Bodyguard Under the Mistletoe Read Online Free PDF

I unpacked.” She looked up into his eyes. His pupils were so dilated from the medication that she could barely see the dark cognac brown of his irises. “Maybe you should rest.”
    â€œWhen I need a nap, I’ll let you know.” He flashed that killer grin. “In the meantime, I’m your protector.”
    In spite of his light tone, she took him seriously. Her instincts told her this was a man she could trust with her life. In a way, she already had. Within moments of meeting Jesse, she’d told him the secret behind her move to the mountains. None of her friends in Denver knew how much she’d lost. Fiona’s story was that she and Abby were going to live at the cabin and seek a more peaceful life. Peaceful? Not today!
    She cleared her throat and said, “Burke told me to look for signs that someone had been in my house.”
    â€œKeep at it.”
    She closed her closet door and led him into Abby’s room, which was more cluttered than the rest of the house but didn’t seem to have been ransacked.
    â€œI can’t imagine why anybody would want to rob me,” she said. “I don’t keep valuables here.”
    â€œFrom what you told me, you don’t keep valuables at all.”
    â€œThings aren’t important to me. I care about people. People matter.”
    He mattered. She’d only just met Jesse, but he mattered to her. Why was she so drawn to him? Very likely, because he was an incredibly good-looking man. His straight black hair was combed back from his forehead. He had high cheekbones, deep-set eyes and a firm jaw. But his features weren’t perfect. His nose looked as if it had been broken more than once. And he had a scar on his chin. An interesting face.
    â€œLet’s go to the next room,” he said.
    The guest room with the colorful handmade quilt was neat as a pin. Again, the closet door stood open. It was the same in the den.
    The only rooms left to search were the kitchen and her studio. She backtracked through the living room, passing the dining table where she and Abby had begun their Christmas decorating with a centerpiece of handmade clay elves and reindeer.
    In the kitchen, her gaze went to the top of the fridge where she’d left the antique Colt .45. The rectangular box appeared to be unmoved. She should take it down and make sure the gun was still inside. But something else caught her attention.
    â€œThe apples.” She pointed to a bowl on the table. “There are only three, and I’m sure I had four. I remember because I was going to run in here and grab an apple for Elvis.”
    â€œElvis?”
    â€œCarolyn’s horse. She dropped by earlier.” It seemed crazy that someone would break into her house for a healthy snack. “I could be wrong. Nothing else is out of place.”
    That left only her pottery studio. She went through thelaundry room attached to the kitchen and stopped outside a closed door. “I always keep this door locked so Abby can’t come in here unsupervised. Too many sharp implements. And a kiln.”
    She reached up for the key that hung from a hook near the top of the door frame. It was gone. Had she misplaced it?
    Jesse reached past her and turned the doorknob. “It’s open.”
    She stepped inside. Her potter’s wheel was in one corner. The kiln in the other. The long table between them was cluttered with sketchbooks and current projects. On the opposite side of the room, tall storage cabinets against the wall were opened. The larger boxes had been dragged out to the center of the room and opened. “Someone was in here.”
    â€œDon’t touch. There might be fingerprints.” Using one of the sketching pencils, he opened the lid on one of the boxes and peered inside at an assortment of small kitchen appliances that she didn’t use anymore. “Anything missing?”
    â€œHard to tell. That’s just clutter.”
    â€œYour