Page 14 of Broken Bodyguard

“Good morning, you!” Troy’s deep voice boomed through the cabin. I followed behind her, crossing my arms over my plain pink pajama set as I leaned against the doorway.

Troy wore gray sweatpants and a brown henley shirt, both of which were too sexy on him. I couldn’t think too long about his thick forearms or the fact that gray sweatpants were one of the more erotic things a man could wear. And dammit, I wouldnotlook below his waistline. When he turned my way, his smile grew a little wider.

“And good morning, you.” His gaze traveled from my toes to my head, and a small shiver traveled up my spine.

No, if I knew what was good for me, I’d just stop making eye contact with him from here on out. “Morning. Sure smells good out here.”

Grace pulled out a stool at the big kitchen island, grunting as she struggled to get into the right spot. I helped her get on, trying not to ogle the beefy bodyguard cooking breakfast with a green dish towel tossed over his left shoulder.

“You two sleep okay?” The low rumble of his voice made my thighs clench.

“We slept wonderfully. How about you?”

He grunted and nodded. “I slept in for the first time in awhile. Until seven.”

I glanced at the clock. It was almost eight thirty. “What have you been doing since seven?”

He flipped off the stove and tugged the towel from his shoulder, turning to me with a confident grin. “Squats. Sit-ups. Pushups. Things like that.”

Electricity crackled between us as I beheld his full, beefy stature. Of course I immediately imagined him doing those things, even imagining what he might look like beneath that Henley. Forget never making eye contact again. I wanted to get lost in his brown eyes and never be found.

I blinked hard.Snap out of it Maddie.

“Mommy, I wanna color.” Grace’s pronunciation of ‘color’ sounded more like ‘kuh-wor’; her little phonetic lilts always made my heart swell.

“You’re ready for a coloring book sweetie?” I reached for the tote I’d placed on the island the night before. It had all of Grace’s entertainment options for our trip—crayons, books, blank paper, and more. She squealed excitedly as I pulled out a nature coloring book along with a pack of crayons.

“I bet it’s gonna be the prettiest picture,” Troy said, pans clanking as he plated the food and put the cookware in the sink. A pile of scrambled eggs streamed from three separate plates, along with bacon and buttered wheat toast.

“I draw you!” Grace beamed up at him before beginning her masterpiece.

“Thanks for the breakfast,” I told him, licking my lips as he set a plate in front of me and Grace. She only glanced at the eggs. She was a slow eater, especially when focused on a project. “I didn’t realize our getaway included catering.”

“All the amenities at Chateau Lenny,” he said wryly before pulling out his own stool and plopping down. The wood groaned beneath his weight, but he didn’t seem concerned about it. He dug into his eggs, something masculine even in the way he held his fork. I snapped my eyes back to my own plate, determined not to overanalyze the way he held a fork and somehow find a way to fawn over him.

I was a few bites into the eggs—fluffy, perfectly salted—when a text from my mom came in.

MOM: Good morning honey. I didn’t want to worry you last night but you should know Jericho came by late last night, after we were in bed.

My stomach sank as soon as I saw the words.

“I guess it’s a good thing we got out of town.” I forked another bite of eggs. “My mom just texted that Jericho stopped by last night.”

MOM: He pounded on the door until we got out of bed and answered. Wasn’t too happy to hear you weren’t there but we got him to leave.

My frown deepened.

“He didn’t do anything, did he?”

“It doesn’t seem like it. Got my parents out of bed though, which is a little rude.” I sighed, pushing the eggs around my plate.

“Daddy coming?” Grace peered up at me, her pink crayon paused halfway across the sheet.

“No, sweetie. He’s not.” I stroked her hair, wondering what else I should add, if anything. She was too young to grasp what was going on, but she still noticed when things were off. She’d gotten used to the fact that Daddy didn’t come around much, ever since we moved out of the house we used to share with Jericho. And maybe it was just me projecting, but…it didn’t seem like she missed him. Maybe because he’d never spent much time with her to begin with.

“This is a Mommy and Grace vacation,” Troy said, grinning down at her. “Just for you two.”

She seemed satisfied with that answer so she went back to coloring.

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