Bodyguard SEAL (SEALs of Coronado Book 8), Paige Tyler [best classic books txt] 📗

a bodyguard with a passion. She was a private person by nature. It sorta came with being a writer. It was nothing for her to go days—sometimes even weeks—without interacting with anyone in person. Well, except for Laurissa. The idea of having a stranger in her house made her more than a little uncomfortable.

Em was talking about the various personal security companies that were available, saying they could have several candidates brought in so Peyton could find someone she gelled with. Peyton didn’t say anything, but she wasn’t sure if that would help.

“There is another option,” Laurissa said, her voice softer than normal for her petite but normally outgoing friend. “I know someone who’s extremely well-trained. World class protection, actually. He could protect you and it wouldn’t be weird since it wouldn’t be a total stranger.”

While Peyton frowned in confusion, wondering who Laurissa was talking about, Em looked intrigued. “You know someone with experience at protecting people who’d take on a new client at the drop of a hat like this?”

Laurissa smiled and nodded. “My brother, Noah. He’s a Navy SEAL on the Team at Coronado, so it goes without saying that there would be nobody better in the world at keeping Peyton safe. He’s on medical leave right now and going stir crazy in his apartment playing video games all day. He’d jump at any excuse to get out of his place for a while. And once I tell him it’s for a friend, he’d probably do it for free.”

Realizing her mouth was hanging open, Peyton quickly snapped it shut. She was having a big problem wrapping her head around the idea of a Navy SEAL—as in the kind of Navy SEAL who’d taken down Bin Laden—protecting her and her book. The entire concept was insane.

“If your brother is on medical leave, how can he keep an eye on Peyton?” Em asked. “We need someone healthy and capable.”

Laurissa waved her hand dismissively. “He just twisted his knee playing volleyball and pulled some ligaments or something. The SEALs put him on medical leave because he can’t do the stuff they want him to do right now—jump out of planes, swim the English Channel, ride a shark while chasing a nuclear submarine. You know, SEAL stuff. He’s still more fit than 99 percent of the men on the planet and won’t even break a sweat keeping Peyton safe.”

Em thought about that for a moment before nodding, her expression telling Peyton she was already on board with Laurissa’s crazy idea. Peyton, on the other hand, still wasn’t so sure. While she’d seen loads of pictures of Laurissa’s brother, and had heard so many stories about him she felt like he was a friend, the truth was that they’d never actually met. Wouldn’t it still be weird to have him in her house 24/7 for the foreseeable future?

It was Laurissa’s impossible-to-ignore doe eyes that finally swayed Peyton to agree with this ridiculous scheme. Laurissa was her best friend in the world and Peyton could never deny her anything. Besides, if the pictures she’d been seeing of Noah all these years was any indication, the man would be easy enough on the eyes to make her overlook the inconvenience of having him staying with her.

“Okay, I’ll agree to let Noah be my bodyguard,” she said, really hoping she didn’t come to regret this decision. “But I insist that he gets paid. If my publisher is so hot and heavy about this, they can damn well foot the bill for it.”

“Excellent!” Jumping to her feet, Laurissa did a little happy dance. “Now, I just have to call Noah and convince him to do it.”

Peyton did a double take. “Wait a minute. I thought you said he’d jump at the chance to do this. Now you’re saying he might not?”

Laurissa simply waved her hand again as she reached for the cell phone in her back pocket. “Noah can be stubborn sometimes, but he can’t say no to me. I’m his Kryptonite.”

* * * * *

Noah took in the beach front property as he walked up to the front door of the house Laurissa had given him the address for. A gorgeous two-story deal with lots of windows, it was the kind of place he’d never be able to afford in a million years. A part of him wondered how much a place like this cost, even as the other part shouted at him to turn around and get back in his SUV before it was too late.

“Chasen would absolutely lose his mind if he knew I was doing this,” he muttered.

Noah shook his head as he realized he’d actually said the words out loud. Ten days into his medical leave and he was already talking to himself. At this rate, he’d be looking at a psychological evaluation and discharge before he ever had to worry about getting chaptered out of the Navy over his bum knee.

That medic over in Yemen had been right. Noah’s ligaments were intact, but the military doctor he’d seen stateside had told him he was damn lucky. One more tweak of his knee before it fully healed and his career in the SEALs was toast. He needed to stay off it as much as possible, alternate ice and heat multiple times throughout the day and night and do the gentle range-of-motion exercises the physical therapist had shown him. If he did that for the next six weeks, he had a good shot at making it back to active duty.

And he’d intended to do just that. He really had. But barely ten days into his rehab, he was ready to say the hell with it all and run screaming into the mountains surrounding San Diego. He’d always known he wasn’t the type to sit still for very long, but being told he had to essentially sit on his couch and do nothing for months was driving him insane.

So, when Laurissa called and asked for help protecting a friend, he hadn’t