Prologue
Grainger
I never believed in love at first sight until her. Of all the shitty luck in the world…-Grainger
“Hey G! Get your tail in here! My ole’ lady wants another drink. Grab her one, will ya?” Scott Schroeder’s voice booms through the open bedroom door, making me wince.Fuck, I hate this guy.
Scott Schroeder is America’s new “it” boy. He’s starred in every action flick made in the last two years. He’s also the biggest douche I’ve ever encountered in my life. I want to tell him to shove this job up his ass. I want to tell him that he can hire someone else to protect him from his crazy fans. The shitty truth is I can’t. I desperately need the money.Opening my own protection firm takes a lot of cash that I don’t have. My old job as a cop in New York didn’t pay nearly enough. Even the money from my time in the military wouldn’t quite get me there.
There was another reason I couldn’t quit.A reason that had nothing to do with needing money and everything to do with a certain woman…
I sigh.Lana Langston. I can’t leave her. I won’t leave her. And this fuckin’ crush is getting out of control. Is it right to call it a crush? At this point, my feelings for her border on obsession.
I knock on the door even though it stands open. Lana is hastily putting on a robe. Jealousy threatens to overtake me, but I close my eyes for a second and compose myself.Why she lets this asshole touch her is beyond me.
“I told you I was fine. I don’t need a drink, Scott.” Her head is down, and her voice is muffled as she puts the white robe over what is obviously some very skimpy lingerie.
My heart thunders in my chest and my dick tries its level best to stand at attention.I have got to learn to control myself around her.
“You obviously need something to loosen up!” he calls out from the adjoining bathroom.
She continues to look down but reaches her hand out for the drink I give her. I raise an eyebrow. Lana is always sweet to me and never looks down on me like the hired help. It’s one of the many things I love about her.
“He shouldn’t have asked you to do that. You’re his bodyguard, not his manservant,” she murmurs.
She self-consciously pushes a strand of silken brown hair behind her ear, and I take a deep breath in. On her right cheek, there is a mark that wasn’t there a few hours earlier. A red mark that looks like it will turn into a bruise by nightfall.
A mark that was obviously made by the dipshit who I now need to kill.
I reach out and grasp her chin. “Shit,” I growl. “Did he do this to you?”
She pulls away from my grasp and her doe brown eyes are dark with fear. “Don’t say anything. He didn’t mean to. I made him angry. He asked me to wait for him wearing this outfit and I didn’t want to…” Her shoulders drop and a lone tear falls down her cheek.
She breathes in and out for a moment while I just look into her eyes. It’s as if she can see the truth in them as she says her next words. Her whole body shudders.
“Shit, I sound like the biggest cliché, don’t I? Defending the asshole like a good little girl. I can’t believe it’s come to this.” There’s so much sadness in her husky voice. I want to hold her close. I want to whisper to her that no one will ever make her feel this way again.
I run a gentle thumb over the red mark. “This ends now. You’re getting out of here and away from him. I’m going to make damn sure he never touches you again.”
Tears fall steadily down her face now. “That’s a nice thought, Grainger.” Her breath shudders out. “And you’re a nice man.” She glances towards the closed bathroom door. “But I have no money and he’s famous as hell. I won’t get far. I have nowhere to go.”
I pull out my wallet and hand her a credit card. “Use this. Use this and go where you need to go. I’ll deal with him.” I pause. “And take this too.” I hand her my business card. “Call anytime no matter where you are. If you don’t feel safe, call me. If you need anything, call me. Hell, if you just want to talk, call me. I’ll be there.”
She reaches out as if to take the cards, but then drops her hand back down by her side. “I can’t do that. I can’t take your money and I can’t run. He’ll find me. I know he will.”
I grasp her chin again. “Look at me.” She stares into my eyes. “You can and you will take this card. Go to a hotel for the night or stay with a friend. Text me when you’re there. Let me knowwhere you’ve gone and spend as much time as you need to get settled. I know you’ve got some small roles coming up.” I shrug my shoulders. “You never have to pay me back, but if that’s what your pride wants then you do it. But you get away. I’ll make sure he doesn’t follow. I’ve been his bodyguard for a few years now. I’ve got more shit on him than you’ll ever know. All it takes is a few threats, maybe a leak here or there. Go now, Lana.”
It’s the first time I’ve ever said her first name. I always call her Ms. Langston. I relish the way her name rolls off my tongue. I could fall for this woman so easily. Hell, I have been falling for her since the moment I met her.
I let her chin go and she reaches for my hand and squeezes it. “Thank you.” She takes a deep breath. “I’ll go, but I am going to pay you back.”
She packs within a few moments while I watch the door. I don’t hear a peep from the asshole in the bathroom, thank goodness. I wish I could beat the hell out of him. Instead, I plan to make his life hell on Earth.
She glances over her shoulder as she leaves the room. “Thank you, Grainger. I’ll be in touch. And no matter what happens…”
I give her a short nod. “You’ll be fine, Lana. Just fine.”I’ll make sure of it.
Her full pink lips flash in her signature smile. “I will be. I know I will be, because of you. I’ll never forget what you’ve done for me.” She blows me a kiss and then she’s gone.
