Christmas with Her Bodyguard

‘You don’t believe it?’

Disappointment shot through her but she wasn’t prepared for his answer.

‘I...don’t know. I didn’t back then. It felt as though it was an easy answer to salve my conscience. But now, with the benefit of time, of distance, of you, then maybe.’

It was like a church full of perfectly pitched choirboys all singing beautifully in her head all at once.

It didn’t mean Myles accepted what had happened. But it did at least mean that he was open to possibilities.

‘So what does that mean?’ she breathed, scarcely willing to break whatever spell they were under.

His fingers laced through hers, his perfect turquoise-sea eyes not leaving her face.

‘I can’t make you any promises, Rae, but maybe we can just try to enjoy these last few days together—not that work will give us much chance—and see how it goes from there.’

It wasn’t declarations of love, but it was better than anything she could have hoped for.

‘I wish I had bought you a Christmas present.’

‘The only Christmas present I want is you, in my bed,’ he murmured, his body tightening as her gaze grew hotter, more intense.

She lifted herself up onto her toes, her breath tickling his ear as she leaned in to whisper to him.

‘That’s a Christmas present I can give very freely.’

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

‘RAE, OVER HERE.’

‘Raevenne, sweetie, this way.’

‘Give us a quick smile, Rae.’

Rae flinched as the photojournalists crowded in on them even as she stepped around the arrivals gate at JFK airport.

Relief warred with regret when Myles slipped instantly out of the intimate atmosphere that had enhanced their last few days together, working hard and playing harder, and back into bodyguard mode.

‘Your fame?’ he asked grimly.

She pulled a face.

‘It has to be. Nothing is private, not even going out there to do charity work.’

It made her all the more grateful that she’d already accepted another medical mission—a three-month stint, this time—and would be headed back out before Easter. She couldn’t get away from this circus fast enough.

Sticking as close as she could to Myles’ impressive body, with which she’d finally become more than familiar, and with which she intended to reacquaint herself as soon as they got to her home, she allowed him to plough a path through the melee, and out of the main doors. The car waiting for them was mercifully in sight, although the press weren’t letting her go without a chase.

‘Can you tell your fans how it was at Camp Sceralenar?’

‘Did you save any lives, Rae?’

‘Were you aware that your bodyguard is a British army hero? That he risked his life climbing down a hillside in enemy territory to retrieve the corpse of a Lance Corporal Michael McCoy, who had taken his own life?’

Rae froze, dropping back for a moment as she turned to try to see who had made the last comment. She wasn’t prepared for Myles to practically drag her off her feet and to the car.

‘Keep moving,’ he bit out. ‘And don’t engage.’

‘Did you know that when McCoy defied orders and instigated a firefight with the enemy, resulting in his own death and the injury of several of his squad, Major Garrington told his commanding officers that he was culpable just so that McCoy’s young daughter Kelly wouldn’t find out that her father died dishonourably?’