Wild About The Bodyguard by Tabitha Robbins Page A

ice
bucket. Heaps of gauges and shiny knobs waited down the front.
Looked mega complicated.
    “ You sure you
know how to drive this bus?” she asked.
    “ Dad had a
runabout. I got my license soon as I was old enough. I’ve only
taken this baby out twice before, but I love the sense of freedom,
the feel of salt air pushing against my face.”
    She moved
outside. Hanging over a rail, she tilted her nose up at that big
blue expanse and breathed in the scent of early Fall.
    “ You should
definitely do this more often.”
    He grabbed her
hand and tugged. “Maybe I will.”
    They took a
set of exterior steps to the second story—the fly bridge—which
housed another set of controls. After they took their seats—(he
took up position behind the wheel while she rode shotgun)—he turned
a key and throbbing engines kicked in.
    The day was
warm with no sign of fog. Across the water, she admired the orange
vermillion towers and yawning stretch of the Golden Gate Bridge.
But after these days and nights away, Sammy was more inclined to
admire this vessel’s captain. Resting on the wheel, Chase’s hands
were big, bronzed and confident. Her stomach fluttered thinking
about trailing her fingertips over the strip where smooth hand met
the hair on his wrist.
    In a
short-sleeved button-down shirt, his chest looked even
broader—deeper. His jaw jutted slightly while a hint of a smile
tugged at his lips. His gaze was set on the sun-jewelled water and
the adventure ahead—which would no doubt include an encounter of
the sexual kind. She guessed there was at least one bedroom
downstairs. She flushed wondering when he might introduce her to
it.
    When they were
clear of the marina, he squinted at the glare reflecting off the
water. He needed a hat—which reminded Sammy of his baseball cap.
Some things were pretty much irreplaceable.
    He upped the
speed and pitched his voice over the engine noise.
    “ Heard from
your friends this week?” He flashed over a smile. “I’m still
grinning at the way your dance brought that house down.”
    She confessed,
“I’ve seen way better dances than mine.”
    “ I only know
that tongues were dragging on the floor.”
    “ Were you
jealous?”
    He hesitated.
“A little.”
    Sammy didn’t
condone jealousy, but she wasn’t offended that Chase felt a touch
possessive.
    Remembering
the moves she had made that night, the adrenaline charge she had
owned on that stage, she sat straighter. “I had fun.”
    “ I had even
more fun afterward.”
    She caught him
looking at her and read his expression. He was glad she seemed to
be over the hump of that audition rejection earlier in the week.
She was glad, too. And she wasn’t. Thing was...she had a plan. And
she was good with it, even though there would need to be a few
adjustments in her life. Major ones.
    She took a
breath.
    “ I’ve decided
to make the move to L.A.”
    His expression
changed, but before he could say a word, she hurried on. It all
made such sense.
    “ I should
have done it before now. That’s where all the action is. All the
contacts and opportunities. I’ve gone down for auditions plenty of
times, but I need to be in amongst the action. I don’t even have an
agent, for God’s sake, and I’m twenty-freaking-five.”
    Talking out
loud about it made her agitated, but in a good way. Her life was
passing her by while she was mired down here, trying to dig up
skeletons from the past when now and the future were what mattered.
Just like Ann had tried to tell her.
    Chase’s
expression eased. He nodded once, but didn’t look convinced.
Because he would miss her?
    They’d known
each other, like, a minute. More likely he quietly thought she
might be wasting her time. He had seemed impressed by her acting
performance the other night, but they were sleeping together. Big
chance he wasn’t objective.
    She only knew
if she didn’t go, she would never know.
    “ Laycee has a
friend in Hollywood,” she went on. “He’s always telling her