Secret Protector. Ann Peterson Voss

like me. I’m not part of the investigation. I was only six years old when … you know, they died.” She paused to take a breath. She didn’t normally talk about her parents’ twenty-year-old murders, not even to Jolie, and it took a second for her to compose herself and go on. “I have no power outside of the public relations department at Kendall Communications. I’m a threat to no one.”

      “I’m not so sure.”

      “I am. The biggest thing I have to fear is giving my heart to another man who’ll stomp on it and throw it away.” And in worrying about that, Jolie was right.

      “Natalie?” Her future sister-in-law’s voice was steeped in concern. “I didn’t mean—”

      “It’s okay. I know I don’t have the most reliable taste when it comes to men. But at least I do know my dresses, and this one that Rachel picked out for me is divine.” She turned the hanger of the midnight-blue dress in her hand and the skirt flowed with the movement as if dancing on air.

      Jolie tilted her head to the side and studied Natalie. From the look on her face, she wasn’t falling for the dress distraction. “You’re not going on the lunch date, are you?”

      She didn’t want to say the word, but she knew she had to. “No, of course not. That would be stupid.”

      “I’m glad. The whole situation feels weird to me. Especially now, with all that’s been going on. I don’t think you should risk seeing a guy who conveniently shows up out of the blue like that.”

      “I didn’t say I wasn’t going to see him again.”

      The warning was back in Jolie’s eyes.

      “I don’t have his phone number, okay? I have to see him to tell him I’m not going to lunch.”

      “Natalie …”

      “Don’t worry. I’ll just find him at the office tomorrow. Nothing bad will happen to me.” She started for one of the tiny dressing stalls off the mirrored salon. “How about I try on this gorgeous dress, and we’ll go see if we can find Rachel? I want to see that gown.”

      She closed the door behind her and leaned back against it just in time to hide the stupid tears brimming in her eyes.

       Chapter Three

      The barista raised a brow, the silver hoop skewering her flesh glinting in the coffee shop’s warm lighting. “Why’re you asking about Wade? He’s harmless.”

      Gray didn’t know about that. As soon as he’d left Natalie in the parking garage, he’d walked over to the coffee shop to get some information about the man who’d been following her. “Do you know his last name?”

      She switched on the milk steamer and for a moment Gray couldn’t make out a single word over the loud whirring and slurping sound of the machine.

      Finally she set his cappuccino on the counter. “Will that be all?”

      “Wade’s last name?”

      She rolled her eyes. “I said I didn’t remember it. I’m not a damn directory.”

      “He followed a woman from this shop tonight. I want to determine if this could be a problem.”

      “Oh, her. Yeah, I saw that. He’s been watching her for a couple weeks now. Every time they’re in here together. Coffee shops are the new pickup spots, you know.”

      “You think he’s trying to ask her out?”

      She tossed him a shrug. “She often comes in after work, and he’s here. Like he’s waiting for her but can’t get up the nerve to say hello. Like I said, he’s harmless.”

      She might be right. He’d seemed nervous in the parking ramp earlier tonight, but there wasn’t anything overtly threatening about him. Still he had to wonder about a guy who would follow a woman through the deserted downtown streets at night. If he wasn’t trying to intimidate her, then he must be the most insensitive and clueless man on the planet. And that was saying something.

      The bleat of his cell phone interrupted his next thought. He looked down at the display. Devin Kendall. Gray glanced up at the barista. “Thanks.” He grabbed his cappuccino and held the phone to his ear. “Yes?”

      “Jolie just called.” The CEO’s voice sounded curt and authoritative, as always. “They’re getting ready to leave the bridal shop.”

      “Okay. I’m on my way back.” He was about to end the call when Devin spoke again.

      “What did you find out about the creep you said was following my sister tonight?”

      He’d filled Devin in as soon as he’d seen Natalie safely inside the bridal shop. “A first name. Wade. Not much else. He could be just some aspiring Romeo.”

      “In Natalie’s case, that’s reason to worry.”

      Gray was curious about the statement, especially since he’d like to cast himself as that Romeo, but he resisted the urge to ask for the story behind the comment. Everything he knew about Devin Kendall suggested he was an overprotective big brother. Gray doubted he’d be eager to share stories about his sister’s love life, especially with a hired bodyguard. “Don’t worry, I have it under control. I’m heading back to the bridal shop now.”

      “Good. Don’t let her see you this time.”

      “I think I’ve figured out a way to deal with that problem.”

      “Does this have something to do with wanting me to say I’ve hired you on as the new alarm system wunderkind on Kendall’s security team?”

      “That’s part of it.” Gray had decided to tell Devin all of his plan when he’d talked to him the first time. Now he wasn’t sure he wanted to mention the rest in light of Devin’s comments about Natalie and Romeos. At least not yet.

      “Fine. Whatever your plan is, just make sure it works. I don’t want to have to explain why I hired a bodyguard behind her back. She would be less than understanding.” Devin hung up.

      Gray stuffed his phone in his pocket. He had a short hike back to his car. He’d better hurry.

      “I thought that was you.”

      He recognized her voice immediately. How could he not? Her words the day of her husband’s funeral echoed in the back of his mind every night when he closed his eyes and every morning when he opened them. “Sherry.” He turned around.

      Her eyes glinted hard like shards of black glass and on her finger sparkled the ring she’d gotten from Jimbo, the man he always thought of as his brother. “You have a lot of nerve, coming back to St. Louis, Grayson.”

      He didn’t know what to say to that. She was probably right. But as out of place as he now felt here, he didn’t feel comfortable anywhere else, either. He couldn’t spend his life running away. “It’s my home, Sherry. Just like it’s yours.”

      “And Jimbo’s.”

      He nodded, his chest aching at the bitter edge in her voice. “Yes. And Jimbo’s,” he said in a quiet voice.

      She blinked as if fighting tears and shook her short, dark hair. “I hear you got yourself a job as a bodyguard. What a laugh. Does your client know that you aren’t the type to lay down his life for anyone?”

      He stood straight as if taking a drill sergeant’s abuse and met her eyes full on. “You’re wrong.”

      “Wrong? No. If I was wrong, Jimbo would be here right now instead of at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. I wish I was wrong about you. I wish it every day.”

      The pain aching in her voice stole his breath. “I miss him, too, Sherry.”

      “Yeah, right.”

      He opened his mouth to protest, then shut it without speaking. Whatever