Friends and Lovers Trilogy 02 - Charmed by Beth Ciotta Read Free Book Online Page B

hands trembling at the thought of a one-nighter with Colin Murphy.
Colin.
Sexy name. Sexy man. Irish.
    Falling is easier than rising.
    She shook off the disquieting Celtic saying. She’d fallen for Terry in high school and she’d yet to regain her footing. Sighing, she punched in a series of numbers. Her tense shoulders sagged with relief when a familiar voice answered,
“Oui?”
    “Hi, Jean-Pierre. It’s me.”
    One of these nights I’ll get back in the dating game,
she thought, while pocketing Murphy’s business card.
    Just not tonight.

Chapter Five
    Murphy glanced down at his cell phone willing it to ring. Six hours since initial contact and he’d yet to hear from Bogie. It wasn’t the waiting that chafed—he was well acquainted with the boredom of surveillance—it was the lack of information. The sooner he knew specifics, the sooner he could devise a plan. If he was to maintain covert protection twenty-four/seven he’d need to contact a relief man, someone to sit watch while he grabbed a couple hours of sleep, showered, and changed into fresh clothing. Unfortunately, the core members of his protective team, the four men he trusted most in this world aside from Bogie, were on holiday. After six months on assignment in Washington DC and a month with Albert Nibler, the eccentric convenience store mogul, the team had agreed to take a three-week break. Even though he knew they’d come running, Murphy refrained from making that call. Rejuvenation was key for a sharp mind and steady nerves. His team was superior. He aimed to keep it that way. He had another ace up his sleeve, a trusted local. A pain in his ass, but a top-notch professional.
    If the threat necessitated one-on-one coverage, he’d have to have a heart-to-heart with Lulu. He’d have to encroach on her lifestyle in a major, personal way. That option, though tricky, held a thrill factor hard to ignore.
    He’d participated in countless high-risk operations and met a lot of interesting people, saintly
and
disreputable. But he’d never experienced a phenomenon like Lulu Ross. Fifteen minutes in her company and he was captivated. Part of him wanted to bury himself inside of her, to meld with all that sunshine and goodness. The other part, the logical, cynical part, wanted to give her a full-body shake, a wake-up call to his world. The real world. A chaotic, dismal battlefield overrun by drug dealers, rapists, kidnappers, and assassins.
    It was a clichéd shame, but sometimes you had to be cruel to be kind. She’d waded into a pool of deep shit. How in the hell was she going to see her way out wearing rose-colored glasses?
    At this point, even with his eyes wide open, he was operating in the dark. Until Bogie called all he had to go on was gut instinct and logical assessment. All signs pointed to his current number one theory: the princess had a dangerous admirer. The question was how dangerous? How far would the stalker go? Was she a fixation to be adored from afar? Or would he make physical contact? Could this escalate into a potential kidnapping with the threat of sexual assault? It wasn’t a pretty thought, but Bogie didn’t mix with pretty people.
    Murphy didn’t look forward to having
that
particular discussion with the princess. He could picture her rolling those nut-brown eyes. At least he wouldn’t have to worry about her flipping out and falling apart, because she wasn’t going to believe him. She struck him as a free-spirit, the type who operated under the illusion that bad things only happen to other people. He could envision her gliding through life on her pink-wheeled roller skates, head in the clouds, oblivious to political, criminal, and world affairs. He’d be surprised if she watched CNN or read the newspaper, although she probably devoured the comics.
    Once upon a time he’d been that innocent and carefree.
Yeah. When I was five.
He wasn’t sure if he was appalled or envious.
    Speak of the devil, or in this case, the angel, Lulu