Guardian For Hire: A For Hire Novel Read Online Free PDF
Author: Christine Bell
Tags: Fiction, General, Romance, Contemporary, sexy, Protector, Bestseller, Danger, bodyguard, guardian, ponzi scheme, usa today bestseller, for hire
Lucking who had left her house this morning. He was contemplating whether he should’ve picked up a pair of dark contact lenses to camouflage the unusual sea-glass green of her eyes when the bathroom door swung open.
His breath left him in a whoosh as she stepped into the room. She’d gone from looking like a high school principal, albeit one that some of the smarter, more mature male students would fantasize about bending over something, to a flat-out bombshell. Her newly darkened hair cupped her jawline in a jagged but flattering cut, drawing attention to her high cheekbones. The saleswoman behind the makeup counter had been dead-on with the makeup, too. Her lips were a glossy rose that emphasized the fullness he’d appreciated when they’d first met.
Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on where you were sitting, he’d missed the mark on the clothes. He let his gaze sweep over the rest of her, ignoring the hands fisted at her sides. The plain, V-neck black T-shirt should have been nondescript and casual. Instead it clung to her like seaweed to a mermaid. And what a fucking mermaid she was. The breasts that had seemed modest at first glance had jumped ship and strained against the thin cotton, a perfect handful, and his fingers twitched with the urged to test that theory. Her lithe frame was showcased by a second-skin pair of jeans that made her legs look long enough to wrap around him once and half again, and this time another part of him twitched.
“We’re, ah, going to need to get some other clothes. I look ridiculous.” She tugged at the shirt, her gaze flickering away from his.
Part of him, the part concerned with his own peace of mind and self-preservation, was totally on board with getting her other clothes, but the protector in him won out. He sat up and cleared his throat. “You don’t look ridiculous. I understand it’s not what you’re used to, but that’s a good thing. That’s what we’re trying to achieve here. You don’t look anything like the woman I left with this morning, and that is an asset right now.”
She shot him a dubious frown. “I think I’m more conspicuous like this. It’s very…showy.”
“If you think that’s showy, you should drive past a nightclub once in a while. Or maybe check out your local high school. You have on jeans and a T-shirt. It’s not exactly a lace teddy, Doc.” Bad move on his part, as instantly an image of her in exactly that forced its way, front and center, to his brain. Black. Or white, even. Garters. He scrubbed a hand over his eyes. “At any rate, you look fine.”
“Still, next time I’d like to come with you so I can get something a little looser, okay?”
There was a slight edge to her voice, but her expression bordered on pleasant. She wasn’t screaming over the hair dye or cursing him about the cut, so he gave a noncommittal shrug. No point in getting her all stirred up again by telling her he had no intention of taking her shopping. He’d won the battle, and the results had been even better than he’d hoped. She didn’t just look like a different person. She looked like a different kind of person. Sexy. Confident in her body, if she would only stop the damned fidgeting. All in all she appeared to be ready to take on the world. What better way for a wren to hide than by disguising itself as a peacock? He’d stumbled into something, but if it wasn’t broken, he sure as hell wasn’t about to let her try to fix it.
“So what’s the plan now?” she asked, crossing the room to sit on the opposite bed.
“Let’s see how much has hit the news already.” He tore his gaze from her newly emancipated bod, picked up the remote, and turned on the small TV. Odds were fair that the bomb hadn’t made national news yet, but with such a high-profile, media-sexy case like this one, it wasn’t out of the question. The second he flicked on the twenty-four-hour news channel, his stomach clenched as her picture flashed in the
His breath left him in a whoosh as she stepped into the room. She’d gone from looking like a high school principal, albeit one that some of the smarter, more mature male students would fantasize about bending over something, to a flat-out bombshell. Her newly darkened hair cupped her jawline in a jagged but flattering cut, drawing attention to her high cheekbones. The saleswoman behind the makeup counter had been dead-on with the makeup, too. Her lips were a glossy rose that emphasized the fullness he’d appreciated when they’d first met.
Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on where you were sitting, he’d missed the mark on the clothes. He let his gaze sweep over the rest of her, ignoring the hands fisted at her sides. The plain, V-neck black T-shirt should have been nondescript and casual. Instead it clung to her like seaweed to a mermaid. And what a fucking mermaid she was. The breasts that had seemed modest at first glance had jumped ship and strained against the thin cotton, a perfect handful, and his fingers twitched with the urged to test that theory. Her lithe frame was showcased by a second-skin pair of jeans that made her legs look long enough to wrap around him once and half again, and this time another part of him twitched.
“We’re, ah, going to need to get some other clothes. I look ridiculous.” She tugged at the shirt, her gaze flickering away from his.
Part of him, the part concerned with his own peace of mind and self-preservation, was totally on board with getting her other clothes, but the protector in him won out. He sat up and cleared his throat. “You don’t look ridiculous. I understand it’s not what you’re used to, but that’s a good thing. That’s what we’re trying to achieve here. You don’t look anything like the woman I left with this morning, and that is an asset right now.”
She shot him a dubious frown. “I think I’m more conspicuous like this. It’s very…showy.”
“If you think that’s showy, you should drive past a nightclub once in a while. Or maybe check out your local high school. You have on jeans and a T-shirt. It’s not exactly a lace teddy, Doc.” Bad move on his part, as instantly an image of her in exactly that forced its way, front and center, to his brain. Black. Or white, even. Garters. He scrubbed a hand over his eyes. “At any rate, you look fine.”
“Still, next time I’d like to come with you so I can get something a little looser, okay?”
There was a slight edge to her voice, but her expression bordered on pleasant. She wasn’t screaming over the hair dye or cursing him about the cut, so he gave a noncommittal shrug. No point in getting her all stirred up again by telling her he had no intention of taking her shopping. He’d won the battle, and the results had been even better than he’d hoped. She didn’t just look like a different person. She looked like a different kind of person. Sexy. Confident in her body, if she would only stop the damned fidgeting. All in all she appeared to be ready to take on the world. What better way for a wren to hide than by disguising itself as a peacock? He’d stumbled into something, but if it wasn’t broken, he sure as hell wasn’t about to let her try to fix it.
“So what’s the plan now?” she asked, crossing the room to sit on the opposite bed.
“Let’s see how much has hit the news already.” He tore his gaze from her newly emancipated bod, picked up the remote, and turned on the small TV. Odds were fair that the bomb hadn’t made national news yet, but with such a high-profile, media-sexy case like this one, it wasn’t out of the question. The second he flicked on the twenty-four-hour news channel, his stomach clenched as her picture flashed in the