Her Bodyguard Read online

  and are worth the equivalent of a small country, which means that they could pretty much buy Protrovia. "Get out," he repeats.

  "Come on." I roll my eyes like all of this is beneath me, despite the small part of me that feels guilty being the cause of the confrontation. I shouldn't feel guilty, I tell myself. After all, if Max is going to act like a controlling brute, I should act like a spoiled brat. "I'm going back to the engagement party. Finn, won't you join me?"

  I add the last question not to provoke Max even more but to give Finn a not-so-subtle hint that he should get the hell out of here before my bodyguard kicks his ass.

  My concern about Finn's potential ass-kicking is more for Max's sake than for Finn's.

  When I turn to reach for Finn's arm, Max's hand immediately goes to my forearm, stopping me. A surge goes through me, something akin to electricity that flows through my veins all the way down to my toes in response to his touch.

  Max's gaze goes past mine to Finn. The look in his eyes is practically feral, something I've never seen from him before. "I won't warn you again," he threatens Finn. "Leave. Now."

  Finn shrugs as he steps around us. "You might want to put a muzzle on your guard dog," he sneers. "It looks like he's out of control."

  Max's hand lingers on my wrist. His touching me like this – grabbing me in front of Finn – is beyond inappropriate. It's much too familiar and definitely too possessive a gesture for a princess and her bodyguard. Even throwing me over his shoulder at the summer house was nothing compared to this. Yet it still sends arousal coursing through my body, the sensation better than any kind of drug. I can only imagine what it would feel like if he were to touch me anywhere else.

  I should slap him across the face before storming out of here and back to the engagement party. That's what a good princess would do.

  The problem is, I'm not a very good princess at all.

  His eyes are brimming with heat and lust, and despite how desperately I want to melt into his touch, I force ice into my glare. "Let go of me."

  But he ignores me. Yanking my clutch from my other hand, he opens it. "Wait," he calls to Finn, removing the small container from my purse. "You can take this with you."

  "That's my personal property," I hiss at Max. Seriously, who does he think he is? "You're crossing a line."

  Lines have already been crossed, yet I can't seem to stop thinking about the ones that haven't been crossed.

  "Get another supplier, Alex," Finn spits before the door to the passageway shuts loudly behind him.

  Now, I direct my venom toward Max. "That was my stash," I protest. "Stop interfering with my life."

  Max steps closer to me, his eyes flashing dark with anger. My heart races, but it's arousal I feel, not fear.

  "Really?" he asks, his voice gruff. "Are we going to keep playing this game, princess?"

  I've backed up until I'm standing against the wall, the sharp edges of the stones pressing against my skin. Max is inches away from me, his large body so close to mine that if I listen carefully enough, I can hear his heartbeat. The smell of his aftershave fills my nose, a spicy musky mixture of scents that somehow fits him perfectly despite being something generic from a department store because Max isn't like Finn. He's not the son of billionaire parents who can afford thousand-dollar cologne.

  Max is definitely not the son of billionaires, but I'd have known that even without overhearing his conversation with his mother. He's too rough around the edges to be any kind of aristocrat.

  "Play what game?" I ask innocently. "This isn't a game, Max. You stole my property now, just like you've been stealing my property before."

  "Confiscating your stashes, you mean."

  "Theft," I correct. "And you grabbed me – assaulted me, actually."

  "Assaulted you," he repeats slowly.

  I can't breathe, not with the way he's looking at me now. My breath seems to catch in my throat, and I can't think about anything except how heat is saturating my body, pooling between my legs.

  "That's right," I say, trying to be firm. "Assault. Stealing my property. Interfering in my life."

  I rattle off his list of offenses.

  "Interfering in your life?" he asks, disbelief apparent in his voice.

  "Interfering," I repeat. He's interfered with my thoughts already, and he's definitely interfered with my fantasies. In fact, an image flashes into my head right now at the mere thought of one of those fantasies: me with my bare legs wrapped around Max's waist, my heels digging into his back as he thrusts into me hard against the wall. Warmth surges through my entire body, settling in my core, an automatic response to the mere suggestion of Max being inside me.

  "You are accusing me of interfering," he says, incredulous.

  "I'm not sure how else you'd describe what just happened thirty seconds ago."

  "Well that's rich, coming from the woman who did what you did."

  "What did I do?"

  "Cut the bullshit. I know that you paid off my parents' house," he growls.

  My face flushes warm. "Felix is such a blabbermouth," I mutter.

  "Why are you interfering in my life?" he demands.

  I shrug. "It's so not a big deal."

  "Now that is just the kind of thing a spoiled rich girl says."

  "That's not what I meant." Now, I'm getting flustered. "It is a big deal. I mean, for your parents. But not for me –"

  A dark expression crosses Max's face. "You're definitely not making it any better right now."

  "Well you weren't even supposed to find out," I protest.

  "Still not better."

  "I overheard you on the phone, okay? You're here in Protrovia – here, guarding me – because of your parents."

  "We don't need your charity," he spits.

  "You think it was charity?" I ask. "Like I feel sorry for you or something?"

  "You tell me, princess, since you're the one giving away houses."

  "It was …" My voice drifts off because I don't have an explanation for why I did what I did. "I don't know. I just did it. I didn't think about it that much, honestly."

  "You didn't think about it? It must be nice to have so much money that you don't think about paying off people's mortgages. So, what, you're just in the habit of buying houses for your employees' families?"

  I groan my frustration. "It was a gift, that's all. It wasn't a big deal. Maybe I wanted to do something nice for a change. Maybe I didn’t want to be the spoiled brat you seem to think I am."

  "Why?" He looks at me through narrowed eyes.

  "Ugh, I don't know, okay?" I blurt, waving my hand dismissively. "You're here in Protrovia because you're doing something nice for your parents. Something that makes you a good son."

  "So? My family situation is none of your business."

  "I'm not making it my business!" I exclaim, my voice echoing through the passageway. "I don't want to know a single thing about you. Have I asked you anything about you? No. I just think that you shouldn't be kept here because you're obligated to take care of them."

  "Is this your way of getting me to quit?" he asks.

  "Quit or not quit, stay or go, James." I wave dismissively and try to sound as casual and blasé as possible. "I have no preference."

  "You have no preference," he echoes, studying my face.

  "That's correct. Do I need to spell it out for you more clearly?"

  The beginning of a smile tugs at the corner of his lips. "You're a liar, princess. And a terrible one, which is odd, because I could have sworn you said you were an excellent poker player."

  "I'm a great poker player, and I have no idea what you're talking about."

  "Oh yes, you do. You don't want me to leave. You want me here."

  "I certainly do not."

  "Yes you do. You want me to stay. That's what buying the house was about."

  "That's ridiculous," I say, rolling my eyes. "I could have you fired at any moment, and really, I probably should because you're standing here like this,