Her Rancher Bodyguard by Brenda Minton Page A

bodyguard might seem like a relaxed cowboy, but he wasn’t. He was the man standing between her and the unknown.
    * * *
    Boone stepped to the window before going to the front door. He moved the curtain and peeked out. Jase was behind him, of course. Little brothers could never mind their own business.
    â€œI didn’t ask for backup,” Boone said as he let the curtain drop back into place.
    â€œNo, you didn’t. But we’re brothers.”
    â€œIt’s just Jake. He must have found out she’s here.”
    Jase had the nerve to turn tail and run. “Have fun with that. I think it’s my turn to do dishes.”
    â€œDishes, my—” he watched his brother head down the hall “—foot.”
    He opened the door to Jake Martin. He didn’t remember Jake being quite so tall, or so angry. Yeah, it made him pity Remington Jenkins more than ever. Remington had fallen hard for Samantha Martin ten years ago when the two had been teens. Jake had run him out of town.
    Boone wasn’t a seventeen-year-old kid, and he had a job that included keeping Kayla Stanford safe. So when faced with Jake’s glowering look, he just smiled and leaned against the door as if all was well. Boone had learned long ago that silence always proved successful in getting the other person to talk.
    â€œI want to know why my sister is here and not at our place, Wilder. I want to know why we weren’t informed that she might be in danger.”
    Boone stepped onto the porch and closed the door behind him. Jake stepped out of his way. When Boone headed down the stairs and toward the barn, Jake followed.
    â€œIs there a reason you won’t answer me?” Jake continued as Boone opened the barn door.
    â€œBecause I don’t answer to you. I answer to Kayla and her father.” He felt bad about that, but he wouldn’t break confidentiality clauses. “I would like to know how you found out she was here.”
    â€œShe texted Samantha.”
    Boone spun around to face the other man, forgetting for a second that his balance wasn’t always the best. He reached for the wall and steadied himself. “She did what?”
    Jake gave him a tight smile. “What, you didn’t know? She’s not going to make this easy for you. And I don’t appreciate not being kept in the loop.”
    â€œThen, we’ll sit down together, the three of us, and she can tell you what you want to know. If she wants you to be told, that is. But I can’t keep her safe if she’s texting everyone in the state.”
    A throat cleared and he sighed. Kayla was standing in the doorway, early-morning sunlight streaming behind her, leaving her face in shadows.
    â€œI’m not a child. You can do your job, Boone, but you’re not going to keep me from my family.”
    Frustrated didn’t begin to describe how he felt at that moment. “I wouldn’t think of keeping you from your family. I would like to keep you safe. And I need honesty and a little cooperation from you to do that.”
    â€œHonesty?” She narrowed those magnificent blue eyes at him. “You want honesty? I can do honesty. I honestly want to live my own life. I know I’ve messed up. I know they think they have something they can use against my dad. But I’d like for everyone to leave me alone. I was doing fine. I was getting my life together. I was finding pieces of myself I left behind. I was doing it. Alone. And I don’t need...” She sobbed, the sound catching in her throat, and her eyes widened.
    Jake shook his head. “Part of your problem, Kayla, is that you don’t have to be alone. In any of this.”
    â€œNot right now, Jake.” Boone knew when a woman was about to fall apart. Jake had never been soft or subtle. “Why don’t you head home and we’ll call you.”
    Boone left the older man standing there as he took Kayla by the hand and led her from the