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Chapter Four
He followed me back to my room. He had the intelligence to stay back, but still, I could feel him, a never-ending presence behind me.
It was childish, but I got a hell of a lot of satisfaction from firmly shutting the door to my room behind me. I meant for that dull little motel room to become my haven—a place where Jasper Benjamin and his potent allure could not follow.
Instead? I couldn’t hold still. Pacing back and forth, I took several deep, steadying breaths. My skin felt tight.
“It was just a kiss, Cari.” Just the lightest brush of lips. And yet my whole body still burned, need licking through my veins like fire.
Just a kiss.A kiss, and that crooked little smile. Yeah, and the sky was purple.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I flopped down onto the bed with a groan. Brutal exercise hadn’t driven away the craziness that meeting Jasper had awoken inside of me; maybe a nap would.
Kicking off my sneakers, I rolled onto my back and found myself staring at the ceiling. When my throat tightened and the next breath that I took was shaky, I was startled.
I wasn’t a crier, and while I’d worked myself into a frenzy over my hots for the bodyguard, I knew that the impending tears weren’t for him. Curling into a ball, I tucked my hands beneath my cheek and tried to calm down.
I was scared.
If it had just been the vandalism on my door this afternoon, I could have probably dealt with that.
Finding out that there had been more, enough for the network to hire me a bodyguard? That was serious. I hadn’t made up my attraction to Jasper, because no way had I imagined that click when we’d first looked at one another. But was I focusing on it as a way to distract myself from the very real situation that I was in?
Could I? Was I brave enough?
Fingers trailing down over my hip, I remembered the way his rigid length had felt pressed against me. He wanted me as much as I wanted him.
Sleep wasn’t going to come. Pushing myself to the edge of the bed, I raked a hand through my hair.
It came away wet, and I grimaced as I was reminded of just how sweaty I was. I needed a shower. A nice cool one to rinse the salt off my skin before dinner. My stomach growled at the thought, and no wonder—I hadn’t eaten since lunch, and I’d burned about a million calories today.
A cheeseburger—that was what I wanted. A thick, juicy one loaded with bacon and cheese and pickles. The pub in the motel made surprisingly great burgers, and I could have one delivered through room service. Or, I could go join my colleagues from the show, who were probably down there with a pitcher of beer right now.
I joined them most nights. Jasper’s point had gotten through, though. I was nervous enough about the vandalism that I wanted to stay in my room where I was supposedly safe.
I didn’t like it. I didn’t like so many things being taken out of my control. I wasn’t here with the show to cause any harm, but rather to educate people on the fascinating wonders that our predecessors had left behind. Though I truly didn’t understand why, some were opposed to what I did, and I accepted that. But to threaten me because of a difference in opinion was taking things way too far.
I wasn’t going to hide. I had a bodyguard, didn’t I? How was he going to earn his pay if I stayed locked in my room?
My skin heated as I tugged off my sweaty workout clothes, thinking of a few ways for him to bring in that pay-check. All of them involved getting naked. Preferably with me, though, I supposed I wouldn’t say no to a striptease.
Jesus. What the hell had gotten into me?
Whatever it was, I liked it. The thought of my big, hulking bodyguard taking it off while Def Leppard thundered in the background cracked me up, lightening my mood enough to want the company of other people. Yeah, I was going to head to the pub, have my burger and couple of drinks with the team.
And if I happened to dress up a little bit in hopes of seducing the big, sexy man who was probably lurking outside my door right this second?
After the day I’d had, no one would say a word.
…
Jasper was not in the hallway outside my room when I exited an hour later. I deflated when I realized that my grand entrance was wasted.
I’d showered, pinning my damp hair up and off my neck, a smart move in this heat. I’d added a bit of makeup when I usually wore none when not shooting—not a ton, just enough to flush my cheeks, brighten my eyes, gloss my lips. And instead of hiding a figure that I worked damn hard to keep in shape for the camera, I pulled out the single dress that I owned, a little sundress with spaghetti straps and a skirt that fell just to mid-thigh. The icy-blue color set off the sun-kissed glow of my skin, and the slightly scooped neckline made the most of my otherwise average breasts.
I felt good, and I’d been looking forward to the look on Jasper’s face when I stepped into the hall.
“Damn it.” No, I wasn’t going to let that get me down. He was around here somewhere, even if I couldn’t see him. With that in mind, I squared my shoulders and started off toward the lobby.