The Bodyguard and Ms. Jones by Susan Mallery Read Free Book Online Page A

plate down, then froze. Heat burned her cheeks as embarrassment flooded her. “You heard us?” she asked, her voice a squeak.
    â€œI don’t know if I heard all of it, but I heard enough.” He studied her. “I never knew what women talked about when they were alone. I think it was better that way.”
    She cleared her throat. After setting the plate and glass on the nightstand, she brushed her hands against her shorts. Her conversation with Beth had been completely innocent, she reminded herself. And private. It wasn’t his business.
    Except Beth had asked about seeing him naked.
    Cindy glanced at his bare chest, then raised her gaze higher to his face. He’d shaved that morning, although he hadn’t had the strength to stand. She’d had to bring a chair into the bathroom for him. She could see the strong lines of his face and the slight tilt at the corner of his mouth. One eyebrow raised expectantly. She didn’t know if he was annoyed or mad.
    â€œIt’s Friday,” she said at last. “If it makes you feel any better, on Monday we generally discuss women being naked. We try to be fair about it.”
    Mike grinned. Cindy returned his smile, her relief tangible.
    â€œBeth sounds like a scary lady,” he said.
    â€œShe’s really very nice. Oh, did you hear about the barbecue?”
    â€œJust a word here and there.” He’d been asleep until a strange woman had tiptoed into his room. Their conversation had carried to him in the quiet house, although when they ran water in the kitchen, it drowned out the sound of their voices.
    â€œEveryone will want to meet you,” she said. “You’re something of a local celebrity. Not just because you’re Grace’s brother, but what with your work and the injuries...”
    He remembered his sister’s instructions to be nice to her friends. “I’ll go,” he said, and knew he would hate everything about the evening.
    â€œIt’s not until a week from Saturday. I’m sure you’ll be better.”
    â€œI hope so.” He flexed his sore leg and winced.
    â€œI need to change the bandage,” she said.
    He nodded and flipped back the covers. Cindy went into the bathroom and came back with a small box containing her supplies. She took her nursing very seriously. As he scooted over to give her more room, she settled on the edge of the mattress. He grabbed his leg below the healing bullet wound and raised it while she slipped a towel underneath.
    â€œWe’re getting to be quite a team,” he said.
    â€œPractice.” Her hands were small but sure. She gave him a quick, apologetic glance, then carefully removed the bandage.
    She studied the hole in his thigh. It was sort of lumpy and still red but it wasn’t infected and didn’t bleed anymore.
    â€œI think it’s better,” she told him.
    He leaned back as she continued her treatment. Over the smell of disinfectant, he caught the fragrance of her perfume. In the last four days, he’d accepted the fact that she was only ever going to wear shorts and a T-shirt around him and that he’d better get used to long honey-colored legs taunting him at every turn. He wondered how men in the suburbs got anything done with all these half-naked women around. Maybe they became immune, or didn’t bother noticing. If so, they were fools.
    Having Cindy bend over his injury, with her light brown hair falling loose and her face all scrunched up with concentration, was the best part of his day. Her friend across the street might be all hot to see him naked, but he didn’t think Cindy ever noticed he wasn’t wearing anything but briefs. To her, he was simply Grace’s brother. Almost a eunuch.
    Of course, if he kept noticing the way her breasts moved, she would soon have proof he was very much a man. Instead of indulging himself, he forced his thoughts elsewhere. In the last four days he’d