Page 7 of Broken Bodyguard

“Are you here to eat?” I asked him, then realized what a dumb question that was for someone who had just come into a restaurant.

“Was hoping maybe we could get a weird cheese plate,” he said. The excitement that bubbled up in me was immediate. Ilovedweird cheese. And then I remembered we’d talked about weird cheeses in New York. And then I realized—he’d remembered.Why was that so touching?

“You came all the way from New York to get a weird cheese plate with me?” I couldn’t keep the skepticism from my voice.

“Maybe. I’m definitely ready to eat.” His cheek twitched as he said that, and the way his chin dipped had me thinking of him eating something else entirely. A blush warmed my cheek as I pushed the menu toward him, rattling off what I’d ordered only minutes prior. When I was done regaling him with my order, a movement over his shoulder caught my attention. The flash of a jawline that seemed too familiar. Blond hair that gleamed under the lights.

Across the restaurant, at the front door, Jericho had walked in.

Everything inside me seized. I must have looked stricken because Troy narrowed his eyes at me, leaning closer.

“Maddie?”

I swallowed hard, unable to move my gaze from Jericho. He wasn’t alone. He’d come with friends—specifically Caleb, his best friend from college, and two others who tended to follow him blindly. Their gazes moved across the restaurant, seeking something.

Was it me?

Panic swirled inside me. I didn’t want Jericho to see me. Hecouldn’t.But I didn’t know how to escape or how to blend in. So I did the only thing that seemed available.

I leaned into Troy.

In the back of my mind, I thought I might be able to hide myself behind his broad shoulders, using him as a shield. But the closer I got to him, the harder I panicked. My brain stopped communicating with my torso. My limbs jerked awkwardly, and my body followed the only path forward that made sense: kissing Troy.

Our lips connected softly. The warmth of him was the first thing I noticed, the way his heat and cedar trickled through me, down to my cells. I could sense his surprise, but more than that, I sensed his compliance. His big, rough hands caught my elbows as I leaned into him.

Troy didn’t pull away. He only deepened the kiss, his lips parting, inviting my tongue to meet his. What had started as an accidental kiss now turned into something so much more.Thiswas intentional. It was fuckinghot.

He traced the edge of my bottom lip with his tongue, one kiss bleeding into another. By the time I pulled away from him, I couldn’t even remember how the kiss had started. I blinked up at him, fully dazed. The same expression greeted me in return.

Desire pooled in his eyes, and he ran this thumb back and forth over the crook of my elbow where he still held me.

“That was a nice way to say hello,” he murmured, his voice gritty. “Is that how you greet everyone you haven’t seen in awhile?”

“I’m sorry,” I started, but had nothing to follow up with.

“Don’t be.” He squeezed my arms, tipping his head as he watched me. “Do you know how long I’ve been wanting to do that?”

My eyes widened in surprise. “Are you serious?”

A movement over his shoulder caught my eye, bringing me crashing back to the present. Tension still tugged at the edges of this unexpectedly romantic moment. Jericho and his friends were crossing the restaurant. Coming this way. I turned away from Troy, facing the bar, and reached up to tighten my ponytail.

“What’s this?” Troy’s voice had an edge to it. I glanced over at him, finding his brows wrought in concern. He reached for my exposed forearm. My loose sleeves had slid back while I adjusted my hair, revealing the mottled bruising from my run-in with Jericho the other night.

I swallowed hard, slipping the sleeves back down. I glanced over Troy’s shoulder, shrinking. “I don’t…it’s just…”

“Is this from your ex?”

I didn’t know what to say. So I nodded.

The last vestige of a smile faded from Troy’s face.

CHAPTER THREE

TROY

Allofthesexytime thoughts I’d been having after that kiss faded away when I put the pieces together.

Mercedes had been wrong. Her brother was a fucking abuser.

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