READER'S ROCK LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE VOL 2 ISSUE 4 NOVEMBER 2014 Vol. 1 Issue 9 March 2014 | Page 27

Flustered that he blew off the infraction
without even an apology, she placed her
hand in his. His grasp was firm, his
palms rougher, more calloused than
she'd expected. Frankly, nothing about
him was what she'd expected. He was
extraordinarily good looking in a
dangerous sort of way and made her
uncomfortable on too many levels to
analyze just now.
"You're getting wet."
She stared at him, dumbfounded.
"What?"
He peeled off his coat and draped it
over her in one fluid motion. "You
forgot your umbrella."
"You got ID?" She really needed to
collect her wits. Precautions were
essential when anyone got this deep
into her personal space. And she was
falling down on the job.
Evidently the attack on her apartment
had gotten to her more than she'd
realized.

"John Noble." He dipped his head ever
so briefly. "We talked on the phone last
night."
John Noble.
The voice... yes. Definitely the voice

from last night. Amelia relaxed
marginally. She stared at the outstretched
hand an endless second before regaining
her bearings. Some idiotic part of her
wanted to ask how he'd known she was
in fact Amelia Bennett, but the rational
side of her evidently malfunctioning
brain reminded her that he was in
personal security. He'd likely checked
into who she was the same as she had
checked his references.
Reclaiming her usual confidence under
fire, she looked him dead in those exotic
green eyes. "You're late, Mr. Noble."
"I'm here now."

Oblivious to the insistent drizzle, the
man reached into his back pocket and
removed his wallet. He offered the
small, plastic encased card for her
inspection.
Massachusetts driver's license. John
Noble.

She gestured up the block. "I'm running
behind. We'll take my car."
With his coat covering her like a nun's
habit, she hurried to where she'd parked.
In those few seconds she had decided
this guy was really quite strange. Giving
him the benefit of the doubt, she
reminded herself he was in the business
of personal security. In her opinion, that
occupation probably required a certain
level of peculiarity. Kind of like being a
good reporter required a person to be a
little crazy.
She reached for her car door, but he beat
her to the handle. Water slipping down

his beard-shadowed jaw, he opened the
door and waited as if he had all the time
in the world and could care less about
getting soaked without his coat.
Definitely odd. She slung off his coat
and passed it to him. "Thanks."
He gave her another of those negligible
nods.
That instinct she trusted above all else
railed at her to snap out of it. "Just a
minute."
She hesitated before getting into the
driver's seat and dug around in her purse.
Didn't matter that it rained steadily on
them both. She pulled out her cell and
snapped a photo of John Noble.
She flashed a perfunctory smile and
dropped behind the steering wheel.
While he closed her door and then
walked around to the opposite side, she
sent the photo to her boss with a text
explaining that this was the bodyguard,
John Noble.
She shoved the key into the ignition and
started the engine while Noble settled
into the front passenger seat.
"Why did you take a picture of me?"
Amelia fastened her seatbelt and checked
the street before shifting into Drive. "The
truth?" Might as well see if he could take
her straightforward approach.

"Preferably."
"If I disappear and they find my body,"
she eased out of the parking slot, "the
authorities will have a description of you
to go on."
His attention remained fixed on the street
ahead of them for endless seconds before
he responded. "If I made you disappear,"
he said finally, his tone dark and
ominous, "your body would never be
found."