Wanted: Bodyguard

It wasn’t until Lana had poured her sister a glass of iced tea and they both sat at the table that Rachel began with her questions.

“New husband? When did this happen? Where did you meet him? Why hadn’t you mentioned him before, and where is my niece?”

“Haley is down for a nap,” Lana replied, deciding to answer the easiest question first. She knew that this would be the first big test for her.

As much as she hated doing it, she had to convince her sister that her marriage to Riley was real. She’d figure out later how to smooth out all the lies she was about to tell.

In two days’ time she would be introducing Riley to her neighbors at a backyard soiree she and Riley were throwing to announce her big news, but at the moment she had to get over this more personal hurdle.

As she told Rachel their official story she tried not to worry about how this was all going to work. Having Rachel in the house over the next couple of days was definitely going to be a challenge.

When she was finished telling Rachel how she and Riley had met, where they’d gotten married and how happy she was, Rachel leaned back in the chair and eyed her curiously.

“There’s no question he’s one hot hunk of man, but this is so unlike you. It seems so impulsive. Internet dating? A Vegas wedding? That’s so not your style.”

“It was crazy and impulsive,” Riley said from the doorway. “But getting married was also the right thing for us to do. We just couldn’t wait any longer to start our lives together.”

He deserved an Academy Award. The look he gave to Lana was so filled with love and with a simmering passion that if she didn’t know any better she would have bought into it herself.

“Sit down, Riley, and let me get to know you better,” Rachel said. “I need to assure myself that you’re a good fit for my sister and my niece.”

“He’s a perfect fit,” Lana replied, and smiled at Riley. He walked behind her chair and gave her shoulder a little squeeze, then sat down next to her.

For the next hour Rachel grilled Riley, asking what he did for a living, where his family was located and what his thoughts were on child rearing. She questioned him about his finances, his life goals, and Lana sat back and let him take the heat.

Riley handled the inquisition like a pro, and it didn’t take long before Lana saw her sister’s reservations melting away beneath Riley’s charms.

He told Rachel that he was an investment broker, that he’d grown up in Arizona and that he was an only child. He smiled and indicated that he feared he would be a soft touch as a parent, that already Haley had him wrapped around her little finger.

Lana had no idea how much of what he said was true, but if she didn’t know the real story she definitely would have believed everything he said. He was not only a sexy charmer but an amazing liar as well, she thought.

With each lie he told, Lana felt worse and wished she could just tell her sister the truth about the situation. It just felt so wrong to lie to Rachel.

By that time Haley was awake from her nap, and as Rachel played with her on the living room floor, Riley and Lana caught a minute alone in the kitchen.

“I moved all my things into your bedroom,” he said in a hushed whisper. “And I also stored the camera equipment in the closet.”

“What about your surveillance?” she asked worriedly.

“I’ve already contacted agents McDonald and Morrel, and we’re going to just have to improvise until your sister leaves. They’ll keep Greg’s house covered until things settle back down here.”

At that moment Rachel walked into the kitchen trailed by Haley. “Daddy!” Haley grinned at Riley and held her arms out for him to pick her up.

Although Rachel didn’t seem to notice Riley’s hesitation, Lana did. He took the little girl and immediately deposited her on his shoulders as she laughed in delight.

He might be a charmer, he might be hot as hell to look at, but he definitely didn’t have the makings of a family man, Lana thought. Not that she wanted him to be her family man.

“Why don’t I run out and grab a couple of pizzas for dinner?” Riley suggested as Lana motioned for him to put Haley back down.

“Please, don’t go to any trouble on my account,” Rachel protested.

“It’s no trouble. I’ve got to pick up a few things anyway,” Riley replied.

“And I’ll make a big salad to go with the pizza,” Lana said.

“I love pizza,” Haley exclaimed.

“I think I’ll go get settled in,” Rachel said. “I’ll be back in a few minutes to help you with that salad.”

As Rachel left the room Lana felt some of the tension ease from her. Since the minute she’d opened the front door and seen Rachel on the stoop, nervous tension had stiffened her shoulders and twisted her stomach.

Lana placed Haley in her booster chair and gave her a couple of crackers to hold her until the pizza arrived. With both Rachel and Riley gone, she sank down in the chair next to Haley and smiled at her daughter. “What a tangled web we weave,” she said softly.

“What?” Haley asked.

Lana smiled. “Never mind.”

And this was just the beginning. On Friday night she would be deceiving all her neighbors and, more important, hopefully Greg Cary.

She got up from the chair and pulled from the refrigerator all the items she needed to make a salad. She was in the process of cutting up a green pepper when Rachel flew back into the kitchen.

Rachel walked over to her and grabbed her by the shoulders, her eyes wide. “There’s all kinds of camera equipment in the closet. Please tell me that Riley isn’t making tapes of, you know, the two of you together … like sex tapes.”

Lana stared at her sister and then dissolved into laughter. “No!” she exclaimed. “Oh, no, it’s nothing like that. Oh my God, Rachel, what are you thinking?”

“The worst.” Rachel slumped into a chair. “I saw that stuff and suddenly had a vision of you and your new beau splashed across the Internet in all your naked glory.”

Lana giggled again and then realized she needed to come up with a reasonable explanation for the camera equipment. “Actually, Riley is kind of an amateur videographer. He occasionally works weddings and things like that.”

Rachel released a sigh of relief as Lana returned to chopping the pepper. “You hear about this stuff all the time, men talking women into making a sex tape and suddenly the tape is on one of those Internet sites for people to download.”

“First of all, no man could ever talk me into doing something so stupid, and second of all, Riley isn’t that kind of man,” Lana said firmly.

“Aunt Rachel is funny,” Haley exclaimed.

Rachel smiled and shook her head. “You’re a lucky woman, Lana. I didn’t think you’d ever find a man as handsome, as charming as Joe, but it looks like you’ve done just that. And Riley makes you happy?”

Lana moved from the pepper to a tomato. “Of course. If he didn’t make me happy then he wouldn’t be here with me.” Once again she felt the burning desire to spill the truth to her sister. She could trust Rachel not to say anything to another soul. But even as she considered it, the agents’ warnings went through her mind and she reluctantly dismissed the idea.

“I can’t believe that in all our conversations you never mentioned anything about him. You have always been good at keeping secrets.”

“What are you talking about?” Lana asked.

“You didn’t tell me you were pregnant with Haley until you were almost six months along. And now I find out you dated Riley and married him without even mentioning his name to me.”

“I just wanted to make sure it was right before I told you about him,” Lana replied.

The conversation turned to Rachel’s latest travels, and by that time Riley had arrived with the pizzas and they all ate dinner.

After dinner Riley made coffee and they carried it into the living room and continued visiting. But with each passing moment Lana felt a tension building in her stomach as she anticipated bedtime.

She was going to have to sleep in the same bed with Riley. It was going to be awkward, but there was no way to avoid it. Rachel would definitely think it odd if Riley bunked out here on the sofa.

Lana put Haley to bed at eight, and after that each tick of the clock brought her closer to sleeping with a man she insisted she didn’t much like, but who smelled so good and looked so hot.

It was ten o’clock when Rachel got up and said she was calling it a night. “Yeah, I’m ready to turn in, too,” Riley said with a wicked grin at Lana. “I still feel like we’re newlyweds.”

“Isn’t he cute,” Rachel exclaimed.

“He’s a real piece of work,” Lana replied wryly.

As Rachel disappeared into her room and closed the door, Lana went into the bathroom and tried to figure out what made her more anxious, the thought that a serial killer lived next door or the idea of crawling into bed with Riley Kincaid.

She dressed for the night in a huge oversized T-shirt that hung on her curves and fell almost to her knees. She definitely wasn’t going to wear one of the nightgowns that always made her feel sexy.

She went into the bedroom where Riley was seated on the foot of the bed, taking off his shoes and socks.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” she said softly as she moved to the left side of the bed where the alarm clock, a reading lamp and the paperback novel she was reading sat on the nightstand.

“Don’t worry, I don’t take up too much room,” he said, and grinned. He stood and pulled his T-shirt over his head and she tried not to notice his splendid, muscled chest. What she did notice was the puckered skin and red angry scar on his right shoulder.

“What happened?”

“I got shot a little over three months ago,” he replied. “That’s why I got stuck on this surveillance duty. According to the doctors I’m not one hundred percent yet.”

He looked a hundred percent to her. In fact he looked far more than a hundred percent. “Is it true that your parents live in Arizona?” she asked.

“No. My dad left us when I was eight and my mother died when I was fifteen. I went into the foster-care system until I was eighteen.”

“I’m sorry,” she replied.

He shrugged. “It was a long time ago. You said it before. Bad stuff happens and you really have no choice but to get over it.”

As his hands moved to the snap of his jeans, she quickly pulled down the sheets on the bed and crawled in.

She faced the wall and squeezed her eyes tightly closed, willing herself not to imagine what he looked like without all his clothes. But her mind exploded with an unwanted mental vision.

He turned off the overhead light, plunging the room into darkness. She felt the bed depress beneath his weight and every muscle in her body tightened. “You aren’t naked, are you?” she asked.

“As a jaybird,” he replied and then laughed. “Actually, although I usually sleep in the buff I am wearing a pair of briefs right now in deference to you.”

“Could you maybe put on a snowsuit in deference to me?”

He laughed again, the sound a deep pleasant rumble. “Thank God you have a sense of humor, otherwise this whole mess would be intolerable.”

It felt pretty intolerable to her right now. She could feel the heat of his body, smelled that delicious scent of him, and a coil of warmth unfurled in the pit of her stomach. She recognized it for what it was—desire—and it stunned her.

She clung to the edge of the mattress and prayed that sleep would come quickly.

Riley awoke spooned around Lana’s back, his arm slung across her slender waist. She was still asleep, and for several long, pleasant moments he didn’t move. Her hair smelled like apples, and she was warm as toast against him.

It was odd for him to awaken with a woman in his arms. He rarely spent the night with anyone and he never let anyone spend the night with him. He preferred to avoid the awkward mornings after whenever possible.

Going to sleep had been equally awkward the night before. Lana had claimed the very edge of the bed and her tension had filled the room. He had been disappointed that she’d traded her sexy nightgown for an oversize nightshirt, although he’d noticed her shapely legs beneath the nightwear.

Eventually she’d fallen asleep, but he’d remained awake long into the night, wondering if this whole operation was doomed to failure.

The murder timeline indicated that Greg was due for another kill in the next week. They had a couple of agents working out at the gym where Greg worked, hoping to see if he paid special attention to anyone, had any of the women there in his sights.

For the last couple of days, though, Greg had seemed to be on his best behavior. He went to work and then came home and didn’t leave his house again. There had been no visitors to his residence. They had tapped his landline but suspected he was using toss-away pre-paid cell phones for any conversations he might be having with his partner in crime.

Lana stirred but didn’t awaken, and Riley rolled away from her. He knew if she did wake up and found herself cuddled intimately in his arms she would be appalled.

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