Claimed by the Alien Bodyguard - Tiffany Roberts Page 0,42

Mr. Jensen clear off the ground with one hand—came to mind. She knew it was probably wrong to smile, but she didn’t stop herself.

He stood up for me.

That was already far more than she could ever have said of her ex. James had preferred to let things go, to brush aside her issues and avoid any sort of confrontation on her behalf, even if it meant ignoring slurs that had been thrown her way. Of course, his nonconfrontational nature seemed to vanish whenever he’d been mad at Gabriela.

When Gabby reached the bookshelf, which was filled with well used paperback books, she smiled. Were they Mason’s, or had they, too, come with the house? Had he read them? She ran the duster along the shelf and over the tops of the books, reading the titles as she went.

There were nonfiction books on countless subjects. Astronomy, philosophy, various historical eras, even a couple science textbooks. She spotted a few self-help books interspersed here and there, and she smirked at one that was titled How to Approach a Woman.

The nonfiction books were outnumbered by fiction of seemingly every genre—mystery, horror, fantasy and science fiction, literary classics, westerns. But to Gabriela’s surprise, the majority of those books were romances. There were historicals, contemporaries, fantasies, and paranormals, most of which were all uniform in size. But there were a few that stood taller and appeared newer than the rest, though they’d still clearly been well read.

She drew one off the shelf and turned the cover toward her. Upon it was a sexy, bare-chested man covered in stripes with a woman peering out from behind him, her hand poised precariously close to his groin. The title read, Have Tail, Will Travel.

Did that mean the man had a tail?

Gabby returned the book to the shelf, tucking the title away in her memory for later, and moved her hand to the thicker book next to it called The Bridal Hunt. The cover featured a gasping woman and a…a white-furred man behind her? Gabriela turned the book to read the back. Her brows nearly shot to her hairline. An abominable snow beastie? As the love interest?

“I will be coming back to you later,” she said, intrigued, as she put the book back in its place.

Alien and monster romances? She hadn’t known such things existed! Perhaps it was time for her to take up reading again.

There was another book sitting on the shelf, lying on its back with a bookmark sticking out of it. Prisoner of My Desire. Gabriela grinned.

My mountain man reads romance.

Something about that was utterly endearing, all the more so because it was something she’d discovered about the man who wanted to claim her.

Gabriela glanced at the clock. Only thirty minutes had passed since Mason left. Anxiousness fluttered in her stomach as she turned her face toward the front window, as though that could somehow make his truck appear in the driveway.

He said a couple hours, Gabby. He’s not coming back yet.

Still…she wanted him here. She wanted to watch him interact with her daughter, wanted to talk with him, touch him, be touched by him.

“Slow down, Gabby…” she muttered, and set about dusting the rest of the living room.

Once that was done, and all the wood surfaces had been polished to a shine, she checked one of the closed doors off the short hallway and discovered a mostly empty bedroom. There were only a couple old pieces of furniture within, including a vintage end table—the kind that had a little raised section on the back. Four cardboard boxes were stacked in the corner, the flaps open on one of them. Gabriela peered inside to find more books.

Maybe Mason wouldn’t accept money as repayment, but whenever she was able to afford it, Gabby guessed another bookcase or two would make a great gift for him.

She dusted the room—mainly the blinds—and, with little else to do in there, moved on to the master bedroom.

She cleaned the master bathroom first and was about to unpack the toiletries they’d purchased, but she decided it was better to hold off on that. There was a chance Mason would have Gabriela and Ana use the guest bathroom so he could have his own space again; she didn’t want to presume anything in that regard.

Returning to the bedroom, she paused and surveyed her surroundings. Gabby hadn’t really had a good look at the room last night. She’d been exhausted both physically and mentally and had registered little but Mason’s kindness and thoughtfulness. Her eyes