Page 15 of Island Rescuer

His frank declaration should be reassuring. Somehow, the idea that he’d been close and keeping tabs on her wasn’t nearly as comforting as it was in movies and books. She thought of all the things she’d done in the past couple of weeks. Errands, her annual gynecology appointment, trivia nights, business meetings. Thankfully, no dates, because she’d sworn off romance for a while.

And he’d been her shadow through all of that? As attuned as she was to Knox’s presence, it shocked her that she hadn’t noticed him. He’d been keeping secrets too. Obviously, he was far more than a regular security consultant.

She sighed, choosing deflection rather than another useless denial. “Being the only girl sucks sometimes. My parents don’t shelter Rhett like this.”

Only girl and the youngest. Her brother had free rein, dated whoever he wanted without any parental commentary, and made his own decisions about where he wanted to work and live. But with her, “the precious daughter”, they hovered.

Even thinking it made her feel petty because it wasn’t an entirely fair assessment. Too bad. She wasn’t in a fair mood. She was mad and getting angrier by the minute. Bad enough that someone was trying to intimidate her. Those threatening letters must’ve been terrible, but to hire protection without even talking to her?

She wasn’t a child.

“Far as I know,” Knox said, “no one has sent threats aimed at Rhett to the family home.”

“This sucks,” she groused. “They should’ve talked to me.”

“You could have talked to them first.”

“I’m handling it.”

“How?” Knox challenged. “You’re stalling at best. This is serious, Harper. You need to tell me who is doing this so I can do my job.”

Right. Of course, her bodyguard would be the man she’d been crushing on for years. Hadn’t she just been admiringallof him? And to him, she was merely his current job. The universe was having a field day with this one, for sure.

“Well, you can stop now. Get me to shore and I’ll take it from here.”

“Not happening.”

Wasn’t anyone going to give her a say? “I mean it, Knox. Mom and Dad had no right to hire you without discussing it with me.”

“What would you have done differently if they had?”

Oh, nothing about this conversation was going the way it should. She wanted to shout or argue, but Knox wasn’t the right target. She burrowed into his jacket, but that only made her ache for what was clearly a one-way attraction.

“We’ll never know.” She wanted off this boat. “Can we go now? I need to get back.”

“How long has this been going on?” he asked, ignoring her request completely.

Frustrated and scared, her temper snapped. “Is this how you treat your clients? Your assignments?” He opened his mouth, snapped it shut, and she barreled on. “No one from the Guardian Agency has ever spoken to me like this.”

“Don’t pull out that sensitive-princess routine,” Knox said. His voice was light, but the words stung. “I know you better than that.”

He did and he didn’t. They’d met as kids and so he’d knownabouther for some time, thanks to their parents running in similar social circles. But they weren’t friends. Weren’t close. He probably used the same labels for her as everyone else: independent, serious, confident, business savvy. He might know about her dance background, or the charities she supported professionally and personally.

Admittedly, the reverse was also true. She couldn’t claim to truly know him. She sure hadn’t known the true nature of his work until today. Her friends and members of her family—Hannah and Bruce—knew him far better than she did. She’d heard about him getting into scrapes with her brother and even bigger trouble without him, but no one had shared the gory details with her. Feeling annoyed and brittle, she just wanted as far from him as she could get.

Look at that. There really was a first time for everything.

Her past infatuation with him was irrelevant to the pressing issue. There was no point in arguing with him. “Please take me home. I’ll talk to Bruce.” If that conversation convinced her she needed protection, they could assign someone else.

Someone who hadn’t starred in every delicious fantasy she’d ever had.

Counting on him to cooperate, she tucked the towel around her legs and turned her gaze to the stern, watching the foamy white wake behind the boat. To her dismay, he cut the engine once more. The ensuing silence was uncomfortable. The wake disappeared, the rollers rocking the boat. Thank goodness it was a calm day.

Aside from a fishing charter blowing up.

Adrenaline had her all jacked up. Her stomach was queasy and though her hands were steady, she still felt shaky inside.

She risked a glance in his direction. He sat in front of the wheel, hands folded over his trim abs, eyes closed, and his long legs stretched out and crossed at the ankle. Utterly relaxed. To an outsider he was just another guy taking his girl out for a day on the water.

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