The Heiress and The Bodyguard. Ryanne Corey

his long black hair. “My point is, if all this can happen to you in three or four hours, what could happen to you in a few days? This is just a guess, but…you don’t run off by yourself very often, right?”

      “I could do it every week, for all you know.”

      “If you did it every week, you would remember to check the gas gauge in your car. You would also know where you are, not to mention where you are going.”

      Julie considered this for a moment, her lips pinched tight. “I don’t care for the way you put that, but you’re right. This was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing, if you know what I mean. Still, it’s turning out better than I hoped.”

      Billy slanted her an incredulous look. “Are you kidding?”

      “Well, I met you,” she said, her eyes shining like copper pennies and a high flush of color on her cheekbones. “You are by far the most interesting person I have ever met in my life.”

      Billy could barely stop himself from groaning out loud. “You must not get out much, then. Which, by the way, is probably going to be the reason your brother is going to worry about you. Are the two of you close?”

      “Yes,” Julie said, “and no. We love each other, but neither one of us is exactly…comfortable…with our lives right now. Harris has been the father figure for a long time, and it’s wearing on him. I just do as I’m told so the poor man doesn’t worry any more than necessary.”

      “You do as you’re told? Well, that explains everything. Your brother must have told you to drive around Florida in the middle of the night.”

      “Very funny. It’s not a crime to take a little ride.”

      “I doubt he’ll see it that way.”

      “How could you possibly know that? You don’t know the situation, you’ve just met me and you don’t know Harris at all. How could you possibly have any opinion on this?”

      Billy found himself grinding his teeth. The little lady was not cooperating. He wasn’t used to women who didn’t cooperate with him, and the experience was a little frustrating. “I’m not trying to pick a fight with you. I just know when someone is in over their head, that’s all. You need to go home and rethink this thing.”

      “My head,” Julie retorted, “is well above the water-line, so don’t worry. For heaven’s sake, you’re as bad as Harris.”

      I’m nothing like your brother, Billy wanted to throw back. I know him, and I know you far better than you think. Instead he contented himself with, “I’m a man, and I know how men protect the people they love. I’ve had a little more experience with life than you have.” Now there was the understatement of the year.

      “That’s exactly why I’m so glad we met,” Julie exclaimed, putting her hand on his arm. “You came along at such an opportune moment. I was feeling a little down tonight, because my birthday is coming and I’m going to…well, that’s neither here nor there. At any rate, you actually fought someone on my behalf. I’ll never forget this. Every now and then it’s kind of a relief to just…just fly by the seat of your skirt.”

      “Pants,” Billy snapped, irritated by the way his body was reacting to her innocent touch. “Fly by the seat of your pants. And don’t romanticize this thing. I didn’t fight with anyone on your behalf, I just pushed a drunk over sideways with one hand. I should have let him have a few more minutes with you. Then maybe you’d want to go home where you belong.”

      “You’re talking like a bodyguard or something.” Miffed, Julie withdrew her hand, folding her arms across her chest. “You should meet my brother. I’m sure the two of you would be the best of friends.”

      Billy opened his mouth to tell her he was nothing like her damn brother, then put a choke-hold on the words. “Whatever.”

      “You say that a lot.”

      “What?”

      “Whatever. And you say it kind of like you’re growling, like this— ‘Whatever.’”

      Billy looked at the face she was pulling, at the way she wrinkled her nose and drew her eyebrows together fiercely. She was completely unselfconscious, oblivious to the disarming expression on her face, doing her very best to imitate a growl. A little blond pit bull in this instance, just another side of her personality to add to the fascinating repertoire.

      He couldn’t help himself. He turned his attention back to the road, smiling just a little. No, this was bad…he couldn’t afford to lose his perspective. Never mix business with pleasure…or anything else, for that matter. She was business. Business, business, business.

      His smile grew to an irrepressible grin, despite the lecture he was delivering to himself. He allowed himself a quick look, his eyes following the line of her cheekbone, the soft curves of her parted mouth. She had no idea he was staring. She had no idea how her hair drank in light, didn’t realize how lush and ripe her baby-bowed mouth seemed to him. She even smelled like an unfamiliar delicacy, the fragrance subtle, lingering in the close confines of the car like music. Billy’s blood was zinging through his veins like 98-proof adrenalin.

      “Of all the damn things,” he said softly, staring straight ahead.

      “What?” she asked innocently, pulling her attention from the butterball moon hanging in the sky straight in front of them.

      “Nothing.”

      Julie sighed, dropping her head back on the seat. “First it was whatever, now it’s nothing. Has anyone ever told you that you’re not particularly good at communicating your feelings?”

      “Actually, no. Usually I’m quite good at communicating my…feelings. At least that’s what I’ve been told.”

      “I expect you’re not talking about verbal communication.”

      “I expect I’m not.”

      Julie closed her eyes, fighting a sudden and overwhelming fatigue. She wasn’t used to all this excitement. Her petite figure looked incredibly defenseless against the unrelenting darkness of the window beyond. “I think…” She yawned, covering her mouth as if a lady should. “I think you’re probably…sorry…you’re stuck with me…”

      He waited, and when she didn’t continue, he realized she had fallen asleep. Just like that; one minute she was chattering like a trained parrot, the next she was sleeping like an angel. He allowed himself a longer look this time, fascinated for some strange reason by the way her hair looked caressing the long line of her throat.

      “I expect I’m not sorry,” he whispered.

      She awoke to music—loud, thumping, migraine-promoting music.

      “There’s a nasty wake-up call,” Billy said, amused.

      Blinking her eyes, she looked around, realizing they were at a truck stop. Billy had pulled up to a gas pump, and on the other side of the pump, a low-rider Toyota truck jumped and rocked with deafening noise. Underneath the truck, fluorescent purple lights glowed brightly.

      “Have I been asleep long?” she mumbled, sitting up and stretching her arms. “Where are we?”

      “You were asleep about an hour,” Billy said, turning off the engine. “And I haven’t the faintest idea where we are. We’re just lucky we stumbled across a gas station that’s open in the middle of the night. This Rent-a-Wreck was about dry.” Since he didn’t want Julie to know he had a cell phone in the glove box, he was relieved to see a pay phone inside the small convenience store. He was itching to call Harris and assure the poor guy his sister was safe. “Look, I have to visit the rest room. Why don’t you fill up the car while I’m gone? I’ll borrow a gas can while I’m inside.”

      He was gone before she had time to form the words: I’ve never filled up a car before.

      Which was probably good, Julie reasoned. Billy was already under