Chain Reaction
Bodyguard #3
Tara Wyatt
On Sale: February 28, 2017
Publisher: Forever
SHE NEEDS A LOVER AND A FIGHTER
Blonde. Beautiful. Talented. Alexa Fairfax is
practically Hollywood royalty. But growing up in a family of legendary movie
stars also puts her in the spotlight for danger. And after she discovers a plot
more deadly than any movie script, Alexa desperately needs a bodyguard. A man
like Zack De Luca. A true friend with a good heart, a protective nature-and the
hard, chiseled muscles to back it up.
Zack has always been wildly attracted to
Alexa. But since he's training day and night to be an MMA fighter, he's afraid
his gorgeous friend will only distract him from his goal. Indescribably sweet
and irresistibly sexy, Alexa needs Zack to pretend to be her boyfriend
after her life is threatened. Now this fighter-in-training will have to fight
his own intense feelings-to keep their little charade from turning into a major
disaster . . .
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She leaned her back against the door and shut her
eyes, her face ghostly white. Her hands shook as she adjusted the strap of her
purse on her shoulder.
Frowning, Zack shoved his hands into the pockets of
his jeans and headed toward her. She smiled weakly when she saw him, her lips
twitching up for a second, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. Her fingers
curled around the strap of her purse, her knuckles going the same shade of
white as her face. Something hot and protective tightened his chest, and for a
crazy second, he wanted to reach out and pull her into his arms, to promise her
that, whatever it was, she’d be okay.
Instead he stopped a few feet in front of her, his
hands still in his pockets. “Alexa? You okay?”
Her eyes met his, and she sucked in a shaky breath.
“I...Oh God.” She pressed her hands to her face and let out a soft sob, her
shoulders trembling.
Zack yanked his hands from his pockets and pulled
Alexa into his arms, cradling her against his chest. She felt so tiny, so
vulnerable. She barely reached his shoulder despite the fact that she had heels
on.
“What happened? Did someone hurt you?” he whispered
into her light-blond hair, so fine and soft under his fingers as he stroked the
back of her head. So help him God, if someone had hurt her, he would make them
bleed.
She pulled back, just enough to look up at him, and
he noticed the mascara smudged under her eye. He left his arms around her. It
would’ve felt wrong to take them away.
She shook her head slowly, her bottom lip caught
between her teeth. “I...don’t think...I can’t.”
“Do you want to go outside? Get some fresh air?”
Maybe if she calmed down a little, she’d be able to tell him what the hell had
her so...It was more than upset.
The poor girl was fucking spooked.
She hesitated a second before nodding. Without a
word he tucked her under his arm, shielding her from the view of the other
party guests. He led her down a hallway off the foyer and into the garage,
where a side door led into the quiet, dark backyard. The noise from the party
filtered out through the open windows, mingling with the soft gurgle of water
from the pool. A cool spring breeze rustled the palm fronds and teased Alexa’s
shoulder-length hair around her jaw. She brushed it aside as he led her to a
stone bench off to the right, their backs to the house.
For several moments they just sat, Alexa sniffling
and staring blankly at the still water of the pool. Zack stroked a hand up and
down her back, hoping to comfort her in some way. He’d spent the past year as a
bodyguard honing his protective instincts, and they now came to life, alarm
bells ringing through his skull. Something was very, very wrong.
When she finally spoke, she surprised him with her
question. “Who’s the party for? Sierra was cagey about it on the phone
earlier.”
Zack glanced back at the house. “Oh. Uh, for Taylor
and Colt. They got married in Vegas last weekend.”
Alexa’s head whipped around. “What? But didn’t they
just get together?”
“Yeah.”
“They’re crazy.” She shook her head, but he could
hear the smile in her voice.
“That’s what I said.”
Gently, she laid a hand on his arm, the tips of her
fingers warm against his skin. “Are you okay?”
Fuck, she was so sweet. He was supposed to be
comforting her and finding out why she’d suddenly burst into tears, and she was
worried about him because his ex-girlfriend had eloped.
He laid a hand over hers, allowing himself the
luxury of tracing his thumb over her delicate knuckles. “I’m fine. Just
surprised, like everyone, I think. You gonna tell me what’s wrong?”
She sighed heavily. “I don’t even know where to
start.” “Beginning’s usually a good place.”
She scoffed out a laugh. “That would take
too long.”
He turned to face her. “Did someone hurt you? What
happened, Alexa?”
A tremble coursed through her,
and he wished he were wearing more than a T-shirt and jeans so that he had a
jacket or a sweater to offer her. But he didn’t, so instead he pulled her close
and tucked her against him. “Please tell me. I want to help.”
She swallowed thickly and looked up at him, meeting
his gaze. “I...I think my dad’s a murderer and that I might be in a lot of
trouble.”
Excerpted from CHAIN REACTION by Tara Wyatt.
Copyright © 2017 by Tara Wyatt. Reprinted with permission of Forever. All
rights reserved.
Tara Wyatt has been making up love stories ever
since she fell head over heels for the Backstreet Boys almost twenty years ago.
Winner of the Unpublished Winter Rose Award, Linda Howard Award of Excellence
and the Heart of the West Award, Tara lives in Hamilton, Ontario with the
cutest dog in the world and a husband that makes all of her heroes look like
chumps.
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