My Bodyguard

Chapter 2.3 A nightmare come true

Matteo glanced up. Clearly she was a woman to whom the word "initiative" was a stranger. "You mean you want me to come and hold your hand for you?"

"Hindi, siyempre hindi," Sarah said with difficulty.

"Wala kang dapat ikatakot." His voice softened a bit. "Heto, magdala ka ng kandila."

"Pupunta ako ng mag-isa." She lifted her hand to her head. "Pero bago ko gawin ang kahit ano, aalisin ko muna itong bandana sa ulo ko."

His eyes narrowed as she pulled the damp scarf off. Shaking her hair out so that it fell and spread outward. Smooth stems falling down over the soft curves of her breast. 

It was a captivating movement, as elegant as a dancer. He wondered whether it just came naturally or if she'd learnt it from her showbiz career. 

Keep your mind on the job, he told himself. Except that the job he had set out to do was turning into something quite different. 

Matteo sat back on the sofa. 

His eyes traveled up the length of her legs. He felt a pulse beat deep in his groin, an instinctive reaction to a beautiful woman. 

It had been a long time. "Run along now," he said softly. "My throat is dry."

Run along? Run along? "Huwag mo akong kausapin sa ganyang paraan," she said in a low voice. 

He looked down. "Sa anong paraan?"

"Alam mo kung ano mismong paraan ang tinutukoy ko!"

If her feet hadn't been hurting so much, and if she hadn't been afraid that the candle might go out, then Sarah might have stormed out of the room. 

Matteo Guidicelli didn't seem like the kind of man who would be impressed by any kind of drama, and so she made do with walking, her back perfectly straight, her head held up high.

She made her way back to the kitchen and looked around. It didn't look very hopeful. A very old stove which looked as though it had seen a lot of use. A big, scrubbed wooden table. That was about it. 

A cupboard produced little more than a couple of cans, and a packet of dusty old coffee which had clearly seen better days. 

She filled the electric kettle with water, but the kettle wouldn't work. She remembered why and went back into the huge room. 

Matteo had managed to cover the windows to stop the rain and cold wind getting inside the big room.

He looked down. "Ano?"