belly protruded, almost comically large when compared to her slight frame. Then his gaze moved to the tall, blond-haired woman who followed the waddling pregnant one.
She was stunning. Definitely princess material here…except instead of a flowing gown she wore a faded concert T-shirt that clung to her small, pert breasts and slender midriff.
Dark washed jeans encased her long legs, accentuating the flare of her hips and cupping what he had no doubt was a great ass—not that he could see that, but he just knew. Pale bare feet with her toes painted cherry red peeped out from under the cuffs of her jeans.
Jude’s body tensed, very aware of her.
Just observations, he told himself. What he was paid to do. Notice—things. But his body told him it was more than a detached inventory. He reacted. Instantly. Viscerally.
Don’t let this be Ellina Kostova. Please don’t let this be her.
He tried to ignore his response, relieved when Maksim spoke. “Jude, this is my wife, Jo,” Maksim said, gesturing to the very pregnant woman, drawing Jude’s attention away from the beauty.
His wife stepped forward and offered her hand. The briefest touch revealed she was human. A welcome sensation after making contact with her husband. No supernatural residue there.
But of course, Maksim redirected him back to the other woman. “And this is Ellina, my sister. The one you will be protecting.”
Shit. He’d been hoping this wasn’t her. She certainly didn’t fit his image of Ellina Kostova—the reclusive, eccentric author who preferred to stay in her world of demons, monsters, and other things that went bump in the night.
He hadn’t expected her to be so young…or so lovely. She had an almost ethereal quality to her features. Full lips, large pale eyes, creamy skin.
She moved closer and offered a hand to him. Her fingers were slender, elegant. A beautiful hand.
But she was paranormal, he reminded himself. So really, would she be anything less than perfection? On the outside, at least. That was the way of preternaturals.
He reached for her hand, waiting for the same clinging, distasteful aura to encompass him. The aura that would remind him that not all things were as beautiful on the inside as they were on the outside. He knew from the information her brother had given him that she was only half demon, but half was all it would take for his preternatural awareness to kick in.
But instead of that sickening, clinging, creeping sensation, her touch sent tingles up his arm. Tangible, electric pulses. Pulses that were anything but unpleasant.
As if in utter synch, they released each other, both stepping back.
Unlike him, Ellina didn’t show any outward reaction to the touch. Her lovely face was as serene as that of a mannequin. Certainly she didn’t show any indication she’d felt the same shock waves passing between them. Instead her pale eyes roamed over him, taking very obvious inventory, although her expression revealed nothing of her thoughts. Just an assessment. Testing his musculature, his strength. Like appraising a horse about to be purchased.
Except he was no stoic equine. His body tightened further—his mind imagining what her fingers would feel like moving over him. Those tiny pulses radiating from her fingers into him.
His spine straightened, and he forced his attention, and his reaction, away from the woman who’d managed to affect him more with one fleeting brush of her fingers than hundreds of paranormals before her.
He turned to Maksim. “I’m sorry. I’m not the right man for this job.”
Chapter 2
Well, he wasn’t a lunkhead.
That was Ellina’s first thought when Maksim escorted the man who was to be her bodyguard into the room. Nope, not a lunkhead at all. No bulked-up shoulders and chest that hid any hint of a neck. No military crew cut or arms the size of small battering rams.
Really, the only way to describe him was—perfect. Very tall—6'5" maybe. Lean, powerful muscles like those of a swimmer, hair that bordered on shaggy. Sexy, but not because he intended it to be that way.
His touch had been very nice too, his palm slightly callused and warm, his fingers tapered and strong. And she’d felt a wave of something, so she’d released his hand.
He did appear—well, perfect.
That was until he spoke.
“I’m sorry. I’m not the right man for the job.”
What? Ellina frowned, all of her pleasant surprise and interest disappearing in a rush of irritation.
What? How had he come to that conclusion in just a few seconds? Ellina knew it was silly, but damn it, she was insulted. She was supposed to be the one deciding whether she wanted to hire him. Not the other way around.
Maksim started to say something, but Ellina cut him off.
“What do you mean you’re not right for the job?” she asked sharply, which was probably what Maksim was going to ask too—although maybe a tad more tactfully.
The man, who was rapidly becoming the lunkhead she’d expected, didn’t react right away, didn’t even act as if he’d heard her speak. Another bad response on his part. But after a moment, he shifted to face her.
“I just don’t think this job would be a good fit for me.”
She raised an eyebrow and placed her hands on her hips, feeling further insulted.
“And you came to that conclusion how?”
He again didn’t respond immediately. As if he was searching for the right words.
Lunkhead.
She frowned at him, fighting the urge to tap her foot as she waited.
Why was she reacting this way? Because she was supposed to be the one who was reluctant about this. But instead he hadn’t just been reluctant, he’d refused to work with her. And it was…it was insulting. Why wouldn’t he want to work with her?
“I—” He snapped his mouth shut.
She’d been right, he was trying to find the appropriate words, and he was struggling. That wasn’t particularly comforting, frankly.
What was it about her that made him decide he couldn’t work with her? And that quickly too? She was easy to get along with. She was downright enjoyable to be around. Ask anyone. Well, ask her brother. Or her sister-in-law. Maybe her editor.
Whatever! Plenty of people thought she was just lovely.
Her right foot started to tap, and she stopped it.
“I just don’t think I’m right for this job.”
All that careful thinking, and that’s all he could come up with?
Her foot tapped again, and again she caught herself, keeping her bare foot pressed to the worn floorboards.
“I’ve
