Read Online Guardian For Hire: A For Hire Novel by Christine Bell - Free Book Online Page B

she dropped her teaspoon with a clatter, staring at the white sheet. “What is it? A bribe? A threat?” She bit her bottom lip and bent close to whisper. “A blackmail letter?”
    “Not quite.”
    She swallowed hard, and her palms dampened. “What do they want, then?”
    “ She wants…attention. This,” he flashed the paper in her direction, “is a phone number.”
    There it was, plain as day. A phone number with a scrawled note underneath that she didn’t have time to read before he set it back under his plate.
    “What else does it say? Are you sure it’s hers? Maybe it’s a trap. Maybe that’s her bosses’ number, and when you call it they’re going to offer you a million dollars to hand me over. My face was on the news all day yesterday and—”
    “It said, ‘Hey sexy, I get off at ten. Want to help me get off again at eleven?’ She also spelled ‘eleven’ incorrectly. Somehow, I don’t think she’s part of any criminal mastermind’s plan to murder you.” He chomped down on his bacon, and Sarabeth’s cheeks burned.
    Partly it was embarrassment. The other part? A weird sort of bubbling feeling in her stomach. When the waitress arrived with the check, Sarabeth had the urge to stab her with her butter knife. God, this ordeal had made her into a different person in less than twenty-four hours. She was an animal just like her would-be murderers were. Still, when Ashlee winked at Gavin, sheer, unadulterated jealousy coursed through her veins.
    Which was ridiculous.
    Gavin wasn’t hers. In fact, she didn’t even like him, and the feeling was definitely mutual. These weird, possessive feelings were obviously just due to the stress of the circumstances. Not to mention, the nerve of the thing. They could’ve been a married couple for all Ashlee knew and she was still handing out her goodies like it was Halloween.
    Renewed annoyance surged through her. Maybe death by butter knife was over the top, but she was certainly going to complain about the service. That’d show her.
    “What are you thinking now, Doc? You look very smug.” His brows knit together as he eyed her speculatively.
    She folded the napkin on her lap and met Gavin’s curious gaze. No way she was sharing any of her internal monologue with him.
    “Nothing at all. I was just thinking she looks like your type. You going to call her?” She faked a smile, trying to hide the very real curiosity that niggled at her, but when his stare grew more intense…searching, she felt it. The same jolt that had gone through her the day before when they’d touched and again this morning when she’d seen him in his towel. She took a deep breath, trying to distract herself from how very rich and dark his eyes suddenly seemed.
    His face was a mask as he considered her question, those eyes telling her that part of him knew exactly how she was feeling and why she’d asked.
    Well, crap.
    …
    Inappropriate but distinct male satisfaction pulsed through him as he stared at Sarabeth shifting restlessly in her seat.
    He let her sweat out her curiosity for a long moment, debating with himself internally. Call her on it, or let it lie?
    Everything in him responded with a resounding, “Let it lie.” Acknowledging any part of this attraction between them would just make things more difficult. Not smart.
    Then again, nobody had ever said he was smart. “You know, I don’t think jealousy suits you, Doc.”
    She let out the most ladylike of snorts, and it was a wonder her eyes didn’t pop out of her skull from rolling them so hard. “I’m not jealous.”
    “Aren’t you?” He tried to maintain the teasing tone while his heart was turning over and over like a busted car engine. Her hands were trembling, and her cheeks had gone a soft pink, rendering her flashy, protest-overmuch denial moot.
    It might be the last thing the pretty young doctor wanted in this lifetime, but that didn’t change the fact that she was attracted to him. Now what the hell to do about