Page 13 of Broken Bodyguard

“It didn’t take me out,” I told her. “And who won after all?” I flashed the glinting key.

Amusement shone in her eyes and we shared an electric moment. It was easy to get lost in her warm, hazel eyes. A little too easy.

“Mm hmm.” She cast me a coy grin, one that I wanted to kiss off her face. I hoisted our bags and stepped inside, fumbling for the light switch. A moment later, the huge, open floor plan was illuminated by overhead lights. In the center of the room, dangling from the ceiling, Len had crafted a chandelier out of buckhorns. Not a hunting nut either, but he was abnormally fond of that chandelier. Maybe because he’d crafted the base out of spare dryer parts.

“Wow.” Maddie’s eyes widened as she looked around. It was a small, loft-style cabin: open plan kitchen and great room downstairs, with a small bedroom and bathroom off to the side. And then an open loft area upstairs. Everything reeked of wood and must, but in the good way.

“There’s a bedroom right off to the side here.” I led the way across the tiled floor of the kitchen, measuring my steps to hide the way my burning knee impacted my gait. The wheels of her bag clicked behind me until I pushed open the bedroom door and flicked the light on. The queen bed was thankfully made with a heavy blanket laid out on top. Grace snored softly in her mother’s arms and barely roused when Maddie slid her onto the bed.

“Thank you.” She sent me an appreciative look. “I’m going to get her tucked in and then…I think I’m going to head to bed too.”

“You two rest up. I’ll be out here if you need anything.” I left her to unpack, knowing to my bones that space right now was the best idea. Not just because she was a single mom with a kid—but because if I looked at her for even a second longer, I’d be suggesting she find me in the loft that night.

Better to ignore those thoughts entirely. I got busy opening things up in the cabin, checking the water, lighting the fireplace, making sure everything was in good, working order. I’d be giving Len a full report—which started with a complementary picture of his favorite chandelier.

As I rummaged around the cabin, it was hard to keep my thoughts from sliding to Maddie. I had no business thinking about her in any sense other than a temporary protection gig. That’s what this was, after all. Mercedes wanted me to check on her, so here I was. Nothing more, nothing less.

So I needed to focus on something else. Being that Len’s cabin had no cable or internet, I had no interest in the huge TV in the great room. Instead, I got a small fire going in the fireplace to warm the place, and then headed to the loft to check my emails.

I’d gotten a notification during the drive that Nash Nightingale had emailed, but hadn’t wanted to look until now. It was an itinerary—forwarded from someone else’s email who seemed to be associated with a private jet company.

NYC to Quito, Ecuador.

Departure time, airport info, and a rough sequence of events once we landed in Ecuador. I scanned the information, feeling something in my gut tighten.

A week and a half away. Would that be enough time to get Maddie on stable ground?

She’s not your responsibility. You’re just helping out a friend. You’ll ride out this phase and then get her set up with a basic protection plan.

It seemed so logical, so easy.

Which didn’t explain why everything inside of me rejected the idea.

CHAPTER SIX

MADDIE

“Mommy,yousmelldat?”

Grace’s sweet voice roused me from my slumber. I squinted against the sunlight steaming in the slatted wood blinds, taking a moment to remember where the heck I was.

Log cabin. Kentucky wilderness. Safe with Troy.

The last part removed some deep tension between my shoulders. I snuggled into the covers, pulling Grace into my arms.

“Smells like breakfast, baby.”

“Who cooking?”

“Probably Troy,” I told her, stroking the white blonde hair framing her face. “Remember he brought us here? For our fun vacation.”

She nodded, fidgeting in a way that told me she was dying to get out there and join the action.

“I wanna see,” she said, voice bordering on a whine, when I didn’t move.

“Okay sweetheart. Mommy will get up. We need to go brush teeth and do our hair first, okay?”

Grace rolled out of bed, hopping excitedly beside me as I sat up and stretched. I ushered her into the bathroom right across the hallway, catching thepop-sizzleof something cooking in the kitchen. We made quick work of getting ready for the day, complete with silly faces in the mirror and some butterfly kisses. On our way out of the bathroom, instead of heading back into the bedroom to change, Grace bolted into the kitchen.

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