thebodyguardsprincess M47 annmayburn 2 by Ann Mayburn Read Free Book Online Page B

open with her than they ever had been before. Some invisible barrier between them had fallen during the night. She learned more about their families and how they grew up. They wouldn't answer any questions about how they met, or where her father found them, but they did make her laugh with stories about past jobs as bodyguards.
    Small glimpses into their character deepened her feelings for them. She learned Kent had a secret vice for chocolate milk because his mother used to make it for him every day after school when he was a kid. He drank three glasses of it with dinner. And Asher knew the lyrics to every Bob Marley song ever written. Something she never would have imagined.
    Running across the street, she giggled as Kent swung her up and over the edge of the chipped sidewalk. He paused with her on the side of the road and tightened his arm around her waist, fingers stroking against the exposed skin of her lower back. Looking into his blue eyes, her breath caught in her throat at the intensity of his emotions reflected in their depths.
    "Down!" Asher shouted and tackled them as the unmistakable pops of gunfire rang out through the air. The shriek of tires drowned out her scream as a car slammed into the streetlight behind them, throwing their section of the parking lot into shadows.
    Chips of concrete stung against her arm as bullets tore through the sidewalk.
    Tugging his gun from behind his back, Asher returned fire while Kent scooped her up and dashed for the SUV. Throwing open the front door, he threw her inside and jumped in.
    "Asher!" she screamed as more gunshots filled the night. A police siren wailed in the distance, and she bounced off the closed door as Kent threw the SUV into reverse. A few more shots rang out, but they went wide over the car. Asher slid in through the back door and crouched down.
    Kent yelled, "Hold on!" and gunned the big engine, roaring out of the parking lot and driving over the sidewalk to avoid the tangle of vehicles the accident caused. The undercarriage of the SUV gave a metallic shriek as they bounced over the curb. Horns blared behind them as Kent cut off traffic and headed toward the freeway.
    "Who was that?" she yelled and ran a hand over her stinging arm.
    Asher said in a grim voice, "We could have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, or someone could have tracked my call to the payphone and waited for us."
    "Fuck," she said in a low groan as her arm gave a painful sting.
    Her palm came away bloody and Asher said, "Kent, she's hurt." Asher leaned forward as much as he could between the two seats. Warm hands gripped her arm and turned it in the dim light.
    "It's okay. Just scratches from when we hit the pavement." Her voice cracked, "I tried to roll like you taught me, but Kent was on top of me."
    Asher pressed his lips to her forehead and hugged as much of her as he could. Desperate for his comfort, she climbed into the backseat with him and let him draw her onto his lap. Big and strong, she buried her face against his chest.
    "Whoever the shooters were knew how to handle a gun. That wasn't a random pattern of fire, they were aiming for us." Kent swore in a low voice. "The Sanjit's phone has to be bugged," Kent said from the front seat as they entered the freeway and slowed down to the speed limit.
    "Yeah. Someone traced your phone call and found us." His voice rumbled against her ear as he held her close, rubbing his lips on her newly short hair. "This SUV stands out in that neighborhood. They must have seen it and decided to wait for us to return."
    "Son of a bitch!" Kent slammed his hand onto the dash with a loud smack. "How did someone get past us to bug the Sanjit?"
    "I have no idea. It had to be an inside job."
    "Cleaning ladies? Or maybe that new gardener?"
    "Or someone closer." Asher shifted beneath her and she cuddled closer. He smelled wonderful. Silence filled the car as they traveled west, out of the city and into the climbing foothills of the Appalachian