Page 18

Nice wasn’t the best word, but it met social courtesy standards. A more accurate word would be shocked. Stunned. Maybe even freaked out.
It was almost as if she’d thought of him the other day and her thoughts had conjured him up, bringing with him painful memories she’d rather not relive.
“I see you’ve taken over your father’s business. Congratulations.”
No,nice to see you too. Not that she could blame him.
Ryder’s voice had deepened with age, his crisp, upper-class accent formed by an aristocratic lineage and honed at Eton and Oxford. So different from her nondescript American accent, never allowed to stew in one culture for any length of time as a military brat.
“I didn’t have much choice. My father died of a heart attack six months ago.”
A flicker of what appeared to be sympathy darkened Ryder’s eyes before disappearing. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.”
He reached into his jacket pocket and produced a white business card, placing it on the desk in front of her. “My card.”
She glanced down.Ryder Montague, Vice President, Executive Protection, Dìleas Security Agency. The card listed both US and UK phone numbers.
Penny Turner had sent her an email this morning with information about the man who was supposed to be meeting her today. Caleb Varella. She’d barely glanced at it and hadn’t bothered to research the company. Lucas recommended them, and that was good enough for her.
If she’d known…
Nathalie turned to her computer. A new email from Penny, time-stamped six minutes ago, had arrived. Ignoring the man sitting across from her jangling her nerves with his direct, blue stare, she clicked open the message to see Ryder’s photo and the highlights of his last eight years.
Former British special forces.
Her shocked gaze flew to meet his before returning to the computer screen. He’d been so shy when she knew him, resigned to a future at his family’s commercial real-estate firm.
Apparently, he’d rebelled, not only joining the military, but somehow making it through the grueling training that special forces selection required.
She read on.
Former security team leader assigned to protect US government contractors in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Certified Protection Professional. Licensed to operate as a close protection operative in the US, UK, and EU.
None of this made sense. What could have sent him in a direction the polar opposite of where he was expected to be?
Her stomach flip-flopped like she was at the top of a roller coaster and her lungs squeezed.
Was she the reason? The cruel way she’d broken up with him?
He’d never seen it coming.
The shy, sweet boy she’d had to trick into talking to her had been to war. He’d carried a weapon. Used it.
She chanced a look at his stony expression. Given the look on his face, he might be tempted to use it on her.
His sudden reappearance threw her off balance and left her feeling vulnerable—a feeling she hated. How was she supposed to be around him and pretend she wasn’t swamped with regrets and the burden of a secret he could never discover?
She couldn’t. Not when she was on the verge of achieving her father’s dream. He had to go. “Slumming it as a bodyguard, are we? What does your family think?”
Ryder’s eyes hardened to sapphires. The brief tilt of his lips that passed for a smile conveyed icy disdain. “Unlike you, I never cared what my family thought.”
Touché.
She’d used his upper-crust British background and his family’s disapproval of their relationship as an excuse to break up with him. Had thrown it at him like a dagger, trying to ensure he wouldn’t follow her back to the US. So he wouldn’t continue to believe they were meant to be together.