Amy Vastine - Falling For Her Bodyguard

“Run over to the neighbor’s house and ask them to call for you.”

“But what if I fall down the stairs and break my leg? I can’t run to the neighbor’s house then. I could bleed out because I couldn’t call for help.”

“I guess you better be extra careful walking up and down the stairs.”

Graham let out an exaggerated sigh. “I hate you,” he said before throwing his phone in the back instead of handing it to Donovan. He climbed out of the truck, slamming the door behind him.

This must be some kind of karmic payback for the things Donovan said to his parents in anger growing up. He rolled down the window. “No friends allowed in the house and bring me your video game controller!” If Graham was going to hate him, might as well give him enough reasons.

Graham stormed up the driveway. “Come get it yourself!”

Inhale. Exhale. Days like this made Donovan feel like he was completely in over his head. He had no idea how to get through to his nephew or if he was handling all of these discipline issues the right way or not. He knew he should talk to him, but talking about feelings wasn’t exactly Donovan’s thing.

After retrieving the game controller, Donovan headed back to the radio station. Hopefully, Miss Bonner wouldn’t mention his disappearing act to Captain. Thanks to Graham, she had been unguarded for almost an hour. How much danger could she be in while at work? It wasn’t like anyone could get to her while she was at the station.

He made it to the reception desk and waited patiently for the receptionist to get off the phone. Instead of Muzak, a live stream of the station played in the background. As soon as the receptionist hung up the phone, he stepped up to the desk.

“Hi, I’m Detective Walsh. I’m here for Miss Bonner,” he said, realizing once again how much harder it was to introduce himself without a badge to flash.

“Is this about what happened to her car? It’s terrible someone would do that to someone as sweet as Kelly.”

“That’s why I’m here.”

“Well, I’m glad the Nashville PD is taking this seriously.”

Donovan was glad she was glad, but he’d be happier if she called Miss Bonner out here so he didn’t have to worry about Captain finding out he had been MIA. “Can I speak with her?”

The woman grimaced. “Oh, she’s not here.”

That was impossible. He had dropped her off almost an hour ago. There was no way she got kidnapped just outside this place. He could feel the sweat begin to bead on his forehead. Donovan couldn’t imagine what the captain would do to him if he had to call and say he lost the man’s niece.

“Are you sure? I actually drove her to work this morning. Maybe she slipped past you?” A guy could hope.

“No one slips past Juliette Delgado. I see everyone who comes in. I saw Kelly arrive this morning, but I also saw her leave.”

Why did this assignment feel more like dealing with a certain class-skipping teenager than a reasonable adult?

“Any chance you know where she went?”

Ms. Delgado’s expression didn’t give him much hope that she had the answer he was looking for. “I do not, but I can find you someone who might.”

“Perfect.”

While he waited for her to make a call, a voice came over the radio. “I have to admit, I’m a bit jealous of Kelly today. She’s going to be coming to you live from the brand-new Great Barbecue over on 4th Street. If you love barbecue as much as I do or just want to see Kelly Bonner in person, you should really head on over there for lunch today.”

Donovan didn’t have to wait for Ms. Delgado, but he did need to get over to Great Barbecue before Miss Bonner’s stalker beat him to her.

CHAPTER THREE

“IS THERE ANYTHING else you need?”

Kelly plugged in her laptop and checked to make sure she had a Wi-Fi connection. “I think I have everything,” she said to Dominick, the manager of Great Barbecue. She looked to Lyle. “Are you good?”

Lyle was busy shoving some coleslaw in his mouth. He nodded and gave her a thumbs-up.

Kelly couldn’t help but laugh. “We’re good.”

Dominick was decked out in jeans and a black Great Barbecue collared shirt. He had an easy smile and twinkling blue eyes. “You sure you don’t want to sample something before your show starts?”

“I am definitely going to pig out, just not right now.”

Barbecue was messy and Kelly didn’t want to get their small work area dirty. They were given a table against the back wall in the dining area of the new Great Barbecue. It was a small restaurant in an older part of Nashville that was undergoing rapid gentrification. What it didn’t have in terms of square feet, it made up for in charm. From the exposed brick walls to the picnic table–style seating, everything had a down-home feel. There were even paper towel rolls at every table for those messy fingers.

“You should try everything on the menu,” Lyle said, giving the corners of his mouth a wipe. “This place is amazing.”

“Maybe this is where you can bring Nancy on your first date.”

Lyle’s eyes went wide. “Did you talk to her? Did she say she’s interested? Does she like barbecue?” Kelly smirked, making Lyle a bit paranoid. “What? Did you talk to her?”

She pulled her phone out of her back pocket. “Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t.” Pretending to scroll through her text messages, she could see Lyle’s face turning red.

“Come on, Kelly. Don’t mess with me.” He came around to her side of the table and tried to get a look at her phone screen.

“I’m not messing with you,” she said with a giggle, holding her phone against her chest so he couldn’t see.

“That’s exactly what you’re doing. Come on! Did you ask her? What did you say? What did she say?” He gently tried to tug the phone away from her.

“Stop,” she protested as he almost succeeded. She turned her back to him and he wrapped his arms around her. They playfully wrestled for the phone until Lyle flew backward. In the blink of an eye, he was facedown on the ground with Detective Walsh on top of him, growling at him not to move. As if poor Lyle would fight back.

All eyes were on them and everyone was frozen in their spot. It was as if they believed Detective Walsh’s words were meant for them, as well. Kelly was the only one who had the ability to intervene.

“What are you doing?” she asked as she attempted to push the detective off her friend and producer. He was as strong as a bull and as stubborn as a mule. He wouldn’t budge.

“What am I doing? I’m doing my job. This guy was all over you.”

“ This guy is my producer. Please let him up.” Kelly scanned the room. People whispered to one another. Phones were out and texts were definitely being sent about what just happened. This would end up on someone’s social media. Caroline would not be happy if the station got bad press because of her.

Detective Walsh helped Lyle back on his feet and apologized for the misunderstanding.

“Are you okay?” Kelly scanned Lyle for any injuries. He wasn’t bleeding. She prayed there were no broken bones.

He did still appear a bit dazed. “I’m fine,” he said, giving his neck a rub. “You could have told me you hired a guard dog.”

“I didn’t. My uncle sent him, and I thought I had gotten rid of him.”

“Yeah, we need to talk about that,” Detective Walsh said. “I left you at work. That was where you were supposed to stay until I got back.”

He had some nerve. She motioned for him to follow her away from all the prying eyes and ears to the back hall by the restrooms.

Once they were alone, she laid into him. “Let me make something clear. I did not ask for you to be assigned as my bodyguard. I have a job to do—”