. Glancing around the coffee shop from the corner booth, she dropped her attention to the screen and attempted to lose herself in the universe of her latest novel.

A sound caught her attention, pulling her from the world she was immersed. Two rather large men stood beside her table and she barely managed to stifle a scream before recognizing one as Detective Jameson. Flicking her gaze to his companion, she realized she had never seen this one before. The detective was intimidating but he was nothing compared to the man beside him. There was something insanely dangerous about him, something she couldn't quite put her finger on. The man radiated an aura of deadly power, and she had to fight pulling away from them in defense. He reminded her of a wild animal; keep your distance and you were safe but get too close to him or his territory and you would regret it. He stood at least six feet tall with broad shoulders rippling with muscle. He had well-defined arms and a trim waist emphasized by his tight jeans. The material of his dark tee shirt was stretched tightly over his torso and tucked into his waistband. His definition was not that of a professional bodybuilder but was clearly a man who was accustomed to working hard with his entire body. His strong, calloused hands caught her attention. Her thoughts of how it would feel to have him holding her with those hands splayed against her back sent flashes of heat through her. She watched mesmerized as his right hand lifted and plucked the dark sunglasses from his face. His raven black hair was a little long but it along with his tanned face showcased some of the palest blue eyes she'd ever seen. Beneath them, she observed his straight, Romanesque nose, wide cheekbones and square chin covered in dark stubble. Either his facial hair grew quickly or he hadn't shaved in a few days. Something told her the latter must be the case.

She was floored. His mixture of danger and stunning looks made her want to dive into his eyes and never come out. As for his body, she wanted to run her hands over every ripple and dip until she could draw his form in her dreams. It seemed as if he could read her thoughts when one corner of his mouth twitched into a smile. Before she could stop herself, she licked her lips and blushed, trying to look away before he realized she had been undressing him with her mind only moments before.

"May we join you, Ms. Kendrik?"

Startled out of her daydream, she recovered and motioned toward the cracked vinyl seat across from her. "Detective Jameson, good to see you again."

Immediately, a waitress appeared at the table, eyes glued to Detective Jameson's companion sitting ramrod straight across from her. "Hey darlin', I'm Helen. What can I get for you?"

"Coffee," they said in unison.

Darting off to the counter, she returned only moments later placing two cups of rich, black brew in front of them. With a wink, she dropped a container of creamer beside. "Sugar's on the table. What else can I get you?" Her eyes were devouring the stranger with promises of what else he could easily have and not necessarily from the menu. Joselyn rolled her eyes. Helen was so cliché it was positively funny.

"Coffee is enough," Detective Jameson smiled but waved her off. With a pout upon her cherry red lips, Helen sashayed to the front with an exaggerated sway of her narrow hips. Stopping to look over her shoulder, she realized neither of the men was paying her any attention. With a huff, she pushed through the door and disappeared into the back. Joselyn snorted. She couldn't stand women who relied on blatant sexual innuendos to grab a man's attention.

Completely oblivious to the scene that just transpired, Detective Jameson took a sip of the black drink and winced at the bitter brew. Tossing in some sugar, he tried it again and nodded. Next to him, his friend took his black. She studied the man again for a moment. Even though his hair was dark instead of Viking blond, he reminded her of the old Norse legends of the Frost Giants. Cold. Impassive. Untouchable. Yes, the moniker seemed to fit him pretty well.

"Ms. Kendrik, Joselyn, I believe I owe you somewhat of an apology." Detective Jameson shot her a sheepish glance.

"Excuse me?" She frowned in confusion. "Why do you owe me an apology?"

He rubbed his bottom lip with the corner of his thumbnail and grimaced.

"Yeah, okay. Here goes," he muttered. "After you left my office a couple of days ago, I couldn't stop thinking about this whole situation and the more I thought about it, the more wrong it felt. I learned a long time ago to trust my instincts so I dug out the box of strawberries and looked it over carefully. Nothing appeared wrong, just strawberries and chocolate like you buy at the store. In fact, with Mother's day coming soon, you can find these in any grocery store in the city. It looked like a sweet attempt by some unknown person to impress someone they liked. Don't get me wrong - it's never a good idea to eat something sent to you by a stranger but it seemed innocuous enough. As I was about to drop them back into the trash, I saw it. On one of the strawberries was a little hole in the chocolate - a tiny puncture. Now, it could have been from a bubble popping when the chocolate cooled but my intuition said it was something more sinister. I sent it in to be checked and you know what they found? It had been injected with ketamine - enough to knock a linebacker down." He flashed her a pained look. "Good thing you are allergic, eh? Had you eaten it, there's no telling where you would be now or what would have happened. In a nutshell, you were right. You do have a reason to be concerned."

She gasped as her eyes widened. Having her fears suddenly confirmed should have filled her with a sense of vindication. It didn't. Instead, her heart started to pound and her hands became sweaty. Someone had tried to slip her tranquilizers. The ramifications weren't lost on her.

"Unfortunately, ketamine is extremely easy to get - the streets are full of it so there's no way to track it. I took all the evidence including the toxicology report along with your statement to my captain. While he agrees there is a reason for concern, he won't even entertain the idea it could be Douglas Beecher McClane. I even went so far as to contact the detective in charge of his case in Pensacola to ensure there is no way McClane could still be alive and kicking. He assured me - Douglas McClane is dead, without any doubt at all. So officially, it's an assault attempt by an unknown person. We have opened a file for you but otherwise, there's not much we can do until we have a concrete, non-dead name to go into it."

"Great. You agree I'm in danger but can't do anything about it. What am I supposed to do?" Her words were full of defeat. At least now he was listening to her. Too bad it didn't seem to matter, anyway.

"I asked my captain the same thing and he suggested a personal bodyguard. After mulling it over, I agree with him. You are a celebrity of sorts. Minor, perhaps but enough of one that you deserve personalized attention. You could hire a firm to take over but sometimes they are too wrapped up in catering to big name clients and smaller, less significant ones slip through their fingers. I felt guilty about brushing you off earlier and knowing what I do about the strawberries I want to make it up to you." Gesturing to the man beside him, Detective Jameson announced, "Ms. Joselyn Kendrik, meet Maddox Benson. Everyone calls him 'River'. River and I go back to my time in the military. Now, he's going to help me keep you from getting hurt. You can dismiss my suggestion and hire your own team but you can't do better than River. He's highly trained and skilled in security measures as well as personal safety."

Joselyn looked skeptical. "Help you? What exactly does that mean since I gather you aren't exactly allowed to do anything officially?"

"Yeah, about that." He looked uncomfortable. "I've been keeping an eye on you for the last week." He hurried to lift his hands. "Not in a creepy way but to make sure neither of us was paranoid." He barked out a half laugh. "Like you said, you aren't paranoid if they really are out to get you. I thought everything was fine until I got pulled into my captain's office a couple of days ago. He tells me he received an anonymous call from one of your neighbors complaining about me hanging around. I'm not sure how they knew it was me since I was on personal time and using my private vehicle. I've been told to stay away from you. He motioned to the three of them sitting at the table, "This is the extent of my allowed contact with you. Strictly a social meeting, nothing official."

"I can't believe one of my neighbors tried to get you into trouble. Our neighborhood is very quiet and people mind their own business. It's one of the reasons I purchased a house there." Joselyn protested.

He leaned forward and lowered his voice. "Joselyn, I'm pretty sure it wasn't a neighbor. Because of my gut feeling, I've ignored orders and kept an eye on you anyway."

The Frost Giant glanced at Henry and raised an eye. Henry ignored him and continued.

"Then something happened." Henry continued. Pulling out his cell, he fiddled with the buttons before turning the screen toward her. She took it and concentrated on the screen before letting out a gasp of dismay. There was a picture of a dark blue sedan sitting in what was obviously a parking lot. Four words were written across the windshield in red.

The Rose is mine.

Joselyn felt a chill race up her back and the phone dropped from her nerveless fingers.

Henry caught it and slid it into his pants pocket. "I found that little love note on my car two days ago. My car, Joselyn. The writing matches the note left with your strawberries. Whoever this guy is, he has big brass balls to vandalize a car sitting in the parking lot at the precinct. In my book, it makes him either certifiably insane or undeniably stupid and neither sits well with me. Unfortunately, until this nut job makes a move against you and we catch him at it, we can't do anything. My hands are officially tied. But I refuse to stand by and let you get hurt by this sick bastard. I spent too many years in too many hell holes preventing the dregs of society from performing unspeakable atrocities against their fellow man to let it go. Not happening, not on my watch. So I found someone who will be able to stick with you while I work the official channels. I trust him with my life but most importantly, I trust him with yours. Will you accept my suggestion? Will you let River keep you safe?"

It was all too much to take in at one time. Later, when she had time to digest this pile of information thrown at her, she would have the mental breakdown she deserved. But for now, she simply nodded. "Okay."

His shoulders relaxed as he reached over and patted her hand gently. "Good. Try to not worry about things and let River take care of you. He's is a good man and I wouldn't have him here if I didn't believe in him. Listen to him, he won't do anything to hurt you." Henry stood and gripped his friend on the shoulder. "I'll be in touch." He turned and strolled out of the door.

Her new bodyguard was in the military? No wonder he seemed both protective and dangerous. She studied him for a moment as he stared at her with an unreadable expression on his face. "So..." she said nervously.

He stopped her with a slash of his hand. "Ms. Kendrik, let's get this out of the way. Bull and I served together in the Navy. He's a brother who I will do anything for so when he called, I came. He briefed me on the situation on the way here about the threat to your life. That is the only reason I am here. I am to ensure you have the best security possible. I saw the way you looked at me and I can guess what was going through your mind because I've seen that look before. Forget it. My concern begins and ends with your safety. Period. I'm not here to be your friend or your confidant. I have no interest in finding out anything about your life other than what is strictly necessary in order to keep you safe. You are a job and I am a means to an end. When this creep is taken care of and I'm no longer needed, I will be leaving. Therefore, whatever romantic notion you are entertaining about us, forget it. Listen to my advice, do what I say and you'll come out of this unharmed." He slid the sunglasses out from the neck of his shirt and pushed them on his face. "With that out of the way, and if you are ready, I need to evaluate the security of your environment. The sooner I get a grip on things, the better." Standing, he waited beside the table, feet shoulder width apart and hands clasped behind his back. He raised one eyebrow at her as if to say, Well?

White hot fury washed over Joselyn like a tsunami. How dare he lump her in the same category as Helen, the waitress? He made it perfectly clear in his little diatribe what he thought of her and this whole insane situation. Yeah, her life was pretty craptastic at the moment and perhaps she was guilty of having a few improper thoughts but that didn't give him the right to say such harsh things to her. She was the one being pursued by a deranged stalker. All she did was to perform her civic obligation and serve when called. He was military. Surely he comprehended performing a duty, so was it too much to ask for a little understanding? The tiniest bit of kindness? But no, here she sat, gawking at an impenetrable wall of muscles and bad attitude. Her first impression was right. He was a Frost Giant. Right now, she was too ticked off and way too exhausted to address his rude comments but she would soon. The only reason she wasn't sending his rather impressive butt packing was that Detective Jameson vouched for him. She was tired of being scared and on edge all the time. Straightening her spine, she glared at him and closed her laptop. With a quick shove, she pushed it into her bag and stood. Tossing the strap over her shoulder, she swayed when the overstuffed satchel pulled her off balance. River's hand shot out to steady her and she yanked away from his touch angrily. "I'm fine," she hissed. Tossing a wadded up ten on the table, she lifted her chin arrogantly and stormed toward the door. Although she didn't look behind her, she knew the Frost Giant followed.

She didn't want to admit it but she already felt safer.

* * *

River's eyes were glued to the gentle swing of the most perfect rump he had ever had the privilege to watch. Okay, he admitted it, he was a butt man, and damn if Joselyn Kendrik's derriere wouldn't make a monk sit up and take notice. Dark wash jeans stretched over her perfect heart shape bottom, cupping it gently as she sashayed out of the room. Letting his gaze travel slowly upwards, he took in her hourglass shape, dainty shoulders and graceful neck. Long hair the color of spun honey caught in a hair elastic thing making a high ponytail touch the base of her neck. Once it was down, he knew it would spill over her shoulders and brush the tops of her perfect breasts. Up until now, he had always favored brunettes but her color of blonde called to him. When she looked up at him from that corner table with those big whiskey brown eyes, he felt a twinge of desire. She was breathtaking! Forgoing the layers of makeup that most women seem to favor these days, Joselyn's natural beauty took him by surprise. Until that moment, he would have sworn that he didn't like freckles but now they were his favorite adornment. Realizing it would be difficult for him to adequately keep his mind on his duty and not on her, he steeled himself and denied the growing attraction. Damn it! He couldn't get involved, not when the object of his infatuation was in trouble and needed all of his faculties to keep her alive. Bull had sent him copies of all the files. He had his telephone app read the information to him on the thirty hour trip from California. After all she had been through, there was no way he would subject her to more groping and pawing. His eyes followed the beauty sauntering in front of him and growled. His harsh monolog had been for his benefit as much as for hers. He needed to nip the obvious mutual attraction in the bud before it had a chance to take root. An angry Joselyn would keep him out of her thoughts which, in turn, would make his job easier. He could do this. No, he would do this because the alternative was not acceptable. He would protect her with his life. It may not be Douglas McClane stalking her but whoever it was would not get his hands on her.

Suddenly, Joselyn stopped in front of him to pull the door open. He stepped to the side, grabbed the handle and held it for her. She looked straight forward, marching through the door and onto the sidewalk. He followed, his eyes again dropping to examine her rear. He couldn't help but grin. Tamping down his libido, he buried his attraction and took in their surroundings. Time to get to work.

She stepped off the sidewalk and into the lot where he had met Bull earlier. Weaving through the cars, she stopped quickly. River barely avoided bumping into her. Taking a step back, he forced himself to sweep the area again rather than concentrate on Joselyn as she bent over to retrieve a key ring she dropped. He bit back a groan. Fate hated him. There was no other reason for the torment he was currently suffering. Forcing Joselyn's beauty from his mind, he looked past her to the little silver smart car she was currently unlocking.

Oh, hell no.

"Uh."

Whirling around she slammed her fists onto her hips and stared at him. "What?"

Even in that defensive stance, she was just so adorable. Clearing his throat, he gestured toward the tiny car. "I will never fit in that thing. Lady, I have boots bigger than your tin can. We'll take my truck and I'll ask Bull to send someone to pick yours up."

"No can do, Mr. Benson." Twirling around she slid onto the seat and slammed the door. Cracking the window slightly, she called out. "You can follow me to my house or you can get the address from Detective Jameson but I'm leaving now in my baby. Stay or go, whichever you prefer."

He opened his mouth to argue but she glared at him, rolled up the window, shoved a pair of dark pink sunglasses on her face and started the car. He snorted at the wimpy whine the hybrid engine made and shook his head. Something told him she would follow through on her threat to leave him behind, so he quickly jogged to his black Ford F-250 truck. Opening it with the fob, he slid in, buckled the seatbelt and started the engine. River realized it would look a bit childish but he couldn't resist revving his motor. For some perverse reason, he found a certain satisfaction in the eye roll Joselyn shot him. Surprisingly, she had waited for him. Motioning for her to lead on, he pulled behind her, followed her out of the lot and onto the road. He chuckled. This was not at all what he had thought his first job out of the Navy would be but he couldn't complain. Since his "office" came with a daily view of Joselyn, maybe retirement wouldn't be so bad after all.