“I think if your office releases a statement that you’re so happy your daughter is safe after today’s seemingly random act of violence, the press will back off. If they scent the truth, they’ll be all over her and it won’t take long for one of them to put the puzzle pieces together. It could certainly open her up to numerous lawsuits, and it could truly harm you politically.”
Her stomach clenched at the thought of hurting her dad. It wasn’t fair that her actions could blow back on him, but at least Connor had given them a viable alternative. “I’ll say nothing beyond how scared I was.” Although it would give her a good platform. “Then I can use it as a call to further protect citizens from guns.”
Connor and her dad both groaned. Almost identically.
Connor ignored her very practical option, preferring to continue talking to her dad. “Have your staff draw up a statement for her, too. We’ll nip this in the bud while I start trying to figure out what’s happening.”
Her father turned to Connor. “Look, I thank you for protecting my daughter and you seem like a guy with a good head on his shoulders, but I don’t know you
. I don’t know a thing about you. I can’t trust my daughter’s life in the hands of a man I don’t know anything about.”
Connor withdrew a letter on very official crisp linen stationary. “This is a letter of recommendation.”
The senator barely glanced at it. “It will take too much time to verify this is actually from Captain Spencer, whom I’ve also never met. Besides, I’m not much of a Navy man. My family’s roots are Army.”
Connor reached into his pocket. “I understand. I don’t like to use this reference very often, sir, but I think if you call this number, you’ll feel better about your daughter employing me.”
Her father took the card, looked at it for a moment, and then stared back up at Connor. “Is this what I think it is?”
“I did some work for him back in the day. Please feel free to ask him anything you like about me.”
Her dad held the card up. “Don’t think I won’t know if this is a fake. I’ll be back.”
He stepped out.
“Who’s your reference?” Whoever it was had her father jumping to attention. Very few people could do that.
Connor shrugged. “An old acquaintance.” His eyes hardened, his whole body losing that calm presence he’d had with her father and becoming predatory. “Now, we’re going to talk about how this will work because I will no longer buy your bullshit that you don’t need a bodyguard. In fact, I’m fairly certain you need a keeper.”
“A keeper?”
He leaned in, nearly pinning her to the bed. “Yes. You need someone to make sure you don’t get yourself killed. The good news is I no longer have to hold back and hope you’ll let me do my job. In about three minutes your father will walk back in here and he’ll be completely on my side. There’s nowhere left to run, little girl. From here on out, it’s going to be my way all the way, and the first rule of this partnership is that I’m in charge.”
“That’s rude and I don’t have to put up with it.” She was deeply grateful for the blanket between them because her nipples were acting up again. “I’m your employer.”
There was that sexy caveman smirk again. “No, you’re not. As far as anyone knows, I’m your boyfriend and we’ll have to keep up that pretense in public. I’ve found whenever I’m going undercover it’s best to keep up the pretense in private, too. You’re less likely to slip up that way. Now that I think about it, I should really thank that fucker on the bike since I hated the thought of sleeping on your couch.”
His mouth hovered above hers, and suddenly her lungs didn’t seem to function. He was close, heat radiating off his body in waves. All she had to do was lean forward a little before her lips would touch his and she would know what it meant to kiss him. “There’s nowhere else to sleep at my place.”
“Sure there is. Do you like the right or the left side of the bed, sweetheart? Actually it doesn’t matter. I’ll take the side closest to the door.”
The thought of sleeping next to him was a little too tantalizing. It had been forever since she’d slept next to a man, and even then he’d been more of an overgrown boy who stole the covers and claimed he couldn’t sleep if she was too close to him. Tom hadn’t been a cuddler. Not that Connor would be. Somehow she couldn’t see him wrapping that lean body around a female to sleep. What would it be like to turn over in the early-morning light and have him resting between her and whatever might come through her door? She would feel so safe. But she couldn’t give in because she wasn’t about to let him think she was some doormat. “Or I can fire you. Then I wouldn’t have to pretend anything at all. I don’t like your attitude.”
“Oh, you might not like what I’m saying to you because you’re not used to having to play by anyone else’s rules, but I think you like me. I think you like me just fine.”
She managed to shake her head.
With a little twist of his hand, he pulled the blanket from her, unveiling her rigid nipples against the superthin material of the hospital gown. He looked down. “Cold, sweetheart?”
She pushed against his chest. “Asshole.”
He stepped back but didn’t go far. He sat on the edge of her bed with a little sigh, as though he was sad their play was over. “I’ll take care of you, Lara. I won’t let anyone hurt you, but you might not always like how I do it.”
She was feeling stubborn. Stupid, actually, because she was still thinking about kissing him. This was dangerous. She wasn’t about to get involved with a meathead who thought he could be all nice and polite one moment then take-charge, protect-the-little-woman the next. Nope. She didn’t care that her nipples liked him just fine. She was more than the sum total of her girl parts. Her biggest girl part was her brain, and her brain didn’t like him. Mostly. “Or we could just call it quits here.”
“Oh, we’re past that choice. Unless you want your father to take over. I think you’ll find he’s very comfortable with handing you over to me now. And I’ll allow you to work. Hell, I’ll help you. If you go with your father, you can’t work out of his place and you can’t ever let the guards he hires know what it is you do for a living.”
Damn it. Connor was right.
“I still think you should sleep on the couch.”
When he really smiled, fine lines crinkled slightly around his eyes. She was already beginning to differentiate his smiles. There was the arrogant smirk that seemed to be the most common in his repertoire. There was a little half smile that seemed to come when she said something he thought was stupid. Yeah, she could read that on his face. And then there was the smile that kind of lit up the room.
“How about I promise not to make love to you until you beg me? Would that make you feel safer?”
She blushed and wished he wasn’t sitting so close. “That’s not ever going to happen.”
“Then you don’t have anything to worry about, sweetheart.” He raised his hand and brushed his index finger against her nose, a sweetly affectionate gesture. “Who knows you were hiring a bodyguard?”
“Kiki.”
“The girl from the coffeehouse?”
She nodded. “Oh, and Tom.”
A single brow arched over his eyes. “Who is Tom?”
“He’s a friend. He’s cool. He clerks for a judge. Our fathers have been friends for years.” For some reason, she didn’t want to tell him that Tom had almost been her husband. She deserved to keep a few secrets.
“Tonight you’re going to call them and explain our situation. If anyone asks, they need to say we met through mutual friends at a party and we’ve been talking online for a couple of months. We decided it was time to move this relationship to the next level.”
“See, to me the next logical level would be on my couch. And there’s no way they buy any of that story. We’re really close.”
The door opened and her father walked in, looking a little pale. He slid his cell phone into his pocket. “Lara, you do whatever this man tells you.”
“He just said he intended to sleep with me. Should I do that?”
Connor rolled his dark eyes. “I believe I told her I wouldn’t touch her in any physical way unless she begged me. Your daughter is apparently afraid that if I stay in her apartment, she’ll be overcome with lust. I’m a little worried about it, too, but I think I can handle her.”
“Connor.” She hit him with her pillow.
“Senator Armstrong, I’m sorry. Your daughter brings out the sarcastic jerk in me. I’ll keep it reined in. I’ll step out and give you two a moment. Lara, we need to get moving if we’re going to avoid those reporters.” He left the room, not quite shutting the door behind him.
“Dad, who was his reference?”
“The president.”
“Of the United States? POTUS? POTUS was his freaking reference?” Who the hell was this man?
Her father nodded. “I just had a nice chat with Zack Hayes. He claims Connor is one of the most honorable men he’s ever met and that I couldn’t be putting my daughter in better hands. He also invited your mother and me to a private d
inner.”
“But he usually ignores you.”
“I don’t know that I would use the word ignore. We’ve met on several occasions, but he’s never met with me privately. Apparently your bodyguard is also a POTUS whisperer. Lara, do you understand what it would mean to become friendly with Hayes?”
It would mean backing from a popular president. It would mean taking a bigger position within the party. It would mean her father could get his agenda pushed through. Still, Lara didn’t entirely trust Zack Hayes. She would likely never trust anyone who had reached such a pinnacle in politics, but there was something going on with this president. Her confidential informant had hinted that the leader of the free world was tied to some unsavory