Read Dance With Me for Free Online Page B

but Mason wasn't sure what to think about the operatives he'd allowed into his house. One was four or five inches taller than himself, with an obvious military haircut; the other was a couple inches shorter and less overbearing in appearance. Each carried a pistol under his left arm, and Mason was sure there was another somewhere else he couldn't detect. After introductions had been made, the four of them sat down to discuss what he hoped was superfluous—protecting Kat's life.
    If she hadn't been completely in love with Mason, she would have been more than impressed with her bodyguards. Both incredibly attractive men, Sean O'Dell had to be nearing six and a half feet tall, his black hair still cut like the Marine he had been for years, his eyes a startling emerald green. Alec Cartwright was a few inches shorter but no less impressive, his sandy hair a bit longer and his eyes a warm moss. Fleetingly, she thought of calling her girlfriends to come over and ogle the hard-bodied men before the reason for their company hit her full force. These men were here to keep someone from killing her.
    “ So, how does this work, exactly?” Kat asked, a tremble in her voice.
    “ One of us will be with you at all times,” Sean started to explain, only to be cut off by a growl from Mason.
    “ Not   all   times,” Mason stated.
    “ One of us will be around at all times, most likely both of us.” Sean shot a look at Mason that clearly said, 'I'm not interested in your woman,' as he went on, “We will not only secure the house, but the perimeter, installing cameras and motion detectors. If you feel your life is in danger, Miss Nemecek, we will insure your safety.”
    “ Do you really think Priscilla will try and kill me?” She knew she'd asked the question before, but before these men set up camp in Mason's home, she wanted to be sure.
    “ Jamieson filled us in on the details and the set-up,” Alec answered. “If you were my woman, I'd be protecting you from the likes of her.”
    Well, shit. If the professionals thought she was in danger, she really couldn't argue with Mason about it. “So, what do we need to do?”
    ~*~
    “ Drew, can you take care of one more thing for me?” Priscilla asked her assistant.
    Drew went through his checklist for the day, marking off everything he'd managed to do in nine hours time. Priscilla McClaren was nothing if not demanding. “What do you need?”
    “ You're a hunter, aren't you?” she asked.
    “ Deer, mostly,” he answered, thrown by a question in no way related to his workday.
    “ I need you to hunt something else for me.”
    He thought through the calendar, coming up with September gamebird season. “Do you need a goose?”
    She laughed. A goose indeed. “No, I need you to take care of a Kat.”
    “ A cat? If you have a stray or feral cat on your property, you need to call the ASPCA, not a hunter, Priscilla.” Did his boss really just ask him to kill a pet? “I only hunt for food, and only during the correct season,” he added for emphasis.
    Priscilla poked out her bottom lip. “C'mon, Drew, you don't think I'd really ask you to kill a furry little animal, do you?” She stood then, putting a little extra swing in her step as she walked toward her young assistant. “I need you to take care a problem for me, but it's not an animal.”
    He felt the need to run out of the office, but held his ground, hoping she wasn't asking what he was afraid she was asking. “I'm flattered, Ms. McClaren, and you're a beautiful woman, but I've got a girlfriend.”
    She stopped inches from touching him. This was not going as she envisioned. Dammit. She'd have to convince someone else to help her, Drew had too much integrity anyway. “I'm sorry, Drew. Please just go home. I'll lock up.”
    He left as quickly as possible, not quite running, but coming close to setting a speed-walking world record. She sighed. She'd be willing to bet his resignation would be on her desk in the morning. Dammit.