Her

As far as Lucy Preston was concerned, it was all Jimmy Fallon's fault. This whole predicament she found herself in was a direct result of her appearance on The Tonight Show to promote her new novel, Diary of a Reluctant Time Traveler. Except that it really had nothing to do with the talk show host at all, that was just where she happened to be when everything went to hell and back.

So, yeah, that was a little unrealistic, possibly delusional, but Lucy did feel fully justified in placing part of the blame squarely on the shoulders of her literary agent, Denise Christopher. After all, the petite, but tough-as-nails woman was responsible for brokering business arrangements on Lucy's behalf–deals that she then handed over to her business partner at C&C Elite Management, Rufus Carlin. According to their web site, Rufus, who possessed a boisterous, infectious laugh, was one of the best publicists in California (actually all of the West Coast, according to the man himself). The agency had been repping Lucy since she was first published, even though her books hadn't generated much revenue up to this point.

While she had enjoyed modest success with her first two books (up to now, her writing was really more like a hobby), this third novel, just released last month, had greatly exceeded everyone's expectations. Somehow capturing lightning in a bottle, it was the story of a shy college professor who teams up with a handsome, arrogant soldier to preserve history when a terrorist organization travels back in time to rewrite America's reality. No one could say for sure, not even the author herself, what it was about this novel that appealed to the masses. Possibly adding the sci-fi/fantasy twist to the real historical events had caught people's attention. Possibly.

Of course, in this day and age, social media was God, ruled by demi gods like Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram, and the new book had rapidly generated tremendous online buzz. This was of little consequence to Lucy, who had a real aversion to social media, much to the despair of her publicist. In fact, all of that (in her opinion) nonsense was handled by Rufus' supremely tech-savvy girlfriend, Jiya.

Bottom line, unlike her other published works, there was so much interest in the soon-to-be bestseller that her team had scrambled to put together a huge media campaign, so time intensive that Lucy had reluctantly taken a leave of absence from her chosen profession, teaching U.S. History at Stanford University. Lucy loved being in the classroom, relishing the opportunity to make history "come alive" for the hundreds of young, bright-eyed students who signed up for her popular lectures every school year.

Privately, even while she'd complained to her sister Amy about the publicity tour's grueling schedule, if Lucy were being brutally honest, the routine at Stanford had become a little stale, maybe even predictable. "Yeah, sounds a lot like your love life," Amy had dead panned, kindly pretending not to see her older sibling's involuntary wince when the barb hit home. Lucy told herself she just hadn't met the right person yet, but truth be told, her personal life (or lack thereof) was rather disappointing, especially in contrast to her burgeoning writing career. Although very proud that her years of hard work were finally showing results, she secretly lamented the absence of someone to share her achievements with.

Determined to take advantage of the new novel's success, Lucy had thrown herself into the whirlwind book tour, so busy she felt like her life had turned into a giant hamster wheel, just round and round day after day. She had been blissfully unaware of the increasingly hostile tone some posts on social media had taken about her and her novel, and on the rare occasion recently that she remembered to check her in box only to notice some odd email messages, Lucy had merely (foolishly) deleted and forgot about them. It wasn't until the tires of her car had been slashed to ribbons and an ugly threat spray painted on her front door while she was in New York City that Lucy was forced to accept the disconcerting fact that she had somehow acquired an overzealous admirer of sorts, more commonly known as a 'stalker.'

She'd immediately packed her bag and flown home, thankfully having fulfilled all of her contractually-obligated appearances. Heading directly there from the airport, Lucy had sat through an intense session with the San Francisco Police Department, during which time, she repeatedly insisted she had no idea who this stalker might be. It was of little solace to her when one rather patronizing detective noted it was fortuitous that when she left the university, Lucy had deactivated her Stanford-issued cell phone while she was on an official leave of absence because it meant so few people had her new phone number. She had nodded, privately horrified to imagine what kind of voice mails and texts may have been left on the phone, which was currently in Lucy's desk at home.

Upon leaving the police station, Lucy and her attorney, Emma Whitmore, had gone straight to C&C to check in. Sitting at a big polished conference room table with all the members of her team present, Lucy had been dismayed to learn that the whole mess that was happening now had actually began a couple months ago on Twitter.

When Jiya, who regularly monitored Lucy's Twitter feed, had first shown the merely unkind, perhaps unpleasant, tweets to Rufus and Denise, the partners had made the obviously unwise decision to not inform their client about the situation for fear of distracting Lucy while she finished writing the book and then on tour promoting it. While Lucy did find the concept of a stalker shocking and was mildly displeased at being kept in the dark, Emma, a no-nonsense redhead in her early '40's, had been livid, tearing the others new ones for possibly endangering Lucy's life.

Both Emma and the police detectives had strongly advised her against continuing the West Coast leg of her media tour, which was set to kick off four days from now in Los Angeles. Rufus had pulled out all the stops, called in numerous favors, and Lucy was heavily scheduled for a solid week: early morning and late night talk shows, book signings, and even an appearance on the red carpet of a blockbuster movie premiere.

While clearly concerned for Lucy's safety, Denise and Rufus began at once to argue strenuously against cancelling the rest of the tour. Lucy's reputation would be damaged, possibly ruined, they insisted, if she broke even one contract, and all her hard work would be for nothing because not only could all of them be sued for breach of contract, but it was also possible she could be dropped by her publisher. Either scenario was distressing to Lucy, although not serious enough to risk her life for. The argument got pretty heated once Emma and Rufus started shouting at one another across the table while Lucy and Jiya tried in vain to keep the combatants from tearing each other apart. Several tense moments later, everyone jumped and fell silent at a piercing whistle from an exasperated Denise.

"Enough! This is getting uglier and more ridiculous by the minute," she scolded, glaring at each of them in turn, "and definitely not helping Lucy at all. However, I think I might have a solution, one that may make all of us happy." Pausing just long enough to ensure she had their attention, the agent continued, "What if we hired some protection for Lucy while she finishes the press tour?" Their faces reflected a variety of reactions, from suspicion (Emma) to approval (Rufus) to doubt (Lucy and Jiya).

"You mean, like a bodyguard or something?" Lucy asked dubiously.

"Well, nowadays, I think they're called security details, but yes, basically," the older woman confirmed. Purposefully ignoring Jiya, who snickered and began humming the theme song from the old Kevin Costner/Whitney Houston movie, Lucy wandered over to a chair in the corner of the room and plopped down, head in her hands, to contemplate her agent's suggestion.

On the one hand, she mused, if she had adequate protection, Lucy could (hopefully) safely honor all her obligations, thereby keeping her reputation and writing career intact. However, the thought of being in extremely close quarters with some burly, thick-necked bald guy in a black suit and matching tee shirt for at least a week, made her uneasy. After a moment, Lucy sighed deeply–there really was no other option, and they all knew it.

Accurately reading the uncertainty on her client's face, Denise interrupted Lucy's thoughts. "Listen, I've heard that a few agencies in LA have started using and recommending a new security company out of San Diego. It's run by former Delta Force guys, and while they're pretty new to the business, the company seems to have built a solid reputation already. Lucy, do you want me to make a couple calls, see what I can find out?"

With all of them looking at her expectantly, Lucy concluded her decision was inevitable. While it was frightening to consider there was a stranger out there who wished her harm, she couldn't (wouldn't) hide from the world. That just wasn't who she was. Disregarding her attorney's tight-lipped, disapproving expression, Lucy gave Denise permission to look into arranging some type of security for her.

The next day, her agent texted Lucy a link to the website of a security company called BL Protection Services that operated out of San Diego, which was indeed run by a couple of ex soldiers. She had to admit, after thoroughly inspecting their web page, these guys had some pretty impressive credentials, including several glowing testimonials, a few from individuals Lucy had actually heard of, like famous actors and singers. Even more interesting was the small section near the bottom of the page explaining the owners' Delta Force experience. Wow–she had no idea that not only were members of the elite Delta Force units highly experienced with weaponry of all kinds and self defense moves, they had also been trained in executive security skills such as advanced driving and protection techniques, plus most were multi-lingual.

Her phone chimed just then with a new text from Denise:

Did you get a chance to look over the website? What do you think?

I did, just now, in fact, and have to say, I'm certainly impressed.

Is that a yes, then?

Holding the phone to her chest, Lucy shut her eyes, praying she was making the right decision.

Lucy? You still there?

I'm here. Yes, make the call. And thanks, Denise, you're the best...

You bet. I'll text you the details as soon as everything's all set up.

That evening, Denise was able to confirm the arrangements. When Lucy's plane landed at LAX in three days, she would be picked up at the airport by someone from BL, one of the owners, actually, since her request had been made on such short notice. Lucy was relieved, and appreciated the effort made by the company, hoping it was a good indication of the way they handled their clients' needs. Oddly, she actually felt a little more secure already.

Because her email had been compromised, everything went through the C&C office for now, and so the day before Lucy left, Denise texted her the contact information for her new security detail. The name of the man Lucy would be spending the next seven days with was Wyatt Logan, age 33. Hmm, younger than she originally assumed-in fact, close to her own age. Unsure if that was a good thing or not, a curious Lucy clicked on the thumbnail of his picture to enlarge it, and caught her breath in surprise. Oh, my...oh, my goodness. Her new 'bodyguard,' the guy she'd practically be living with for a week was really good looking. Like, 'women probably sat up and begged' good looking. Lucy's mouth went dry as she continued to stare at the small photo, unconsciously taking note of thick dark hair and bright blue eyes, and good grief, was that a dimple under the very attractive scruff he was wearing?

Even as her mind started objecting to the handsome security guy, a tiny voice in her head (sounding suspiciously like Amy) piped up, "Oh, yes, please–let's live a little." She disregarded the traitorous little voice with some difficulty by telling herself that appearances can be deceiving. Sadly, Lucy had learned that the hard way. Her only boyfriend in the past five years was a good example of that. Dr. Noah Stanton was a fellow history professor at Stanford, and on the surface, seemed like the total package: smart, attractive, funny, well-read. Lucy had tumbled head first into a romance with her colleague, stubbornly refusing to see reason when diminutive cracks in his oh-so-smooth facade began to appear. Frankly, Noah turned out to be a complete ass, but unwilling to admit to herself she'd made a mistake, it finally took walking into his office while he was getting busy with one of his students to knock some sense into Lucy. Her lack of good judgment when it came to her ex boyfriend devastated Lucy, who was mortified she'd let his good looks turn her head.

Involuntarily, Lucy gently ran a fingertip over Wyatt Logan's picture. With the kind of luck she'd been having lately, it seemed almost certain her new bodyguard was probably a jerk also. Too bad, because something about the ex-soldier's appearance really intrigued Lucy.

Sighing resolutely, Lucy pocketed her phone, and going over to the closet, began pulling clothes off hangers, deliberately laying aside one of her most flattering dresses to wear on the plane. Hey, just because she always felt pretty in the little white dress with a splash of delicate pink flowers and matching pale pink cardigan, it meant nothing–Lucy absolutely wasn't trying to make a good impression on Mr. Logan. Nope, not at all.

All thoughts of impressing her hot new security detail quickly evaporated the next afternoon when the plane landed at LAX and there was no sign of Wyatt Logan or anyone, for that matter, from BL Protection Services. Hovering around the gate waiting area, Lucy's initial self-consciousness blossomed into serious annoyance at about the ten-minute mark. Where the hell was he? Checking her phone to see if she had received any new messages, Lucy realized that the flight from San Francisco had actually gotten in a few minutes late, so Mr. Logan should have been waiting patiently for her as soon as she stepped through the doorway into the terminal.

Biting her lower lip worriedly, Lucy decided to head to Baggage Claim before her suitcases were dumped in Lost and Found or something. Once she picked up her luggage, then she could concentrate on finding her missing bodyguard–but as it turned out, that happened sooner than she anticipated. As she walked, Lucy noticed a variety of shops, bars, and restaurants clustered on either side of the walkway, and just moments later, she spotted a guy who looked like Wyatt Logan in one of the bars. At least she thought it might be him. Dodging a noisy clump of fellow travelers, she approached the high top table warily, coming to a stop just beside a broad, leather-clad shoulder. Swallowing hard, Lucy opened her mouth to speak when the man, who was staring intently at the screen of his phone, murmured in a pleasantly deep voice, "No thanks, sweetheart, I'm good." What the hell? Was he talking to her?

Her shock giving her courage, Lucy impulsively retorted, "That remains to be seen," gratified when he instantly froze. Her momentary bravery fled however when the man raised devastatingly blue eyes and smiled slightly at her. Fiercely trying to hold onto her composure in the face of such a charming display of dimples, Lucy frowned and asked, "Are you Wyatt Logan from BL Protection Services?" praying her voice didn't sound as breathless as it felt.

To her chagrin, after what she was sure was a fleeting, but thorough examination of her person, he only smirked and answered politely, "Yes, ma'am," and his confident little smirk was the last straw.

Without hesitation, a now irate Lucy snapped, "You know, we're pretty much the same age–so you can just stop calling me ma'am."

In response to her (probably) childish display of temper, Mr. Logan immediately stood and threw some cash on the table, and apparently because he just couldn't help himself, said it again."Yes, ma'am."

Looking into his amused blue eyes, her agitated gaze happened to notice the nearly empty glass of beer on the table. "Have you been drinking?" she asked incredulously, and when he merely shrugged casually and grinned, Lucy knew she had to get away from this guy or she was really going to lose it. Without a word, she turned and stormed out of the bar, not caring at all if Wyatt Logan was following her. What a jerk, she thought, and as she marched towards Baggage Claim, Lucy could hardly bear to think about how much time she was going to have to spend with this asshat for the next week. The fact that Wyatt Logan was just about the most attractive man she'd ever met only served to remind Lucy that just like with her ex, appearances not only could be, but probably were, deceiving...

A/N: Gosh, that went well, didn't it? :D I am so thrilled at your wonderful response to this new story so far, and hope everyone likes this longer chapter from Lucy's POV (guess I got a little carried away, oops). I truly appreciate all the follows, favorites and great reviews. Thank you! :))