BEAST by Pepper Pace Read Free Book Online Page B

him! She tried to come to her feet in horror that she had made a stranger so familiar.
     
    “I am so sorry.” She said quickly. His hands were still on her arms as if he was waiting for her to fall again.
     
    “You fainted twice.” He said. She tried not to stare into his face and looked around. He dropped his arms and she realized that she was being rude by being self-conscious. She looked at him.
     
    “Where am I?”
     
    “This is the security area of the subbasement.” He had a deep, soft voice with a country accent. “I’m Lt Christopher Jameson of the Department of Protective Services for Homeland Security.”
     
    She gave him a surprised look, momentarily forgetting about his scars. “In the subbasement?”
     
    “Yes Ma’am,” h e said politely. “The employees of the Federal Building and Federal Courthouse are our protectees.”
     
    “Protectees...” She said testing the word. “Wow, I had no idea.”
     
    “No Ma’am. No one sees us. But we’re here.” Ashleigh smiled. That was nice to know.
     
    “I’m Ashleigh Dalton.” She blushed and tugged at her t-shirt. “And I need to really get back to work.”
     
    “Mrs. Dalton, you’re not trying to exercise on an empty stomach are you?” She gave him a surprised look. And he quickly continued. “Well I see you workout each morning…and you blacked out. I figured that was why.”
     
    She blushed again and looked away. “Yeah, I guess I wasn’t thinking.”
     
    “Mrs. Dalton- ”
     
    “Miss. Please, just call me Ashleigh, spelled with a gh .” After all , she had just sat on his lap, and what a big lap it was. She had to look up at him as he towered above her. He was a giant. He was even bigger than DeAngelo. Big clothes concealed most of his muscles but she knew that he was perfectly toned beneath the sweatpants and hooded sweatshirt. She felt like such a slob around him. He’d probably felt every roll of fat when he lifted her. Feeling self conscious, she folded her arms in front of her.
     
    “I’ll escort you back down to the lockers. Once you get dressed I want you to visit the nurse’s station in your building. You need to get your blood pressure checked and the lump on the back of your head looked at. Will you do that, Ashleigh?”
     
    She gave him a surprised look. “Yeah-Yes. I’ll do that.”
     
    He nodded without smiling and led her out the door. Several men were moving along the corridor and she instantly knew that they had been listening at the door. She looked up at Christopher who seemed to ignore it.
     
    Several men nodded their heads at her as they passed. They were dressed in army fatigues and she was wearing sweats and a t-shirt. How embarrassing. Her cap was gone; she would have bed head!!! This day should just end. There was no way that she was going to work, she was going home and she was going to crawl into bed!
     
    They walked down a long corridor and Ashleigh realized that he had carried her here. She looked up at him. He walked very straight and tall. She should say something.
     
    “Thank you for helping me. I’m sorry for the trouble.”
     
    He looked at her quickly. “No trouble. Um…do you feel okay?”
     
    No, she didn’t feel okay. She felt drained but she didn’t think she was going to faint again. “I’m okay.” She said.
     
    They reached the securi ty doors and he used a card to open them . “After you, Ma’am--Ashleigh.”
     
    Why was she so tired? Christopher was watching her but she couldn’t read his expression . He followed her into the corridor but instead of leading her to where the lockers were located he led her in a different direction. Oh hell she was all turned around . It felt like a maze to her anymore. But in a minute she was going to need to sit down. She hoped they would get to the lockers soon.
     
    They reached a set of elevators and he pressed the button. She saw him look at her with a sudden frown .
     
    “You’re crashing again. You’re about to