Free Barefoot With a Bodyguard by Roxanne St. Claire

walked to the side of the pool, dipping her toe in cool water. “So what’s he like?”
    “Funny, kind, and sweet. He has a place in North Carolina on the water, too, so maybe my own beach vacation is in the not-too-distant future.”
    “Nice. What kind of law does he practice?”
    “Not exactly sure, but he’s very close to making partner and he’s very driven. Ugh, I guess that sounds too familiar to you.”
    Kate laughed, sitting on the brick pavers to get wet up to her knees, the water heavenly. “Don’t judge all attorneys and partners by my crappy experience. There are plenty of good ones, and it sounds like you found one.”
    “From your lips, baby. Where are you staying? A house or hotel or what?”
    “With friends.” She hated to lie, but…
    He wants to rape the shit out of you.
    She wasn’t going to be stupid. What if Laurie slipped and told someone where she was? It would be like Laurie to befriend a stranger hanging around the apartment complex and suddenly spill. She was too friendly. “I’m in a villa,” Kate added, feeling the need to elaborate. “But getting a ton of work done. Buried in contracts right now.”
    “You’ll kill it, Kate. Nothing for you to worry about.”
    “Like you said, from your lips. It’s a lot of work, but most of it is coming back to me.” She splashed the water, feeling relaxed for the first time since she arrived. “What else are you up to while I’m killing myself under the palm trees in Florida?”
    “Trying to put together a pitch for a new—”
    “What the hell are you doing?”
    Kate whipped around at the sound of the harsh, furious voice, half-expecting to see her ex-husband standing there. He was the last man to talk to her that way.
    “I’m on the phone,” she said icily as she met a cold, blue stare.
    “Get off.”
    “Who are you talking to?” Laurie asked.
    “One of the people I’m staying with,” she said, making Alec’s eyes spark with anger. “I need to go, Laurie.”
    “Kate, are you okay?”
    “Yes, yes, of course. I’m fine.” But she knew that Laurie was a good enough friend to sense the tension in Kate’s voice. “Really, I just have to go now. Something came up.”
    “Something or someone?” Laurie asked. “Are you with a guy down there? Girl, no wonder you’re being so evasive.”
    “No, no. I’m studying, I swear.”
    Laurie laughed softly, not buying it, but the sound was lost on Kate as Alec came closer, looking like he might yank the phone right out of her hand.
    “I’ll call you later,” Kate said. “Have fun with your new guy.”
    “Have fun with yours.” The implication was loud and clear and wrong. But there was no way to correct her now. Not with Godzilla bearing down on her.
    Kate clicked off the call and crossed her arms, tucking the phone near her chest as if daring him to try to take it.
    “What the hell are you doing, Kate?” he demanded.
    “Talking on the phone with my trusted friend, and I didn’t say where I was.”
    “You don’t have to, and you’re smart enough to know people can have tracking software to find you.”
    She let out a grunt. Tracking software? If her stalker was some kind of tech guru, why would he write notes? “Poppy gave me that phone and my name isn’t even associated with it. Isn’t the whole idea that it is untrackable ?”
    “You have to be careful.”
    The relaxation of the moment completely gone, and the sense of being totally and completely trapped nearly suffocating her again, Kate pushed up and shook off her wet feet.
    “I have to get out of here.” Where could she possibly go that he wouldn’t follow her? “I’m going over to the spa to get a massage.”
    He looked at her like she said she was going to Mars, and the possibility was just as likely. “Fine, but I’ll be in the room with you.”
    She looked to the sky. “Then I want to walk the beach or have lunch or see the resort. I’m going stir crazy.”
    “Fine. We’ll go. Just remember the