“Dad, I don’t think this is your best idea,” Cosette started.
“Why not?” Blaine challenged her.
Cosette looked at Isaac, then out the darkened windows of the main room of the suite. She didn’t answer.
Isaac walked over to the couch and sat, planning to be here for a while but not wanting to intimidate either of them with his large stature and military bearing. “At the risk of being impertinent, sir, can you please tell me what’s happened that has Cosette diving for cover at a sound similar to gunshots? I’d like to help if I can.”
Cosette’s entire frame stiffened. She looked beautiful, tempting, and unfortunately closed off. She obviously didn’t want Isaac involved in whatever was going on, but he needed to know who’d stolen her innocence, so he could kill them.
Blaine, on the other hand, appeared relieved and more than ready to share with Isaac. He sat down on the chair perpendicular to the couch and said, “Isaac, how much leave time do you have?”
“A week.”
“Could I hire you?”
“Dad,” Cosette reprimanded. She stormed over to them, staring deeply into Isaac’s eyes. “Isaac. You are a very good friend of our family. We appreciate your service to our country. We think you’re a fabulous, strong, brave, charming, and handsome man. Can you please leave?”
Isaac leaned back, surprised by her little speech. At least she still didn’t have a filter, even if she had lost her sparkle.
Her dad stood and faced her. “He’s the best choice. This man not only knows how to fight, how to protect, and how to watch for enemies; he obviously cares for you and will be a better bodyguard than anyone else we could find.”
Isaac stood as well. “I appreciate the vote of confidence, Blaine, but you’ve never been the biggest fan of me or my brothers. Why the change?”
Blaine turned to him. “That’s not true.”
Isaac folded his arms across his chest and arched an eyebrow. If he was going to protect Cosette, they needed to get this out in the open first. Yet Cosette didn’t want him. That stung.
Blaine splayed his hands. “When you were teenagers, you’ve got to admit that Caleb and Seth were crazy idiots, and the rest of you weren’t far behind.”
Isaac could give him that, but it bugged him that Blaine wanted to shove the past under the rug.
When Isaac said nothing, Blaine continued. “I was an overprotective fool, Isaac. Forgive me. As the years have passed, I’ve come to realize that the Jewel boys are some of the best I could trust with my girl—well, you, Joshua, and Luke. Caleb and Seth are still insane fools. I’ve also seen more and more that there are a lot of slimy snakes out there. Like Vance Lansky,” he muttered under his breath. “I also have heard how accomplished, and well trained, you are from your time with the Air Force.”
Isaac was probably duty bound to stick up for his younger brothers, but Blaine had a point. He wasn’t sure how to respond, so he simply nodded and grunted, “Thank you.”
“Please.” Blaine gestured to the couch, love seat, and chairs. “Let’s sit and talk this through. Cosette, please.”
Isaac would do anything to help her. He stepped over to the couch but waited for Cosette to sit. Blaine watched her expectantly as well.
“Fine,” she said through gritted teeth. “But I’m not a flighty little girl anymore. I am an adult, and you will treat me as one.”
“Of course, love.” Blaine gave her an indulgent smile. Clearly, he still thought she was twelve and should be wearing pigtails, not the form-fitted dress that showed exactly the kind of appealing woman she’d grown into.
Her words made Isaac strangely sad. He’d loved her flighty, impulsive, brainy scientist personality. Had she changed that much as an adult?
Cosette stalked over and sat on the opposite side of the couch from Isaac. He eased onto the cushions but stayed military straight. Blaine sat in the chair perpendicular him again.
“So.” Blaine clasped his hands together. “I would like to hire you to be Cosette’s bodyguard.”
Isaac glanced at Cosette. She was biting at her bottom lip in such an appealing way that he had a hard time remembering all the questions he had for her. He did have to know, though. “Doyouwant me to be your bodyguard?”
Cosette’s eyes slowly went over his upper body. “I’m sure you have more important things to do than follow me around my lab.”
“Nothing is more important than your safety,” he said, giving her a challenging look.
Her eyes widened.
“And he won’t be following you around your lab,” Blaine said. “You’ll both take a small plane in the morning to an island nearby called Vieques. It’s remote—no international airport, no cruise ships docking there. There are a handful of restaurants and stores, some resorts, but you’ll be pretty isolated. I’ve rented you a beach house where you can enjoy a little … vacation, while I work with the FBI and compile the evidence to get Vance arrested. Once that rat is taken care of, you can both go back to your lives.” He spread his hands as if it were all that easy.