Alice Sharpe - The Baby's Bodyguard

“Railroad myself into your bed?” he finished for her.

Holding the pillow against her chest, she nodded.

He tossed the bag down on the futon, stood up and walked back to stand in front of her. “I don’t force myself into a woman’s bed. I wait to be invited.”

The last time they’d met, she’d done the inviting and he knew it. This time she met his gaze and said, “Then we’ll be fine because I won’t be asking.”

He leaned forward and whispered, “That’s too bad.” Then, his voice serious, he added, “Your grandmother mentioned you go to work twice a week and do the rest of your work from your home office. You don’t go in again until the day after tomorrow, right?”

Remembering the promise of the paper she’d found with David’s money that might or might not help matters, she said, “Actually, I need to go in tomorrow for a few minutes. Uh, I need to make a copy of a report brought home from work that got destroyed in the car bomb today. Plus we’re all working more hours because of a big Founder’s Day open house planned for next weekend.”

The look he directed her way was suspicious. “I don’t think—”

“Let’s remember exactly who you’ve been hired to guard,” she warned him. “Don’t try to tell me what to do.”

He threw up his hands in mock surrender. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Because your number one priority is keeping my baby safe or didn’t you mean what you said about being her bodyguard?”

“Of course I meant it. But the big picture—”

“Yes, I know. But if you’re going to stay in my grandmother’s house, then you pay your way by thinking of Aubrielle first.”

“Sure,” he said. “Of course. But that means tomorrow you tell me what you’re so determined not to say tonight. We have to work together, Hannah, and we have to start immediately.”

It was well after midnight and the day’s events had finally battered their way through Hannah’s defenses, so she didn’t push further.

“Do you have a gun?” she asked.

“No.”

“My grandfather had a rifle and a shotgun,” she said.

“I know. Your grandmother told me where they are.” He dug in his pocket and produced the small gold key that locked the gun cabinet in the living room. “I’m kind of hoping I won’t need to use a weapon,” he said, flipping the key in the air and catching it. It disappeared back in his pocket.

Hannah refused to think about the fact that Mimi was so spooked she’d handed this man a key to the guns within hours of meeting him. “And if you do need to use one?”

“Then I will.” He put his hands on her shoulders and stared down at her. Despite her best intentions, her pulse throbbed in her throat. His mouth mesmerized her as a sensuous smile lifted one corner of his upper lip. She prepared herself for—well, for anything. Why deny the fact she was attracted to him as she’d never been attracted to anyone before? It didn’t mean she had to act on it, but pretending it didn’t exist wasn’t working, either.

“Go to bed,” he whispered.

She escaped with her pride barely intact but she slept like a rock, so lost in unidentifiable dreams that the next morning, it was clear Aubrielle had been crying for a while. After taking care of her tiny daughter’s needs, she carried her into the living room.

The plastic on the window served as a vivid reminder of the rock and the attached warning that had sailed through the night before. Juggling Aubrielle and the phone book, she found the number of the one and only place in town that handled things like broken windows and arranged for an estimate.

What did the person who threw the rock think she was doing? That was the big question and though she’d racked her brain a million times in the past twelve hours for an explanation, she simply couldn’t think of one.

She mothered her baby, she did her work, she shopped—her life was a little on the predictable side for bombs and rocks and threatening notes.

She found Jack in the kitchen with her grandmother, the two of them reading the paper and eating burned toast like long-lost friends. Jack was wearing the same clothes as the day before—a little more crumbled now as though he’d slept in them. It didn’t matter. Clean as a whistle, slightly rumpled—he looked good no matter what his condition. In fact, the beard darkening his jaw-line seemed to make his eyes all the more blue.

Hannah had dressed for work in a black jacket and trim skirt. As soon as Mimi saw her, she got to her feet and laid claim to her great-granddaughter, transferring the baby and blanket in an effortless manner, but Hannah noticed the sideways glance at Jack and the nod of her head.

“What’s going on?” Hannah asked as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

“Nothing,” Mimi said quickly.

Jack cleared his throat. “Well, actually—”

“My poker ladies are all due in half an hour,” Mimi said while rocking Aubrielle in her arms. “It’s way too early for pretzels and beer. I’ll make tea. Are there cookies in the freezer?”

“I don’t know,” Hannah said. “Since when does your poker group meet on a Tuesday morning?” Looking from Mimi to Jack, she added, “Okay, you two, what’s up?”

“Nothing. Barb and the others are coming over to keep me and Aubrielle company while you and Jack go do your reconnoitering. Did you call the glass people yet, dear?”

Hannah took a sip of coffee brewed twice as strong, no, three times as strong, as her grandmother made it. Didn’t take a genius to figure out who started the coffee maker that morning. “They’ll be here at ten o’clock. What do you mean, ‘reconnoiter'?”

“I want to see foundation headquarters,” Jack said.

“I don’t think that’s such a great idea,” she said.

“Plus, I figure you probably need to take care of some kind of insurance thing with the garage concerning your car and I have to check out of the hotel by 10:00 a.m. We could take my Harley but it’s a little on the conspicuous side. Mimi has generously offered us the use of her car.”

“And the poker crew?”

“I don’t want anyone to be alone in this house until we figure out what’s going on. Alone anywhere, for that matter.”

“So five ladies over seventy are going to keep my baby safe? I thought you were Aubrielle’s bodyguard.”

“I think the best way to keep Aubrielle safe is to figure out why someone wants to scare her mother half to death. For this particular morning, this is the plan. It’ll give us a chance to talk and begin cementing our new pact. We’re a team, remember?”

There was no need to ask what he wanted to talk about. Again she thought of the front window and the rock and what it could portend. What was the point of trying to protect David? Besides, if Jack got to the bottom of this, he’d leave and that was a good thing. “Okay,” she said, then, looking at each of them in turn, added, “No more making sneaky plans behind my back.”

“Of course, dear,” Mimi said. “Don’t forget to stop by the store and get something for dinner. I made another list. It’s there by the door.”

“And you’ll call my cell if there’s any sign of trouble?”

“Don’t you worry about a thing.”

Jack pushed himself to his feet. “Mimi, I know you’re familiar with the rifle, so we’ll take the shotgun. That okay with you?”

“Damn tootin',” she said. “No one will get close to Aubrielle with me and the poker ladies here.”

Hannah did her best not to shudder.

CHECKING IN AT THE GARAGE TOOK no time at all and soon they were on their way to Fort Bragg. The road traveled up the hills out of Allota, following the coastline south. Jack drove Mimi’s small white car expertly, manipulating it around the hair-raising curves with ease.