Flirty Bodyguard Summer (Sunbreak Harbor Security #2)
1. Kat
one
Kat
“Kat, are you okay? I got here as soon as I could.” My best friend, Ava, hugs me tightly. “I wish you had a normal job, one where you didn’t have to worry about weirdos breaking into your place.” She leans back, looking me in the eyes.
“Oh, you mean like your job as an investigative environmental journalist?” I remind her. “Aren’t you the one who gets all the hate mail all the time?”
Ava has a heart of gold and wants to preserve wildlife by any means necessary, even if it means pissing off a lot of important people. She’s been thrown in jail too many times to count for protesting. Luckily, her older brother is a lawyer who has bailed her out of every legal issue.
“That’s different—the weirdos who break into my house want to shut me up, not kiss me or steal my underwear.
” The absurdity of the situation hits us at the same time, and we burst out laughing.
“Okay, you got me there. There’s a big difference between silencing someone with a gun and a peck on the lips.
” At Ava’s mention of a gun, our laughing stops.
“Ava, you’re the one who needs a bodyguard, not me.”
“I’m fine,” she says automatically, as she has every other time I bring up her need for a bodyguard. “I’m just thankful that creep only touched your underwear and not you.”
“Me too.” An involuntary shiver runs through my body. I pray Ava didn’t see it, but my astute friend watches me like a hawk.
“See, you’re still shaking from the break-in.
” Ava arranges the blanket around my shoulders.
When I got home from a walk on the beach last night, I found a strange man going through my underwear drawer and screamed for help.
My neighbor and his wife heard me and came running over, but the intruder had already run off through the sliding glass door in the bedroom that I had forgotten to lock when I went for a walk.
By the time they got here, he was gone. The police are still searching for him.
As for me, I locked every door and window and slept on the couch until Ava arrived ten minutes ago after catching a redeye flight to get to me as soon as possible.
“Really, Ava, I’m fine. Once I get some sleep, I’ll feel even better.” The lie slips off my tongue easily. If Ava knew how shaken I was by the encounter, she’d bundle me up and take me home with her. But I don’t want to go home. I was hired to do a job, and I’m going to do it.
I’ve already planned each town event down to the last detail.
I might have over three million followers online, but that doesn’t translate into much money.
The money is in sponsorship opportunities.
If I can secure a few of those, I can continue creating content without taking on odd jobs to pay the bills.
“If you insist on staying here, I’m going to cancel my next assignment and stay with you.” Ava pulls her phone from her purse, but before she can dial, my hand closes over hers, stopping her.
“Please, Ava, don’t cancel it on my account.
I know how much the environment means to you.
” I give her a pleading look. The last thing I need is to spend my summer with her watching my every move.
I had vowed to finally lose my virginity this summer, and I can’t do that with her lurking around every corner.
At twenty-three, I should have lost my virginity a long time ago to a high school sweetheart or a college boyfriend, but I had none of those. I was a late bloomer, so guys my age saw me as a friend and nothing more. I’m tired of being someone else's wingman—I want to be the pilot for once.
She opens her mouth to argue when my phone buzzes with a text. I pick it up off the coffee table and notice the message is from Kayla in the town’s tourism department.
Kayla: Oh my gosh, Kat. I just heard what happened. Don’t worry, the town has hired a live-in bodyguard to stay with you for the summer. He should be at your place any minute. His name is Jude. He’s from Sunbreak Security. I’ll send over his info.
A picture of a handsome man with dark hair and deep green eyes pops up on the screen, along with his information and credentials.
Kayla’s message is the lifeline I was looking for. “Looks like you won’t have to cancel your assignment,” I say, holding my phone up for Ava to read Kayla’s message. “The town has already hired me a bodyguard.”
A knock on my front door has me leaping off the couch. I make quick work of the lock, then open the door to find my bodyguard looks even better in person. “Hey, Jude,” I say, then add in my head, na na na nananana, nannana, hey Jude, or so I thought I said it in my head.
“Beatles fan, are you?” He raises an eyebrow, a smirk crossing his handsome face, making me realize I said the last part out loud.
My face instantly goes hot, and I know I’m blushing.
I open my mouth to answer, but nothing comes out.
Thank goodness for Ava, who walks up beside me with a smirk.
“You’re right. I don’t have to cancel my assignment.
It looks like you’re in good hands with Jude, or is it Judy?
” Ava raises an eyebrow, looking between Jude and me, then gives me a quick hug and leaves me alone with Jude, humming the Beatles’ song Hey Jude as she walks out the front door, closing it behind her.
The song makes my new bodyguard roll his eyes and me want to crawl into a hole.
Instead, I do the polite thing and invite him in, ignoring the embarrassing episode. I can’t help it—I say weird things when I get flustered. And my new bodyguard definitely has a way of flustering me.