Stella Bagwell - Guarding His Fortune

Trying not to dwell on that image, he peered across the narrow console to see she was leaning slightly forward, peering through the windshield at the entrance of the apartment. The movement caused a long curtain of smooth brown hair to slip forward and partially hide her face. Chaz wanted to reach over and tuck the silky strands behind her ear. Not because he needed to see her lovely features. No, the image of her face was already burned into his brain. He simply wanted to touch her and discover for himself if she felt as soft and womanly as she actually looked.

“That’s the correct number,” she stated happily. “And the outside certainly looks pretty.”

Chaz pulled his gaze away from her long enough to study the entrance to the redbrick apartment. A dark green door with a brass knocker was shaded by the overhang of a square concrete porch. On one corner, a huge planter spilled over with red and pink geraniums.

The apartment was definitely not typical budget-friendly housing, he decided. It was for the elite class and more like a fancy townhouse than an apartment. But then, he’d not expected anything less from a Fortune.

“I’d say it appears to be exceptionally nice. Did you rent it sight unseen?”

She nodded. “Live Oak Lane is supposed to be one of the best gated communities in Austin and I studied photos on their website before I signed the lease. But sometimes pics can be doctored. I’m hoping that’s not the case when I see the inside of the apartment.” She unlatched her seat belt and pulled the strap of an expensive leather handbag over her shoulder. “If you’ll be kind enough to help me get my bags to the door, I’ll let you be on your way.”

“My pleasure,” he murmured.

After pushing a button to release the trunk, he skirted the hood to help her out of the car. When she placed her little hand in his, Chaz was instantly swamped with all sorts of protective feelings. Most of which had nothing to do with his job.

Once she was standing next to him on the concrete drive, she looked up at him and smiled and though he was cursing at himself to step back and wedge a respectable amount of distance between them, all he could do was hold on to her fingers and stare into her hazel eyes. Green, blue or brown, he wasn’t sure which color was dominant, but he was quite certain he’d never seen anything so sparkly or full of life.

“Thank you, Chaz.”

“You’re entirely welcome, Miss Fortune.”

Clearing his throat, he forced himself to drop her hand and turn to the task of lifting her bags from the trunk. As soon as he had them on the ground, she grabbed up a floral tote and a midsized suitcase with wheels.

“I can manage these two,” she said and headed to the entrance of the apartment.

As Chaz followed with two bags stuffed under each arm, he glanced furtively around the apartment complex. There were five tenants to the right of Savannah’s flat, four to the left and no second floors to any of them. At least that was a plus for security, he thought. But the beautiful landscaping separating the lawns of each apartment could create a nightmare if anyone decided to hide behind the giant blooming oleanders or bushes of Texas sage.

When he reached the door, Savannah was already digging through her handbag for the key.

“Just put them anywhere,” she told him. “I’ll get them inside.”

He set the bags down and took a deep breath. His time had run out, he decided. There was no more delaying the inevitable.

“Uh—Miss Fortune, I think—”

Before he could push the remaining words past his lips, she smiled and offered him her hand in a gesture of farewell.

“I know what you’re going to say. It was nice meeting this way.”

“It couldn’t have been nicer,” he agreed, while thinking he could stand here holding on to her hand for hours and never get tired of looking at her plush lips, or short little nose, or those luminous eyes fringed by the longest lashes he’d ever seen.

“Perhaps I’ll see you around campus sometime,” she said. “But then, I suppose you’re always busy carting people to and fro.”

He tried not to wince at the deduction he’d allowed her to make of him. “Actually, Miss Fortune, you’re going to be seeing quite a bit of me.”

Her eyes suddenly wary, she purposely pulled her hand from his. “Oh? I don’t understand.”

“I’m sorry. I should have explained the moment I introduced myself at the airport. But I...thought it might be nicer if the two of us got to know each other a bit before I sprang the situation on you.”

She was shaking her head now and Chaz saw a look of confusion and something close to fear fill her eyes.

“Situation? What are you talking about?”

“My name is Chaz Mendoza, but the university didn’t send me to collect you at the airport. Your father did.”

She took a step backward. “Excuse me?”

“Your father is Miles Fortune of Fortune Investments in New Orleans, right?”

Although her nod was an affirmative, her eyes were glazed with shock. “Yes, he is my father. But why—”

Before she could question him further, he said, “He’s hired me as your bodyguard, Miss Fortune.”

She gasped with disbelief. “Bodyguard! You must be joking!”

“Hardly. I don’t joke about providing security. From what Mr. Fortune tells me, you could be putting yourself in quite a bit of danger. My job is to see that danger doesn’t get anywhere near you.”

* * *

So this was why her father hadn’t spoken to her before she’d departed New Orleans, she thought. He’d believed he’d taken control of the situation by hiring her a bodyguard.

“This is incredible! I can’t believe my father would go so far as to—” Her gaze swept over him as though she were seeing him for the first time today and then her head began to swing back and forth. “Hire a man to follow me around! It won’t work. It simply won’t work. As of this moment, you can consider yourself relieved of your duties.”

During the brief ride over from the airport, Chaz had made the mistake of thinking she was different from the wealthy people who often visited his family’s businesses, Mendoza Winery and La Viña restaurant. As they’d made conversation, she’d not come across as a spoiled little rich girl. But she was certainly coming across as one now.

“Sorry. You didn’t hire me, Miss Fortune. So you can hardly terminate my services.”

To underscore the fact that he wasn’t going anywhere, Chaz pulled a key from his jeans pocket and unlocked the door.

Her mouth fell open. “Where did you get that key?” she demanded. “And don’t tell me you’re planning on staying here! In my apartment!”

Smiling smugly, he pushed the door open and gestured for her to precede him into the building.

“Don’t worry about how I got a key. And don’t be thinking you can run to the building manager and complain. Your father has already taken care of everything.”

“That’s what he thinks! There’s no way in hell I’m going to share my living space with a man!”

Her plush lips flattened to an angry line as she brushed past him, but Chaz was paying very little attention to her outrage as she marched ahead of him. No, he was much more focused on the sweet flowery scent of her perfume and the evocative sway of her round little bottom.

“Don’t worry, Miss Fortune. You’ll get used to me.”

Looking over her shoulder, she glared at him. “Never!”

Something about her ruffled feathers made her even more attractive than when she’d been making polite conversation and Chaz couldn’t stop himself from smiling at her.

“Never say never, Miss Fortune. It might come back to haunt you.”

She stomped out of the foyer and as Chaz followed after her, he realized his job as a bodyguard had just taken on a new meaning.