“I still don’t understand why anyone would want to hurt me,” Delaney said the following morning when she walked into her great room.

Ethan stood with his broad back to her, staring through her floor-to-ceiling panoramic windows at the view. “The why doesn’t matter as much as the who,” he said, still looking outside.

She doubted he was enjoying the way the sun glinted through the golds, reds and pine needle greens in the forests dotting the Crazy Mountain range. He seemed perpetually at alert from the moment she’d first laid eyes on him.

After Monty had confirmed the brake lines had been cut, she couldn’t deny needing the big man’s protection. Ethan had driven her back to her mountain home, then commandeered the room across from hers.

She’d spent the better part of the night tossing and turning. Mostly, worry prevented her from sleeping. But partly? She couldn’t stop thinking about the big man assigned to protect her. It had been a long time since a guy hadn’t been overwhelmed by her star status. That intrigued her.

And it had been an even longer time since she’d found herself curious about a man who couldn’t be more different from her. Though he did remind her of her three older brothers with his intensity. All of them had gone into the military to serve their country. Each one had protected her from bullies. Now Ethan stood guard over her to protect her from an unknown enemy.

“I made you coffee,” she said, approaching him.

He turned around. “Thanks,” he said gruffly. “You didn’t have to do that for me.”

She handed him the cup. “Easy enough to do.”

His fingers brushed briefly against hers when he took it. A strange thrill shivered through her skin. If he weren’t so taciturn, blunt, she’d consider him attractive in all the right ways.

Delaney stifled a frustrated sigh. He was in her life to stop a madman, which made him rough for all the right reasons. Cooperate. Let him do his thing. Then you’ll get your life back.

She shot him a sidelong glance. Ethan, despite staying up late into the night, didn’t look tired at all. While she, on the contrary, still felt like death in a skillet. Something a strong shot of caffeine would cure. And a laugh or two with some good friends would help take the sting out of what happened during the last twenty-four hours.

“Well. If that’s all you need,” she said. “I’d like to head into Eagle Rock to meet the girls for breakfast at the diner.”

“It’d be a lot easier to do my job if you didn’t gallivant all over the place.”

The memory of her Jeep crashing into the stand of trees flashed. Her stomach rolled and even the coffee cup she cradled in her hand couldn’t warm her ice-cold fingertips. “I realize that, but I can’t just hide here and wait for some crazy jerk to come after me.” She took a sip, regarded Ethan over the cup’s brim, and waited for the hot liquid to eradicate the fear chilling her to the bones. “I don’t want to feel like a prisoner in my own home. Then whoever is after me wins. Besides, no one here has anything against me. It has to be someone in LA with a grudge.” Eagle Rock had been her stomping ground a lot longer than she’d called Los Angeles home, and her friends, the people she’d grown up with, knew how hard she’d worked to achieve her dream.

“The accident happened here. In these mountains.”

“But anyone could have cut the brake lines—maybe even in Bozeman at the dealership where the Jeep had been serviced.” She couldn’t allow herself to believe anyone who’d known her since she’d been a kid would hurt her.

He held her gaze. “You could have been killed yesterday.”

Another flash of fear shot bile into her throat. Swaying, she clutched her stomach and swallowed hard. “I know, but I…” Air whooshed through her ears, making her dizzy.

In an instant, Ethan’s arm snaked around her waist, steadying her. “Easy now. You’ve had a shitty night,” he said. “A lot to process. You’re taking on too much too soon.”

He sounded so gentle, so kind, she almost forgot why he was with her, holding her. She wanted to lean into his muscular chest and give into his strength. She wanted that and more. Oh, what would it feel like to be in his arms for all the right reasons? No. She didn’t dare go there. Getting out of her house and going to the diner had been her feeble attempt to escape being alone with her super masculine, sexy bodyguard.

“You’re right,” she said, extricating herself from his embrace before she did something really crazy that ran along the lines of acting on her desire to lick the skin at the base of his throat and taste him. She definitely needed to get out of her house. “I’m afraid, but as long as you’re with me, I know I’ll be safe at the diner. That’s why I’m paying you. To protect me.”

He held her gaze with his chocolate brown eyes. Eyes that could melt a girl’s panties if they were focused on her during a long, hot and steamy night. But the intention in his gaze screamed all business, nothing more.

“I’ll take you to the diner. Maybe we’ll get better cell phone coverage there,” Ethan said, raking his hands through his military cut short black hair. “I haven’t been able to touch base with Hank or the sheriff since we got here last night.”

Awareness threaded through her, and she couldn’t help staring at his big hands. Oh. What those hands could do . . . Quickly, she stifled the vision of his palms gliding across her naked skin and touching her everywhere, but not before her very naughty nipples pebbled into hard points. “Great.” She turned from his scrutinizing gaze, then walked toward the kitchen before he changed his mind and before he caught sight of her physical reaction. “We’ll head out right away.”

Normally, she wasn’t into brawny, alpha macho men. She preferred men who saw her as an equal, capable of taking care of herself. This situation had forced her to hire Ethan, but she wasn’t about to start acting on the desire She only needed him to guard her from her stalker while the sheriff and Hank’s team ferreted out the bastard. Feelings didn’t have a place here no matter how much he made her tingly all over.

* * *

Forty minutes after Delaney convinced him to take her to Eagle Rock, Ethan parked his SUV in one of the open spots in front of Al’s Diner—the only spot to get a decent meal for locals and any tourists who happened to pass through the small Montana town. After exiting the vehicle, Ethan and Delaney wove through the trucks, jeeps and other mud covered four wheelers filling the lot. He kept one hand at the small of her back, guiding her while scanning the terrain for signs of trouble.

Two people moved in front of them, one with a camera in hand, bulb flashing. “Got a moment to talk about yesterday’s accident?” a reporter asked, thrusting her mic into Delaney’s face before Ethan could cut in front of them.

Shit. No one knew about the wreck except the Brotherhood Protectors, their wives, Monty, Kerry Ann, and Delaney. Every hair on the back of his neck stood up and adrenaline spiked along his nerves. “Who told you about that?” he asked, closing the space between him and the reporter. “It’s not common knowledge.”

“Ah. Well.” The reporter blanched. “Her agent let it slip when my partner at the e-zine caught up with him in LA.”

He ground his teeth. Laurence Fucking Hunter didn’t deserve Delaney’s trust. The dude definitely wanted extra publicity, and that made him suspicious as hell. Was it likely that her agent had set the entire accident up as a stunt? Ethan would relay his concern to Hank and the sheriff as soon as they got away from the reporter.

“There’s nothing to tell,” he said. He wanted Delaney inside and undercover at Al’s Diner. He held an arm up to shield her.

Unrelenting, the reporter peppered Delaney with more questions. “How did you manage to stop from sliding off the mountain? Was anyone injured?”

“Thankfully, my personal assistant and I walked away without a scrape other than some bruises and this slash of red from the airbags. Fortunately, we know these mountains well and I’ve been taught to deal with emergencies of this nature,” Delaney said calmly. “Is there anything else you need to know before I go in and order my favorite breakfast?”

“Yes. Just one picture, please.

“Of course.” Delaney flashed a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, Al’s famous blueberry pancakes are calling my name.”

“Absolutely,” the reporter said. “Come on, Sandra. Let’s get this to our editor.”

“Jesus. How in the hell do you do it?” Ethan said, guiding her to the diner’s entrance and opening the door.

She stepped inside. “Do what?” she asked.

“Live in a fishbowl.”

They walked toward a booth located at the back of the room. “Price of fame,” she said, sliding into the booth to sit next to Kerry Ann. “One I’m willing to pay every time I cash my paychecks.”

“What happened?” Swede asked as Allie moved closer to his side.

“Ran into a reporter and her photographer outside.” Ethan stood next to Delaney’s side of the booth. “Her fucking agent tipped off the press about the accident last night.” He faced the front entrance, his alert meter on high.

“Are they still out there?” Kerry Ann asked.

“Hell no.” Ethan jerked out his cell phone and quickly texted Hank with the latest development. “Got rid of them.”

“I bet that wasn’t easy. Delaney never disappoints her fans or the press even if it’s to her own detriment,” Kerry Ann said.

“It was easier with Ethan by my side. Just had to answer a few questions and give them a photo op.”

“Good grief,” Allie said. “You deserve your privacy.”

“I have boundaries, but sometimes it’s better to give the press a little rather than letting them speculate. Besides, Kerry Ann and I have a lot of tricks up our sleeves when it comes to dealing with them.”

Florescent lights buzzed overhead. The clink of silverware against crockery competed with the conversations filling the air along with the shit storm pinging in Ethan’s brain. His hip hurt like a son of a bitch, but he bit back the pain.

He shot Swede a look. “I just finished texting Hank with the information. I want every resource the Brotherhood Protectors have access to on our side,” Ethan said. “The sheriff needs all the help he can get right now.”

Swede nodded. “Good move.”

“Why?” Delaney asked.

“He might have arranged last night’s accident.”

“Not Laurence.”

Kerry Ann shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I agree with Ethan. Laurence has a lot to gain by getting you any and all exposure.”

“But he goes out of his way to save spiders,” Delaney said. “I doubt he’s responsible.”

“The man may not want to do his own dirty work,” Ethan said. “Doesn’t mean he doesn’t have the balls to pay someone to do it for him.”

“Guys, Laurence is not a criminal.”

“Maybe not. But he is an opportunist.” Kerry Ann sipped her coffee. “Remind you of anyone else we know?”

Ethan caught the sudden stiffening of Delaney’s shoulders and her nostrils flared. “God. John Pace. What a jerk,” she said. “I still can’t believe he did a tell-all interview about our so-called relationship after what he did to me before the prom.”

“I can,” Kerry Ann said. “But you showed him.”

“Wait a minute,” Ethan said. “You said you didn’t have any enemies. Sounds like John Pace is a problem.”

“More like he used to be a problem.” Delaney waved to the waitress who came over and took their orders. “He did the whole promposal deal. I accepted. He was the hottest guy on the football team, and I didn’t exactly have a stellar social life.”

“What happened?”

“He stood me up the night of the prom.” She released her napkin and turned her cup over onto the saucer when the waitress returned with the coffee pot. “Real cliché but welcome to my life. Then fast forward five years and he’s selling his story about our high school love affair to whoever will buy it.”

“How’d you stop him?” Ethan asked.

“Easy,” Kerry Ann said. “I beat him at his own game with the truth. Made for some great publicity, and Delaney’s female fan base completely identified with her after we released the story.”

“So, you made yourself an enemy.”

“I guess you’re right,” Delaney said. “But considering he’s doing time in the Gallatin County jail for robbery, I doubt he’s your man.”

“I’ll verify that before I take your word for it,” Ethan said as the waitress delivered Delaney’s breakfast. “You said you didn’t have enemies, but you do. Is there anything else you’re not telling me that I can’t find when I run a Google search on your name?”

* * *

“Not really,” Delaney said, stabbing her blueberry pancakes with her fork, trying not to think about the possibility of Laurence hiring anyone to put her life in danger. She failed. “I’ve been accessible from the get-go of my career. There’s nothing you can’t find out about me on the Internet.” Except, maybe, her deepest secrets but they had nothing to do with being rich and famous. No. They had everything to do with being poor and ashamed.

Allie gave her an understanding look. “John Pace was and is a jerk. He thought he was all that and a bag of chips when we were in high school,” she said. “But you know what they say about people who peak too soon. They fall hard.”

“Truth. Once we got our diplomas, everyone went on to live their own lives, but he didn’t have the academics or the talent to get a scholarship,” Delaney said after swallowing a mouthful of pancake.

“Everything went downhill for him after graduation. And all his mean shit came back to bite him in the butt,” Kerry Ann added. “But I still hate that he hurt you and tried to use it against you later on.”

“It happened a long time ago,” Delaney said. “I’m over it. And being successful is the best revenge, right?” She injected a laugh into her voice, wanting to lighten the mood despite everything that had happened during the last twenty-four hours.

She also didn’t want to relive her high school years. Only Allie and Kerry Ann knew some of her secrets. Delaney wanted to keep it that way. After all, her acting skills had been born out of necessity. Why let everyone know how much the teasing hurt when it would only lead to more of the same? So, her friends didn’t know the extent of Delaney’s humiliation. Or how painful it had been to be the butt of other people’s jokes just because she had to come to school in thrift shop clothes and charity issued backpacks.

Outside, she could see the reporter and her cameraman still standing across the street along with a small film crew. A shiver traveled down her spine and the food in her stomach congealed. “I might have to fire Laurence,” she said. Her agent had negotiated many amazing projects and deals for her. And she owed a lot of her early stardom to him. But even if he wasn’t behind the accident, he’d crossed one line too many by leaking it to the press. She needed people she could trust surrounding her, especially now.

“I’ll take care of them,” Ethan said, cutting into her thoughts.

She snapped her head around to look at him. The determination along with the hint of understanding in his answering gaze transfixed her for a moment. There was more to Ethan than his tough, no-nonsense exterior. The sudden realization thrummed through her nerves, created a desire to learn more about the man who’d be spending his days and his nights with her for the unforeseeable future.

“Scoot over,” Kerry Ann said before Delaney could answer. “I’ve got this.”

“You sure?”

“They’ll leave once they figure out there’s nothing more to report here,” she said matter-of-factly. “Take your time, and I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Thanks.” Delaney moved to let Kerry Ann out and her back brushed against Ethan’s chest. A frisson of heat traveled through her, replacing ice and fear with longing and desire. She struggled to find her tongue before she made a fool of herself in front of everyone. “Don’t worry about paying for breakfast.”

Kerry Ann’s lips thinned ever so slightly. “There’s no need,” she said after an infinitesimal beat of silence.

“I know, but I want to.” Her friend had never wanted for money, but it gave Delaney pleasure to be the one treating instead of accepting.

“Okay. Sounds good, but the next latte is on me.” Kerry Ann turned on her spiked heels, made her way to the diner’s entrance and stepped outside.

The blast of cool air following in her friend’s wake obliterated the fire burning through Delaney’s veins. She stared at her half-eaten breakfast, then sighed. “I think it’s time to head out,” she said. No point in staying longer than it took Kerry Ann to get rid of the press. “How about we catch up after things settle down, Allie? Maybe meet up at White Oak Ranch or the Blue Moose Tavern?

“Sure thing,” Allie said, then she and Swede scooted out of the booth. “We’ve got errands to run in Bozeman anyway.”

“Sounds good. And let me pick up your breakfasts too.”

“Thanks,” Allie said, holding Delaney’s gaze. “It’s going to be all right. Ethan won’t let anything happen to you. Hank only hires the best.”

“I know I’m in good hands.” Once again, the image of those big hands sliding over her body popped into her brain and heat flared low in her belly. “We’ll talk later.”

“Absolutely.”

As Allie and Swede walked away, Delaney gestured to the waitress to come over, giving the teenager her credit card without even looking at the bill. She desperately needed some time to regroup. Oh, how she longed for a moment not to be on. Mostly, she needed about five, maybe ten minutes to hide where she didn’t have to pretend she wasn’t upset, scared, and freaked about whoever was out there trying to ruin her life.

“I’d like to freshen up before we leave,” she said after signing the bill and leaving a generous tip.

“You’re not going to the bathroom alone.”

Her pulse ramped up. Was danger lurking everywhere? Even here? Yes. Her circle of trusted friends and colleagues had grown smaller during the last twenty-four hours, but she wanted to—needed to—believe Al’s was still a safe haven. “I used to work here. I doubt anyone in this diner wants to harm me.” She looked all around, caught sight of Kerry Ann going toe-to-toe with the reporter. “Besides, it looks like Kerry Ann needs help out there. If anyone can scare the press off, you can.”

He cocked his head to the side and studied her with narrowed eyes. “Not a good idea.”

“Neither is going out there and tackling the press again,” she said softly. “If Laurence is behind what happened yesterday, then he’ll get exactly what he wants. That might encourage him to do something else.” She clenched her thighs together, pretending a real need to go to the restroom in the hope of swaying him.

He raked his brown eyes over her, coolly assessing her. “Good point,” he said after several beats of silence. “Take care of your business, but stay put until I get rid of those bozos.”

“Thanks.”

He pushed away from the booth and she allowed herself a teeny glance at his very sexy chiseled butt. Oh. He was a fine specimen of a man, but strictly off-limits. She needed his skills as a protector, not a lover. Period. Still, the fantasy made it a little easier to deal with her current reality.

Delaney hurried toward the dimly lit hallway—would Al ever fix that damn light?—and into the small women’s bathroom. One stall was in use, but the other two were free. She pushed open the first door and stepped inside, then slid the lock into place. Plunking down on the seat, she waited until the feet showing in the other stall moved and the toilet flushed. She took shallow breaths while listening to the water run briefly, and then heard the sounds of the paper towel dispenser. The outer door creaked and finally . . . oh finally . . . she had the entire room to herself.

She didn’t need to pee, but she did want to take a breath. And check her cell phone without anybody watching over her shoulder. Just as she suspected, the press was all over her accident. Then she read a text from her contractor relaying another delay in her Los Angeles home’s renovation. She consoled herself with the thought that it would be a lot harder to protect her in LA than here.

Or would it? The thought sent a shiver up her spine.

Hopefully, the Brotherhood Protectors working in tandem with the local law enforcement would find the stalker soon. But until then, she’d rely on Ethan to prevent the bastard from getting to her.

The bathroom lights flickered, then everything went dark. Icy fingers crept along her spine, and everything inside her went cold. Stop. Just stop freaking yourself out. Most likely Al needed to replace the bulbs. He always was a skinflint when it came to maintenance. But still, the hairs on the back of her neck stood at attention, and goose bumps prickled all over her skin.

She had to get out of here. Something wasn’t right. Quickly, she switched her flashlight function in her cell phone on, then stood on shaking legs. Her heart pounded against her sternum as if trying to explode out of her chest. She heard the shuffle of feet across the laminate floor, the rasping of breath. The stale scent of smoke and sweat wafted into her booth.

Bile bubbled in her throat. She had nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. And she’d foolishly sent Ethan away. Every muscle in her body slackened. The sound of metal against metal shot through her ears and she locked her eyes onto the door’s latch which was moving, a knife tip nudging it open millimeter by millimeter.

She bit back the instinct to scream and texted Ethan one short word with trembling hands.

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