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

learned two things. First, Sugar Land, Texas, wasn’t like anywhere he’d ever been before. Even sleeping half the day away, he sensed the difference. Second, Cindy Jones wasn’t for him. He might admire her legs, and the way she filled out her shirt, but she was as off-limits as his best friend’s wife. If he had a best friend. She’d just admitted she’d only been with one man in her life. He’d never dated anyone for more than a month. He didn’t believe in relationships, she needed to be married.
    She applied a fresh bandage. “The kids are outside playing,” she said and stood up. She reached for the pair of jeans she’d folded earlier and placed on the footboard. “If you can get dressed and out to the family room before they come inside, that means you get to control the TV remote. If you don’t, they have the power.”
    He shuddered at the thought. “Do you know what’s in those cartoons?”
    â€œYes, that’s why I try to be out of the room.” She tossed him the jeans, then bent over his duffel bag and dug out a T-shirt. “Think of it as your aerobics exercise for the day. A race for the remote control.”
    His heart was already getting a workout, he thought, watching the way the fabric of her shorts pulled tight around her derriere. The feminine curves tempted him. He didn’t know what the problems had been in her marriage, but he was willing to bet her husband hadn’t left because he wanted someone better-looking. If Mike was wrong, her husband was a fool.
    Cindy tossed him a T-shirt then started for the door. Before she left, she glanced back at him. “About Beth,” she said, then nibbled on her lower lip. “She’s just talking. She tries to be very worldly and all, but she’s in love with her husband. She’d never actually do anything.”
    â€œI know.”
    â€œI just didn’t want you to think that she was like that.”
    â€œMaybe when I meet her, I should offer her a quick look.”
    Cindy laughed. “Only if I can be there to see the expression on her face.”
    â€œDeal.”
    â€œGet dressed, eat your snack, then head for the family room. The kids will be outside for another half hour or so.”
    With that, she left. He found it humorous that she would tend to the wound on his thigh but she always left him alone to dress. She treated him with amused tolerance. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d joked with someone, or bothered to relax. He’d been working too hard, without a break between jobs.
    If nothing else, this forced time off would give him a chance to regroup. As soon as he was able, he could move into Grace’s house. Once there, he would think about what it was he wanted to do with his life. His recent encounter with death had him wondering about different career options. He was pushing forty. Next time he might not be so lucky.
    He grabbed his jeans and started to slip them on his good leg. Before he’d pulled them up past his knee, there was a scream from outside.
    â€œMommy, Mommy, Allie’s been hurt.”
    â€œAllison!”
    Mike heard Cindy race through the house, open the front door and call for her daughter. He jerked on the jeans, and about lost his balance when his head started to swim. He grabbed the footboard and held on. The room twirled and darkened, then slowly returned to normal. He pulled the trousers up over his hips and quickly fastened the buttons. He started out the door in a slow shuffling step.
    Pain radiated from his bullet wound. Darkness nipped at the edges of his vision. He could hear conversation and someone crying. As he reached the entryway, Cindy came in carrying Allison in her arms.
    The little girl was sobbing. She clung to her mother as blood oozed from a scrape on her knee. Behind them, Jonathan and a couple of other kids he didn’t know trailed in. Cindy looked up and saw