Queen of Hearts: (Family Stone #6 Shelley) (Family Stone Romantic Suspense) by Lisa Hughey

took her off guard. As if he had a direct line to her erogenous zones, Shelley’s body heated, softened.
    “This is Bliss’s bachelorette day.” Shelley didn’t want anything to ruin Bliss’s party. “Please.”
    Ric calculated options for another moment. “Okay. But I need to stay with you.”
    She wasn’t used to having a bodyguard. Having Ric around constantly was going to be unsettling and unnerving, but if that’s what it took to make sure Bliss had her special day, then Shelley would do it.
    “Thank you.” She wanted to lean up and kiss his cheek but instead she stepped back and smiled with gratitude.
    His dark gaze followed her movements and somehow she thought perhaps he had known what she wanted to do. His gaze dropped to her mouth, lingered there, before sliding to hers.
    Ric’s tone was all business. “You’re welcome. You do what I say, when I say it, no arguments.”
    Shelley nodded.
    “Hannah will show you to the changing rooms.” The receptionist smiled tightly clearly not happy with Ric’s presence.
    The girls changed into their yoga gear. Shelley and Ric waited tensely in the private exercise room that was meant to be calming with its bamboo papered walls, a fountain trickling in the corner, and rolled yoga mats sticking out of a large basket near the un-lit fireplace.
    Their instructor, a woman at least twenty years older than Shelley, with silver white hair in a bun and a peaceful air floated into the room. She smiled serenely. But her glance was filled with concern as she noted Ric’s street clothes and holstered weapon. Once Bliss, Ava, and Jess were in the room, Ric nodded at Shelley and slipped outside to guard the entrance.
    The yoga class went a long way toward easing Shelley’s tension.
    But as soon as they opened the doors, there was Ric. Standing guard. Standing at attention. The stress and the awkward that she’d managed to bend and twist her way out of during yoga came hurtling back.
    After facials and massages, they were served lunch in the Aquavant room with the hydro-spa. Humidity simmered in the private pool room.
    Ric tried to sit unobtrusively in the corner but Shelley was hyperaware of him. Her body instinctively knew where he was in each room she had been in. He exuded a sexuality that sparked her own visceral awareness of him.
    It had been easier to ignore him when she’d had her eyes closed during her massage and facial. But as the women sat at the dining table in spa robes, Shelley couldn’t ignore the way her body reacted to his commanding masculine presence.
    A spa staff member served their pre-ordered lunches at the small table.
    Shelley picked at her salad. The greens were fresh. The tomatoes and cucumber crisp. The chicken grilled and still warm. The vinaigrette lightly seasoned. But she was so unsettled that everything seemed off and she barely ate. At this rate, she’d lose that extra five pounds that always seemed to linger on her hips.
    The girls drank a light white wine while Shelley stuck to water.
    After lunch, they submersed in the deliciously scented pool, relaxing in the warm salt water, while Ric continued to stand guard.
    Shelley lay back against the edge of the pool, her head rested on the lip and her body floated in the warm soothing water but she couldn’t unwind. The tension of the day had manifested in her stomach and she pressed her hand to her belly wishing she could just relax.
    Ric noted her movement. “You okay?”
    “I’m fine.” She couldn’t even have a moment. He was that observant.
    Of course, his observation skills had paid off tremendously last night. She flushed and hoped the steam from the pool would disguise the fact that she was getting slightly turned on.
    From outside their private room, a woman was complaining loudly about the fact that her trip to the pool was delayed. That was thanks to them.
    Oddly something about the woman’s voice, or maybe her whine, registered with Shelley. “I don’t see why some people