Trading Places

He had no idea why until he saw her standing there—posing there, actually—in the arched doorway. Pictures of Sharlayne Kenyon didn’t do her justice, had not prepared him for the reality. Blond and beautiful and sleek and sexy would do for starters. She simply took his breath away, which annoyed the hell out of him.

This was business, damn it. He wouldn’t let her distract him from his duty.

He stepped forward, thrusting out his hand in a businesslike manner. “Ms. Kenyon? I’m Jed Kelby. The agency sent me.”

She batted those clear blue eyes. “Ms. Kenyon?” She duplicated his questioning tone. “Are you suggesting you’re not sure?”

Tabitha Thomas stirred. “Not to worry, Mr. Kelby,” she said with perfectly flat inflection. “She often has this effect on strangers.”

“Yeah, well…” Jed almost felt left out of the conversation, for some reason. “I’ve only seen pictures.”

A fast smile tilted Sharlayne’s lips. “I shouldn’t tease you,” she said. “I’m really quite relieved you’re here. Please, come into the living room, where we can talk.” She half turned. “Tabitha, could you send Juan to make drinks. It is almost cocktail hour.” She tossed Jed a mischievous glance.

“Not for me,” he said quickly. “I don’t drink on the job.”

“But you’re not on the job yet.” She gave him a pretty pout. “You don’t officially start until tomorrow.”

He simply shook his head: no.

“Wine, then.” Those soft lips set in a stubborn line. “Surely you can have a glass of wine. We—I’ve just put in a case of fabulous Kelby-Linus chardonnay—” She stopped short, her beautiful eyes widening. “But—are you connected to those Kelbys?”

This wasn’t going the way he expected. He didn’t want any personal relationship with this woman. Neither did he want to lie to her, so he simply said, “Yes.”

“Then that’s what we’ll have,” she said happily, clasping her hands with pleasure. A bejeweled bracelet encircled her wrist, and her nails were long and gracefully shaped. “If you please, Tabby?”

Tabitha’s mouth turned down at the corners, but she nodded and walked briskly away. There was nothing for Jed to do but follow Sharlayne wherever she might lead.

ALICE THOUGHT she might faint, she was so anxious about this first test of her false identity. Tabitha hadn’t helped, either. The woman had made no secret of her dislike for Alice, but to snipe in front of the bodyguard was completely uncalled for.

Then there was that bodyguard himself. If she’d sat down to outline her ideal man, she’d probably have come up with Jed Kelby.

In the first place, he was tall. She liked tall. Tall, dark and handsome, just like the stereotype. Great, athletic body; easy way of moving, erect posture that hinted of a military background.

If all that wasn’t enough, he had close-clipped black hair and clear hazel eyes that showed a changing pattern of green and gold. The guy was, quite simply, a knockout. And that body…

She picked up two glasses of wine and offered one to him. “Cheers,” she said, sipping.

“Cheers.” He barely sipped the wine before setting the glass on the huge carved wooden coffee table. Apparently, he really didn’t intend to drink on duty.

To hell with that. Alice needed all the courage she could get, however false. She took another swallow. “Did you have a nice drive?” she asked.

He nodded brusquely. “Why do you need a personal security specialist, Ms. Kenyon?”

She blinked in surprise. “Why…I don’t know. It just seemed like a good idea at the time.”

He frowned. “Are you in any kind of danger?”

“Not at all.” She got hold of herself then, and switched back to the official line. “That is, unless you call the press a danger. To be perfectly frank, I’ve become such a media target that sometimes I feel I’m in danger just appearing in public.” That much was true; she had no idea how Sharlayne stood the constant scrutiny and interference.

He shrugged, broad shoulders moving beneath navy-blue knit. “Guess it goes with the territory,” he said without so much as a trace of sympathy. “I understand you’ve only recently moved into this house.”

“That’s right. A few days ago, as a matter of fact.”

“Then the first order of business is for me to check out your security system.” He stood up abruptly. “If you’ll tell me where to stash my gear—”

“Wait a minute. Not so fast.” She frowned. “There’ll be plenty of time for that. Let’s talk about the rest of it.”

His dark brows rose. “What rest of it?”

“How we’re going to…relate to each other.”

“You lost me,” he said. “You’re my employer. I’m here to do the job you hired me for—protect you.”

“That’s all well and good, but I don’t want anyone to know I’ve hired a bodyguard. That would be like inviting every crackpot in town to take a shot at getting through my security.”

“Okay. Then we won’t tell anyone.”

“Exactly. But sooner or later someone will wonder who the handsome man living in my house might be.” She gave him her best come-hither look, which obviously wasn’t all that good, judging by his lack of response.

If he noticed the compliment, he failed to let on. “Okay, tell ’em I’m your cousin. I don’t care.”

“Really, Jed. Do you think anyone would believe that?”

“Why wouldn’t they?”

“Because I’m Sharlayne Kenyon, silly.” She drained her glass. “If someone asks, you’re my new boyfriend. Since I’m between close personal friends at the moment, they’ll believe that. Can we use your real name?”

“Sure. Why not? But I don’t think the boyfriend story will fly.”

“It’s the only story that will fly. With it we can spend every minute together and no one will think anything about it. You see? It’s the only way.”

“I see you think it’s the only way. I’m not so sure.”

She patted his strong jaw. “Lighten up, Jed. This will be a walk in the park for a man in your line of business. I wouldn’t want to think you’ll find it too difficult to pretend to have…feelings for me.”

“I never lighten up on the job,” he said. “Your safety is my only concern.”

Was that a challenge?

ALICE MADE IT all the way into Sharlayne’s master suite and collapsed on the chaise longue before succumbing to a bad case of shakes. “I’m dying!” she gasped. “That’s the scariest thing I ever did. I kept waiting for him to stand up and shout, ‘Imposter!’”

Sharlayne and Tabitha regarded her with varying degrees of sympathy: none from Tabitha and very little from Sharlayne.

“Brace up,” Sharlayne said. “He bought it, didn’t he?”

“Apparently, although he did give me a start or two.” Alice pulled herself together sufficiently to stare at her employer.

“My God.” She gaped. “Is that a wig?”