Deep Focus by Erin McCarthy Read Free Book Online Page B

flustered, running her hands through her hair.
    That was promising.
    But then she went over to the patio door and slid it open. “Oh! Hunter, there are dolphins out here!”
    “On the veranda?” he asked, joking.
    “No, you goof. In the water. Look.”
    He took his shirt and his undershirt off and dutifully walked over to the open doorway. On the veranda were a hammock and two chairs. Beyond the railing was some sort of grotto, and yep, there were a couple of dolphins cruising around, doing what dolphins do.
    “Very nice.”
    “Aren’t they cute?” She moved across the patio and leaned over to take a closer look. Her bottom lifted up toward him in those tight jeans.
    “Very cute.” He was definitely appreciating the view.
    “Why do they slap the water with their tails?”
    “I don’t know. But they must have a porpoise.” He moved up next to her as he deadpanned the worst pun ever.
    “What?” She glanced over at him, her lips moving as she silently repeated what he had just said. “Oh, my God. Really? For a guy who looks so serious all the time, you crack an awful lot of jokes.”
    “I’m multilayered.” Actually, it was a coping mechanism. The shrink he’d been ordered to see after his injury had told him that. It seemed to be working just fine for him, so he wasn’t going to bother making any changes.
    “Why did you become a bodyguard?”
    “Because I’m not qualified to do anything else.”
    “Is that the only reason?”
    He hesitated, resting his forearms on the railing and staring down at the rippling water. The dolphins were making clicking sounds in the background, and somewhere on the other side of the resort mariachi music was playing. “No. I wanted to protect people. Do something useful. Leaving the military made me feel as though I didn’t have a purpose anymore.”
    “I can see that about you,” she said quietly. “So you think you’ll keep doing this line of work? Do you work for a firm?”
    “Yes. I’m not good at paperwork.” It was true. He preferred action, and he hadn’t wanted to be bothered with starting up his own business or doing consulting work. It was easier to sign on with a security firm and be out in the field. He had expected it would give him the adrenaline rush he had experienced in the Marine Corps, but he had learned that the work was mostly monotonous.
    The other thing he had discovered was that it opened him up to conversations with his clients. Or mostly, it opened him up to them telling him about their lives, while he played the listener the way he always had. His mother had always told him he had a face that made people confess all their sins, and honestly, he had no clue why. Maybe his silence was the only invitation they needed. Plus he didn’t judge. “It’s not what I expected,” he said honestly. “I was looking for more action.”
    “I’m sort of a bummer of a client, then, aren’t I? You aren’t going to see much action with me. Zero action here.”
    She had no idea what that particular phrasing did to him. It was a good thing only the dolphins could see that he was tenting his dress pants. “You never know. Sometimes there’s action when you least expect it.”
    The dolphin snorted from his blowhole.
    Damn right.

4
    M ELANIE WOULD SWEAR she could smell Hunter’s skin. The sun was heating up his bare chest and arms, and he smelled earthy and raw, like a man. She had been trying desperately not to look at his chest, but she had failed miserably. She kept peeking over at him every thirty seconds or so. He looked even better than her imagination could have prepared her for. All hard and muscular and somehow not pasty white like she was, but golden, with a sprinkling of chest hair.
    “I’m starving,” she blurted. “Can we go get a late lunch?” With all the movement of the day, the one thing she’d never done was eat. She was starting to feel light-headed, and it was only partially because Hunter was a hottie with his shirt