Under His Protection (Protect and Defend 1)

But she held herself in check. Thrust her chest out a little to give him a better view.

“What kind of threats?” she asked.

“I don’t know. I’ll find out.” She knew without a doubt he spoke the truth.

And then he did the unthinkable. A move so unlike the Mason Russell she knew, she wasn’t sure if she should be shocked, offended or read more into his actions.

He touched her, pressed his warm, strong fingers against her forearm for the quickest moment, his touch burning through the layers of her clothing. Her skin tingled from the too-brief contact.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you,” he added quietly.

I’ll take care of you. Such lovely words with such a sexy promise, spoken by the one man who often chose not to speak at all. Those words should’ve reassured her, made her feel secure, but she couldn’t help the slow warmth suffusing her veins, washing over her skin.

Arousal. Want. Ridiculous, but there it was. Waiting to be confronted, simmering between them as it had for months. He denied it, she denied it, but damn it, she was so tired of pretending.

“I’m not worried.” She sounded breathless, even to her own ears. “I know you’ll take care of me.”

A muscle in Mason’s jaw ticked. His expression remained serious, his gaze so intense she almost wanted to look away. But she couldn’t. Every time he looked at her, it was as if she became his sole focus. Like nothing else in the world existed to him except her.

She liked it. Even though she was just his job, she couldn’t help the thrilling jolt that moved through her when all that intensity zeroed in on her.

“I have to go. Mitchell will escort you back to your apartment.”

Blake rolled her eyes. When they’d first been assigned to covering her, she’d gotten the two of them confused. Russell and Mitchell, Mitchell and Russell, they sounded like some sort of geeky singing duo.

But there was a definite difference between the two men. Jerry Mitchell was middle-aged, with thinning hair, a bit of a paunch and a loving wife with a couple of kids. Russell was one hot piece of man flesh that tripped her trigger every time she so much as looked at him.

Big, huge difference between them.

“Why don’t you take me?” She couldn’t help but flirt with him a little bit, just to see what he would say, how he’d react.

“I can’t. I have the meeting regarding your security. Remember?”

Right, her security and the threats made against her. The idea of some freak wanting to hurt her was hard to comprehend.

Watching him, she noticed his expression was grim though she swore she caught a glimmer of lust in his beautiful eyes as they drifted over her. Arousal kicked her swift and hard.

Did he want her as much as she wanted him? She’d unashamedly teased him for weeks, months, trying to entice him with flirting glances, even flirtier words. Yet he always watched her, reacted to her as if he were made of stone.

It had to be a front. The attraction that grew between them was hard to ignore, though he did a stellar job of it.

“So eager to get rid of me, Russell?” she asked pointedly. Sometimes it felt that way.

“You’ll have me until January.”

Hmm, the words “have me” conjured up all sorts of wicked images.

“Here comes Mitchell.” Mason flicked his chin in his partner’s direction, and Blake turned to find Jerry loping toward them, a goofy grin on his face.

He really was sweet. Though they never spoke much, Jerry was always courteous, always flashed a friendly smile when she looked his way. And he always talked about his wife and kids. He really loved them, the emotion and pride was evident in his voice.

It touched her. It also made her a little envious. Did her father care that much about her or her mother? She doubted it.

“Will you let me know what you find out?” She took a step closer to Mason and breathed deep. His spicy scent was something she would never grow tired of.

“Of course.”

She doubted he’d tell her anything, not wanting to scare the hell out of her. Whatever. She deserved to know what was going on.