Kissing Alex
(Bodyguards Inc, Book 6)
by RJ Scott
Length: 155 pages
Genre: Contemporary, Gay (M/M), Romance, Suspense
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Martial arts expert Lewis is the kind of bodyguard who slips under most people’s radar. Quiet, reserved, but constantly on alert, he’ll do his job, keep his charges safe, then relax by reading Shakespeare in his spare time.
When he’s given a case involving a spoiled celebrity singer, Lewis isn’t all that impressed. The job is nothing but babysitting a pretty boy, and he’s used to diplomatic postings with depth and challenge. What could he possibly have in common with the man he’s being forced to look after?
Alex became the envy of many when he and his fellow bandmates won second place in a huge TV talent show. He has more money than he knows what to do with, no life goals, an ex-boyfriend selling a sex tape and now, someone who wants him dead, or at the very least maimed.
Can Lewis keep Alex safe, even when things usually in his control go to hell? Is running to a remote Scottish island the only way for them to stay alive?
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“No.”
Lewis Nevin didn’t have to be a certified genius with an IQ of 147 to see where this conversation with Kyle was heading.
No, he just had to see the obvious clues—like Ross hiding in the kitchen and Kyle, his boss and his friend, looking all kinds of guilty. In fact, he’d known what Kyle had been hinting at since the very moment the owner of Bodyguards Inc. had called him into the damn office. He just said nothing and let it play out so that Kyle would be on the back foot.
Three years of working for Kyle, and Kyle had always accepted that every year from the end of March and into April he was unavailable for work. So why would he be suggesting things that meant this long-standing arrangement would be changing?
Kyle held up his hands. “You don’t even know what I’m asking.”
“I do,” Lewis said. “You want me to cancel my month off.”
“No, not at all.”
The piss and vinegar Lewis had sparking through his veins subsided in an instant, but the suspicion remained. Something was going on here.
Kyle continued, with a serious expression and determination in his tone. “I have this new case, and it’s personal to us.”
“Personal how?” Lewis wished Kyle would just cut to the chase.
“I have a client who needs somewhere to keep his head down for a couple weeks.”
“And you know I’ll be back mid-April.”
“That’s too late, it’s needed now.” Kyle laced his fingers together and couldn’t quite look Lewis in the eye.
A myriad of emotions zipped through Lewis. Kyle was lying; somehow he was asking Lewis to give up his vacation time, his precious month on the island. “I’m not available now, and you said you didn’t need me to—” He stopped, his brain catching up with his words, and abruptly it all made horrific sense. “Hell no!”
He knew exactly where this was going.
“Hear me out,” Kyle pleaded.
“This month is my time.”
“I know, and if it wasn’t important I wouldn’t ask.”
Lewis held his tongue. As far as he was concerned, any job was important, and that was what Kyle usually thought too.
Kyle continued. “This is something Ben asked me for.”
Great. Now Kyle was pulling the fellow-bodyguard card.
Still, Lewis was abruptly worried. “What’s wrong? Is Ben okay? Is Daniel okay?”
Ben’s boyfriend, Daniel, was a nice guy, a singer with an expanding career. Lewis counted Ben as a friend—as much as Lewis had friends with the lack of down time he had.
“It’s not Daniel. He and Ben are in Japan at the moment. It’s a friend of Daniel’s.”
“A friend of Daniel’s?”
“You’ll recall the show Daniel was on….”
“I do.” Lewis wasn’t a man who sat in front of the television watching brain-rotting shit like that. Apart from his obsession way back with Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, he didn’t watch much television at all. However, he’d caught enough about the show Kyle had referred to in the news, and he knew exactly who finished where in the competition. Not for the first time, he cursed his brain’s capacity to recall all kinds of useless facts.
Kyle prompted him. “The band that came second.”
“Twelfth Wonder.” Stupid name for a band.
“One of the boys is having some trouble.”
“Boys. Trouble.” Lewis repeated. Five boys—well, men, actually.
“He needs somewhere safe to stay for the next few weeks. He’s the loose end and leverage in a serious case.”
Lewis picked up the subtle inference that the man was in danger and that it would be better for certain people if he wasn’t around at all. This was something Lewis had seen before.
But… once a year, that was all, he was due vacation time, and he couldn’t believe Kyle was asking him to work. Nothing disturbed his family time on Stoirmeil or the work he did there. In fact, temper itched inside him, and he had to consciously force it back.
He didn’t get angry. “Wait. You want me herding a pretty boy when I should be sitting with my books and getting my downtime. Can’t you get him to a safe house or something?”
“This goes a lot deeper than one of our normal cases.”
“Bring him here.”
Kyle attempted innocence. “I just thought you might want to help.” When Lewis failed to react, he sighed noisily. “Okay, you have an island. We need a place where no one would find him.”
“It’s my time, Kyle. You know I need this month.”
Kyle looked a little guilty, and then his expression turned sly. “It seemed like a good plan on paper, but I told Ross it wouldn’t work.”
“This was Ross’s idea?” Lewis could believe that; Ross was one sneaky fucker. Then he caught Kyle glancing at the closed office door with a guilty expression. “It wasn’t his idea.” Not a question, a statement of fact.
Kyle nudged a folder toward him. “Okay, so it was my idea, but there is one thing. This one pays well, and all you’d need to do is watch over the kid and keep him off the grid.”
“I said no. I get one month, Kyle—less than that. Twenty-eight freaking days at home.”
“I had to ask, because I need a guy who can go dark for a couple of weeks, and y’know, you going to the island means that you’d be gone longer than that. His management team is willing to pay well, a year’s money for four weeks’ work. I can probably push them to more if you take it on. They want secrecy.”
“Who is this guy and what did he see?”
Kyle tapped the file. “It’s all in here. I think you should read the file and the background information, to see if this case is something you’d want to handle.”
“This singer. You know I don’t like working for shallow idiots without a single brain cell.”
Lewis hated his boss at that moment, which was shitty because he loved working for the tall sexy American. Bodyguards Inc. was one of the places where he felt at home. Years in military intelligence, man and boy, had shown him a lot, given him skills, but it was Kyle who had seen past the brains to the simple man beyond. Lewis hadn’t reached thirty-one without feeling he could judge character, and he judged Kyle to be a fair and excellent boss.
Kyle sighed again; he was doing a lot of that. “I know, and this could be a stretch. I don’t know the client at all. This is all being done covertly.”
Lewis tried once more to attempt an explanation. “Kyle, I have my commitments.”
Kyle leaned back in his chair. “Young Alex would fit right in. He’d stay quiet and keep out of your hair, and he’d earn you a big bonus for keeping him safe.”
Lewis didn’t fall back on cursing very often, finding it easier to construct an appropriate logical reason for his responses than to randomly swear. But he wanted to rant right now, using as many expletives as he could. He was adamant that he wouldn’t take on the job, convinced he was heading north tomorrow for his annual break, and utterly unmoved by anything Kyle had said.
Then the money smacked him in the face. How much money? And was it worth tilting the balance of his life just for more?
The harbormaster’s house needs a new roof; the café needs extending, and the trail needs developing.
He attempted to ignore the inner voice that told him he should at least look at the file. His inner voice won with its promises of financial help for Stoirmeil.
“I’ll read the file,” he said evenly, holding back the need to snap, and he scooped up the paperwork. “You know where I’ll be.”
Lewis Nevin didn’t have to be a certified genius with an IQ of 147 to see where this conversation with Kyle was heading.
No, he just had to see the obvious clues—like Ross hiding in the kitchen and Kyle, his boss and his friend, looking all kinds of guilty. In fact, he’d known what Kyle had been hinting at since the very moment the owner of Bodyguards Inc. had called him into the damn office. He just said nothing and let it play out so that Kyle would be on the back foot.
Three years of working for Kyle, and Kyle had always accepted that every year from the end of March and into April he was unavailable for work. So why would he be suggesting things that meant this long-standing arrangement would be changing?
Kyle held up his hands. “You don’t even know what I’m asking.”
“I do,” Lewis said. “You want me to cancel my month off.”
“No, not at all.”
The piss and vinegar Lewis had sparking through his veins subsided in an instant, but the suspicion remained. Something was going on here.
Kyle continued, with a serious expression and determination in his tone. “I have this new case, and it’s personal to us.”
“Personal how?” Lewis wished Kyle would just cut to the chase.
“I have a client who needs somewhere to keep his head down for a couple weeks.”
“And you know I’ll be back mid-April.”
“That’s too late, it’s needed now.” Kyle laced his fingers together and couldn’t quite look Lewis in the eye.
A myriad of emotions zipped through Lewis. Kyle was lying; somehow he was asking Lewis to give up his vacation time, his precious month on the island. “I’m not available now, and you said you didn’t need me to—” He stopped, his brain catching up with his words, and abruptly it all made horrific sense. “Hell no!”
He knew exactly where this was going.
“Hear me out,” Kyle pleaded.
“This month is my time.”
“I know, and if it wasn’t important I wouldn’t ask.”
Lewis held his tongue. As far as he was concerned, any job was important, and that was what Kyle usually thought too.
Kyle continued. “This is something Ben asked me for.”
Great. Now Kyle was pulling the fellow-bodyguard card.
Still, Lewis was abruptly worried. “What’s wrong? Is Ben okay? Is Daniel okay?”
Ben’s boyfriend, Daniel, was a nice guy, a singer with an expanding career. Lewis counted Ben as a friend—as much as Lewis had friends with the lack of down time he had.
“It’s not Daniel. He and Ben are in Japan at the moment. It’s a friend of Daniel’s.”
“A friend of Daniel’s?”
“You’ll recall the show Daniel was on….”
“I do.” Lewis wasn’t a man who sat in front of the television watching brain-rotting shit like that. Apart from his obsession way back with Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, he didn’t watch much television at all. However, he’d caught enough about the show Kyle had referred to in the news, and he knew exactly who finished where in the competition. Not for the first time, he cursed his brain’s capacity to recall all kinds of useless facts.
Kyle prompted him. “The band that came second.”
“Twelfth Wonder.” Stupid name for a band.
“One of the boys is having some trouble.”
“Boys. Trouble.” Lewis repeated. Five boys—well, men, actually.
“He needs somewhere safe to stay for the next few weeks. He’s the loose end and leverage in a serious case.”
Lewis picked up the subtle inference that the man was in danger and that it would be better for certain people if he wasn’t around at all. This was something Lewis had seen before.
But… once a year, that was all, he was due vacation time, and he couldn’t believe Kyle was asking him to work. Nothing disturbed his family time on Stoirmeil or the work he did there. In fact, temper itched inside him, and he had to consciously force it back.
He didn’t get angry. “Wait. You want me herding a pretty boy when I should be sitting with my books and getting my downtime. Can’t you get him to a safe house or something?”
“This goes a lot deeper than one of our normal cases.”
“Bring him here.”
Kyle attempted innocence. “I just thought you might want to help.” When Lewis failed to react, he sighed noisily. “Okay, you have an island. We need a place where no one would find him.”
“It’s my time, Kyle. You know I need this month.”
Kyle looked a little guilty, and then his expression turned sly. “It seemed like a good plan on paper, but I told Ross it wouldn’t work.”
“This was Ross’s idea?” Lewis could believe that; Ross was one sneaky fucker. Then he caught Kyle glancing at the closed office door with a guilty expression. “It wasn’t his idea.” Not a question, a statement of fact.
Kyle nudged a folder toward him. “Okay, so it was my idea, but there is one thing. This one pays well, and all you’d need to do is watch over the kid and keep him off the grid.”
“I said no. I get one month, Kyle—less than that. Twenty-eight freaking days at home.”
“I had to ask, because I need a guy who can go dark for a couple of weeks, and y’know, you going to the island means that you’d be gone longer than that. His management team is willing to pay well, a year’s money for four weeks’ work. I can probably push them to more if you take it on. They want secrecy.”
“Who is this guy and what did he see?”
Kyle tapped the file. “It’s all in here. I think you should read the file and the background information, to see if this case is something you’d want to handle.”
“This singer. You know I don’t like working for shallow idiots without a single brain cell.”
Lewis hated his boss at that moment, which was shitty because he loved working for the tall sexy American. Bodyguards Inc. was one of the places where he felt at home. Years in military intelligence, man and boy, had shown him a lot, given him skills, but it was Kyle who had seen past the brains to the simple man beyond. Lewis hadn’t reached thirty-one without feeling he could judge character, and he judged Kyle to be a fair and excellent boss.
Kyle sighed again; he was doing a lot of that. “I know, and this could be a stretch. I don’t know the client at all. This is all being done covertly.”
Lewis tried once more to attempt an explanation. “Kyle, I have my commitments.”
Kyle leaned back in his chair. “Young Alex would fit right in. He’d stay quiet and keep out of your hair, and he’d earn you a big bonus for keeping him safe.”
Lewis didn’t fall back on cursing very often, finding it easier to construct an appropriate logical reason for his responses than to randomly swear. But he wanted to rant right now, using as many expletives as he could. He was adamant that he wouldn’t take on the job, convinced he was heading north tomorrow for his annual break, and utterly unmoved by anything Kyle had said.
Then the money smacked him in the face. How much money? And was it worth tilting the balance of his life just for more?
The harbormaster’s house needs a new roof; the café needs extending, and the trail needs developing.
He attempted to ignore the inner voice that told him he should at least look at the file. His inner voice won with its promises of financial help for Stoirmeil.
“I’ll read the file,” he said evenly, holding back the need to snap, and he scooped up the paperwork. “You know where I’ll be.”
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4 of 5 stars
Reluctant companions are surprised to discover friendship and attraction when they mix business with pleasure.
While it's clear Lewis and Alex come from radically different walks of life, the story focuses on their similarities rather than their differences. The connection between them is both physical and emotional, a perfect blend of chemistry and romance.
Set on a remote island, the rich history of the Scottish people is subtly integrated into the story and adds a layer of authenticity to the gorgeous setting.
Kissing Alex is a mildly suspenseful contemporary romance with minimal angst. The moderate heat level, characterized by frequent makeout sessions, gave me the warm-fuzzies and the story a pleasant and engaging core. A yummy romance that satisfied my literary sweet tooth.
RJ Scott has been writing since age six when she was made to stay in at lunchtime for an infraction involving cookies and was told to write a story. Two sides of A4 about a trapped princess later, a lover of writing was born. She reads anything from thrillers to sci-fi to horror; however, her first real love will always be the world of romance. From billionaires, bodyguards and cowboys to SEALs, throwaways and veterinarians, she writes passionate stories with a heart of romance, a troubled road to reach happiness, and more than a hint of happily ever after.
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