The Bride's Bodyguard. Beth Cornelison

aim, two hands, and squeeze the trigger.” He tweaked her chin and lifted a corner of his mouth in a grin intended to calm her. “Just be sure before you fire that it’s not me coming back from my supply run. Got it?”

      She gaped at the pistol as if it were a venomous snake and hurriedly set it on the kitchen counter.

      He headed out the back door they’d come in through, brushing aside the small curtain on a side window to look out first and check for neighbors who might see him leaving.

      “Jake?” she called, stopping him.

      He faced her. “Yeah?”

      She hesitated, her expression puzzled and her gaze fixed on the ring on her left hand. “Never mind. It will keep.”

      “What is it, Paige? Tell me.”

      She sighed. “Well, I was just wondering… Am I married… or not?”

       Chapter 3

      Paige thumbed the elaborate ring Brent had insisted she have, and nausea swirled in her belly. “I mean, we said our vows, but I never finished giving Brent his ring, and the minister never declared us man and wife.”

      She glanced up at Jake, who frowned, rolled his shoulders and shifted his weight. He’d been undaunted when they’d been under fire, running for their lives. So why did her simple question make him uncomfortable?

      Then another, more ominous thought occurred to her. “I don’t even know if Brent survived the attack. How do I know I’m not a widow?”

      Jake jutted out his chin. “Don’t borrow trouble or get hung up on worst-case scenarios. Until we know otherwise we’re going to assume Brent is alive and will be fine. Got it?”

      He jammed his restless hands in his pockets and narrowed his eyes. “Did you sign the marriage license?”

      Her pulse tripped. A weight seemed to lift from her chest, and the tension screwing her muscles in knots loosened. “No. We were supposed to do that after the ceremony, before the reception.”

      “Then I’d say, in the eyes of the law, you’re not married.”

      He had a point. She nodded her agreement and exhaled silently, determined not to show him her relief.

      “Why?”

      She jerked her head up to meet his querying gaze. “What do you mean, why? Wouldn’t you want to know if you were married or not?”

      He shrugged. “Depends on if I really wanted to be married in the first place. Otherwise, the technical question of whether I’m married or not is moot.” His incisive dark eyes scrutinized her. “Even without the legalities in place, your intentions to wed are still valid, your love for your fiancé is unchanged, the commitment you’ve made to each other is unbroken. Signing the license is a mere formality, in my view.” He lifted an eyebrow and angled his head. “Right?”

      Paige grabbed the edge of the counter behind her as her knees wobbled. “O-of course.”

      “But…” Jake stepped toward her as his knowing gaze homed in on her. “If, by some chance, you were having second thoughts about getting married, if you weren’t as committed to your intended as you let everyone believe…”

      Paige squared her shoulders and raised her chin. “Just what are you implying?”

      He lifted a dismissive hand. “I’m not implying anything. I’m saying I saw your expression before Trench Coat busted in. I saw the doubt in your face. I saw your reluctance.”

      Nervous energy shot through Paige, and she suppressed a tremble. “Don’t be ridiculous.” When she heard the lack of conviction in her tone, she cleared her throat and added, “You saw nothing more than typical jitters over being in front of a crowd. Or a…a moment of…reflection as I considered the… importance of the day and—”

      “Bull.”

      She gasped and shot him an affronted look.

      “You can tell yourself that if you want, but I know what I saw.” His steady, keen gaze rattled her. “The SEALs trained me to read people, read body language, read subtle clues in facial expressions.”

      Paige swallowed hard and pressed a hand over the riot of acid in her gut. “You’re wrong. I had every intention of marrying Brent before.” She flicked her hand, knowing he could fill in the blank.

      He held her gaze for several unnerving seconds. The heat in his mahogany eyes turned her bones to dust and stirred a flutter in her belly. Just his proximity had her acutely aware of his height, his unflinching power and his ex-navy SEAL brawn. When they’d fled the church, he’d carried her to safety and still had the strength to run for the waiting limo. Even now, without him touching her, her skin flashed hot and tingled when she thought of his large hands in intimate places as he lifted her, shielded her, saved her life.

      “I…I don’t think I’ve thanked you yet…for what you did. Without you, I don’t know if I’d have gotten out of the church alive.”

      The muscles in his square jaw twitched. “I did what I was trained to do. What I was hired to do. Besides…your fiancé is the one who knocked you out of the way when Trench Coat would have shot you. The one who took a bullet for you.”

      Paige’s breath snagged in her lungs. She blinked back the sting of tears and choked down the bile that his reminder of Brent’s sacrifice brought to her throat. Brent was dying, might even be dead, because he’d saved her from an assassin’s gun.

      “On the other hand,” Jake continued, “your life would have never been at risk if not for the infamous bead Scofield had that Trench Coat wanted. We wouldn’t be in danger now if not for him giving you the bead to protect. If he knew something about a threat to national security, how could he knowingly draw the woman he claims to love into the crosshairs of such dangerous men?”

      Paige’s leg wobbled, and she sank to the floor. The truth behind Jake’s assessment crushed her with a suffocating weight. “M-maybe Brent didn’t realize the danger—”

      “He knew. That’s why he hired me to be his bodyguard.”

      She raised her bleary gaze to Jake. “Why didn’t he want me to know? If he was in danger…”

      How could Brent have hidden something so vital from her? She shook her head, unable to make sense of the bizarre twists the day had taken.

      Jake squatted beside her and brushed her hair back from her cheek, tucking it behind her ear. “I don’t know why he didn’t tell you what was going on. I know for damn sure, though, if I were in love with a woman like you, I’d move heaven and earth to keep her safe. I’d never put her life in jeopardy the way Scofield did yours. It’s not right.”

      A jab of loyalty to Brent compelled her to defend him, despite her misgivings about the strange situation. “I’m sure he had a good reason why—”

      “No! There’s never a good reason to put someone you love at risk.” Jake’s fingers curled into fists, and he clenched his jaw. Shoving to his feet, he stalked back to the door. “I have to go now. Keep this door locked and the gun within reach. I’ll be back before dark.”

      “But what am I—?”

      Before she could finish her question, Jake was gone. The silence in the vacant house was deafening. The stillness filled her with a terrifying sense of isolation.

      Alone with her thoughts, Paige replayed the horrifying events of the afternoon, searching for some explanation for her frightening and senseless circumstances.

       Her fiancé valued a bead over her life.

       Brent was involved in something with national security repercussions.