A WOMAN who hired a bodyguard after escaping an abusive relationship found herself falling in love with him – now the pair are happily married with a family.

Elise Stevens, 35, was left terrified for herself and her daughter, Gracie, 13, after fleeing a violent partner in November 2008.

Friends recommended she hire a bodyguard for safety. Taking their advice, she sought the protective services of her friend Derek Stevens, 35, who moved into their new home in December 2008.

But after spending so much time together Elise started falling in love with her bodyguard – like Whitney Houston in the classic film 'The Bodyguard' – and she admitted it to him.

Due to her feelings and how attached her daughter was becoming with Derek, she gave him an ultimatum – to be in a relationship with her or to end the protection arrangement.

At first, Derek broke it off but he called back two weeks later confessing he was in love with Elise too.

In March 2009, the pair were married, and they have since gone on to have their children – Rhilynn, 11, and Trask, eight.

Elise, an autistic specialist, from Union, Oregon, US, said: "After being in an abusive relationship it's drilled into you that you will never love again.
"I never expected to have that again.

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"I was too proud to have someone help me, but I knew it was the right thing to do – so I hired Derek as a bodyguard.

"But I fell in love with him as soon as I saw him.

"He made me feel so safe, comfortable and protected.

"People ask me if I would change the violence, I went through but I wouldn't because it gave me Derek and my family."

Derek, a construction company owner, said: "It was love at first sight.

"I knew she was the one I was going to marry as soon as I saw her."

Elise escaped a violent relationship in November 2008 but was scared for her and her daughter's safety.

"Friends told me that I needed help and that I should get a bodyguard," she said.

"They said I couldn't do it alone.

"I felt too proud, but I knew it was a good idea."

Elise ended up hiring her friend Derek, who she had originally met in high school, for £75 per night and she moved in with him.

"I agreed to let him help me if I could pay him," she said.

"There was something about him as soon as I saw him.

"I felt so at ease despite everything I'd been through.

"Gracie and I became very attached."

Derek was starting to become a father figure and Elise, having fallen for him, told him how she felt.

"I told him I loved him and that I wanted to be in a relationship," she said.

"If he didn't, I told him that we would leave as it would start to confuse my daughter.

"At first he said he didn't want a relationship and we left, and I was heartbroken."

But two weeks later Derek called back saying he'd changed his mind.

Derek said: "I'd loved her as soon as I saw her, but we were young, and I knew if I said yes to her, I wouldn't be able to date anyone else.

"I knew she'd be my forever."

The pair started dating for two weeks and then decided they would get married.
"We decided to get married on a Monday and had done it by the Friday," Elise said.

The couple married on the 13th March 2009 and tried for a family straight away.

"We suffered 11 miscarriages in the first two years which was really hard," she said.

But in 2011 they welcomed Rhilynn followed by Trask in 2013.

"I've never looked back, and I always feel protected and loved," Elise said.

"I never thought it would be possible to have this after what I had been through.
"But as soon as I set eyes on Derek I just knew.

"We were meant to be."

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