LITMIR.BIZ

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was something else there that caught and held his attention. An unspoken element that he couldn’t yet place or define.

      Suddenly, Jonathan Carmichael was intrigued by his client.

      “I would have waited for you,” she continued, voice notably cool, “but I’ll be honest, I think you being here is a bit unnecessary.”

      Jonathan let out a laugh at that, considering earlier he had thought the same about her.

      “Don’t you want to play it safe rather than be sorry?” he asked.

      Kathryn’s lip quirked up at the corner. Her smile wasn’t humorous.

      “I’d rather not have to worry about a bodyguard following me around everywhere, watching my every move while I get ready for one of the largest career moves of my life.” She popped her hip out to the side a fraction, he noticed. “That would be my choice if I’d been given one.”

      Jonathan couldn’t decide if the way she spoke was born out of ego or frustration, but he definitely felt a chill wafting from each word. Part of him instantly felt the need to defend his skills and the company that was more than just his employer but an important part of his life. However, Jett was obviously still listening in, so the bodyguard went a more judicious route.

      “The Orion Security Group doesn’t force clients to hire them,” he pointed out. “It was your father who did that, and you consented. As for watching your every move while I’m on the job, I can assure you that—if I’m doing said job correctly—my eyes won’t be on you but on your surroundings, trying to keep you safe. So if you have a problem with this arrangement, it’s your father—and really, yourself—you’ll need to be speaking with.”

      Kathryn didn’t immediately respond. When she did it was clipped, definitely chilly.

      “Noted. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to do some work up in my room.”

      She started to turn to go—already testing the boundaries of his job as her bodyguard—when Jonathan smiled once again.

      “Hey, I’ll walk with you on the way to mine.” She gave him a questioning look. “Oh, didn’t your dad tell you? He requested we have adjoining rooms.”

      Jonathan might not have known the scientist long, but he knew he’d struck a nerve with that comment.

      It was going to be an interesting few days.

      * * *

      KATE DIDN’T WANT to wait for the bodyguard. No matter how attractive he’d turned out to be. The picture she’d been forwarded from her father and Orion’s Nikki Waters had shown her a lightly tanned man who looked like a stock image a website might use to show an everyman, not a bodyguard. He had seemed flat, one-dimensional. Someone who would easily blend into the background and, hopefully, not bother her.

      However, in person she’d been surprised to see that maybe she’d misjudged him in that department. His dark blue eyes had depth, his facial features were sharp and his goatee was trimmed and neat, matching the jet-black hair that stood an inch or two high. He wore a gray tee and jeans and he wore them well. When he turned back to the desk attendant, she even spotted the bottom of a tattoo on the back of his upper arm, peeking out under his sleeve.

      Maybe Jonathan Carmichael wasn’t the type of man to blend.

      “This is a massive invasion of privacy,” Kate commented as she led them into the elevator. Like the hotel, it was dated. She pressed the second-floor button and hoped above all hopes that it didn’t get stuck. Her nerves had been rubbed the wrong way, annoyed at her father and the man next to her. Getting trapped in the small space with him would most likely incite a flurry of rudeness from her. She was already having a hard time being polite without the added close proximity.

      “Again, I’ll remind you that your father hired Orion and you agreed,” he said, not looking at her but obviously surveying the elevator. He was tall enough to reach up and push against the ceiling—trying to do what, she wasn’t sure.

      “I meant the adjoining-room situation,” she corrected.

      Jonathan stopped his inspection and gave her a dry smile.

      “Just because there’s a door there doesn’t mean I’m going to use it. I don’t even have a key. We just wanted the rooms to be close, and since it’s an older hotel they just happen to share a door.” His eyebrow rose. “Unless you want me to get you a key?”

      Kate felt heat crawl up her neck.

      “No,” she said quickly. “I don’t need or want one.”

      “Good. Then there shouldn’t be a problem.”

      The elevator doors slid open and Kate hurried with her coffee to her room down the hall. Jonathan was right behind her with his bags.

      “I’m going to look in your room, okay?” he said as she pulled out her key card. “I’d like to know the layout, just in case.”

      Kate wanted to argue, but was trying to channel her inner Spears’ manners. She still rolled her eyes.

      “Sure, why not?” She opened the door and swung it wide for the bodyguard. “Knock yourself out.”

      He moved past her, bags still in hand, into the room. For a moment she worried about her more intimate things being left out in the open, but it was a baseless fear. She was meticulous, a trait that had bled over from her professional life into her personal one. She’d already unpacked and sorted her things.

      “To be honest, I expected something different,” Jonathan said, apparently okay with his inspection.

      “Something different?” she repeated. “Like a man in a mask lying in wait?”

      The corner of his lips pulled up a fraction.

      “I meant I expected to see, I don’t know, test tubes and beakers on the nightstands. Aren’t you a scientist?”

      Kate walked over to the small desk in the corner and leaned against it. She felt a twitch try to pull her own lips into a small smile, but she tamped it down.

      “Generally labeled, yes, I suppose.” She took a sip of her coffee. “What else do you know about my work?”

      If Jonathan knew about her project, she was sure she’d have seen some kind of reaction to her question. However, the man simply shrugged.

      “If you’re asking do I know what you’re currently working on—why you’re here for the convention—I don’t. Orion tries to look into a client’s life without being intrusive. Our analysts dip into your past and present to try to find potential threats, but we don’t overstep. Your father and Nikki made it clear that, as far as your work goes, the only person who can tell me about it is you.” He paused, tilting his head slightly. “And I suspect that that information is something you won’t be sharing with me.”

      Before Kate could stop it, the image of a bloodied woman tied to a chair flashed across her vision. Head bent over, body beaten. Her last breath having already left her body hours before.

      The image was something she’d had to confront for a long time. It twisted the very core of her heart.

      “No,” she said, voice turned to ice. “I won’t.”

       Chapter Four

      Jonathan wasn’t invited to stay past the woman’s answer. He didn’t want to, either. Kathryn’s voice had gone steely, her eyes almost to slits, and even from his spot across the room he’d been able to see her breathing change. Whatever she’d just experienced, it pulled his curiosity to the forefront, but he kept his mouth shut. What was behind her dark eyes was something darker. Something he had no business seeking out.

      His room was to the right and was an exact replica of hers. The adjoining door was placed between the desk and the dresser with its TV on top, locked

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