Free Beck: Hollywood Hitman by Maggie Marr

“I feel the sizzle between you two, just like that day at lunch.”
    “That day at lunch he turned me down.”
    “Girl, because he was there to do his job , which was to protect your ass, which he did. Doesn’t mean the sparks weren’t real. Come on, you of all people should know that you cannot manufacture that kind of heat.”
    “Or ignore it,” Natalie mumbled.
    “How long do you think you can pretend this chemistry doesn’t exist between you two?”
    “As long as it takes.” A memory of the photo of the guy in the hoodie tore through Natalie’s mind.
    She shivered. Her gaze followed Beck as he slowed to a jog. Soon he’d stretch out the lovely bulging muscles he’d just worked. The show was nearly finished. She was physically attracted to Beck—what straight woman wouldn’t be? Her gaze skimmed over his shoulder and pecs, but she also felt a sense of security, of safety, when he was with her. Had she ever experienced those feelings before Beck’s arrival? Natalie couldn’t remember ever feeling this safe.
    She crossed her ankles and flexed her feet. Her desire for Beck wasn’t a good enough reason to jeopardize him staying on the job to protect her. He was pretty uptight and all business. She’d rather squash the desires for him and have him as her bodyguard than have a fling that meant she had to find a new bodyguard in a couple of weeks.
    Beck turned to the side, bent forward, and stretched his hamstrings.
    “He makes me feel safe,” Natalie whispered, more to herself than to Stacia.
    “Well, thank God for that. Because you deserve to feel safe, and whatever whackadoo is prowling around ought to know they’ve got to get through that wall of A-prime muscle to get to you.”
    That man that owned that wall of muscle stood and turned toward her. His gaze locked onto her. No smile, but that intense heat sizzled between them. A pull that they both felt. He tilted his head as if in recognition, then turned and jogged back to the house.
    “You felt that, right? Even I felt that. This thing between you two is powerful. ”
    Powerful, maybe, dangerous yes, and right now Natalie had more danger in her life than she’d ever wanted.
    “So how are you really doing?” Stacia asked and poured herself another margy.
    “I tell people I’m fine.”
    Stacia tilted her head to the side and thinned out her lips. “Puh-lease, this is me.”
    “But really, I feel like a mess. Between the parking garage and the guy in the hoodie—”
    Stacia whipped her head toward Natalie. “What guy in a hoodie?” She sat forward in the lounge chair. “You didn’t tell me about a guy in a hoodie.”
    Natalie filled in Stacia, who sat there in horrified shock. “How long has this crazy person been stalking you?”
    “They don’t know.”
    “I think it’s time for the cops.”
    “No. Cops.” Natalie’s tone was sharp, sharper than she usually used with Stacia.
    “Look, I get that you value your privacy and you don’t want to drag all that other baggage back into the light, but girl, this is a man following you wearing a damn hoodie. Come on. And the parking garage too? This shit just got real.”
    “They’ve got it covered. Beck has it covered.” Natalie’s gaze shifted toward the sliders at the back of her home where Beck had disappeared. Was he showering? She closed her eyes. She’d love to shower with him.
    “You think it’s Rico?”
    “He wants to meet up. Says he needs closure for his recovery.”
    “Fuck that. He can get his damned closure over the phone. Don’t you dare.”
    Natalie bit her bottom lip.
    “I know that look—don’t even think about meeting that trash. After what he did?”
    “That wasn’t his fault.
    “Bullshit. You were with him when it happened and he—”
    “Don’t.” The memories of that night, which ended in the hospital, her face battered and bruised and Rico arrested, were tucked away in Natalie’s head, and she had no desire to take them out for review. “I just .