HER BODYGUARD

“Asher? Where are you? There’s somebody in the house,” she said, hearing the quaver in her voice.

“It’s me.” he said.

“But-what are you doing?” she asked clearly confused.

“Sitting on the living room sofa,” he answered, the simple sentence sounding provocative.

She stared down the hall, still unable to see him. “If you’re in the living room, why are you calling me?” she asked.

“Ermmm, sometimes people can communicate better on the phone than they can in person.” he said.

She felt the air whoosh out of her lungs.

“Are we having trouble communicating?” she asked. She asked.

“Well, there are things I want to say to you. That I wish I had said to you. But I find my tongue getting all twisted up,” he said.

She’d had similar feelings. “You do?” she whispered.

“Yeah.” he breathed said.

He didn’t continue, and she desperately wanted to find out what he meant.

“What can’t you say in person?” Kimberly asked.

“I’d like to kiss you again… make love to you again. It was really hard to say no to you then. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to, hell, I did-I do. I thought about that a lot while I was away. But if I was worried that if did, maybe something would go wrong and you wouldn’t let me be here with you. You might want to leave, And I want you here… I want to stay here with you-very much.”

Her throat was so constricted that she could barely speak but she managed one syllable. “Why?” she asked.

“Because I’m worried about you. Because I want you to be safe. I don’t know what I would do if those bastards lay their hands on you. But we both know that’s only part of it. I want to spend time get to know you better… I want to make use of this little time we have to be together. Only that I haven’t really felt this way about anyone, so I’m uneasy about relationships and feelings. I’m scared that I’m going to screw it up”

“Oh,” she answered, her voice softening, thinking that must have been really difficult for him to say. No wonder he was using the telephone instead of speaking face-to-face.

“We started off on the wrong foot,” he said. “I was focused on my job, and I judged you too quickly.”

“You are supposed to be focused on your job,” she said, finding herself defending him. “That’s why you are so good at it. And I don’t hold it against you.”

“What about the kisses?” he asked.

“I liked when we kissed… a lot,” she whispered, because one thing she knew, being dishonest now would be a disaster. “And that one time we were together was amazing”.

“Good,” he said. because I can’t stop thinking about that night and what I would like to do with you.”

Her breath caught. “What?”

“You know, don’t you?” he asked..

“Tell me.” Kimberly said.

“If I do, will you get angry about it?

“No. I want to know,” she murmured.

She heard him drag in a breath and let it out slowly. “Okay. If you want to know, I’d like to come in there and take your clothes off. I want to lay you on the bed, naked. I want to look at you, then kiss you and touch you and make you as hot as I am now.”

“Oh!” Kimberly said, not knowing when the word slipped out of her mouth.

“Am I turning you on?” he asked.

Kimberly swallowed. The cautious woman she had been for so long told her she should halt this conversation right now. But she didn’t want to. She had been hot and bothered ever since she met Asher Adams, and he had just turned up the heat.

“Yes,” she breathed.

“Good.” he said.

“What about you? Is this making you…aroused?” she asked.

He laughed softly. “What do you think?”

“What are we going to do about it?” she heard herself ask. Lord, she’d never been this forward with a guy in her life. If she ended up in a sexual relationship, it was because the guy went after her. She wasn’t prepared for his next words.

“I’m going to show you how much pleasure we can give each other-over the phone.”

She turned her head toward the hall. He was only a few yards from her. Was she really going to engage in activities that she wasn’t sure about? What she heard herself say was, “Let me close the bedroom door.”

Damn, with this man she turned into a completely different person.

“Okay.” she said.

Her legs weren’t entirely steady as she made it to the door then back to the bed where she threw herself down with a little exclamation.

Maybe he heard it because he said, “You are so damn sexy.”

“Am I?” she asked.

“Oh, yes. You’re a very potent combination.” he said.

“Of?”

“Very beautiful woman and no-nonsense professional. I was intimidated by you, you know.”

Kimberly couldn’t believe it. She was the one who had been completely intimidated by him.

“Why?” she asked.

“Because you are amazing. You are beautiful. The first time I saw you, you looked like a vision out of my dreams. Only you were real-standing right there in front of me. You’re so much prettier than that picture your dad gave me when he hired me to find you.”

“After you brought me back to my dad, I couldn’t stop thinking about you,” she heard herself say, then could have bitten back the revealing comment.

There was a long pause on the other end of the line. “Really? I was mean to you,” he said carefully.

“Yes, but you had also rescued me, like some knight in shining armor. You were so focused and tough, I kinda found that attractive. Plus I thought you were really cute”

“Oh yeah?” he asked, and she knew he was smiling.

“Don’t tease me.” she said.

“Mm-hmm.” he said laughing softly. “What else did you think about when I left”

“Look who’s fishing for compliments?” Kimberly said.