Her Soldier Protector

He was starting to become way too comfortable sitting around with Candace, eating fancy food like he did it every day.

Smoke billowed around him, obscuring almost everything. He walked slowly, not able to see even one of his feet, but he never let go of Ranger’s leash. And then he stumbled, looked down and realized he’d just walked over another human being, facedown in the sand.

Logan cleared his throat, pushing away the memories that always hit him when he was least expecting them. If he wasn’t on duty, he would have changed his shoes and hit the gym. But today that wasn’t an option, and neither was giving in to his memories.

CHAPTER TWO

CANDACE TOOK A deep breath, mentally preparing for the concert. She’d been given her sixty-minute countdown already, which meant it was time to start running through her exercises, have a little something to drink, stretching out so she was all limbered up and dressing in her first costume.

But preparing for the performance wasn’t taking up all her energy like it should have been. Instead she was thinking about a certain man who’d as good as knocked the wind from her earlier in the afternoon.

She’d been single for so long, not to mention the fact that she hadn’t met a man who’d even remotely interested her for close to a year. Maybe that was why Logan had surprised her so much. Because even if she stayed true to her promise to remain single, she could still appreciate a good-looking man. And Logan was a fine-looking addition to the male species.

Candace cleared her throat and was about to start rehearsing when there was a knock at the door. She didn’t call out because she was saving her voice, but she did cross the room to see who it was.

“Hey.”

The man she’d been trying her best not to think about was standing in the hallway.

“How did you get past my security detail?” she asked in a low voice.

Logan grinned. “It just so happens I know the boss.”

She laughed and pulled open the door so he could come in. She was about to ask him in when he held his hand up and shook his head.

“I’m not going to disturb you, I just wanted to check that you felt safe,” he told her. “I personally handpicked the men working tonight, so you’ve got nothing to worry about, and I’m going off duty now for a quick break.”

Candace thought for a second before saying what was on her mind. “What do you think about escorting me to stage and watching from the wings?”

“Like my own private concert?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

She grinned. The idea of having Logan close by in case something did happen would be reassuring.

“What if I made you a trade?” she asked.

He cocked his head, clearly listening.

“I’ll say yes to the night out you suggested, tonight, if you look after me for the duration of my performance.”

Logan didn’t even blink he answered her so fast. “You’re on.”

Candace met Logan’s gaze, determined to keep her head held high. He was a handsome man who happened to be protecting her, and one she’d agreed to go on a date of sorts with. It didn’t mean she had to go all bashful and forget the confident woman she usually was.

“Well, that’s settled then,” she said. “I’m going to keep running through my routine, so if you could come back in about forty-five minutes?”

Logan nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

Candace forced herself to stop staring at the tall, heavily muscled hunk standing outside her door and shut it instead, slowly slithering to the floor once she did so, cool timber against her back. She was behaving like a silly girl, flirting with a man who probably had no interest in her other than to parade her around a few hotspots on his arm. How many times before had she had someone say to her that they wanted to take her on a quiet date, only to find the paparazzi tipped off the moment they arrived at a restaurant or club? Or a man pretending he wasn’t interested in her fame, only to find out he was a wannabe film star or singer with a CD he wanted to slip her during drinks or over an entrée. That was why she’d sworn off men for the time being.

Deep down, she wanted to believe that Logan was different, but until he’d proven that he wasn’t the type of guy she was used to, she needed to tread lightly. No falling for her bodyguard, no touching her bodyguard and definitely no letting herself think, at any stage, that he could be anything more than fun.

She’d tried serious, and it hadn’t worked. She’d even tried marriage, too, and that hadn’t worked out well at all. When it came to men, she’d realized that maybe she just wasn’t good at picking them, and it was probably something she’d inherited from her mom. Her mom might have been an incredible businesswoman, but she’d also had to raise Candace singlehandedly because of her poor decisions when it came to the male species.

Candace sighed, reached out for her first outfit, ran her hands down the silk, shut her eyes and imagined herself on stage, wearing it. Listening to the crowd. Holding the microphone as the band started to play. Hair and makeup would be back any minute, and so would her stylist.

She could do this. She’d performed a hundred times before, and Logan had promised her that the venue was safe and secure. She needed to forget the stupid threats and just do what she did best. Because no matter what happened to her, no one could ever take away her love of singing. Performing was the love of her life and it always would be.

This was her time to shine.

* * *

“You a fan of country music?”

Logan glanced at the woman standing beside him, her headset pulled back so she could talk to him. She was holding a tablet, and until now she’d had her eyes glued to it and had been speaking intently into her headset.

“I can’t say I’ve ever really listened to it before,” he admitted. Truth be told, he’d never listened to it because he’d never really liked it before, but watching this particular performance was fast converting him to the genre.

“She’s pretty incredible to watch,” the woman said, pulling on her headset again. “I get to see a lot of performers, but she’s hands down the most talented and nicest we’ve hosted yet.”

Logan smiled in reply and turned his attention back to Candace. As the song finished she wowed the crowd with her mesmerizing, soft laugh, before turning around and waving toward the band so they could have their own round of applause. He was pleased that she’d asked him to watch, but he’d actually been employed to stay until the end of her concert anyway. He just hadn’t told her that.

“Thank you for having me here tonight!” she told her fans. “Australia is one of the most beautiful countries I’ve ever visited, and I wish I had more time to spend here.”

The applause was deafening, but Logan could no more take his eyes off her and walk away than he could stop breathing. If there was such a thing as star power, she had it—on stage she wasn’t the sweet, soft-spoken woman he’d spent time with earlier in the day. Up there, her presence was almost overpowering, and the screaming fans only seemed to make her light up more in front of them, her confidence soaring as they encouraged her.

As she burst into another song, Logan leaned against the wall where he was standing. The past year had been nothing short of hard, unbearable, and being here tonight, watching Candace, was the kind of night he’d needed, even if it was technically work.

When Sam had died...hell. He didn’t want to go back there. Losing one of his closest friends so soon after his parents’ accident, then coming so close to losing another under different circumstances, not to mention deciding to retire—he’d only just pulled through. But the rush he’d felt when Candace had said yes to a night out with him had given him a much needed boost. He was ready to add some nice memories to his thought bank, and Candace was exactly the kind of memory he’d prefer to dwell upon.

He looked up as the next song came to an end, and the next thing he knew Candace was running toward him.

“What did you think?” she asked, eyes flashing as she glanced at him, a big smile on her face as she ran in her heels. “The crowd is crazy here!”

She kept moving, not pausing, so Logan spun and jogged to keep up with her, even as she was surrounded by a group of people who started to tug at her clothes and talk a million miles an hour.

“You were great out there,” he managed when the crowd paused for a nanosecond.

“You really think so?”

There was an innocence in her gaze that made Logan smile, because this was the woman he’d glimpsed earlier. The one who was so used to being told by others what they thought she wanted to hear, that she no longer knew who to believe, who to trust. She wanted to know whether she could believe him—it was so obvious it was written all over her face, and he had no more intention of lying to her than anyone else.

“I know so,” he told her honestly.

The words were barely out of his mouth before she disappeared into her dressing room, and Logan turned his back when he realized the door wasn’t going to be closed. It seemed like only minutes later that she was running back out again, heading toward the stage, and instead of trying to keep up with her this time he just walked behind. She was still being plucked and prodded, her outfit pulled into shape and her hair fiddled with just before she was due back on stage. The woman with the tablet from earlier was flapping her arms at a group of dancers, before starting a countdown and sending them on as the music started again.

Just before she disappeared, Candace turned and locked her gaze on his, smiling for barely a second before throwing one hand in the air and returning to the stage.

There was no doubting she was a brilliant performer, but she was also like a little girl desperately in need of someone to look after her and trust in. To tell her the truth when she needed it, but also to shield her from harm.

“I’m not that person,” Logan muttered to himself, even as his instinct to protect reared within him before he could stamp it out.

He’d protected and looked after people all his life, and still he’d lost those he loved. Some of the people he cared most about in the world, and some strangers whose faces he’d never forget until the day he died, too. Looking after Candace while she was on stage and during her press conference tomorrow was his job, and one he intended on doing well, and tonight was about having fun with a beautiful woman. There was no need to overthink the situation or turn it into something it wasn’t.

He wasn’t going to be the one to rescue her, because he was still waiting to be rescued himself. Tonight was going to be great, but after that he’d never see her again, which meant she wasn’t his to worry about. Or protect.

* * *

Candace took one last bow after her second encore song before walking from the stage. It had been the kind of night she loved, the type that made her remember how lucky she was to perform for a career, even though her nerves had jangled whenever she’d let her mind stray to the hate mail she’d been receiving. There were always those times when she wondered if that person was in the crowd, watching her, but with Logan standing in the wings and the security amped up for the evening, she’d tried to make herself just relax. And for the most part it had worked.

Her heart was still pounding, adrenaline making her feel a million dollars, as she disappeared into the darkness of the wings, her eyes taking a moment to adjust from the bright lights she’d been performing under.

“I think you’ve made me like country music,” a deep male voice said.

She recognized Logan’s Australian twang the moment she heard it, and her heart started to race a little more.

“I’d say I don’t believe you, but I kind of want to,” she said with a laugh.

“I’m actually thinking of joining your insane fans and lining up for a CD and T-shirt. It seems to be the thing to do.”

She laughed, brushing her hand against his as she passed and then snatching it back like she’d connected with a flame. It had been a long time since she’d just touched someone impulsively like that, and it wasn’t something she wanted to make a habit of. Especially not with a man, even if she was enjoying his company.

“You can have a free T-shirt, I’ll even autograph it for you,” she teased.

“So what time do you want to head out?” he asked, following her.

Candace took a slow breath, still energized from her ninety minutes on stage. She always felt amazing at the end of a performance, exhaustion never setting in for hours after she finished.

“We’ll need to wait until the crowds die down. I don’t mind signing a couple of autographs, but I’m not going to ruin my buzz by being mobbed. Not tonight.”

Logan shook his head. “I think we’re best to leave immediately, before anyone expects you to depart. My truck’s parked around the back and we should be able to get in before anyone realizes it’s you, so long as we move quickly.”

Candace wasn’t convinced, but then she also usually timed these kind of things all wrong anyway and ended up in the middle of a hundred fans, trying to reach her getaway car. Or else her manager set things up to happen like that for maximum publicity when she gave him explicit instructions to the contrary.

“I don’t believe you, but I’m prepared to give you the benefit of the doubt,” she said.

“Good. I’ll go check the exit now and be back in ten minutes,” he told her. “Shall we meet in your dressing room?”

Candace nodded. “Let’s do it.”

The idea of a night out was exciting—she’d become used to feeling fantastic, on a high from singing, then going straight back to a hotel room, alone. Most of the time she ended up ordering room service, watching an old movie and going to bed, before receiving her wake-up call and taking a car to the airport early the next morning. Before she’d become recognizable, she’d always had a fun night out after any gig, which was why tonight was like a blast from the past for her. Add the tourism campaign she was the face of, and she didn’t have a hope of Australians not realizing who she was.

It was yet to be seen whether she could even manage to leave the building without being recognized or followed, so she could easily end up holed up in her hotel room just when she least expected it.

Candace closed her dressing room door the moment she stepped inside and slipped the feathery minidress off, letting it pool to the floor. She rummaged around in her case for the casual clothes she’d packed, in case she needed them, pulling out a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and wriggling her way into them. She didn’t have anything other than a T-shirt to wear, so she flicked through the tops hanging on her racks, wishing they weren’t all so costume looking, until she spotted a sequined black tank. Candace pulled it over her head, grabbed a studded leather biker jacket, and slipped into a pair of dangerously high heels she’d worn on stage earlier in the evening.

Glancing at the clock on the wall, she stopped, took a deep breath, then sat down at her dressing table. Her makeup was excessive—thick false eyelashes and sparkly eyeshadow—but she didn’t have time to change it. Besides, Logan had seen her looking like this all evening. She did run her fingers through her hair to flatten it down a bit, teasing the hairspray from her curls so it felt like real hair again, so it was touchable.

There was a knock at the door. Candace jumped, glaring at her reflection at the same time. It was just Logan, and it wasn’t like she hadn’t known he was coming, but her nerves had been permanently on edge for weeks now. Maybe she could talk to him about it and see what he thought the best way to react to the threats was.

“Just a minute!” she called out.

Candace jumped up to grab her purse, checked her credit card, phone and hotel swipe card were all inside and swung open the door.

“Wow.”

Logan’s approving smile and the way he looked her up and down made her laugh. He seemed to say what he was thinking, and she liked the fact he was a straight shooter with her.

“Are we cleared to leave?” she asked, trying to ignore what he’d just said even though she couldn’t stop smiling.

“I told your manager and the rest of the team that you’re feeling ill, and you wanted me to escort you straight to the hotel. I said we’ll be exiting from the side entrance, and I have a feeling there’ll be a lot of fans waiting there, if you catch my drift.”

“So we can’t go?” she asked, hearing the disappointment in her own voice.

Logan gave her a wry smile, a dimple flashing against his cheek at the same time. “We’re going out the very back. My vehicle’s parked down the alleyway, so no one will see us.”

“So you lied to everyone?” she asked.

“I expanded the truth,” he said, winking as he gestured for her to follow him. “I have a feeling your manager is more interested in getting publicity than a quiet getaway for you, and given that I’m your head of security, all I care about is your safety. You say no fans or paparazzi? That’s what I give you.”

Candace shook her head. “I think I underestimated you,” she said with a chuckle.

“I also told them that you’d be exiting in fifteen minutes, so if we’re going to do this, I think we should hurry, just in case someone comes looking for you before we go.”

He waited for her to nod, then clasped her hand firmly, walking fast in the opposite direction to which they’d arrived earlier in the day. Candace had to almost run to keep up with his long, loping stride, but she didn’t care. Logan was going to get her out of here without being mobbed, without even having to come face-to-face with her manager, and she might actually have a drink at a bar before anyone figured out who she was. Adrenaline was starting to fill her with hope.

Her phone started to beep in her purse, and she managed to open it without slowing down. She glanced at the screen.

“It’s Billy, my manager,” she told Logan when he looked down.

“Text him from the car when we’re driving away,” he said. “You can tell him we’ve gone once we’ve hit the main road, but not before.”

Candace slipped the phone back into her purse and hurried along with Logan, trying to concentrate on not falling off her stiletto heels. A few little white lies weren’t going to hurt anyone, especially not her manager, who didn’t seem to care that she’d spent the past few weeks frightened out of her own skin about the thought of being in public.

* * *

“So did you believe me when I said I’d get you out of there?”

Logan glanced over at Candace and saw that she was staring out the window, watching the world as it blurred past.

“No,” she replied, sighing and turning in her seat to face him. “If I’m completely honest I didn’t even want to let myself hope that I’d get out of there that easily.”

“So I don’t need to ask you if you’re still keen for a few drinks and something to eat?”

Candace laughed and it made him smile. “I’ll stay out until someone starts flashing camera bulbs in my face.”

“You’re on. The places I’m taking you no one will ever find us.”

She was looking out the window again, and he took his foot off the gas a little so they weren’t going so fast. For someone who hadn’t found it easy being back or dealing with people, he was finding it weirdly easy to talk to Candace. She should be the one person he had nothing in common with, but for some reason he was drawn to the fact that she was an outcast just like he was, albeit a different one. It settled him somehow.

“That kind of makes you sound like a serial killer,” she finally responded, like she was just thinking out aloud. “Which makes me wonder how I ended up letting you whisk me away from everyone who’s supposed to be looking after me and keeping me safe.”

“I’m the one who kept you safe today, so you don’t have a lot to worry about,” Logan told her, taking his eyes off the road for a second to make sure she was listening to him, looking at him. “If I’m perfectly honest, you have a manager who makes sure you get mobbed when he knows you hate it, and the rest of your entourage probably have way less interest in making sure you’re kept out of harm’s way than I do.”

She shut her eyes and put her head against the rest. “I know you’re right about my manager. Deep down, I think I’ve known it for a while. I just didn’t want to acknowledge it.”

He didn’t answer. He knew he was right, but he didn’t need to make her feel worse than she probably already did.

“Until you said that, I guess I’ve been trying to bury my head in the sand and pretend like everything’s fine.”

Logan fought the battle to bite his tongue and lost. “The guy’s seriously bad news. How long have you put up with him for? I know you have more experience with the whole celebrity thing than I ever will, but that’s a layperson’s take on him.”

Candace sighed. “He’s been with me for years, and he used to be a lot better than he is now, that’s for sure,” she muttered. “Things have kind of been going downhill for a while now.”

“How about we stop talking about work and just have a nice night?” Logan suggested, wishing he’d just kept his mouth shut instead of insulting her people. For once in his life he wasn’t screwing up—usually something he only managed to achieve in his work life—and he needed to just enjoy the company of a beautiful woman.

“You betcha,” Candace agreed. “Hey, where’s your dog tonight?”

Logan grimaced. “I left him at home. He was pretty pissed.”

“You know, for a dog he’s kind of nice.”

“You’re a cat person, aren’t you?”

She laughed, like she was embarrassed. “Sure am. I was attacked by a German Shepherd when I was a little girl. In fact, I still have the scars to prove it. I’ve just never really warmed to dogs since. Stupid, I know, but just the way I am.”

“Understandable.” Personally, he wasn’t fussed on cats, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. “I’ve had dogs all my life, but then I’ve never had one be anything other than loyal to me.”

“Back home I have a pair of Birman cats called Indie and Lexie, and if I’m completely honest they’ve probably done me more damage with their claws than your dog has probably ever done to you with his teeth.”

They both laughed. Logan changed the subject for a second, wanting to point out to Candace where they were going.

“See just over there? That’s Cockle Bay and it’s where I’m taking you for dinner.”

“I thought we were just going for drinks?” she asked, her nose almost pressed to the window, looking where he’d pointed.

It was the reason Logan had brought her here, because he knew how amazing the harbor was to visitors. Him? He’d grown up with it and was used to it, but every time he’d returned from a tour it had always put a smile on his face, told him he was home.

“If you’re not hungry, we can always skip dinner.”

“Don’t be silly. After all that energy I used on stage, I’m famished,” she admitted. “And dinner sounds great.”

Logan parked his four-by-four and jumped out, grabbing his jacket and pulling it on. He walked around the vehicle and opened the passenger door, waiting for Candace to step out.

“Thank you,” she said. “You know, it’s kind of strange for me getting out on this side of the road.”

Logan waited for her to grab her purse, before shutting the door and leading the way, walking slowly so she didn’t have to hurry beside him.

“Your shoes are insanely high.”

“I know, but aren’t they fab? They were a gift from my favorite designer.”

He raised his eyebrows. “You’re talking to a soldier, sorry. But they do look cool, I guess, for a pair of shoes, that is.”

Candace laughed. “I definitely need to spend more time with real people. Of course you couldn’t care less about my shoes!”

He shrugged and pointed ahead. “We’re going to a place called Jimmy’s and they have the best seafood in Sydney. Plus they’re right on the water.”