Under His Protection (Protect and Defend 1)

Her loneliness was so palpable Mason couldn’t understand why no one noticed. Why he was the only one perceptive enough to see it.

The haunting look in her eyes made him secretly ache for her.

“You must keep an extra close eye on my daughter, Russell. The second you think something’s wrong, I want you to contact me.” Hewitt stared at him hard, his expression unreadable.

“Absolutely, sir,” Mason agreed with a nod.

“I won’t tolerate her careless behavior any longer.” With an angry flick of his fingers, Hewitt sent the magazine flying and it landed with a loud plop on the floor. “Get rid of this. I can’t stand to look at it.”

The tired expression on Hewitt’s face said it all—he was done with him as well. Mason bent and snagged the magazine from the ground, tucked it under his arm and exited the office without another word.

The tabloid fairly burned a hole on the inside of his arm but he refused to look at it. He’d done that this morning, stared at Blake’s pretty, smiling face. Her irresistible, hot body called for his touch. In his dreams, anyway.

He never thought photos of a woman in a bikini could turn into beat off material at his age, but that was before he saw these particular photos of Blake. The one woman who occupied his secret dreams, his wicked fantasies—the woman he could never have.

Now he had another copy to add to his beat off collection. Mason practically growled in irritation.

Fucking perfect.

Chapter Two

Blake needed to talk. And considering Mason was her only choice, he’d have to deal.

Not that he ever protested. From what she could tell, Mason hated talking, was a man of few words, lots of nods and the occasional non-committal grunt.

It made for the perfect relationship. She preferred him to the previous agent who’d briefly been assigned to her protection. Who’d quickly been reassigned for whatever reason, she couldn’t remember.

Mason at least tolerated her. The other one acted as if she were a giant pain in the ass.

It helped that she could stare at the deliciously hunky Mason all day long. Those broad shoulders, his firm backside accentuated to perfection in the outrageously expensive suit trousers he wore. And then there was that hard yet beautiful, purely masculine face. The line of his jaw, the slant of his cheekbones—even the angle of his nose made her feel all quivery inside.

A shiver moved through her. God, she was pitiful.

“My father is so angry. It’s like he’s accusing me of doing this on purpose.”

He didn’t say a word, didn’t even offer one of his usual non-committal grunts. He simply remained quiet beside her as they walked toward her car, his stride long and easy.

She didn’t understand how a man of such size could move with such grace.

“I thought I could trust Shannon. Of course, I didn’t know everyone at the party so maybe it really was my fault.” She nibbled on her lower lip, remembering the phone conversation with Shannon last night. Her friend denied any involvement and Blake wanted to believe her. But she didn’t know if she could anymore. She didn’t know who she could trust.

Well, she did know one person—Mason. It was his job to protect her. He would never do her wrong.

Blake glanced around, feeling guilty for the relief that surged through her when she couldn’t find her mother. They were at the vice president’s private residential quarters and she was ready to escape. With her ever-present, always sexy shadow next to her.

Mason was still silent, staring straight ahead, those dark sunglasses preventing her from really seeing him or his reactions.

“I haven’t talked to my mother yet. I’m sure she’s mad at me too.” At the very least she was disappointed, resigned with her only child’s irresponsible behavior.

She could hear her mother saying those exact words in her head.

“Why would she be mad at you?”

His question, spoken in that deliciously deep voice of his, curled through her, making her warm, making her wistful. She wondered what it was like, having that rumbling voice whisper sexy-sweet words in her ear.

God help her, she wished she could find out.

“I disappointed her,” she said with a shrug.