His Kind of Trouble Read Free Page A

it hadn’t been easy.
    It had shaken him to the core. He knew his family worried about him, and that was hard enough. It was the kind of thing that could get in your head, hold you back, make you hesitate. That was what could kill you.
    Chance didn’t want to ever hold back, and if he thought he could cause anyone the kind of pain that Jillian had suffered, he would have to quit living his adventurous lifestyle. And then, well, what would be the point?
    Better to keep things loose. A woman in his bed but not in his life was what he often said.
    Logan was going to be okay. He might never be able to extreme ski again, but he’d recover. He’d live to be with Jillian. Chance never told her what Logan had said on the plane. It hadn’t been necessary, but it was in his head for good.
    Now Chance needed to do something to stabilize that place inside him that had tilted off its axis. The accident had happened to Logan, not to him, right? He was fine. He was on a job doing work he loved. By the sound of it, the threat was local, and once they were in Mexico, it was likely that he would largely be on a babysitting vacation. Given the principal and the location, he wasn’t complaining.
    But they weren’t there yet.
    Breaking into the studio and getting by security had been a breeze. Locating and picking the lock on Ana’s dressing room, again, easy. Why did they just let anyone in the door to see her? A stalker or anyone else could practically walk right in if they had just a few social-engineering or lock-picking skills.
    Checking the status of her current security was his first job. Playing the role of the attacker, trying to see what barriers were in place.
    Ana didn’t like being held back, either, or caged in. She wanted to move around her life freely, without fear, and she resisted any real security they had wanted to implement. She still lived in her own apartment, drove her own car to work and refused to be limited in any way. Ana didn’t think she needed a bodyguard; he’d decided this was an effective way to change her mind.
    Chance could respect her need for freedom, except that now he would be the barrier, the enforcer of limits. He was the one who stayed at her back and who would stand between her and anyone who wanted to harm her.
    He’d been warned that she wasn’t going to like it.
    The firefighters dispersed, and Ana smoothed the front of her blouse as if readying for something. The motion brought his attention to her ample breasts, very delicious cleavage still peeking out from where she modestly buttoned up her red silk blouse.
    She turned, facing him, and he waited, unmoving. Her hair was loose, black curls cascading everywhere, and his fingers itched for a handful.
    Only in his imagination, he cautioned. Or maybe they could loosen the limits when they got south of the border and left the threats far behind.
    “I’m sorry about that,” she said with an apologetic smile. She had shadows under her eyes. She was tired. Worked hard, still smiled. Trying to charm him. Gone was the wildcat who had trapped an unwanted guest in her room, faced off, threatened him for possibly hurting her friend the security guard.
    “For what?” he countered.
    She shrugged prettily. She knew her effect on men. How many beautiful women didn’t?
    “For all of it. The thing in the room, keeping you here so late and making you wait while I signed things for the firemen,” she said easily. “You could have gone. I’m heading home now. But I am glad to have had the chance to apologize for the chaos and for wasting your time.”
    “You’re not wasting my time. I’m on the clock, bought and paid for,” he said just as easily. “This is what I do. I watch you,” he said and saw a flicker in her eyes. That had affected her.
    Color infused her cheeks. Maybe it had affected her in a few different ways, he mused.
    “Well, what I mean is, I don’t need a bodyguard, and I’m really not interested. I appreciate you pointing