not my primary one.” Of course, technically protecting the boss’s sister was his reason for being here, but the words felt good on his tongue.
She tilted her head to the side and arched her eyebrows as if waiting for him to come clean.
“Let’s just say I’ll be thinking about you all night. I don’t want those thoughts to be laced with worry.” It sounded like a line, and as soon as he’d said it he’d wanted it back. The ironic thing was it was one of the first honest things he’d said to her.
She smiled.
Despite the greenish flicker of the parking structure’s fluorescent lights, he picked up a little more color in the apples of her cheeks. Encouraging. “So will you let me see you to your car?”
“I guess it wouldn’t hurt.” She looked down at the keys in her hand then returned her gaze to his. “But I’m having trouble with my keys. You’re a Kendall employee. Security, even. Do you have yours?”
He could feel his grin from the inside out. “Testing me, huh?”
“Does that seem paranoid?”
“It seems smart.” And luckily Devin had given him keys to the parking garage weeks ago. He pulled them out and made a show of unlocking the door. He held it open for her to pass through.
She shot him the kind of smile that had him thinking all sorts of things, none particularly protective. “Thank you.” If he wasn’t mistaken, there was a flirty lilt to her tone.
This job was getting a whole lot more interesting.
They walked side by side through the structure, the wide-open space feeling more intimate than it had a right to. He found himself thinking about leaning close, trying to detect a whisper of her scent over the odor of concrete and old exhaust. Of all the lies he’d told her tonight, the fact that he was attracted to her wasn’t one. Ever since he’d started following her, he hadn’t been able to help thinking of her—day and night—and not in a typical bodyguard sort of way. But none of those thoughts compared with being face-to-face.
Of course, he’d never intended to actually meet her. And now that he had, he found himself with a problem. For weeks he’d kept an eye on her without her noticing he was there. But after tonight, he had the feeling she’d notice, no matter how good his surveillance skills were. If he wanted to continue to perform as her bodyguard without her knowledge, he had to find some kind of reason to hang around.
And it seemed one had just landed in his lap. He just had to play it right.
A cherry-red sports car sat at the far end of the structure. Natalie pointed her remote at the car and the driver’s door opened with a chirp. Hand on the door handle, she offered him a smile. “Thank you.”
“Like I said, it’s not a problem.”
“Still, I appreciate your concern.”
“Do you appreciate it enough …” He looked away. “No. Sorry. I think I’m flirting with overstepping my bounds.”
“What were you going to say?” She looked straight at him with clear green eyes, as if she really wanted to know.
Just the response he was after. “You won’t hold it against me?”
“After you saved me from the notorious coffee shop mugger? How could I?”
“Okay, I was just going to ask if you’d like to meet for lunch tomorrow.”
Her smile grew to a full-fledged grin. “I think I could fit it in.”
“OH, JOLIE, YOU’RE NOT going to wear that, are you?” Natalie tried to sound serious, but the look on Jolie’s face made her bubbly good mood even better. She let loose with a smile, despite best intentions.
Jolie shot her a dry look. “It looks fabulous, doesn’t it?”
Natalie skimmed her eyes over the one-shoulder peacock silk number. Jolie’s red hair, creamy skin and green eyes looked unbelievable with the silk’s rich color, and the dress itself looked like something straight off the red carpet. Natalie couldn’t lie. Her friend and future sister-in-law looked breathtaking. “Devin is going to want to marry you on the spot.”
Jolie laughed and held up a hand. “If he does, he’s out of luck. You have to see Rachel’s bridal gown.”
Set to marry Natalie’s notorious bachelor cop brother, Ash, Rachel was the bride-to-be. The reason she and Jolie were here. But Jolie had a rock on her finger that was twice as big as Rachel’s and a wedding to Natalie’s brother Devin to prepare for, as well. “I can’t wait to see Rachel in her dress. I’m sure she looks gorgeous.”
Jolie sashayed in front of the multiangle bridal shop mirror. “I want the whole wedding thing for myself, too. Including that white dress. For real, this time. No pretending.”
Natalie nodded. As part of a plan to distract the media who had taken to following Devin’s every move, Jolie and Devin had staged a fake engagement and pretended to plan their wedding. It had been tough on Jolie, who’d been in love with her boss for a long while. But in the end, she and Devin had both realized they wanted to be married.
For real.
On the other hand, Natalie only had bridesmaids’
dresses in her future, and as fabulous as this one was, it didn’t compare to the white, fairy-tale gowns.
But maybe …
A shimmer warmed her chest as she thought of how wonderful Gray would look in a tuxedo, waiting for her at the altar. She let out a sigh and tried to tamp down the fantasy, tough since she’d had her wedding planned out since she was about seven. It was definitely too soon for marriage plans, but at least she had a lunch date to look forward to.
“What are you so happy about?” Jolie stared at Natalie via her reflection.
“It’s a great dress.”
Jolie shot her a no-nonsense look. “That’s not a dress smile. I know you. That’s a man smile.”
Natalie couldn’t help but laugh.
“I knew it.” Jolie turned away from the mirror and faced Natalie directly. “So spill. I just saw you at the office and your mood wasn’t this fabulous. What happened?”
Natalie was far more excited than she should be to tell Jolie the story of how she met Gray.
Jolie reacted in all the right ways. She gasped at the image of Natalie being followed from the coffee shop. Her eyes widened when Natalie described the man emerging from the stairwell. And she let out a relieved breath at Gray’s well-timed rescue.
Natalie paused for dramatic effect. “And my rescuer? He asked me out.”
Jolie’s lips flattened into a line.
Not the response Natalie was after. “I thought you’d be happy for me.”
Jolie glanced away.
“What
