“I’m not late,” Sawyer nodded. “You Lila?”
“Lila,” Rusty templed his hands. “This is Sawyer Youngblood. Former Marine. Worked in private security in D.C. for five years before joining us here, so he’s used to the protocols surrounding political figures and their families.”
Sawyer clasped his hands behind his head. “I hear someone’s giving you trouble,” he said easily.
Lila frowned.What the heck? Did Rusty just bring to her a chatterbox in human form? She knew bodyguards to be reserved and cool, never saying much unless asked directly. But Sawyer seemed to be a different entity. If it wasn’t for his well-built body and muscles popping out of his arms, she could have mistaken him for a jester. But still - she trusted Rusty’s judgement. She would just keep her fingers crossed and treat Sawyer patiently, like she treated her patients.
Lila waved off Sawyer’s remark like a fly in the air. “I doubt it’s anything legitimately threatening. My parents have always been overly cautious.”
“Hopefully you’re right,” Rusty said.
“But…” he flipped through the papers he’d gathered into a file folder about the case. “The police have matched some of the signatures – turns of phrase, encryption coding – to those in threats which have been sent to a few other public figures.” He paused. “Including Scott Baker.”
Lila’s eyes widened. Scott Baker had been the Governor of New York when Lila was in high school. He’d been shot walking his dog. He survived, and the shooter had never been caught. Her widened eyes let Sawyer see they were of hazel color, beautiful and expressive, instantly able to cast a spell on him. Her bottom lip – wide and pink – trembled, so slight and so quickly, he’d have missed it if he hadn’t been staring directly at her.
“So, I hope you’ll agree there’s a seriousness to these threats we can’t take lightly. And now they’re targeting you. Sawyer here is one of the best bodyguards in the business, and he won’t let anything happen to you,” Rusty continued.
“Correct,” Sawyer nodded at Lila reassuringly. “If this creep, whoever he is, actually tries to get near you, his days complaining about politics will be over.”
Sawyer kept his eyes fixed on Lila’s face, while taking her body in with his peripheral vision. He’d learned early on it was important to be able to take in a woman, without letting your eyes visibly wander over her from head to toe. He tried to hide his surprise. She did have a straight A student look about her, with glasses and the wristwatch. Who still wore a wristwatch? But there was a sexiness about her he couldn’t pin down. She had creamy skin, despite the purple circles under her eyes. She must have been up late, he figured. Shewasa doctor, and from what Rusty said about Kaylin’s schedule, they didn’t get much sleep. Neither did Colt’s nurse-fiancé, Natalie. Still, Sawyer couldn’t stop fixating on the thick, black lashes framing her eyes beneath her glasses. He wished he could see her with them off. She tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear, exposing the length of her neck. He wondered how many times it would take to kiss her from the top of her shoulder to the base of her ear.
“…Sawyer?” Rusty cleared his throat.
“Hmm?” Sawyer swiveled his chair back to face Rusty.Crap. He missed whatever it was Rusty had said.
“I said, is there anything you’d like to let Lila know about what having a security detail looks like?” Rusty repeated patiently, eyeing Sawyer knowingly.
“I’ve had security before,” Lila cut in. “I just try to ignore it.”
She gave Sawyer a look which basically said, “try not to mess up my daily routine” and he went cold, as though she’d admonished him to stay away from her with just her eyes.
He sat up in his chair and gripped the arm rests. “You won’t even know I’m there,” he replied, hardening his voice to sound like he was talking to a commanding officer in the Marines. “Rusty told me you have security in your apartment already?”
“It’s a comprehensive system,” Lila nodded. “Precautionary.”
“We like to judge that for ourselves,” Rusty interjected. “Make sure everything is installed correctly, check for blind spots. Sawyer will take a look when you go home today, so we can make a plan for overnight surveillance.”
“Wait - I have a dog,” Lila said. “This really isn’t necessary.”
“You’ll have to take that up with your father,” Rusty said. He closed the file folder and held up his hands to deflect blame. “He was very explicit in his instructions.”
Lila’s face pinched, annoyed, but she composed it again quickly. She knew her parents were both difficult to argue with and wrote big checks. “Fine. We can revisit this later. I have to get going.” She glanced at Sawyer. “I have patients to treat.”
Lila didn’t need to look long at Sawyer to size him up; even with his good looks, she knew the type.
She knew a man who was stuck in the glory days of his high school football career when she saw one, who took shots instead of whiskey on the rocks and probably hollered at referees through the television. Guys like this only liked work which could show off how strong they were and girls who didn’t need anything more than that in a man.
Lila grabbed her purse. She didn’t know why she suddenly cared about what kind of girls this guy liked or didn’t like.
All she knew for sure were two things: guys like him never glanced twice at girls like her, and she didn’t care, anyway. Jocks had never been her type, and besides - she had standards that she wouldn't lower for anyone. The last time she had found herself in a similar situation was in medical school. It was with Calvin, the guy in her Clinical Skills Foundation class. Calvin had been damn hot, brilliant and fashion savvy. Every girl in their class had wanted him, and Lila had been struck with awe when he approached her. The relationship hadn’t even lasted six weeks. She was just a bet. Unbeknownst to her, Calvin had made a bet with his best friend that he could bed a Senator’s daughter by the end of the semester. She found out after they had mad sex. She was heartbroken and for many weeks after, she had even considered skipping the lectures they had with each other out of embarrassment. She wasn’t ready to walk down that same path. Whatever primal urges she might have felt for Sawyer at that first glance, had to be bottled up. No more falling for the bad boy types.
She stood.
Sawyer stood, too. He stuck out his hand. “Nice to meet you,” he said. “Sorry it’s under these circumstances.”
Lila returned the shake out of basic courtesy “I guess you’re going to follow me to the clinic?”
Sawyer nodded. “That’s how this works.”
“He’ll stay out of your way,” Rusty said soothingly. “How present he is or isn’t is completely up to you. You two can discuss it on the way.” Rusty stood, tucking his chair neatly under the desk.
“Ok. You can’t come into the exam rooms with me,” Lila stated. “You can sit in the waiting room, if you want.”
“I’ll be fine,” Sawyer said. “You won’t even know I’m there. If that’s what you want.”
He stared at her face, trying to gauge her reaction. Why did he care if she wanted him around or not? This was his job. He watched, as she fixed her purse strap over her shoulder and he couldn’t help but notice how slender her wrists were against her loose scrubs. He saw the knot of the drawstring from her pants peeking out from beneath the front tuck of her top, and he pictured himself pulling it loose. He smiled broadly, forcing a look of concentration back on her face, which gave nothing away. She really looked like the sexiest librarian he had ever seen. “Lead the way.”
