Bodyguard by Melanie Shawn

5

Savannah

I finally felt safe.The last two days had been a blur of terror and suppressed grief. Now, at least the terror was lessening a little.

The bad news was, that left more room for the grief.

As much of a struggle as it was to push that down, I did it. Yes, I had lost my father. But he had been the strongest person I’d ever known. He’d been courageous in the face of evil, and stood up for good and right, even when it was dangerous. Even when there were consequences. Even when it was unbearably hard.

He’d expect me to follow in his footsteps. To be strong when it counted. He wouldn’t want me to wilt when the pressure was on.

My survival was on the line, now. There would be time to grieve later, if I survived this. But, I was still alive right now, and I wouldn’t dishonor him by falling apart when everything was on the line.

I glanced over at Gage as he handed me the fragrant bag of fast food burgers and fries. He snatched the garbage bag full of everything I had left of my old life and stuffed it into the garbage can outside the window, and then drove away into the night.

How many times in one person’s life could they be expected to leave everything behind them and start over, with no notice, in the middle of the night? Holy hell.

I took a deep breath. Another question that would have to be pondered at another time, after all of this was over. If I lived that long.

Hey, that would be one good thing about a bullet in the brain, anyway. I’d never have to face the emotional fallout from all of this shit.

I shook my head. I’d always had a penchant for gallows humor. Most people thought it was morbid, so I kept it to myself.

I looked back at Gage. Not him. He’d always reveled in it. He got me. He got me in a way that no one ever had before him, and no one ever had since.

Perhaps feeling my eyes on him, he gave me a quick glance. “Eat,” he ordered.

I saluted. “Yes, sir.”

The corner of his mouth gave a blink-and-you-would-miss-it twitch, and I felt a deep down satisfaction. I’d seen that same twitch when I’d stepped out of the bathroom in his ill-fitting sweats. It was his version of a belly laugh, and drawing it out of him had always been both my biggest goal and my proudest accomplishment whenever we’d been together.

I opened the bag and the smell of beef, cheese, potatoes, grease, and salt hit me full force. I moaned at the aroma, and suddenly felt ravenous. My hands shook. I was glad I was already sitting down, because I got so weak that I thought my legs would likely have buckled if I’d been standing.

Only the fact that I was in front of Gage kept me from just shoving my face in the paper sack and going to town like I was a horse and it was my feedbag. Even in the state I was in, I wouldn’t let him see me like that.

I grabbed a handful of fries and put them in my mouth, then leaned back against the headrest and chewed. I really thought I might be in danger of passing out.

I heard another moan escape me. It was completely involuntary, but it was long and loud.

And it sounded very sexual.

I sat up straight, cheeks burning.

I cast a subtle glance over at Gage to see if he had noticed. Not that it would be easy to tell. And then I saw the tiny lip twitch again.

Well...at least I’d made him do his version of a belly laugh. Even if it was by humiliating myself. There was always that.

I dug into my food, then, just concentrating on chewing and swallowing. It wasn’t hard. My near-starving hunger level made laser-focusing on the food a no-brainer.

The only thing that intruded on my food-trance altered state was Gage. I couldn’t help but watch him out of the corner of my eye as he ate his burger. He held it in one hand and drove with the other, his attention fully focused on the road, only raising the burger to his mouth periodically to take a bite—but never tearing his eagle eyes away from the constant rotation he had going, looking at all angles of the dash and then the rearview mirror.

I knew he was keeping an eye out for anyone following us. He was in his professional protection zone, and I definitely felt protected.

I felt something else, too, though. Lust. It was blossoming low in my belly like a heavy cloud.

There was just something about seeing him in action—so strong, so commanding, so hyper-aware.

It was sexy as hell.

Damn, Savannah—is this really the time to be indulging your Skinemax fantasies? When you’ve just barely escaped an assassination attempt, and have no idea if you’ll escape the next one?

I pondered that for a moment, then decided that my precarious situation meant that there was no time like the present. After all, I might never get another chance to indulge those fantasies. And if I had to go out, was there really any better thing to be thinking about than quality naked time with Gage Crawford?

I let out a snort of a laugh at the thought, and was immediately mortified. It would have been unladylike under normal circumstances, but while I was stuffing my face, it sounded like nothing so much as a pig snort.

My cheeks burned again.

First the moan, now this. I really needed to get my noises under control.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing,” I mumbled, embarrassed. “The...burger. Funny...burger.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Convincing.”

Damn. Maybe I wasn’t the only master of the sardonic in this SUV.

When I had finally eaten the last bite of burger, sucked down the last drop of soda, I turned in my seat to face him. Time to face what I’d been avoiding.

“I guess...” I said hesitantly, then took a deep breath and started again, stronger. “I guess you need more details. About when my father was killed.”

He looked over at me, studied my face.

Finally, he looked forward again and replied, “How long has it been since you’ve slept?”

I tried to think, to cast my mind back, but couldn’t. It should be so simple. It was such a straightforward question. Why couldn’t I remember something so basic?

“I...I don’t know...” I replied, sheer amazement at my inability to call it up evident in my voice.

He nodded. “Yeah. Put your seat back and sleep. Your brain is no good to me right now. You won’t be able to remember important details. And things that you do think you remember might not be accurate. But if you tell the story now, they’ll get cemented into your memory as the truth. So, sleep.”

I shook my head. “I couldn’t sleep, Gage. I’m way too wired.”

The lip twitch again. “Kind of like you couldn’t eat?”

I laughed. God. I’d forgotten. I’d actually forgotten that he was funny. It was a dry humor. Dry as the Sahara. But he was funny.

“Seriously. I’m wide awake. There’s no way I could fall asleep right now, even if I tried.”

He nodded. “Okay. Just put the seat back and close your eyes, then. Even if you don’t sleep, you’ll rest. And you need it.”

I shrugged. “All right. Fine. I’ll do it. But I’m telling you, I’m not tired.”

I pulled the lever and the seat reclined to a nearly flat position. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, and was asleep before I’d even exhaled.