Guarded
ONE VIRAL PHOTO MADE HIM HER FAKE BOYFRIEND.
THE REAL PROBLEM IS HOW GOOD HE BECOMES AT PLAYING THE PART.
Sofia Reyes has spent seven years letting managers, producers, and men with clipboards decide which version of her the world is allowed to see, but this summer is supposed to be different. The Uncaged Tour belongs to her, from every set list and spotlight to every reckless decision she has waited far too long to make for herself.
Roman Hale has no interest in celebrity drama, manufactured headlines, or the glittering chaos that follows Sofia from city to city. He runs Vanguard Protection for real threats, and he certainly did not accept the job expecting to become part of her performance.
Then a paparazzi photograph of them goes viral.
Overnight, the internet decides the furious man in the charcoal suit is Sofia’s secret boyfriend, her label sees a perfect publicity opportunity, and Sofia decides that pretending to date the bodyguard who already disapproves of everything she does might be the most entertaining part of her tour.
Roman thinks the whole arrangement is a disaster, but fake dating quickly becomes tangled with hotel-room arguments, backstage tension, forced proximity, and kisses that feel far too real for either of them to dismiss as part of the act.
While the world watches their romance unfold, someone else is watching Sofia much more closely.
A Polaroid appears in her dressing room, followed by a name no one has called her in years, and Roman begins to understand that the person stalking her is not interested in the pop star at all. He is reaching past the fame, the lights, and the carefully constructed image, all the way back to the girl from Montana who believed she had escaped her old life for good.
Sofia thinks Roman is another man trying to control her. Roman believes keeping her alive is simply the job. Neither of them is prepared for the moment when protecting her becomes personal, the performance stops feeling like a lie, and walking away becomes the one thing he can no longer make himself do.
A fast, funny, spicy romance with glamour, emotional tension, a protective ex-Army Ranger hero, and a real threat hidden beneath the paparazzi chaos.
