Beauty And The Bodyguard. Lisa Childs

had introduced them, she hadn’t met his gaze, and she’d ignored his outstretched hand, hers shoved deep into the pockets of her skirt. Used to women seeking his attention, flirting with him, he’d been intrigued by the novelty of Megan Lynch. She’d challenged him.

      And Gage had never been able to walk away from a challenge…until the end. Until he’d realized there was no way he would ever win her trust or her heart.

      He just shook his head.

      And her face paled. “You’re giving up again?”

      “Again?” he asked. “When did I give up before?”

      Unless she was talking about them. But she’d given him no choice then.

      Now color flushed her face. “You quit the Bureau.”

      After they’d broken up, he hadn’t been able to work for her father. Not only would it have been awkward but it would have killed his pride. He’d learned what everyone thought of him—that he was doing the boss’s daughter in order to get ahead. Megan had believed those vicious rumors. So maybe that was another reason he’d quit, to prove her wrong.

      “I had my reasons,” he reminded her.

      She jerked her chin up and down in a nervous nod. “I thought it was my fault. The reason you quit, the reason you reenlisted, the reason you…” Her voice cracked, cutting off whatever she’d been about to add.

      “The reason I what?”

      “Got killed,” she said. “I thought you were dead.”

      And she’d blamed herself. He shouldn’t have been surprised, though. He’d blamed her, too. Getting mad at her had eased some of his pain.

      “I didn’t die there,” he said. He wasn’t so certain that he wouldn’t here, though. He glanced to the door, wondering if those armed people were out there yet, waiting to force their way inside.

      “Do you think it’s that dangerous?” she asked.

      He didn’t have Penny Payne and Nick Rus’s notorious instincts or he wouldn’t have fallen for Megan in the first place. Nor would he have spent six months in captivity in Afghanistan. But maybe those six months had helped him develop some kind of sixth sense as well.

      Because he knew Megan Lynch’s wedding day wasn’t going to end well—for anyone.

      She expelled a shaky breath. “You do…”

      “Nikki has a good plan to switch places,” he said. But Nikki had been gone a long time. Had one of those gunmen taken her out?

      He pulled his cell from his pocket and glanced at his blank screen. She hadn’t gotten the jammer turned off yet. They still had no backup. No way of knowing if Ellen had even been able to reach Nick.

      Gage flashed back to those six months that he’d spent wondering if anyone was going to come to his rescue, if they knew where he was or even that he was alive.

      They hadn’t. There had been no help coming. So he’d had to rely on himself. Then. And now.

      “We need to get you out of here,” he said. Maybe it was time to cut off the wedding dress. He reached for the scissors.

      But she caught his hand, her fingers sliding over his. “No.”

      “It was your idea,” he reminded her.

      Her face flushed. “I know. But now I don’t think it’s a good idea…”

      He thought he understood, even though it knotted his stomach, this time with dread. It was still her wedding gown. She must have been having second thoughts about destroying it.

      “You want to wear it again,” he said. “For Richard.”

      “Richard.” His name slipped through her lips on a gasp. “Richard—what if he’s in danger?”

      Gage didn’t give a damn. But then guilt flashed through him. Richard Boersman had never done anything to him. It had been the other way around. Gage was the one who’d stolen Megan from Richard. But he hadn’t been able to keep her.

      “You really think anyone has a beef with Richard?” he asked with disbelief. “I’m sure he’s perfectly safe.” There was no doubt why she’d agreed to marry him. Richard was safe and boring and dull, and she didn’t have to worry about him breaking her heart like she’d constantly worried Gage would.

      The irony was that she’d broken his instead.

      She squeezed Gage’s hand around the scissors. “Please make sure he’s okay.”

      “I’m not leaving you,” he said. If he walked away and left her alone and unprotected, he might never see her again. And he couldn’t risk that.

      Couldn’t risk never seeing her beautiful face again, never touching her soft skin…

      His free hand moved up to cup her cheek. He skimmed his thumb along her chin and tipped up her face. Then he began to lower his head…just as the doorknob rattled. Someone was trying to get inside.

      Déjà vu. Nikki wasn’t like her mother or half brother with all their premonitions and instincts. She hadn’t ever experienced any psychic phenomena until now. Now she had that weird sense of déjà vu. Walking inside the bride’s dressing room gave Nikki the exact same feeling she’d had walking inside her mom’s office just moments ago. And she murmured, “I keep interrupting.”

      Gage tensed, and his hand tightened around the weapon he’d drawn from beneath his tuxedo jacket before opening the door for her. “What did you interrupt? Are they making a move?”

      She suspected that Woodrow Lynch had been thinking about making one on Penny before Nikki had burst into the basement office. But Penny hadn’t been very happy with the man for drawing a gun on her only daughter. She’d been even unhappier with him when he’d agreed with Nikki’s plan to switch places with his daughter.

      If something happened to her, she doubted her mother would ever forgive the FBI chief. So she had to make sure nothing happened to her.

      She shook her head. “Not yet.”

      “What do they want?” Megan asked.

      Nikki exchanged a glance with Gage. They were both pretty sure they wanted the bride. Even Woodrow and Penny had agreed about that.

      “It doesn’t matter what they want,” Gage said. “We’re not going to let them get it.” He held up his cell. “It’s completely dead now. Didn’t you find your mom’s jammer?”

      “It’s not hers.”

      He sucked in a breath.

      “Her landline was cut, too.”

      Still standing guard at the door, he opened it a crack and peeked out. “Where are all the guests?”

      “The wedding isn’t supposed to start until noon,” Megan said. “We have a half hour yet.”

      “People usually arrive a half hour early,” replied the daughter of the wedding planner. Nikki had grown up knowing about weddings—and never planning to have one herself.

      Even before she’d learned about her dad’s betrayal, she’d never wanted a husband of her own. She’d had enough males in her life with her overprotective brothers. Occasionally, she got lonely, though…

      Occasionally, she missed that kind of tension she’d felt in her mother’s office and when she’d walked into the bride’s dressing room. Then again, she wasn’t certain she’d ever felt that kind of tension herself.

      “Do you think they have someone posted outside the doors?” Gage asked. “Turning guests away?”

      “They’ve planned this