Page 77 of The Bodyguard
But he wasn’t mine to touch, so I didn’t.
Then he picked his head up, as if he’d remembered a particular nasty task he had to do. Which I supposed he had. He put Danny, who was still groggy, into the bed of his truck. He must have had some rope or something in the bed of the truck because I watched through the rearview mirror as Garrett appeared to tie Danny’s hands behind his back.
Then Garrett got into the truck, turned it around, and took me back home.
It was so freaking ironic that I let out this weird burst of laughter.
“What?”
I shook my head. “It’s just so funny that Danny is the only man who ever said he loved me.” I laughed again, but I could feel the tears behind them. I didn’t want to cry in front of Garrett, so I bit the bottom of my palm instead.
After a while I could see he was working out what he wanted to say to me.
“Brin…”
“Stop.” I cut him off. “I don’t want to hear anything you have to say. And tonight, of all nights, you have to do as I ask. I thought I was going to be raped. You stopped that, so thank you. But that’s all I have to say.”
“Brin,” he sighed. “I don’t want you to thank me.”
I didn’t say anything because there was nothing to say. We finished the ride in silence. By the time we got to the ranch most of the cars were gone. The party was apparently over.
“I hope I didn’t ruin the whole party,” I said to myself.
Garrett glared at me then, as he pulled the truck to a stop. “Stay there,” he snapped.
I knew he wanted to carry me into the house. My feet were throbbing enough that I also knew I had to let him. He opened my door and shifted his arms underneath me. Like I weighed nothing, he scooped me up against his naked chest.
It really wasn’t fair that he did that. That I could feel him again. Smell him again.
The front door opened and Ronnie came running out of the house. “I thought I heard a truck. Sabrina, oh, my God, are you okay? What did he do to you?”
“I’m fine. My feet got messed up from running.” I looked over and saw Clayton, Bea, and Madison waiting for Garrett to carry me inside.
Big, strong Clayton. “Clayton, can you carry me inside, please?”
I felt Garrett’s arms tighten around me. “I can carry you.”
“I would rather he did it,” I said without looking at him.
“Brin, this isn’t over.”
“Yes, it is. You’ll arrest Danny and it’s all over.”
Clayton walked up to us and reluctantly Garrett turned me over to him. “I mean it, Brin. This isn’t over. I’m dropping Danny off at the station and then I’ll be back.”
“You said I didn’t have to give a statement tonight.”
“I don’t mean for your damn statement. We need to talk. About us.”
“Okay, sure,” I said.
He looked startled. As if he hadn’t expected I would give in so quickly. But then he knew I was a sucker for him. Always had been.
He nodded. “Good. I’ll be back.”
Ronnie, Bea, and Madison flocked to me. Ronnie looked like she was torn between crying and yelling at me for getting into this mess in the first place. Clayton carried me to the couch and set me down.
“I’ll go get you some tea,” he said.
