Falling For Her Bodyguard: A BWWM Suspense Romance by BWWM Club, Stacey Pond

magazines. They were
saying she was having a mental break down, that the man who’d
tried to kill her was causing terror in a psychological way. She
stayed away from the TV and the internet. It was all too painful.
They had no idea what was going on, but they would paint her any way
they could get a story. Celebrities breaking down always did seem to
sell the magazines and keep up the ratings for a show. It felt as if
the world was simply waiting for her to spiral out of control.
    Kenzie tried to return
to practice, but every time her hand drifted to the door knob she
froze. It was too much, too soon. What did they expect from her? When
she had exasperated the other guards, they seemed to mostly leave her
alone.
    She sat in the house,
nursing a hangover when the front door opened. Gianni stepped through
in his plain clothes, jeans with a maroon t-shirt. She leaned back
further into the couch. As much as she was pissed off at him, she
couldn’t help the excitement that coursed through her body or
the sense of comfort.
    “What’s
going on?” He asked.
    Kenzie shrugged.
“Nothing. Reading a book,” she said pointing to it before
pretending to be reading it again.
    Gianni walked over to
her slowly. “No, I mean what’s been going on with you?
I’ve been hearing about you drinking, sneaking out, taking off.
I thought we had agreed you’d try your best to be careful.”
    “I’m
alive. Why do you care? Wasn’t your vacation with your
girlfriend more important than protecting me?”
    Kenzie could hear the
anger in her voice. She hadn’t meant to let him see that side
of her, the ugly side, but there it was. As she felt herself becoming
overwhelmed with her emotions, she rose from the couch to leave the
room. She almost knew it wouldn’t be that easy and it was
confirmed when Gianni followed behind her into her room. The place
was a mess of discarded take out containers, ashtrays filled with
butts, laundry on the floor.
    “Tell me what’s
going on?” He said softly.
    Kenzie cleared a space
on the bed. “Nothing. Just go away,” she said as she
pulled the blanket over her head.
    She felt the mattress
move under his weight. He pulled the blanket back and wrapped his
arms around her waist as he’d done before. His breath on the
back of her neck was comforting, stimulating.
    “Are you mad
because you saw me with a woman or because I left you by yourself?”
    Kenzie found herself
choking on tears. “I don’t care.”
    “Liar.”
    She felt him stand up
before she heard him push things off of the bed. When she moved the
blanket, he was slipping underneath the covers with her. She tried to
wipe her eyes quickly, but he wouldn’t let her.
    “Cry if you need
to cry. Stop trying to prove to everyone that you’re so strong
when you’re not. Let yourself feel it.”
    Kenzie wasn’t
sure what it was about his words, but she burst into thick tears. She
buried her face against his chest. His arms circled her body, holding
her close as he rested his chin on her forehead. She let herself cry,
her body shaking against his until the only thing left was dry
hiccups and sniffling. When she was done she felt that old
embarrassment work its way up forcing her to hide her face. His
finger went beneath her chin.
    “Stop trying to
hide, there’s nothing wrong with letting yourself be sad, but
when are you going to stop? When are you going to not let this get
the best of you?”
    As she gazed into his
eyes, she felt the anger melting away slowly. How could he get her to
open up so much, no one; not her mother, best friends or therapist
seemed to be able to get her to let them in completely. Here she was
wrapped up in his arms, their bodies pressed together and her tears
staining his shirt. She wiped her hand across his shirt.
    “You know,”
she said still sniffling. “You still haven’t told me
about that woman I saw you with.”
    “I thought you
didn’t care,” he mumbled against her hair.
    She slapped him on the
chest