Protector by Catherine Mann Read Free Book Online Page B

travelers. Again. And again. Suspiciously so until it made her think of how the terrorists that pulled off the 9/ 11 attacks had reportedly made multiple practice runs.
    Her government had logged her report, but something in their distracted, overworked eyes didn’t reassure her. Without thinking, she’d run straight to the only man who’d ever broken her heart. Damned ironic she still trusted him more than any human being on earth.
    Colonel Rex Scanlon.
    He lounged in a velvet chair with silver piping that matched the threads at his temples. He wore a gray suit tonight rather than his uniform, but his military bearing was unmistakable. His long lean body, his intense stare still turned her inside out and he’d never done more than kissed her. He still loved his dead wife. Livia understood that all too well, yet she still wanted him.
    But not enough to play second fiddle.
    There hadn’t been any real choice for her but to reach out for his help. Much about his career was secret to her, but she’d believed he had connections. Important ones. Apparently she’d been right because the next thing she knew he’d followed up her lead and here they were— the colonel and the team members she knew from the op in Turkey where they’d met, only to spend more time together once she relocated to the States for a while.
    She’d agreed to assist the military, her country and the United States working together on something she could not know in detail. She would work with him and two others she’d met during a USO tour. She felt certain other servicemen and women were undercover on this ship, but some things in life were better unknown.
    Her heart would certainly hurt less if she’d never known Rex.
    The last note melted on her tongue, mellow and with a slight rasp that hadn’t been there before. Applause rippled through the crowd already half-drunk on the excitement of their cruise departure in the morning. After an afternoon of foxtrot lessons on deck five and limbo around the main pool, the partying passengers would have cheered for a karaoke singer.
    Standing, Rex clapped steadily, his eyes still on her intently as he walked toward the stage with long lean strides. As she approached the top step off the stage, he was already there to meet her like an attentive boyfriend, extending his hand to help her descend.
    Her galloping heart had to remember it was all an act.
    “Bravo,” he said simply. “An escort to your room?”
    “Grazie.”
She fit her hand into his and he clasped her with strength, stability, all the things she’d never had in her life.
    Inching up the hem of her red satin gown, she took the steps slowly, careful not to let her bad leg buckle beneath her. The limp was another souvenir from the explosion that damaged her voice. She’d minimized the limp with rehab, and could make it all but indistinct if she didn’t rush. But still it served as a daily reminder of the attack during her USO tour, when she’d met Rex.
    As if she could forget him. And now they had to pretend to be lovers for the next eight days.
    Nearby, the couples who’d been slow dancing to her song were only just beginning to break apart, their martini-fueled reaction times slowed by the Mediterranean heat. An Eastern European man in an expensive suit lifted his glass in a private toast to her behind Rex’s back. She’d known better than to date fans, even on the few occasions she’d been interested. With Rex beside her, she scarcely saw anyone else.
    Tucking her hand around his elbow, she walked slowly alongside him away from the stage. Since calling him in a panic about her suspicions, she hadn’t been alone with him. Until now.
    She stared up at his warm chocolate eyes melting over her until her skin overheated even in a strapless gown, air conditioner blasting. “What happened to your glasses?”
    He thumbed the bridge of his nose where the black horn-rimmed glasses usually rested. “I took your advice and got