- 4 min read
Lieutenant Hays West and Elizabeth Oliver's story is here! Yay! I know you've all been dying to know what is behind The Ice Princess's motivation and why the tough but kind Hays won't give up on her. I love this swoony and intense romance and hope you will too! Read below for the Prologue.
Hugs and thanks,
Cami
Find The Boydguard & The Billionaire on Amazon.
Prologue: The Bodyguard & The Billionaire
Seaman Hays West knew his presence wouldn’t be welcome on Benjamin and Catherine Oliver’s property, so he circumvented the front gates and the cameras. He was only ten weeks into his training with the Navy and his future of becoming a Navy SEAL, but stealth and speed came naturally to him.
He darted around a statue, leaped onto the side of the massive front porch, and was knocking on the door before the guards could start shouting and running in his direction.
Would Elizabeth be here? Would he be arrested for trespassing and mess up his career before it began?
He firmed his jaw. It was worth it. He loved Elizabeth Oliver, and he would make his play for her heart. Again. After she’d ignored him at high school graduation, he’d come for her and she’d turned him away. Something in her eyes had begged him to not give up on her.
As close as they’d been, she’d shared little about her family. In the public eye, her family looked ideal, but deep in his gut he sensed something was off and Elizabeth needed him.
So, after ten weeks of stewing about it, here he was. Ready to make his play and see if he’d read her correctly.
Why wasn’t the door opening?
The first guard darted up the stairs toward him. Hays launched himself at the man, and they tumbled back down the steps. Now was not the time for a proper fight. He slammed the man’s head into the concrete, and he went limp.
Another guard leaped onto Hays’s back, attempting to put him in a chokehold.
Hays did a reversal, flipped the man onto his back, and broke his hold. Then he rolled on top of the man and tenderized the man’s face. He yanked out his SIG and thumped the butt of the pistol into the man’s forehead, knocking him out too.
Darting back up the steps, he really wished he’d brought his best friends Jagger and Shawn along. He pushed on the handle and shoved the ten-foot-tall door open. It gave easily, and he stumbled into the monstrous foyer of the Oliver mansion.
Another guard yelled and rushed across the porch toward him. Hays slammed the door and turned the deadbolt. A thump and curse sounded from the other side.
Turning around, he saw a stunned butler, and beside him stood Elizabeth.
“Liz,” he breathed. He ignored the butler and rushed toward her, his hands outstretched.
“Superman,” she whispered. Her blue eyes filled with warmth and longing. He’d been right. She did want and need him.
“Knock knock,” he said. Behind him, more banging sounded on the door, followed by running footsteps. They’d find another entrance soon, and the guards in the house were already coming. He excelled at hand-to-hand combat, but they would eventually overpower him by sheer numbers. His only chance was for Liz to tell them to stand down.
“Who’s there?” she asked tentatively.
“Annie.”
“Annie who?”
Hays only had seconds. Loud footsteps sounded up the stairs, and from the wide hallway behind Liz.
“Annie way you’ll let me into your heart again?”
She stepped toward him, and she smiled. The sweet, loving smile that lit up her blue eyes and let him know the connection between them hadn’t dimmed. Liz only gifted Hays with that smile. No one else.
Everything was right in his world.
Guards rushed to surround Elizabeth. Hays could’ve fought them off, but he didn’t want to fight right now. He wanted Elizabeth to choose him.
Six guards had their weapons out, cold fury on their faces.
“Liz?” he asked, holstering his Sig and putting his hands out. His heart was right there in the open, ready for her to accept it or crush it.
She held his gaze, and he knew. He might be far beneath her in social and financial status. Her famous and classy parents might object to them being together, but he could patiently win them over.
Liz loved him. She would choose him, no matter what they had to fight through to be together.
He reached one hand toward her.
A throat cleared from a doorway a dozen feet behind her, but Hays couldn’t see who it was.
Liz scuttled backward, horror in her blue eyes. She glanced at whoever was in the doorway, holding their gaze for a beat. Then she focused back on Hays.
Suddenly she looked rigid and cold, a hard, beautiful shell of the woman he loved. The same person who had sent him away months previous. Definitely not the loving angel he’d seen on the rare occasions he’d created time alone with her.
“Throw him out,” Liz commanded the bodyguards. Looking him over as if he were a mangy mutt, she added, “But first show him why he should never return.”
She turned and strode up the grand staircase and out of sight.
The guards hauled Hays back out the front door. He fought. He fought with everything he had, and he caused some injuries, but it was six on one. The beating was vicious and painful. It didn’t hurt nearly as bad as his shattered heart and dreams.
The woman he loved so desperately was no more. His Liz had walked away from him, and she was never coming back.
