Beauty And The Bodyguard

“That’s who should be nervous,” the man remarked beneath his breath.

Gage turned back. “What? Why would you say that?”

The guy shrugged again, and a small, mocking grin curved his thin lips. Gage didn’t recognize the man but he recognized the look: condescension. Like he thought Gage was an idiot because he didn’t know what he knew.

What the hell did he know?

The guy shrugged again. “In my experience the guy always has more reason to be nervous when he’s getting married, especially when the best man keeps going into the bride’s dressing room.”

Innuendo joined the condescension now. The man’s dark eyes gleamed.

Anger coursed through Gage, making him tense. He didn’t give a damn that the guy was armed and had armed friends. He stepped closer to him.

But then a small hand gripped his forearm. “Gage, you need to make sure Richard is ready. The ceremony will be starting soon.”

His stomach lurched at the thought of that actually happening, of Megan actually marrying her old boyfriend. But Richard wasn’t her old boyfriend anymore.

Gage was.

He stepped back and turned to Penny, who was smiling at him. But unlike all the times she had before, the smile didn’t warm her brown eyes, didn’t dispel the fear widening them.

“Hurry up,” she urged him.

But then his stomach lurched for another reason, at the thought of leaving her alone with an obviously dangerous man.

“Go,” she said and her tone brooked no argument. She was stubborn.

And he knew better than to argue with a stubborn woman. Annalise—his sister—had taught him that. So he turned and headed down the aisle toward the front of the church. The groom’s dressing room was behind the altar. Sun shone through the stained glass windows, sending a kaleidoscope of colors dancing around the room with its sparkling marble floor and whitewashed oak pews.

It really was a beautiful chapel—a beautiful venue for a wedding. Too bad there would be no wedding today. He only hoped there would be no funeral, either.

* * *

Penny lifted her chin and stared into the stranger’s cold eyes. She was good at pretending to be brave when she was actually quavering with fear. When her husband had died in the line of duty, she’d had to pretend to her kids that she was fine, that she wasn’t scared of raising them alone. That she had everything under control when she’d actually had no idea how she was going to manage.

“Well, you’re obviously the one running the show,” the man replied.

She wished that were true—then her daughter wouldn’t be intent on using herself as a decoy. And her bride would be marrying the man she really loved, the one who was so stubborn he was probably going to get himself killed. That was why she’d intervened. She’d seen the anger course through Gage. She’d worried that he was about to lose more than his temper.

She tilted her head. “Show?”

He gestured around the chapel. “The wedding. This is your place, right? You’re Penny Payne.”

She held out her hand, proud when it didn’t tremble. “Nice to meet you...?”

“D,” he said. “Everyone just calls me D.”

“The initial?”

He nodded.

It could have been for his last name. Or his first...

“Are you here for the groom or the bride?” she asked.

His mouth curved. “Everyone keeps asking me that.”

And he obviously had yet to give an answer.

“And what is your response?” she asked.

His grin widened. “I’m here for my wife.”

She glanced around. “Where is she?”

“Powder room,” he said. “She wanted to touch up her makeup. Hope she doesn’t outshine the bride.”

Penny doubted that was the threat this man and his wife posed to the bride. But they definitely posed a threat—to everyone in Penny’s chapel. No, she had never been more afraid than she was now.

But she smiled. “Well, it was nice meeting you, D. I have quite a few details to see to before the ceremony begins. I hope you and your wife enjoy it.”