The Socialite and the Bodyguard by Dana Marton Page A

excitement and anticipation as she usually did. Her nerves were on edge.
    As if sensing that, Tsini came over and put her head in Kayla’s lap.
    “Starting tonight, I’ll be sleeping in the living room here.” Nash pointed at the couch Kayla was sitting on. “Mike can have my room.”
    Mike glared at him. Animosity simmered in the air. She hated how her safe inner circle had gotten turned upside down in the past two hours. Everyone was filled with negative energy all of a sudden.
    She still couldn’t believe that any of them would betray her, wouldn’t believe it until she saw solid proof. She prayed that would never happen.
    “I’m going to be with Kayla full-time,” Nash went on. “Dave and Mike will back me up and watch Greg. Everyone else, keep your eyes open. And don’t forget about Tsini either. She shouldn’t be left alone for a minute, not even in the suite. Obviously,” he added.
He’d asked them all a lot of questions and had reshuffled the power structure of the team, but he hadn’t outright accused anyone. He’d said that technically anyone could have gotten into her room. He’d mentioned the picture from her home, as well, but had left open the possibility that whoever was behind all this could have paid off a member of the camera crew who had been there that night. He didn’t want her team to know that he suspected one of them.
    Not yet.
    Lull the bastard into a sense of complacency , were the words he’d used when they’d discussed his approach earlier, although discuss was a rather strong word for what had really happened—he’d told her what he was going to do, and this time he hadn’t listened to any of her objections.
    She’d been crazy to ever think that she could keep him in check. Nobody was the boss of Nash Wilder. He stood in the middle of the room now like a general mustering the troops. He watched, assessed, gave orders.
    She knew a ridiculous number of powerful people. But their power came from the outside—from their companies, their money, their social and political connections. Nash’s power came from within, and every other man she knew simply paled in comparison.
    On a very basic, primal level, the incredible maleness of him spoke to her feminine core. She found it difficult to take her eyes off the man. Trouble was his middle name. And his first. And his last. That her heart beat faster every time she looked at him was completely ridiculous. They had nothing in common.
If she got involved with him, the media scandal would be out of this world. Popcorn Princess Takes Bodyguard as Lover. She flinched at the imagined headline. But at the same time, the thought of them being lovers stirred something deep inside. She was a woman. That was it. Nothing more. She couldn’t imagine any woman not responding to all that male energy. But he was not what she needed.
    She’d made so many mistakes in her past relationships. Painful mistakes. Public mistakes. Figuring out what she needed, what she wanted in a man, had taken a long time, but she had it now at last. Nash Wilder was definitely not that man.
    She wanted someone in her own social circle, someone who would be less likely to be interested in her money. She wanted someone with a business background who would help her run the company. Help her. Not take over. A sensitive, diplomatic, wonderful beta male. Nothing like Nash Wilder.
    Okay, maybe similar in looks and sexiness. But not as sexy. She couldn’t imagine anyone as sexy as Nash. Which was fine. For a sensitive, quiet man who supported her every step of the way, she was willing to give up the washboard abs and those wide shoulders.
    “Kayla?”
    His voice snapped her out of her musings.
    “Did you want to add anything?” One dark eyebrow arched. He watched her as if trying to figure out what she’d been daydreaming about. God, she hoped her face didn’t give anything away. “No. That’s it. Thanks.”
    “All right.” He turned to the rest of the team. “I