Beloved Bodyguard by Bonnie Dee Read Free Book Online

tears.
    “Whatever.” She moved past him quickly. I’m not done with you yet, mister. I can hear in your voice that
there is something between us, but you’re afraid to admit
it.
    “Hey, Nin,” she greeted the cook when she
reached the kitchen. “Don’t bother getting anything for me. I can
make my own breakfast.”
    “I wasn’t going to.” The older woman shot her
the same evil-eyed glare she did every morning when Leelah cruised
into her kitchen closer to lunchtime than breakfast. “I’m no
short-order cook.”
    Leelah grinned. The byplay with Nin was a
part of her morning, like a daily cup of chamti . Despite the
cook’s complaints, she always kept a pot of chamti warm
until whatever time Leelah arrived for her morning meal. There was
a basket of muffins and a bowl of fruit on the counter. She filled
a plate and carried her breakfast out to the garden with Ja-hun
trailing behind her.
    The weather was cooler than yesterday, but
still sunny. She walked the stone path between glowing flowerbeds
and past decorative trees to her favorite bench in the rose arbor.
She settled on the seat and set her plate beside her.
    Ja-hun took a position several yards away,
his back to her, his posture erect and ready to spring into action.
Did he think kidnappers were going to spring out of the bushes in
her own garden? The sun shone on his black hair, glossy as a
raven’s wing. It had slipped so cool and silky between her fingers
last night. How she longed to wrap her fingers around those silken
locks and tug on them.
    She sighed and turned her attention to her
cherry muffin, but immediately her focus drifted back to Ja-hun,
picturing him without the suit jacket he wore today. Broad
shoulders, narrow waist, tight ass, muscular legs. She needed to
see him naked again so she could take a long look at his rear.
    “This is ridiculous!” she called. “At least
come over here and talk to me. Have a grape. They’re
delicious.”
    He glanced over his shoulder at her. His
sharp profile outlined against dark foliage seemed more statue than
man. She wanted to close her eyes and study his features with her
fingertips, as if she could learn more about him that way.
    “Come on,” she wheedled. “You don’t have to
sit next to me. Just come over here.”
    She reeled him in like a fish hooked on the
line of her voice. He moved closer, stopping a few feet in front of
her.
    She offered him a few Kachiri grapes, and he
shook his head. “No, thank you.”
    With a shrug, Leelah put them into her own
mouth, the rich sweetness popping on her tongue. “You’ll be
escorting Father and me to the ball tonight?”
    “Yes.”
    “So, let me get this straight. I’m confined
to the house on a daily basis. You think shopping or my friends’
beach party is too dangerous, and yet we’re going to attend the
biggest social event of the year with hundreds of people in
attendance. That doesn’t seem unsafe to you?”
    What was she saying? She was going to talk
him right out of allowing her to attend the NewEarth Ball.
    “Your father has made it clear this is an
important event for both of you, politically as well as socially.
Besides, the security at the Gravatz is irreproachable. You aren’t
the only important dignitaries who will be there.”
    She fluttered her eyelashes and assumed a
breathless baby-doll voice. “Will you be right by me all the time
to protect me?”
    He gave her a “don’t fuck with me” look then
stared away across the garden.
    Leelah sipped her chamti , the jolt of
caffeine finishing the job of waking her up. She ate another grape
and breathed in a lungful of the fresh morning air as she
considered her next move.
    “Look, Ja-hun. Having you stand while I sit
feels awkward. Please, sit down on the bench. I swear I won’t flirt
any more or touch you at all. Just sit. Please.”
    Reluctantly, as though his body was beyond
his control, he did as she bid.
    She felt the warmth of his body and smelled
the woodsy cologne he