Falling For Her Bodyguard

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“Want to read a book with me, Kelly?” Avery asked.

“We have to go, little one,” Donovan said, straightening up and dropping his arms to his sides. “I’ll read one with you after dinner.”

“But I want to read one with Kelly. Can’t she stay for dinner? We’re having spaghetti and meatballs. Uncle Donovan makes giant meatballs as big as my head. Do you like spaghetti and meatballs?” Avery asked Kelly.

“As big as your head?” The man was getting more interesting by the second.

“They are not as big as your head,” Donovan corrected his niece. “Come on and get your shoes on. You and Graham have to come with us because I can’t trust your brother here unsupervised.”

“But she loves spaghetti!”

Kelly giggled at her persistence. Donovan certainly had his hands full with his niece and nephew.

“She never said she loves spaghetti. Please go get your shoes on.”

It was clear that he did not want a dinner guest. No amount of adorable begging was going to get him to change his mind. Not that Kelly wanted to stay. Considering why they were here, dinner was likely to be a bit tense.

“I like spaghetti, but I really need to get home. Maybe we can have dinner another time, okay?”

Avery looked absolutely crestfallen. “Fine,” she grumbled as she brushed past him and out the door.

“Sorry about that. She lacks boundaries. I’m not sure how to teach her them without making her think she can’t talk to anyone. She’s at that age where everything is black or white. She never sees gray.”

Kelly shook her head. “She’s adorable. Don’t discourage her from being her sweet self.”

“Sweet until she doesn’t get her way. Lucky for her and unfortunately for me, I have a hard time telling her no. If you hadn’t turned her down, I fear I would have forced you to eat spaghetti with us.”

Had she not met Avery in person, it would have been harder to believe that she ruled this roost with her cuteness. Although that was clear, so much more was not. Kelly was naturally curious and she had about a million and one questions. How did Avery and Graham’s parents die? How did the kids end up with Donovan? Did he cook anything other than spaghetti and meatballs? Did he build other things besides bookcases?

“Well, I really do need to get home.” Kelly knew today was not the day to ask any of them. She walked past him and into the hall. “But you owe me spaghetti and meatballs as big as my head some other day because that I have to see.”

* * *

THE LAST THING Donovan imagined happening today was bringing a woman into his home and having to discourage Avery from inviting her over for dinner. One of Jessica’s final requests was that he promise not to bring women in and out of the kids’ lives. To be fair, his sister didn’t specifically ask him to remain single. In fact, Jess had begged him to try harder to let people in, but in his line of work, vulnerability meant death. Donovan understood it was unlikely a woman would kill him if he let her get close, but he was who he was and so far everyone he had ever dated wanted more than he was willing to give. That meant it was better he drop out of the dating game until the kids were grown.

Donovan’s biggest concern was that he’d be responsible for his niece and nephew having to suffer any more losses. A father and a mother were enough. He didn’t want them to get attached to someone only to have them disappear.

He knocked on Graham’s door. “We leave in two minutes. You better be in the back seat of my truck when I’m ready to pull out of the driveway or else.”

Donovan had no idea what the “else” would be but hoped the threat of the mysterious else would be enough to encourage Graham to do as he was told. Why did parenting have to be so hard?

“If it makes you feel any better, I hear that once you get through the teenage years, it’s smooth sailing,” Kelly said as they headed downstairs.

“Considering he’s only fifteen and she’s barely seven, I’m not sure if that’s good news or bad. The light at the end of the tunnel is so far away, it’s a tiny pinprick.”

“Well, maybe she’ll be less trouble. She might learn from some of the trouble he gets in.”

Kelly was quite the optimist. Donovan had lost the ability to see the bright side a long time ago. Since Oliver, Donovan’s best friend and Jessica’s husband, was killed in the line of duty and Jessica was diagnosed with incurable cancer, Donovan only expected the worst. Since his sister died, every day was similar to his time in the military. It was all about survival—his and the kids’. He didn’t have the luxury to hope for more than getting through each day still breathing.

“Can Kelly sit in the back with me?” Avery asked as she came skipping through the house.

“I would love to sit in the back with you, Miss Avery.” Kelly gave one of Avery’s pigtails a gentle tug. “Did you do these pigtails yourself?”

Avery giggled and the sound squeezed Donovan’s heart. His niece’s resiliency was her most amazing quality. She had more experience with tragedy than most adults, yet she could still smile, skip and laugh.

“Uncle Donovan always does my hair in the morning. I wanted a French braid today, but he said there wasn’t enough time.”

Donovan wasn’t surprised by the shocked look on Kelly’s face. Six months ago, no one would have been able to convince him that he would know how to do a little girl’s hair. “Someone was a sleepyhead this morning. If you want a French braid you have to get out of bed earlier.”

“You know how to French braid hair?” Kelly asked.

“Mommy taught him everything before she went to heaven. They had to practice every day because he used to hurt my head when he combed out my knots.”

Kelly pressed her lips together and had that look in her eye that always made him uncomfortable. Avery didn’t understand how talking about her mom might make other people feel and their sympathy was sometimes too much. The sooner he got Kelly back home, the better.

“Let’s get in the truck. It’s late.”

A door slammed upstairs and Graham came stomping down the steps. He had on a black sweatshirt with the hood pulled up. With his hands in the front pocket, he trudged past all of them and out the front door.

“Kelly might have to sit in the front seat, Avery. I don’t think Graham is going to want to sit in front with me.”

“No!” Avery chased after her brother. “Graham! I’m sitting in the back with Kelly. You have to sit in the front.”

As much as Graham hated Donovan, he loved Avery more. He didn’t even argue; he just got into the passenger’s seat. He might be trouble, but that boy would take care of his sister until the day he died.

He apologized to Kelly again. “Today has been kind of a nightmare. I promise it won’t always be like this.”

“It’s okay,” she said, placing a hand on his arm. The contact made him suck in a breath. “Don’t apologize for being a good uncle.”

He didn’t feel like a good uncle. He felt like he was barely cutting it. Maybe she was just being nice, maybe she saw something he didn’t. Either way, he appreciated the compliment.

They all got inside the truck and Donovan headed back to the city. Graham stared out the window and didn’t say a word. Avery, on the other hand, talked nonstop. Kelly patiently listened to her go on and on in excruciating detail about her day at school. She even described everything she ate for lunch.

“At recess, we played tag and I was only it one time because I am super fast. I had my fast shoes on.”

“You have fast shoes?” Kelly asked, making Donovan chuckle. Avery had a pair of sneakers that he told her would make her run faster. He had to be careful what he said around Avery because she did not doubt anything he told her.

“They’re pink with silver sparkles. I wanted purple ones, but Uncle Donovan said they were fast shoes and I would run faster in them and he was right.”

“I think I might need him to buy me some of those shoes,” Kelly said, making eye contact with him in the rearview mirror. Those blue eyes were mesmerizing. “At the gym, I run on the treadmill and I can never go as fast as the guy who works out next to me. He always teases me.”

“Uncle Donovan, do they make the fast shoes for grown-ups?”

“I don’t know, Avery. I’m guessing not the same exact ones.”

“Shoes don’t make you fast, Avery,” Graham said from under his hood. “You’re fast because you’re fast. You don’t need stupid shoes.”

“They are too fast shoes and they’re not stupid!” Avery asserted. “Uncle Donovan said they are, so they are.”

“Uncle Donovan lied.”

“That’s enough, Graham,” Donovan warned. “Don’t make your sister upset because you’re mad at me.”

Graham pushed back his hood and glared at his uncle. “Do the shoes really make her fast? Are they magic shoes or did you tell her that because you were tired of shopping and you couldn’t find any purple shoes like she wanted?”

Donovan gave him a pointed look. “I said that’s enough.”

“You’re such a hypocrite.” The hood went back up. “You punish me for every little thing I do, but you lie to my sister every day.”

Donovan had no rebuttal. He was wrong and he was right. They drove in silence for a full minute.

“They are fast shoes, Graham. They are,” Avery said in her tiny voice. No one said anything after that until they pulled up in front of Kelly’s building.

“Do you want me to check your apartment?” he offered. Her building wasn’t one of the most secure places to live. Someone could sneak their way in with a little patience.

“I’ll be fine,” she said, opening her door. “If I see anything suspicious, I’ll text you.”

She gave Avery a hug and promised to eat dinner with them next time she came over. That was a good answer. As long as they never ended up back at his house, they could avoid spending an awkward meal together.

“See ya tomorrow,” Donovan said before she shut the door. He waited until she was safely inside before putting on his blinker so he could pull out into traffic.

“I think she’s my new best friend,” Avery said.

It made perfect sense why he had decided not to bring people into the kids’ lives. Avery got attached so quickly. He had thought this would be easier since he had no intention of getting into a relationship with anyone. But Avery could bond with a complete stranger in five seconds flat, and Kelly wasn’t a girlfriend. She wasn’t even a friend. She was a job assignment.

“Who was that? Why did you offer to check her apartment? Why are you going to see her tomorrow?” Graham asked. Donovan was surprised he was curious enough to say something.

“That’s my boss’s niece. She works at a radio station and someone was...being mean to her. I have to help keep her safe until we can find that person.”

“Why would someone be mean to Kelly?” Avery asked. “She’s so nice.”

“It’s hard to explain, sweetie.”

“Is someone trying to kill her?” Graham asked.

“Someone is going to kill her?” Avery screeched and then burst into tears.

“Are you serious right now?” he said to Graham. Donovan was ready to tape the kid’s mouth shut. Did he not understand how saying something like that could scare his sister? He tried to console Avery. “No one is going to kill Kelly. She’s totally safe.”

His phone chimed with a text. Don’t leave! was all it said.

Adrenaline flooded Donovan’s body. He hoped he hadn’t told Avery another lie.

CHAPTER SIX (#u358e2534-8289-5d6e-9913-31b1fcf2139c)

STANDING OUTSIDE HER door with the “apology” note in her hand, Kelly suddenly felt completely vulnerable. She dropped the sheet of paper on the floor and pulled out her phone as she made her way back to the elevators. She pressed the down button on the wall as her heart pounded.

How did he get in her building?

The elevator doors opened as she began to text Donovan not to leave. An unfamiliar man stood inside and the fear of the unknown made her turn and run for the stairs instead of joining him. She probably looked like she had lost her mind, but she didn’t care. Whoever this stalker was, he could get in here. She flew down the stairs while trying to send off her text. When she got to the ground level, she pushed the door open and bumped right into another man.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

The panic that overwhelmed her made it impossible to answer. She was in the midst of a fight-or-flight response and her brain screamed, “RUN!” She pushed away from the stranger and sprinted out of the building, hoping Donovan wasn’t very far away. His truck was still where she’d gotten out. He didn’t hesitate to jump out of the truck.

“What’s the matter?”

“He was in there.”

“Right now?” Donovan pulled her behind him, putting himself between her and the building.

The scariest thing about that question was she had no idea if he was or not. “I don’t know. He left a note on my door, so he was.”

“You’re fine,” he said, putting his hands on her shoulders and looking her right in the eye. His voice was calm and unwavering. “Take some deep breaths. I’m going to have you get back in the truck, but I don’t want you to scare Avery, okay?”

Kelly glanced back at his truck and could see Graham staring at her wide-eyed. She couldn’t see through the tinted back windows but assumed Avery was doing the same. She didn’t want to alarm the children, but she couldn’t stop her heart from wanting to break through her rib cage.

“Look at me, Kelly,” Donovan said sternly. She did as she was told. “You’re safe. I’m right here. I won’t let anyone hurt you. Take some deep breaths. Slow and steady.”