Protector by Catherine Mann Page A

“You’re a beautiful, intriguing woman. I knew that was an emotional night, seeing your old man and all. You needed comfort, and I offered the wrong kind. My fault.”
    “What if I wanted the comfort?”
    Chuck thunked the side of his head against the floral wallpaper. The truth wasn’t working. Did this qualify as oneof those extreme circumstances when he could justify inventing a cover story to save his hide?
    He rolled his shoulders, popping joints echoing through the corridor. “I’m, uh, coming off a really bad breakup.”
    Lame, Tanaka.
Couldn’t he do any better than that? How would she react to the truth? That he’d gotten the shit kicked out of him by a sadistic bitch and henchman, and for the past two and a half years, his body had gone on deep freeze?
    “I’m sorry to hear that. Was it serious?”
    He ran a hand over his face, nodding as his Adam’s apple bobbed in a long swallow. He wanted out now. He sucked at handling emotional issues these days and here stood proof positive.
    “Is she a student, too?”
    Chuck shook his head. “No, I took this job to get away, make a new start.” That much was true, at least. “Uh, she tore out my heart and tap-danced all over it.”
    He winced at the cliché. But at least she’d bought into his reason for being outside her suite.
    She squeezed his forearm. “Taking this job sounds like a smart move.”
    “I’m just not ready to open myself up to that kind of pain again.” Her touch burned through his denim shirt. “I wouldn’t want to run the risk of owing you another apology, so don’t take this the wrong way. I really could use a friend.”
    “I understand.”
    “Thank you, Jolynn.” Chuck shrugged his backpack onto his shoulder and shoved away from the wall. “Well, I’ll see you around the casino.”
    He started down the hall.
    “Charles.
Charles?
”
    He stopped. His head fell forward. Something in hertone— something real and genuine— reached inside him and squeezed. He was so not cut out for this kind of work. He had an inherent weakness when it came to women. Must have had something to do with the way he was taught to respect the nuns in the orphanage, knew they’d unselfishly dedicated their lives.
    Except the way his body hummed for Jolynn right now was nothing like anything he’d felt around a nun.
    *  *  *
     
    Jolynn stared at his broad shoulders, the long column of his neck as he shook his head. He’d actually come here for her. And his apology had been so damn genuine, not just the words, but something deeper in his eyes.
    She felt his contrition, a soothing balm to her raw nerves. Maybe she’d been thinking about it all the wrong way. Could she be looking at the first friend she’d ever had, other than Lucy?
    Easing behind him, she rested her palm on his shoulders with small soothing circles. It took every ounce of willpower she possessed not to curve her fingers around his rippling muscles. She wanted to scratch her nails along the cotton fabric of his shirt.
    Not friendly behavior at all.
    He needed something different from her. She’d only begun to understand she might want something different from him. “Charles?”
    “Yes?” His hoarse croak floated back to her.
    “I’ve got too much to deal with here, and I’ll be leaving at the end of the cruise. I don’t need to plunge into a relationship. Maybe we have more in common than we thought. I could use a friend, too.”
    “Huh?”
    “Yes.”Jolynn smoothed her hand across his back. She understood betrayal. “And as your official friend, I know just the thing to help you forget all about her.”
    Flinching, Chuck turned. “What exactly did you have in mind?”
    “I know this wonderful little out-of-the-way place in Sicily.” She circled her tongue along her lips.
    He exhaled. Hard.
    “I used to go there when I came on this cruise during college vacations with my dad.” Memories of those lonely visits threatened to stall her. “Anytime I’m feeling