Free Flash of Death by Cindy Dees

She screamed and a big hand slapped across her mouth.
    “Easy, Chloe. It’s me. What the hell’s going on? Why did you freak out like that?”
    She nearly sobbed aloud in relief as Trent’s deep voice rumbled in her ear. His hand lifted off her mouth. His body was big and warm and protective plastered against her back, and an urge to sink into him and let him take care of her came over her. But then anger erupted inside her. “You scared me to death!” she exclaimed.
    He turned her in his arms, but infuriatingly didn’t let her go. Or to be more accurate, she was glad he didn’t turn her loose, and that made her furious with herself.
    “Me?” Trent exclaimed. “You were completely terrified by something long before I got here. I saw you drop your wineglass and go as white as a sheet. That’s when I hoofed it over here as fast as I could.”
    How had he seen her? She glanced over at her picture windows in chagrin. She’d always been claustrophobic and preferred to leave the blinds open to the city view.
    “Chloe? What’s going on?” he urged.
    His question pulled her back to Barry’s tragic fate. “He’s dead,” she mumbled as tears started to flow down her cheeks.
    “Who?” Trent’s voice was sharp now and his hands tightened on her shoulders.
    “Barry. The guy I met for drinks last night.”
    “Your boyfriend?” Trent’s voice changed tenor. “Oh, honey. I’m so sorry.” He wrapped his arms around her and drew her against his big, comforting chest.
    “He’s not my boyfriend. He is...was...” her voice cracked “...an accountant where I work. He wanted to talk over a problem he was having at work.”
    “What kind of problem?”
    Not the kind that she was prepared to discuss with anyone but Don. “Just some accounting stuff,” she replied evasively.
    “How did Barry die?” She couldn’t fail to hear the charged anticipation in Trent’s voice. He didn’t seriously think Barry’s death was related to her, did he?
    “The news said he was murdered at home possibly confronting a robber.”
    Trent frowned, but didn’t comment as he pulled out his cell phone and plastered it to his ear. While he waited for someone to come on the line, he used his free arm to guide her over to the sofa. He sank down onto it and pulled her down beside him, never removing his arm from around her. Whether she liked it or not, he held her practically lying across his chest.
    In spite of how frustrated she was at having him shadowing her life, she had to admit his body heat and slow, steady heartbeat were both comforting and calming. What the heck. She gave up resisting his superior strength and relaxed against him, accepting the comfort he was offering. His hand stroked her hair absently. She would have purred like a contented cat if the man who’d stolen sensitive data and passed it to her hadn’t just been killed.
    “Jeff, it’s Trent. Coworker of Chloe’s was killed today. She met him for drinks last night to talk about work stuff and he was murdered in his home overnight.”
    She faintly heard Jeff’s reply. “I’ll send a full team right away.”
    “No!” she exclaimed, struggling to push upright on Trent’s chest. “No team!”
    “Honey, you’re in grave danger,” Trent replied soothingly. “We need the extra manpower to protect you.”
    “I can’t have an entire security team trailing me around. It’ll ruin everything!”
    Trent answered whatever Jeff said with, “Nope. No idea what she’s talking about. Yeah, I’ll find out. We can’t exactly force her to cooperate with us.”
    She stared at Trent in dismay and mouthed again, “No team!”
    He frowned at her while he listened to Jeff. He said only, “Got it. I’ll be in touch.” And then he disconnected the call.
    * * *
    Trent stared down at the exasperating woman trapped against his chest. Single-handedly protecting her from killers was a tall order. And he really didn’t want to see anything bad happen to her. He had plans