Lisa Childs - In The Bodyguard's Arms

“No, absolutely not,” he said. “Send Cole.” Cole wasn’t going to fall in love with anyone ever again—not after how his heart had been crushed. “Or Nikki...”

Lars’s pale blue eyes dimmed slightly with disappointment. He’d just moved in with his fiancée a few weeks ago; of course he wouldn’t want to be separated from her.

“Or borrow a bodyguard from one of your brothers,” Manny suggested. Each of the Payne brothers had their own franchise of Payne Protection now, and when the need arose, they all worked together.

“Why would I do that when you’re available?” Cooper asked.

“I—I’m not available,” Manny said. “I’m taking that other case.”

“What other case?” Cooper asked, his brow furrowing with confusion.

“Protecting Ted...” He couldn’t think of the guy’s last name right away. He’d only heard it mentioned when he’d overheard their receptionist transferring the call to Cooper a few days ago. But as Cooper opened his mouth to speak again, he remembered the name and interrupted. “Plummer. I want that job,” he said. “I’ll protect Ted Plummer.”

Cooper shook his head. “You don’t know—”

“I don’t care,” Manny said. “I don’t need to know all the details. I know how this bodyguard business works. The guy’s in danger. I’ll protect him.”

“But the job’s in the Upper Peninsula,” Cooper said. “It’s at a very secluded cabin.”

And Manny preferred cities like Atlanta, where he’d grown up. Hot, bustling cities. He shuddered slightly. But then, maybe being secluded was a good thing. It would make it easier to protect old Ted from whatever the threat was to his safety, and it would make it harder for Manny to find some woman to fall for—like his idiot friends and family had.

“That’s the job I want,” Manny said. “I want to protect Ted Plummer.”

Cooper leaned back for a moment and studied Manny while everyone else studied Cooper. There was a strange energy in the room, but Manny figured it was because none of the guys were used to him acting like this. He was usually the easygoing one of the bunch. He did what was asked of him; he didn’t fight for an assignment.

Until today. He wanted this job. He needed to get away from River City for a while. And most of all, he needed to get away from his friends who’d fallen in love. Just a few days ago he’d helped Dane pick out a ring for the woman he hoped to marry.

He shuddered at the memory and with the concern that if he stayed too close to all this happiness, it might get to him. It might make him think that he could have what they had. And that just wasn’t possible. Nobody in his family had ever had a successful relationship.

Finally Cooper nodded. “Ted Plummer is all yours.”

Manny should have been happy, but for some reason a sick feeling rushed over him. He felt light-headed and dizzy for a moment. But then the feeling passed.

“Go pack,” Cooper advised. “You have a plane to catch.”

“I can fly myself there,” Manny said.

“Payne Protection doesn’t have planes,” Cooper said. “But it might not be a bad investment since you and Cole both have your pilot’s licenses.”

“You can take mine,” Cole Bentler almost sheepishly offered. “I have one at the River City airstrip.” Bentler had money but didn’t like to admit it.

Maybe he thought his friends would act differently if they knew. Like maybe Manny wouldn’t pay his half of the rent for the apartment they shared or something. But Manny didn’t care about money. It obviously hadn’t made Cole happy.

Love hadn’t made him happy, either.

So Manny wasn’t going to take any chances. Somebody else could protect the lingerie model. He was going to be perfectly happy with old Ted.

* * *

The door closed behind Manny with a sharp snap as he rushed from the conference room. But Cooper was the only one watching the door. Everyone else was still staring at him.

“You’re not going to tell him?” Cole Bentler asked.

Cooper snorted and then called him on his hypocrisy. “You volunteered your plane but no other information.”

“But you’re the boss,” Cole said.

Pride swelled in Cooper’s chest. Yes, he was the boss—of his own security agency. But just because he was the boss didn’t mean he couldn’t have some fun. The laughter he’d been suppressing escaped.

Lars and Dane erupted, too—deep chuckles filling the room.

Cole just shook his head, but he was grinning as he warned, “He’s going to be so pissed.”

“It’s his own damn fault for not knowing her name,” Dane remarked. “When we started boot camp, he had a pinup picture of her that he was going to put in his locker.”

But boot camp wasn’t like high school; there were no lockers. Just stiff cots and scratchy blankets and muscle-aching, soul-breaking hard work.

“I don’t think he was interested in her name,” Lars remarked with another guffaw.

“It’s not like he ever expected to meet her,” Cole said. He shook his head again.

“But how can he not know that Ted Plummer is really Teddie Plummer, the supermodel?” Cooper asked. “Even though her career has slowed down recently, her name is still in every tabloid.”

The guys stared at him again like they had during the meeting—silently—until Lars asked, “How the hell do you know that?”

Heat rushed to Cooper’s face, but he just shrugged. “My wife reads the tabloids. They’re always lying around the house. I’m surprised Manny wouldn’t know.”

Manny was notorious for not being able to keep a secret except the ones that would endanger all their lives if revealed. Those he kept.

Cole snorted. “We don’t have any tabloids lying around our apartment.”

He and Manny shared an attic apartment in some old downtown house. They were the ultimate odd couple. Manny talked incessantly while Cole was reticent. Manny had grown up in poverty while Cole had money. Cooper certainly didn’t pay him enough to afford a private plane.

“He has no idea who she is,” Cole added.

“He’s going to find out soon,” Lars warned him. “You’re going to have to send up someone else when he turns around and flies right back.”

Cooper shook his head now. “You all heard him. He demanded the assignment. So he has to protect her and find out who the hell’s stalking her.”

Teddie Plummer was in danger. And protecting her would put Manny in danger, too. Even though he was an excellent bodyguard, he should have been briefed. But he had been so anxious to leave, he really hadn’t given Cooper the chance.

Or at least, that was what Cooper wanted to believe—that Manny hadn’t given him the chance and he and Teddie Plummer would be safe.

The supermodel had called the Payne Protection Agency because someone was stalking her. He’d escalated from sending her threatening notes to breaking into her penthouse and trying to grab her in the park. This person was obsessed with her, so obsessed that he wasn’t likely to give up until one of them was dead.

* * *

She was dead.

Teddie had never been so tired. Not even after twelve-hour photo shoots had she ever been this exhausted. She had hiked miles through the pine trees and rock formations of the Porcupine Mountains Park. Then she’d kayaked across the clear blue surface of the Lake in the Clouds. The muscles in her arms burned. The muscles in her legs burned. She ached all over.

But as exhausted as she was, nervous energy filled her. The snap of every twig along the trail had her jumping. And despite seeing no other hikers for over an hour, she felt as if she was being watched.

She glanced around but could see no one through the thick branches of the pine trees lining the narrow trail. This wasn’t part of the park anymore; it was the trail that led from her property to the park.