Kissed Awake

Marisol Duncan's name is on the paperwork her ex-partner used to steal four million dollars. So until the trial, she has a bodyguard whether she wants one or not.

Cal Brennan thinks her kitchen is a fire hazard. She thinks his car is a personality disorder. For three weeks they argue about the back door, the tasting menu and the correct way to store a knife.

Then someone leaves a dead rat in her walk-in. A brick through her window. A note with a nickname only her dead mother used.

Cal holds her in the walk-in freezer, badly, and she kisses him. He stops it. He's being paid to keep her alive, and he's already failed at keeping his distance.

The trial ends. So does his contract.

At 6 p.m. the next night, a man walks into her restaurant with no reason to be there and asks for the chef's counter.