Her Rancher Bodyguard
Her Texas ProtectorBodyguard Boone Wilder isn’t keen on his latest mission: watching over a pretty politician’s daughter. Boone is quiet Texas Hill country and Kayla is a showy city gal. But once safely settled at the Wilder Ranch, Boone watches Kayla enjoy cooking with his family, caring for his relatives, and bottle feeding calves. There’s more to her than he ever knew. Still, the former soldier’s wounds are way too deep to let Kayla close. But when he discovers someone wants to hurt Kayla, Boone must risk his heart to protect what he cares about most.Martin’s Crossing: In this small Texas town, every heart finds a home.
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Her Texas Protector
Bodyguard Boone Wilder isnât keen on his latest mission: watching over a pretty politicianâs daughter. Boone is from quiet Texas Hill Country, and Kayla is a showy city gal. But once safely settled at the Wilder Ranch, Boone watches Kayla enjoy cooking with his family, caring for his relatives and bottle-feeding calves. Thereâs more to her than he ever knew. Still, the former soldierâs wounds are way too deep to let Kayla close. But when he discovers that someone wants to hurt Kayla, Boone must risk his heart to protect what he cares about most.
She hadnât expected this.
Boone should be in the background, quietly observing. And yet here she sat with her bodyguard and his family, talking of cattle and fixing fences.
A hand settled on her back. She glanced at the man next to her; his dark eyes crinkled at the corners and his mouth quirked, revealing a dimple in his left cheek.
He opened his mouth as if to say something, but a heavy knock on the front door interrupted. He pushed away from the table.
âI think Iâll get that.â His gaze landed on Kayla. âYou stay right where you are until I say otherwise.â
âThey wouldnât come here,â she said.
âWe donât know what they would or wouldnât do, because we donât know who they are. Stay.â He walked away.
Kayla avoided looking at the people who still remained at the table. She knew they were looking at her. She knew that her life had invaded theirs.
And she knew that her bodyguard might seem like a relaxed cowboy, but he wasnât. He was the man standing between her and the unknown.
BRENDA MINTON lives in the Ozarks with her husband, children, cats, dogs and strays. She is a pastorâs wife, Sunday school teacher, coffee addict and sleep-deprived. Not in that order. Her dream to be an author for Harlequin started somewhere in the pages of a romance novel about a young American woman stranded in a Spanish castle. Her dreams came true, and twenty-plus books later, she is an author hoping to inspire young girls to dream.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution,
or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
âRomans 8:35
To those who persevere.
To my family and friends,
for the support and prayers.
And to Melissa and Giselle.
Without you, Iâd be a mess. Thank you for everything!
Contents
From bodyguard to babysitter. Boone Wilder leaned against the exterior brick wall of a closed boutique store in a pricey part of Austin, Texas. The sun had set more than an hour earlier and the temperature had cooled to a balmy eighty degrees. Not bad for early September. But he wished he was at home in Martinâs Crossing sipping iced tea on his front porch and not standing in front of a clothing store in Austin on a late-summer evening.
He should have argued a little more when his partner Daron McKay had asked him to take this case. Daron knew the subject and knew she wouldnât listen to him. The third partner at MWP Bodyguard Services, Lucy Palermo, was Booneâs backup. Daron had joked that Lucy couldnât take lead because Lucy would just shoot the client if she got on her nerves.
Lucy hadnât found that statement as amusing as Boone and Daron.
At the moment his client was across the street in a trendy café, sipping coffee and oblivious to his presence. That was how her dad, William Stanford, wanted it. Booneâs job was to keep Kayla Stanford out of trouble, without her being aware. Heâd been following her for a week now, close enough to keep her safe, far enough away that she didnât have a clue.
Heâd like to keep it that way, with her not knowing of his existence. He was supposed to interfere in Kaylaâs life only if she appeared to be in danger, or if she appeared to be on the verge of creating a scandal. Those were her fatherâs directives. Boone had talked to Kaylaâs half brother Brody Martin, who had assured him that she had a way of generating controversy.
A group of people were walking down the sidewalk. He stepped back, leaned against the wall and pulled his hat low. He touched the brim as they walked past, just to be gentlemanly. One of the women, a little older, and wearing too much makeup, winked and then grabbed the arm of a friend. They smiled and talked loudly about his jeans and cowboy boots, their voices echoing against the brick buildings on each side of the street.
As he watched for Kayla Stanford to leave the café, Boone planned what heâd say to Daron. Yeah, this was a good job and the big fat check theyâd been paid was welcome. But this was not what Boone had signed on for when he, Daron and Lucy had started their bodyguard business a little over a year ago. So far theyâd managed to build a decent business by protecting politicians and doing security at various functions. Those were the jobs they were trained for. The three of them had served together in Afghanistan and theyâd formed a bond.
