The Bodyguard Affair

That was just the headshot. But it had been enough for Bianca to make up her mind. She wanted Sam.

And not only as her bodyguard.

Naturally, Sam chose that moment to walk through the door. Panicking, Bianca ran her hand through her now tangled curls, which surely had her looking like she’d stepped out of a dystopian timeline where hair products were no more. This is a disaster. Nothing screamed intelligent, mature, and beautifully put-together like being a petty diva one minute and fainting to the floor the next.

Sam, on the other hand? With her tailored suit, immaculately brushed hair pulled back into a tight bun, and piercing gaze that could slice a woman’s panties off her body? She was put together. And she was not interested in a bratty girl who had thrown a tantrum in a hipster café because she hadn’t gotten her way.

“I… uh…” Since when did an attractive woman make Bianca speechless? For a moment, she wondered if her doctor had made a mistake and her blood sugar was still low.

“I’m glad you’re all right.” Sam’s smooth voice almost knocked Bianca unconscious all over again. Instead, she stared at her lap, which was currently covered by the standard hospital blanket. “I was going to call your mother, but the doctor told me not to and insisted he’d take care of it. Do you want me to call her? Has anyone—”

“Please don’t call her.”

Bianca had never sounded so pitiable and weak in her life. It didn’t help that she was facing the might of a woman who could pin her to the wall with no effort at all. Or to the bed…

But now was not the time for those kinds of thoughts. “I have an arrangement with the hospital. Nobody in my family is to know about any visits without my permission. Unless I’m in a coma or something. It’s… complicated. You’ve met my mother and heard her talk about me. Did she tell you about ‘my condition,’ as she likes to call it?” When it came to the delicate baby that was her youngest child, the woman only spoke in euphemisms.

Sam shook her head. “I know a lot less about you than you might think I do.”

A heavy sigh deflated what little confidence remained in Bianca’s chest. “I have Type 1 diabetes. I was diagnosed as a kid, so I’m used to it. That doctor is the one I’ve been seeing at this hospital for over ten years. Earlier… I’ve been stressed out lately. I didn’t eat well enough this morning. My blood sugar was dropping when I got to the café, so I had some juice, but it wasn’t enough. And I was too embarrassed to say anything.” She dropped her head, avoiding Sam’s eyes. “It’s my fault. I’m sorry. I take responsibility for this whole mess, including how I treated you during our meeting.”

“What do you mean?”

Was she kidding? Or was Sam such a professional that she wouldn’t let her client’s daughter feel like they were in the wrong? “I was a bit crabby earlier. I apologize. My head wasn’t screwed on right.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“How can I not? You’ve been so good to me. You’re the one who called the ambulance, or so I’m told. The last thing I remember is fainting. I… I think you were there.”

The slightest blush touched Sam’s cheeks. “I caught you before your head could hit the floor.”

Like my knight in shining armor…It sounded like a fantasy. But in reality, it was more embarrassing than Bianca could have anticipated. Here was a woman who happened to be her perfect type, and all Bianca had done so far was cause trouble for her. Surely Sam was a busy woman. Too busy to be fussing over a stranger like Bianca.

“They said you can’t leave unless someone is prepared to take you home.” Sam pulled out her phone. “You sure you don’t want me to call someone? It doesn’t have to be your mother. Maybe one of your sisters is available?”

While it was true Scarlett and Parker were a lot more understanding than her mother, they were both busy women with their own jobs and lives. Right now, Scarlett was training to become the heir to the family enterprise. Parker? Out of town, as far as Bianca knew. They would both drop everything to pick her up if Bianca asked. But like everything else, it would inevitably get back to her mother.

That ruled out her family. And she didn’t have any friends she could call. While she had plenty of friends, she wasn’t close to them.

Were all of her relationships superficial? Did she have anyone in her life who was actually in her corner?

“Ms. Black?”

Bianca steadied herself. “I just need a moment to collect my thoughts. I’m so sorry about this. I know you’re busy.”

Sam gave her a polite nod. But Bianca couldn’t look her in the eye, the mess that she was, instead staring down at her blanket as Sam stepped back from the bed.

The silence that followed stretched out. Had Sam left the room? As she clung to the bed covers, Bianca couldn’t bring herself to lift her head. In the empty hospital room, she’d never felt so alone.

Sam’s clear, firm voice startled her out of her misery.

“I’ll take you home. It’s not far from here.”

Bianca glanced up at her. “You don’t have to do that.”

“We don’t have to involve anyone in your family. I’ll make sure you get home safely. I had someone in my team drop a car off in the parking lot, assuming I’d need it to leave later. I’ll take you home in it.”

Bianca didn’t have a choice, did she? “All right. Thank you, Sam. This is very kind of you.”