As Jake continued to watch me, I shifted my gaze elsewhere. Heat was burning its way up my neck. There was no if here. Even I knew bodyguards weren’t supposed to fuck the body they were guarding.

But...hell.

Carly wasn’t just some job.

The long narrow table – Ryan had told me it was a serving board, I think – was filled with plenty of food and this time, I was a little less reluctant to dig in. Who knew when I’d get to eat a full meal again? Sure, I had five grand now, but I wasn’t about to waste it.

“That wasn’t the question you were asked,” Jake said, voice level. “Are you taking this job serious or not?”

“I’m serious about it.” Still not looking at Jake, I moved over to the sideboard and grabbed a plate, taking eggs and bacon. I also grabbed some juice and took a few seconds to crunch down a piece of bacon, then a few more to wash it down with orange juice before I turned to look at him. “But if y’all would take some time to remember, I kept telling you I wasn’t the ideal guy for this job.”

Ryan grunted something under his breath. I wasn’t the only one who chose to ignore him.

“Regardless, you took it.” Jake braced his uninjured hand on his hip as he blew out a hard breath.

“Yeah, for five days. Today is day five.”

“Well...”

The soft sound of Carly’s voice had me pausing. I’d been moving to sit down, but instead, I put the plate on the table and then turned to focus on the three of them. Unconsciously, I echoed Ryan’s stance as I crossed my arms over my chest.

“What is it?”

“Carly’s going to need a new full-time man on her team soon,” Jake said quietly. “She said the other day she thought maybe you’d be a good fit.”

I snorted.

“You would,” she said. She slanted a look at Jake. “And I still think he would. He was looking out for me before he even knew me, Jake. When he had no reason to care. I don’t think sleeping with me will change that.”

“I think sleeping with you is going to make him more easily distracted,” Ryan said.

“I’d step in front of a bullet for her.” The words left me before I’d even realized I was going to say them.

One by one, they all turned their heads to look at me.

Suddenly feeling out of place and stupid, I moved back to the table and threw myself down in the seat. It was a miserable, ladder-back affair, the kind they put at a formal dining set and it had about as much bend as Jake’s rigid spine. For a minute, I was able to focus on eating and ignore them. Or I at least pretended to ignore them.

“So...”

Carly’s voice was soft.

I looked up at her and saw that she’d settled down in front of me, her gaze speculative.

I scowled. Shit. “Look, don’t go thinking I’m ready to pick out wedding rings. You...” I jerked my shoulder. “All of y’all...well, it’s been a while since anybody has...” Now my face was really burning up. “Shit.”

I kicked back from the table and moved over to the window. I’d always hated talking about anything of substance, avoided it as much as I could. Hell, I’d never even let Leah that close and she’d had my kid. Now I was about to talk about how I felt to three people who I barely knew.

But they deserved to hear it.

“There was no reason for any of you to offer me this job. No reason for any of you to do anything except let the cops haul me away after I broke Jake’s arm. But you gave me a job...” I snorted, then added, “Bought me clothes I’m not ever really going to need again, but hell. I can sell them. EBay, right? Anyway. You gave me a chance, and I got enough money now that I have some breathing room while I try to find another job. You’re decent people. I won’t forget it.”

Miserable now, and self-conscious to boot, I continued to stare outside.

There was the faintest noise behind me and I turned. I wasn’t surprised to see it was Ryan standing there. Everybody else was louder when they moved.

“You know, I think you just might be willing to step in front of a bullet for her. Another reason why you’ve done so well at this.” He shrugged, a faint smile on his face. “Some people are just good at this sort of thing. You’re one of them. Although, the idea of you two being in a relationship does present a problem.”

“We don’t have a relationship,” I said quickly. I wasn’t about to saddle her with the baggage that’d come with a relationship with me. I wouldn’t do that to anyone.

Carly was at the table, and from the corner of my eye, I saw her stiffen.

Then she eased back in her chair, a sunny smile on her face. “Hear that, Ryan?”

He shot her a look.

There were undertones going on here that I just couldn’t wrap my head around. “What’s going on?”

“We already told you.” Jake pushed back from the table and went to pour himself some coffee. His gaze came to mine, held it for just a moment. “We need a new man on the team. Somebody permanent.”

I frowned at him.

For some reason, the solemn look in his eyes made my skin go cold.

“I’m dying,” he said quietly. “I’ve got pancreatic cancer.”

Fuck.

I felt like all of the air had been sucked out of my body.

This man who loved Carly like a daughter was dying and he was taking the time to make sure she was taken care of.

And he wanted me.

“You heard what he said, Ryan.” Carly’s voice was pithy. “There’s no relationship.”

The words felt like a slap, but I didn’t let myself react to her. I was too busy trying to figure out how in the hell to respond to all of it.

They wanted me to do this for real. For permanent. As in leave Louisville. Leave Kentucky. Leave home and move to California to be one of Carly’s bodyguards.

Because Jake was dying.

“Yeah, I heard what he said.” Ryan’s voice was dry. “But I’ve been around you two all week. Sparks fly any time you two are within ten feet of each other.”

“We’re de-sparked now, Ry. Got it out of our system.” She stared out the window. We had another fund-raising dinner today, but she didn’t look like she wanted to go. She looked like she wanted to curl up and cry.

She kept shooting Jake looks and I wondered how long she’d known. Then she’d look at me, and I’d have to wonder just how much of her flirting with me had been a distraction. Probably all of it.

It explained how someone like her could be with someone like me.

Ryan looked at me and lifted an eyebrow.

I lifted a shoulder. “Don’t look at me for answers. I’m still trying to figure out if I should do this or not.”

“You should take the job, Bobby,” Carly said softly. “Get out of this place.”

I looked out the window, trying to imagine being somewhere else. Then I had to smile. I’d been someplace else...only that place had bars.

“I still can’t figure out why y’all think this is a fit.” I glanced at her, then at Ryan. “I’m an ex-con. I fix cars.”

There was a whole lot of other shit I knew how to do, at least in theory, thanks to all the classes I’d taken while in prison, but it wasn’t like I’d ever have a chance to put that knowledge to use. No one would hire me for anything other than manual labor.

“It’s a fit because it is. You’re good at this, kid.” Ryan shrugged, although his eyes were far less casual.

The kid had me frowning. Ryan wasn’t that much older than me, and I was pretty sure the things in my past had knocked the shine off me a long time ago.

I shifted my attention to Jake and saw that he was just watching us, all of us.

“What do you think about this?”

He shrugged. “It was my idea.” He looked down at his casted arm, and then gave me a crooked grin. “It’s not like you don’t have the ability to take care of her, that’s for certain.” He leaned forward then and pinned a hard look on me. “Let’s put aside your record and focus on a couple other things. You had a choice a few years ago. You could either do a job, one that involved harming a kid and a mom. You refused. Instead, you protected them.”