Bodyguard Boyfriend
He can handle killers.
But guarding a beautiful woman? He’s defenseless.
Tyce Jackson’s had some dangerous undercover assignments. But acting as Bella Holmes’s boyfriend is his riskiest yet. Because heiress Bella isn’t what he’d expected. And focusing on protecting her is proving to be a colossal challenge. Despite their mutual distrust, their seismic attraction is off the charts. But with killers watching Bella’s every move, Tyce must not lose his cool—or his heart.
Ever since LISA CHILDS read her first romance novel (a Mills & Boon story, of course) at age eleven, all she wanted was to be a romance writer. With over forty novels published with Mills & Boon, Lisa is living her dream. She is an award-winning, bestselling romance author. Lisa loves to hear from readers, who can contact her on Facebook, through her website, lisachilds.com, or her snail-mail address, PO Box 139, Marne, MI 49435.
Also By Lisa Childs
Bachelor Bodyguards
His Christmas Assignment
Bodyguard Daddy
Bodyguard’s Baby Surprise
Beauty and the Bodyguard
Nanny Bodyguard
Single Mom’s Bodyguard
In the Bodyguard’s Arms
Soldier Bodyguard
Guarding His Witness
Evidence of Attraction
Bodyguard Boyfriend
Colton 911
Colton 911: Baby’s Bodyguard
The Coltons of Red Ridge
Colton’s Cinderella Bride
Top Secret Deliveries
The Bounty Hunter’s Baby Surprise
The Coltons of Shadow Creek
The Colton Marine
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.
Bodyguard Boyfriend
Lisa Childs
www.millsandboon.co.uk
ISBN: 978-0-008-90518-7
BODYGUARD BOYFRIEND
© 2020 Lisa Childs
Published in Great Britain 2020
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
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For my late mother, Mary Lou Childs, who loved her family so selflessly and generously and for whom I will be forever grateful and forever try to emulate.
“You’re in danger.”
Bella nodded. She was. In danger of falling for him...
“I need to stay focused,” Tyce said. “I can’t get distracted like I was earlier.”
“You were distracted?”
“You know that I was. From dancing with you...” His voice lowered to a deep rumble in his chest. “I couldn’t wait to get you back here, to get you back in bed.”
Her pulse quickened and she struggled to breathe. She wanted that now—to be in bed with him. But then she remembered what had happened because he’d been distracted—he had been shot.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. I need to stay focused on my job.”
He was her bodyguard. Only her bodyguard... She needed to remember that. Acting like her boyfriend was only his cover. Was only an act.
She lifted herself up on her feet again. Then she turned to walk away from him.
But he stood up and reached out. “Oh, hell,” he murmured before he lowered his mouth to hers.
* * *
Be sure to check out the previous books in the exciting Bachelor Bodyguards miniseries.
Dear Reader,
This month’s Bachelor Bodyguards release, Bodyguard Boyfriend, brings us back to River City, Michigan, and the Payne Protection Agency. I love writing the Bachelor Bodyguards series because I love the dynamics of the Payne family. They are a close-knit family but also welcoming, as every bodyguard who joins the agency learns. When the Payne Protection Agency hires a bodyguard, he doesn’t get just a job; he gets a family, as well.
And some of these guys can really use family, especially the team Parker Payne has hired that were all former vice cops with River City PD. As bodyguards, they wind up still working to take down the drug dealer who’s been murderously ruling River City for years. Tyce Jackson is assigned to be the bodyguard for a judge’s daughter, and sparks and bullets fly when he has to pose as her boyfriend in order to protect her. To fit into her high-society world, rough-around-the-edges Tyce needs a makeover, so he becomes a Cinderfella in this reverse Cinderella story. Bella Holmes is too busy trying to honor her late mother’s legacy of charity work and nonprofit foundations to be Princess Charming to anyone. She also doesn’t think she needs a bodyguard, but if she did, she wouldn’t want Tyce. Or so she thinks...until she sees Tyce’s transformation.
I hope you enjoy this latest installment of Bachelor Bodyguards!
Happy reading!
Lisa Childs
Contents
Cover
Back Cover Text
About the Author
Booklist
Title Page
Copyright
Note to Readers
Dedication
Introduction
Dear Reader
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
About the Publisher
Chapter 1
Everything was perfect. The music was low enough and the lights high enough that everything and everyone could be heard and seen in the beautifully decorated ballroom. All the important people were in attendance. They were opening their wallets and checkbooks, making significant donations, which made all of Bella Holmes’s hard work to pull off this event worthwhile. Since it was a black-tie affair, everyone was dressed so elegantly. They all looked beautiful—like movie stars.
Except for him...
She noticed him the moment he entered the ballroom of the River City Grand Plaza. How had he even gotten into the event? Of course, he was much bigger than the security guys she’d hired to watch the door. Their main duty was just to take tickets and invitations, though. There was no way this man had either of those.
She had not invited him and she doubted he could have afforded the price of a ticket. Unless he was one of those eccentric millionaires who enjoyed looking so unkempt and...
She shivered.
He looked like he didn’t give a damn about anything or anyone. His black hair was long and thick and unruly, and a bushy black beard covered his square jaw and part of his neck. He wore a black jacket, but it wasn’t part of a tuxedo. There was no white shirt or tie beneath the leather jacket, either. And he wore faded jeans with black boots like the ones motorcyclists wore. In fact, she suspected that was what he’d driven to the gala. He carried no helmet, though, so he’d either checked it at the door or chosen to ride without one.
Other people had noticed him—probably due to his size as well as his appearance. He had to be well over six feet tall, and his shoulders were so broad they strained against that leather jacket. The guests murmured and tittered among themselves.
He paid them no attention, though, as he looked around the expansive ballroom as if searching for someone. Was that why he was there? For someone in particular?
Then he turned his head and his gaze locked with hers. He didn’t look away. He stared directly at her as he started walking toward her.
Bella’s knees began to weaken and shake. He was here for her. Daddy had warned her. He’d told her that some criminal in an upcoming trial over which he was going to preside had threatened her.
Was this man that criminal?
Maybe she shouldn’t have shrugged off her father’s concern like she had. But as a criminal judge, Daddy was threatened all the time. Desperate claims by desperate people. This was the first time he’d seemed genuinely worried, though, so worried that he’d been insisting she have a bodyguard.
And now she understood why—if this was the man who’d made those threats. But that man had been denied bail; so he was in jail. That was why she’d told her father she didn’t need a bodyguard and, more important, that she didn’t want one. Had he sent one anyway?
This man was very focused on her. As he drew closer, she noticed that his eyes were brown but a very light, very golden brown, like topaz. And more alarming than that, she also noticed the bulge beneath his jacket. It wasn’t from his muscles, though they strained the leather, as well. The bulge was from a gun.
With a gasp of outrage, she turned—breaking their visual connection. Then she began to move through the crowd, heading for the other end of the ballroom. Years of practice in social situations had her smiling brightly at the people who tried to stop her to speak. She just shook her head regretfully and promised she would be right back.
And she would be, once she handled this. Privately. She could feel him behind her, moving through the crowd, too, which parted for him as it compressed around her. She should probably head in the other direction, toward the entrance and the security guards positioned there. But they had let him pass—without an invitation or a ticket. Obviously they would not be able to stop him from doing whatever he intended to do to her. Did he intend to protect her? Was he her bodyguard?
She was about to find out. Because as she neared the end of the room, a strong hand wrapped around her arm.
A lot of other people had touched her as she’d passed them. But she instinctively knew the hand on her arm was his. It was so big and so strong—just like him. And even though other people had reached out to her, all of them had been too polite to just grab her.
No. She knew it was him. That he was the one who’d grabbed her. And he’d jerked her to a stop so abruptly that she teetered on her stiletto heels and began to fall.
Tyce caught her before she fell. As she stumbled and swayed, he wrapped an arm around her small waist and jerked her up against his body. He tensed as he felt a jolt as if she’d stabbed him.
But she only stared up at him, her green eyes wide with shock as if she’d felt that same jolt. She recovered quickly, though. Faster than he had. Pressing her palms against his chest, she pushed away from him. But with his arm locked around her waist, she couldn’t put much distance between their bodies—not enough that he still didn’t feel the heat of hers. Or the tension...
“What are you doing here?” she asked, her full red lips pursed in disapproval. She apparently didn’t think he belonged at such a fancy event.
She wasn’t wrong. Tyce was uncomfortable, the kind of uncomfortable he would be if he’d inadvertently volunteered to model naked for an art class and everybody was staring at him, studying his every pore. Like they were staring at him now, studying him. At least he had his clothes on, though, and they were his own damn clothes. He didn’t care that he wasn’t dressed like everybody else. They looked even more uncomfortable than he was, like they were wearing straitjackets instead of monkey suits. Even she had nearly tripped in her heels and long, golden-colored dress. But that was because she’d been trying to get away from him.
“I work for the Payne Protection Agency,” he said, “which has been hired to guard you.”
She shook her head. “I told him no.”
Tyce had tried saying no, too. Why had he, of everybody on his team, been assigned to protect the princess? Tyce Jackson was nobody’s idea of a prince.
She pushed harder against his chest. “You need to leave.”
He’d been warned that she didn’t want protection. She clearly didn’t want him there. Probably didn’t want to be seen with him. He’d dated women like her—in high school, college and after—ones who’d wanted to walk on the wild side with a bad boy. But they hadn’t wanted anyone to see them taking that walk. “I’m not leaving without you.”
Her green eyes narrowed as she stared up at him, as if doubting what he’d said. He’d heard she was an airhead who’d dropped out of college to spend her life going from party to party.
But then, with the trust fund she’d inherited from her dead mother and the one she would receive as her wealthy father’s only heir, she didn’t have to worry about her future. Financially at least.
Nevertheless, with notorious drug dealer Luther Mills making threats against everyone involved in his prosecution for murder of a police informant, her future wasn’t secure physically. To get to her father—the judge for his trial—Luther Mills was threatening her.
“I told my father I didn’t need a bodyguard,” she said. “He’s overreacting. If I feel like I’m in danger, I will call the police.”
Her father had said he’d talked to her about Luther’s threats, but apparently she hadn’t listened. She didn’t seem to be aware that there was a leak within the River City police department. With the exception of the chief, nobody within the department could really be trusted. Neither could anyone within the district attorney’s office; there was a leak there, too.
“I’m here tonight to take you to a meeting,” he said, glancing at the clock on the ballroom wall.
She shook her head again. Her blond hair, which had been piled high on top of her head, didn’t move, the pins holding tightly.
Like he continued to hold her. But he had a feeling that if he released her, she would try to get away from him again. And he couldn’t risk that. “We need to leave now,” he said. “So we’re not late.”
She tensed even more than she’d been, drawing herself up as if trying to look down on him. She was tall, but still the top of her head just came to his chin, he was that much taller than she was. At six foot eight, he was taller than most people, though.
“I am not going anywhere with you,” she said.
Of course not—if the situation was anything but what it was. “I’m not asking you out,” he said. “I’m making sure you get to the meeting.”
“Meeting?” she asked, arching a blond brow in skepticism. “I have no interest in any meeting.”
He was sure she didn’t. “That’s not my problem.” It was her father’s and, Tyce’s boss, Parker Payne’s problem. His job was just to get her there.
“And I can’t possibly leave this event yet,” she said, her voice full of condescension as if he was the airhead.
He snorted. “You can skip out early on a party,” he said. “Especially when your life is at stake.”
She sighed. “Now you’re overreacting.”
He shook his head. “Not me...” He knew Luther Mills too well to underestimate him. Everybody involved in the drug dealer’s murder trial definitely needed protection. Tyce just wished he hadn’t been assigned to protect this particular person. He didn’t want to deal with a spoiled party girl who had no idea what the real world was like, that there were bad people out there who would have no problem hurting her.
Who wanted to hurt her.
The thought had his arm tightening around her a little more. He kept that arm around her waist as he turned her toward the entrance and he used that arm to nearly carry her along with him.
“Let me go,” she said, the words emanating from between her gritted teeth. And her lips, painted a deep red, were curved into a superficial smile directed at all those people who watched them both now.
He shook his head.
“I’ll scream,” she threatened.
And he chuckled. “You obviously don’t want to make a scene. I have no such problem. I’ll swing you over my shoulder and carry you out of here if you make me.”
“Try it,” she said. “Security will stop you and then the police will come and arrest you.”
He stared down at her, trying to gauge if she was bluffing or not. He couldn’t take the chance that she might not be. If security stopped him until the police arrived, they wouldn’t just be late for the meeting. They would risk tipping off Luther Mills’s informant in the police department that his plan had gotten out. That was why they were meeting at the agency office, so Luther wouldn’t find out about their new protection detail.
He uttered a ragged sigh. “Call your father,” he said. “He’s probably already at the Payne Protection Agency, which is where we’re supposed to be.” He reached beneath his jacket and pulled out his cell. Her father’s number was the last one on his caller’s list.
She must have noticed that because her lips parted as her eyes widened. “Daddy called you directly? He personally hired you?”
He grimaced at a grown woman calling her father “Daddy.” He’d had no idea how spoiled she actually was, but he was beginning to understand, which only confirmed his belief that he’d gotten the worst of the damn assignments for this detail. He punched the contact number and handed her the cell.
She stared at it for a moment before pressing it to her ear, as if even his phone wasn’t good enough for her. This was going to be a damn difficult assignment.
Across the ballroom another call was placed.
“Yes?” Luther Mills answered on the first ring.
The caller remembered that the drug dealer was sitting in jail; he had nothing else to do for now. He had sworn that he would be out soon, though. He was putting a plan in motion to get his charges thrown out, which was why he’d enlisted help to spy on Bella Holmes.
“Did you send someone after her here?” the caller asked, incredulous at Luther Mills’s audacity. But then Luther was known for his boldness; it was also what had finally gotten him arrested, though, when he’d shot someone right in front of a witness.
“Where’s ‘here’?” Luther asked.
“The River City Grand Plaza.”
Luther chuckled as if the idea amused him. He replied, “No. I just want her watched for now.”
He was waiting to see if his case actually went to trial before deciding whether or not he needed to use Bella Holmes.
“That’s what I’m paying you for,” Luther said. “You are watching her.”
Always, but not just because Luther had ordered it. “Yes. That’s why I’m calling. This guy—” who looked more like one of Luther’s crew than the caller did “—is obviously not a guest.”
“Is he a cop?” Luther asked.
The dealer’s spy chuckled at the thought of this ruffian being a police officer. “No.”
“Hmm...boyfriend?”
The caller laughed harder. Luther did not know Bella Holmes at all. She was such a snob. She’d never even dated a man who wore jeans around the house let alone to a black-tie event. “Absolutely not.”
“Then you better find out who the hell he is,” Luther ordered. “And make sure he won’t be a problem when we need to act on those threats we’ve been sending to the judge.”
We?
Luther wouldn’t be able to act—not from jail. That duty would fall to the caller. But hurting Bella Holmes would not be a problem; it would be a pleasure. In fact, the caller wasn’t certain it would be possible to wait until Mills gave the order to kill her.
Bella Holmes deserved to die. Now.
Chapter 2
Bella Holmes clicked off the cell and held it out to him. Her forehead was creased and annoyance darkened her green eyes. “Daddy knows I have this event tonight,” she murmured, glancing around the crowded ballroom. “I can’t leave now...”
“But you have to,” Tyce said. “The chief of police and—” he couldn’t resist mocking her “—Daddy are waiting for us.”
She glared at him. “Well, you can give me the address and I will meet you there.”
He shook his head. “That’s not how this works, Princess. You need to ride with me.”
She looked him up and down like she had when he’d first walked into the ballroom. He hadn’t missed her noticing him. Just like he hadn’t missed noticing her. With that kind of over-the-top, movie-star beauty, she was impossible to miss even in a ballroom full of similarly dressed-up women.
“I cannot jump on the back of your motorcycle,” she said as she gestured toward her long gown and heels.
His brow creased with confusion. “Motorcycle?” He had one. He’d even ridden it to work earlier that evening, but she couldn’t know that.
She ran her gaze down his body again and stared at his boots.