Stella Bagwell - Guarding His Fortune

He glanced in her direction and Savannah found herself looking directly into his brown eyes. The connection rattled her for a brief moment before she purposely turned her attention to the traffic in front of them.

“So you’re not familiar with Austin?” he asked.

His voice was slow, and warm, and just rough enough to cause goose bumps to rise along the back of her arms. Or was that the cold air blowing from the vents on the car dash? Either way, her reaction to the man was making her feel more than foolish.

She took a deep breath and blew it out. “No. I’m from New Orleans.”

From the corner of her eye, she could see a faint smile touch his lips. “So that’s where that lilting drawl of yours comes from.”

“And yours doesn’t exactly sound Texan. Are you a native Austinite?”

“No. My family is originally from Florida, but in the past several years most of them, including me, have migrated here to Texas.”

“I see. So you and your family obviously like it here,” she said.

“Very much.”

Savannah sighed as thoughts of her father once again drifted through her mind. Since the day of the family meeting, she’d expected him to be fighting her tooth and nail over this Austin trip. Instead, he’d avoided her completely. Even this morning, before she left the Fortune mansion to catch her flight, she expected him to give her a few parting words of warning. Instead, her mother had informed her that Miles had skipped breakfast to make an early downtown business meeting. So much for worrying about her safety, she thought glumly, much less wishing her good luck.

“Is anything wrong?” her driver asked.

Was her state of mind so transparent that a stranger could read her troubled thoughts? She darted a glance at him.

“No. Everything is fine,” she said. “I’ll just be glad to get to my apartment. I’ve never really cared for flying. Once I’m back on solid ground, I always feel drained.”

“Have you done much of it? Flying, that is.”

From the corner of her eye, she could see his left hand resting comfortably on the steering wheel. There was no sign of a wedding band and the fact that she was even bothering to look caused a tinge of embarrassment to warm her cheeks.

What are you thinking, Savannah? Take a closer gander at this guy. You think he got those muscles from relaxing in a recliner in front of the TV? This man is as far from married as a man can get.

Clearing her throat, she pulled her straying thoughts back to his question. “I’ve flown across the country many times, and overseas. I see it as a necessary evil to get to where I’m going. What about you? Do you travel much?”

“I used to. But not since I’ve moved to Austin. I guess you could say I’ve already gotten to where I’m going.”

She smiled at him. “Hmm. That must be nice. To know that you’re in the right place and exactly where you belong.”

By now, they were traveling a busy highway that led deeper into the city. If Savannah had taken a taxi as she’d originally planned, she would’ve been taking note of her surroundings and the city skyline ahead of them. But Chaz Mendoza’s huge masculine presence was distracting her from seeing Austin clearly for the first time.

“Is that why you’ve come to Texas? To figure out where you belong?”

It was a rather personal question to be posed by a stranger, she thought. Especially one who’d been hired to simply drive her from the airport to her apartment. But to be fair, she hadn’t exactly been discussing the weather with him.

“Not really. I know my roots are in New Orleans. I’m here because I’ve been invited to partake in a study group at the university for a few weeks.”

“That sounds very impressive.”

At least someone thinks so , Savannah thought. “I feel honored to be included. It’s something I’ve been wanting and working toward for a long time.”

“What are you studying?”

“Epidemiology.”

“Sorry, you’ll have to explain that a bit more. I’m not a science person.”

She wanted to ask what kind of person he was, but quickly decided that would be too obvious. The last thing she wanted this man to think was that she was flirting with him. For heaven’s sake, she didn’t flirt with anyone. It wasn’t her nature. Besides, she didn’t have time for such nonsense.

“Don’t feel badly. Most people aren’t familiar with the word. It’s a study of diseases. Why people get them and what we can do to prevent them—as in finding the biggest risk factors. There are different fields to study in epidemiology. For instance how certain diseases affect society and the workplace and the cost of caring for such illnesses.”

“And what field are you focusing on?”

No doubt, he was asking just to make polite conversation, Savannah decided. Most men around her age were turned off by the subject. He might be truly interested if she were discussing quarterbacks in the NFL, or point guards in the NBA, but not medical science.

“I’m concentrating on the branch that studies why people get diseases and certain illnesses and what we can do to prevent them.”

“An admirable profession, I’d say.”

“I like to think so. My studies—” She broke off as she realized she was about to say her studies consumed her life. For some reason she didn’t want this sexy man to think she was little more than a brain in a white lab coat. “They’re very important to me. So that’s why I’m here in Austin.”

He glanced in her direction and Savannah got the strange impression he was something more than just a driver for the university. The notion shook her, until he smiled and then suddenly everything felt right again.

“Well, welcome to Texas, Miss Fortune. I hope you enjoy your time here.”

“Thanks. I hope I do, too.”

* * *

This was going to be much harder than he’d ever anticipated, Chaz decided, as he braked the car to a stop in front of the luxurious gated apartment building where Miss Savannah Fortune would be living until she finished her stint at the university.

Obviously, her father had told her nothing about hiring a bodyguard to protect her while she was here in Austin. And Chaz had yet to find the right moment to tell her exactly why he’d intercepted her at the airport.

If she’d hadn’t looked so damned beautiful when he spotted her emerging through the doors of the terminal, his brain might have remained focused on his job. And if she hadn’t been so open and warm when he’d introduced himself, he might’ve been able to come right out and inform her that he was working for her father.

But the sight of Savannah had thrown him for a loop. She’d scarcely resembled the foggy pic Miles Fortune had texted him earlier this morning. It was a good thing the man had warned Chaz she’d be dressed in a cream-colored pencil skirt and a pale pink blouse; otherwise, he would’ve missed her entirely.

Damn the man! When Miles Fortune had first contacted Chaz about providing security for his daughter, he’d described Savannah as the studious sort, who rarely took her nose out of a book. According to him, she had a very limited social life and made a point of avoiding men entirely. She’d be easy to keep an eye on, Miles had told him.

Hell, the man was either blind or knew very little about his own child, Chaz thought with a heavy dose of frustration. Keeping his eyes on Savannah Fortune was going to be easy. It was keeping his hands off her for the next few weeks that was going to pose the problem.

Chaz had assumed he was going to be guarding a meek young woman, whose idea of an exciting evening was to watch an educational channel on TV. This young beauty looked as though she’d be very much at home on the dance floor and in the arms of a very attentive man.