Luna nodded, and we headed through the side entrance into the bookstore.
I could hear Luna’s phone buzzing in her purse, but she made no move to answer it.
“You okay?” I asked.
“I almost drowned in coffee during a live interview,” she muttered. “I didn’t exactly play it cool.”
I smirked. “You did fine, Darling.”
Whether it was her last name or not, the influencer was right. I didn’t just call her that because it was her name. I might not spend as much time at the ranch or decked out in boots and a Stetson as the other guys at Lone Star did, but I was still a cowboy at heart. And calling my womanDarlingmade me think of a simpler life.
My woman.
Where did that come from? Luna wasn’t mine, and even if I wanted her to be, I had a code of ethics that did not include getting my clients naked. I knew whathappened when a guard got complacent or distracted.
She had the potential to be the biggest distraction I had ever met.
For a long second, we stood there in the quiet of the store hallway. My job was to be between Luna and the world, but the interview had changed that. Now it was us against known and unknown threats, and I felt closer to her than I should.
The space was small, and we were standing close, too close maybe. I could smell her shampoo, the same industrial citrus stuff I’d used in the hotel, but it smelled better on her.
Every instinct I had screamed to step closer, to tuck that loose strand of hair behind her ear, to let myself want her for just one damn second. But wanting her was the one thing I wasn’t allowed to do.
My attention had to be on keeping her safe, not whatever it was my heart had in mind.
Then I cleared my throat and stepped back. “Let’s get you ready for the signing.”
Professional. Cool. Totally unaffected.
That was what I needed to portray. Ideally, that was what I needed to be, but my body wasn’t getting the memo.
Chapter Nine
Luna
We were back at it the next day with a book signing in Austin. This one was bigger. It was more of a small convention with a half dozen authors in the hotel’s ballroom. The place was packed, although it had quickly become my norm over the past few days.
I hadn’t asked Hayes about what the influencer had been digging at during the interview yesterday. Whatever it was had made the vein in the side of his neck bulge.
“Can I get a picture with you?” the first fan at the table asked.
“Of course.” I smiled for the selfie with her and then signed a copy of my latest book.
She took the book and held it to her chest. “Can I get a picture with the book boyfriend?”
I hesitated and looked at Hayes. “I’m a bodyguard first and a book boyfriend second. I can’t pose for pictures when I’m on duty.”
The woman seemed fine with that response and walked away with her new book.
“That was a diplomatic answer,” I said quietly to Hayes.
“I can be charming when I need to be.”
If he was charming, I hadn’t seen it. But that hadn’t stopped me from wanting him.
I fell into the familiar rhythm of signing books, taking pictures, and chatting with fans. The lineup was steady right up until the event started to wind down.
After the last person left my table, I stood and stretched my back. The adrenaline of the big event had long since worn off, and I was hungry and stiff.
