Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 110360 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 552(@200wpm)___ 441(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110360 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 552(@200wpm)___ 441(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
Jaded and disgraced, I used my attitude as armor so it could never happen again.
Until I was assigned to protect Lofton Beck.
Hollywood’s golden girl had a stalker on her tail—and two dead bodyguards.
She was a nightmare from the start. Didn’t follow orders. Had no concept of boundaries. Worst of all, she was so damn gorgeous I couldn’t build my walls strong enough to keep her out.
As the threats escalated, we were forced into hiding at her family’s farm. Keeping my distance became impossible with her sleeping in the room next door.
Somewhere between our early mornings together and the quiet moments when the world disappeared, it became clear her stalker wasn’t the most dangerous part of the assignment.
Protecting her was never the problem.
Falling for her could cost me everything
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
1
LOFTON
“Help me,” I whispered into the phone, pinning it between my shoulder and ear. Zoey’s pajama-clad legs dangled at my side as I held her with my palm sealed over her mouth. Her tears felt like acid to my soul as they dripped over my fingers.
I could barely hear the nine-one-one operator over my heart pounding. “Okay, ma’am. What’s your emergency?”
“Someone broke in and—” Another gunshot exploded outside the door. I wasn’t sure where it had come from or who had fired it, but the blood on the bottom of my bare feet didn’t leave me with much hope. Flinching at the sound, I momentarily lost my grasp on Zoey’s mouth.
“I want my mommy,” she cried.
“It’s okay. She’ll be here soon.” I lied, or at least I hoped I had. Brooke would have no doubt been a calm head in the midst of chaos, but with her out picking up dinner, it was safest for her to stay far, far away.
“Ma’am,” the dispatcher called, refocusing my attention. “What’s your address?”
“I, uh, I don’t know. It’s a rental, up on…on…um—” My brain went blank.
“Siena Place?”
“Yes! That’s it.”
“Okay, I’ve got help on the way. Is anyone injured?”
“My… my bodyguard. He was shot, I think…God, I don’t know. There was blood and…”
“Okay, and what about you? Are you injured?”
“No.” Spinning in a circle, I frantically searched the small bathroom.
No window.
No exit.
No escape.
My beloved privacy had never been more terrifying.
I set Zoey on her feet. Releasing her felt wrong on every level, but whoever had broken in wasn’t there for her. Opening the linen closet, I guided her toward it.
“Tofton, no,” she sobbed my nickname while fighting against me.
Desperate and quickly running out of options, I put the phone on the tile floor and squatted to her level. A steady stream of tears fell from her ocean blue eyes.
“Baby, come on,” I pleaded. “It’s okay. You know Marty and Derrick are out there. We’re safe. We just have to hide until the police get here.” It was a bald-faced lie. I’d stepped over Derrick’s lifeless body, and I had no clue where Marty was. I prayed like hell he wasn’t on the receiving end of that last gunshot.
I nudged her toward the closet. “They’re going to take care of us, but I need you to get in there. Cover up with as many towels as you can.” I offered her a smile that should have won me a second Oscar. “Pretend this is just a game of hide-and-seek? You go in the closet and hide until I find you.”
She shook her head, lip quivering. “I don’t want to pretend.”
God, did I understand that, but this was my life.
A life I’d chosen.
A life I’d sacrificed for.
A life most people would envy.
And now, I feared it was going to be a life my Zoey was going to die for.
I brushed a curl off her forehead and traced my thumb back and forth over her tear-soaked cheek. “Keep quiet, and don’t come out no matter what you hear, okay?” I kissed her forehead hard, letting it linger as it shredded me. “I promise. I’ll be right out here.”
She sniffled, her shoulders shaking with unshed sobs, but my girl was brave. Reluctantly, she ducked into the closet. I made quick work of burying her in towels and then quietly closed the door.
With her hidden, I put the phone back to my ear.
“Ma’am? Ma’am? Are you still there?” the dispatcher called.
“Yes,” I whispered. “Please hurry.”
“I have help on the way. Do you know who broke in?”
“No, I didn’t see anyone. I just heard the gunshots and took off.”
“Okay, stay on the phone with me. What’s your name?”
“Lofton Beck.”
There was a blistering pause on her end. Silence so thick it buzzed in my ears. Not even the clack of keys as I hoped she was dispatching the entire police department.
Then—
“Lofton Beck?” she questioned, her voice rising, laced with awe and disbelief.
My spine snapped straight. This was not the time for the celebrity spotlight to work its paralyzing magic. “Please, just send—” I was cut off by a sudden banging on the bathroom door.