Executive Protection. Jennifer Morey

her question.

      Caught, she didn’t respond. She’d been curious enough to look him up online. Why would she do that if she wasn’t interested enough to go out on a date with him?

      “Nothing is private with a mother like mine,” he said with a hint of teasing.

      “That bothers you?” Stop trying to get to know him, she inwardly chided herself.

      “Immensely.”

      His tone sounded full of humor but she could tell he was being honest. He obviously loved his mother despite the shortcomings of her being a notable politician. He’d been fiercely protective of her when she’d first arrived at the hospital. And helpless. He’d feared for his mother’s life and could do nothing to save her. He’d had to leave her in the hands of doctors. Were it not for seeing that, she’d have thought he was a complete jerk.

      He must be capable of love, and maybe that was what prevented her from easily rejecting him. For a moment she imagined taking a chance on him. His eyes darkened as he noticed the change in her.

      Snapping herself out of that daydream, she cleared her throat and stepped back, tucking a few strands of dark hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her ear.

      “I should get back to work,” she said.

      They both turned their heads toward some movement outside Kate’s hospital room door. A black-haired man wearing a hat walked down the hall and stopped, looking at the agents and the open door. He was shorter than Thad, but taller than Lucy. One of the Secret Service agents had noticed, too, and was walking toward the man.

      The man spotted him and started down the hall toward the exit. He passed Lucy and Thad. Thad started after him. The Secret Service agent put up his hand.

      “I’ve got this.”

      Thad followed him to a stairwell. Lucy trailed behind. Down three flights of stairs to the lobby, she stopped beside Thad and watched the Secret Service agent run outside.

      The man was gone.

      Chapter 2

      “Can you believe that she cheated on me?”

      Feet up on an ottoman, bowl of popcorn on his lap and a beer on the side table, Thad munched as he watched the hockey player ram into the wall as he tried to take the puck.

      “Did you hear me?” Darcy asked.

      “Yes.” But Darcy had mentioned his ex-wife’s many trysts several times now. And Thad was distracted by thoughts of Lucy. He couldn’t get her out of his mind. Lucy with her long, auburn hair in a ponytail, thick and swaying and begging for someone to free it from its grip. Clear, light green eyes so full of life and humor. She was infectious. And she had a body that was impossible to ignore, tall and slim, well-proportioned breasts that pushed out her uniform top every once in a while.

      “You’re normally more enthusiastic about sports. Didn’t you see that hit?” Darcy paused in his self-pity long enough to comment. His divorce was final today and this was his way of celebrating; invite his best friend over for the hockey game, drink beer and whine about how he had discovered his wife was a cheater.

      She’d bought out his half of the house and Darcy had bought this one, a smaller bachelor pad with a pool table in the dining room and two of the three bedrooms empty. There was nothing on the walls in the living room and most of the decorating money went into the leather furniture and big-screen TV.

      “I feel like such a fool,” Darcy said.

      “How could you have known?” Thad asked, trying to be a good friend but wishing Darcy would hurry up and get past it.

      “Wasn’t I...you know...enough for her?” The black leather of the sofa squeaked as Darcy leaned over for his beer.

      “Some people are just that way. They look for other people and don’t care about how the one they’re with will feel.” He hoped Darcy wasn’t going to need reassurance that he wasn’t bad in bed.

      “Yeah, but why’d she marry me if she wasn’t sure she wanted me?”

      “She probably didn’t know what she wanted. She still probably doesn’t.”

      Darcy took a swig of beer. The hockey game went to commercial.

      “I should have listened to you,” Darcy said, sipping some beer again.

      “Are you going to get drunk?” Should he be concerned?

      Darcy put the beer down. “You warned me this would happen.”

      “All I said was half of all marriages fail and that I didn’t want to contribute to that statistic.”

      “And now I am. I’m never getting married again. Everybody I know is divorced. That statistic is probably wrong. It’s probably more than half that fail.”

      Thad looked over at his friend and wondered if he really meant he’d never marry again. He was sure marriage wasn’t for him, but it might be for Darcy.

      “Just because your first one didn’t last doesn’t mean your next one won’t.” He didn’t want to taint Darcy’s outlook on love. He had to make up his own mind about what suited him and his life. He couldn’t go by Thad’s opinion.

      Darcy grunted. “I thought my now-ex-wife was the love of my life until she dropped the bomb on me over hamburgers and French fries. It was one of my rare nights off. I thought we were on our way to a romantic evening. A little dinner. A little wine. Go to bed early. You know? And then she hits me with ‘I have a new lover. Move out.’”

      “Yeah, that’s rough.” The hockey game came back on.

      “What’s with you changing your tune on marriage?” Darcy asked.

      “I haven’t changed my tune.”

      “You just encouraged me to try again.”

      Thad took a handful of popcorn and passed the buttery bowl to Darcy. Women cried and ate chocolate. Men watched sports, drank beer and ate popcorn.

      “What’s up with that?” Darcy pressed. “You meet a girl?”

      “No,” he answered defensively, and Darcy noticed.

      “Who is she?” Darcy grinned. “I have to meet the woman who made you start softening up on marriage.”

      “I haven’t softened. I’m never getting married or having kids. That hasn’t changed.” Lucy wanted both. Marriage and kids. She’d be dangerous to get involved with.

      Darcy eyed him as he munched on a handful of popcorn, not believing him. Had meeting Lucy made him fantasize that marriage wasn’t as harmful as he originally thought?

      No. He barely knew Lucy. She was sexy and opinionated and determined to procreate, but she hadn’t affected him that much. He’d just have to be careful that she never did.

      “You’ll have to keep me posted on that, Thad. Let me know if you start dating this mystery woman.”

      “I didn’t meet anyone I want to date.”

      “That nurse is pretty hot. You notice her?”

      Thad looked over at him, amazed at how intuitive he was. It must be the detective in him.

      “Aha. It’s the nurse!”

      “I’m glad that’s working to get your mind off your ex.”

      Darcy chuckled and put the bowl aside. “How’s your mom doing?” Darcy asked.

      Thank God. He’d stopped talking about Lucy. “Much better. I need to make plans for when she comes home. She’s got a long recovery ahead of her.”

      “After being shot like that I’m not surprised.”

      Darcy had come to visit her a couple