I stretched out my legs on the upholstered deck chair. I’d changed into a silky tank top and shorts pajama set—mint green with white lace along the edges. A glass of red wine sat on the table next to me, along with the remnants of one of Nicholas’s key lime tarts. His sorry for screwing my wife in your kitchen gift.
Jude had left shortly after we’d finished dinner. His parting words had been see you in the morning. I picked up my glass and took a sip. How was this going to work? Was he going to stand in my doorway all day? Follow me to meetings and check the conference room before I entered? Run background checks on the wait staff at restaurants?
Daisy and Luna had bodyguards, but they trailed them at a distance, mostly at social functions. Emily had Jane, but she was more like a personal assistant who also happened to be a ninja.
Jude looked like a nightclub bouncer, only better dressed.
He smelled good, too.
I sighed. I’d told him that Emily, Luna, and Daisy hounding me with text messages was the reason I’d decided to hire him. That was partially true. They had been texting me relentlessly. And I did want to get them off my ass. But that wasn’t the only reason. Maybe not even the main reason.
What he’d said in my office about that attack in the parking garage not being random had stuck in my brain, like a tiny splinter. A small irritation that wouldn’t go away.
And when we’d come down the stairs to find Nicholas banging his wife in my kitchen, for a split second, fear had exploded in my belly. One thought had invaded my mind—someone was in my house.
The next second had brought another thought, just as fast and explosive as the first. Jude was behind me.
And all that fear had dissipated.
The entire experience had taken less than a heartbeat. But it had been so acute, I couldn’t pretend it hadn’t happened. I’d been terrified, and Jude’s presence had made me feel safe.
I’d known right then that I was going to hire him. Of course, when he’d said he would make me dinner, he’d thrown me off. I hadn’t been expecting that. So I’d dragged it out a little longer, too curious to see what he’d do next to tell him he was hired and I’d see him in the morning.
My phone buzzed against the glass tabletop. The girls were still waiting for me to tell them what had happened with Jude. So far, I’d mostly texted them with how mad I was that they’d done this behind my back. I didn’t care that it had been primarily Emily. I was holding all three of them responsible. I knew them. They’d all been in on it.
Daisy: I know you’re awake. Answer us or I’m coming over there.
Me: No you’re not.
Daisy: How do you know?
Me: Because you’re already in bed.
Daisy: You can’t see into my bedroom, you creeper.
Emily: Maybe she can. Cam, did you set up cameras in Daisy’s house?
Luna: She would never do that.
Me: Um, no. Daisy’s bedroom? Unsubscribe.
Daisy: Hey. A lot of good stuff goes on in my bedroom. You should be so lucky.
Emily: Can we focus?
Luna: How’s your new bodyguard, Cam? I feel so much better knowing you have a professional watching out for you.
Me: I’m still mad at Emily for hiring him behind my back.
Emily: You didn’t fire him already, did you?
Me: No.
Daisy: Where’s he sleeping? Is he going to be in the room next to yours?
Daisy: Do you think he’ll sneak in and peek at you while you sleep?
Me: Now who’s being creepy? He’s not sleeping here.
Luna: Why not?
Me: He declared my home security adequate.
Emily: So what does that mean?
Me: It means I have a bodyguard when I’m not in Bluewater.
Luna: What’s he like?
Me: Enormous.
Daisy: OH SNAP. I bet he has major Big Dick Energy.
I rolled my eyes, but mostly because she was right. Not that I was going to admit it to them.
Me: He’s tall and huge and looks like he could snap a guy in half. But he dresses nice.
Me: Also, he can cook. Don’t ask me how I know.
Me: But it involves walking in on Nicholas and Inda fucking in my kitchen.
Emily: NO
Luna: That’s not sanitary, but wow.
Daisy: Go big chef man!
Me: I can’t even be mad. At least someone in this house is getting laid.
Emily: Aw, sweetie.
Me: I’m glad I’ve already decided I’m never dating again. Because I’m pretty sure Jude would be the world’s biggest cockblocker.
Daisy: I’m calling it right now. You’re definitely boinking your bodyguard.
Me: I’m definitely not.
Daisy: I don’t mean now, but eventually you will. When it happens, you have to tell me so I can gloat.
Me: How about no.
Luna: No you won’t boink him, or no you won’t tell Daisy?
Me: Both.
Luna: That doesn’t make any sense.
Me: It doesn’t need to. I’m closed for business. Only the battery-powered may enter my lady temple.
Luna: Approve of calling it your lady temple!
Me: I thought you’d like that.
I paused and looked out over the water as it sparkled in the moonlight. I wasn’t good at admitting when I was wrong. It felt like weakness. But maybe—just maybe—Emily had a teeny tiny point about needing personal security. At least until we were sure I wasn’t being targeted.
Me: Thanks for having my back, jerks. I love you guys.
* * *
Despite my insistence that it hadn’t been a big deal, I’d been acutely aware of my surroundings in the parking garage ever since the attempted-mugging-or-possibly-worse. My designated spot was near the elevator, so I didn’t have far to walk. But I’d started waiting to get out of my car until I was certain no one was lurking around a corner.
Brandy had suggested having my driver, Joe, start taking me to and from the office. She managed his schedule, making sure he was available to me during the day for my many offsite meetings and trips to our manufacturing or testing facilities. He wasn’t exactly security, but it would mean I’d never be alone in the parking garage. But I’d deemed that unnecessary.
I turned off the engine and checked around me. There weren’t many cars here yet. I was always among the first to arrive in the morning and last to leave at night.
It was possible I worked too much.
But I didn’t have much else going on in my life, so putting in fourteen-hour workdays didn’t feel like a hardship. I loved my job. I loved this company and the direction I was taking it. I loved that I was in a position to guide Spencer into a new era.
I was making a difference in people’s lives. When Milton Spencer had brought me in, this company had been on the verge of collapse. A dinosaur struggling to breathe in a world with a rapidly changing atmospheric chemistry. I’d pulled it into the next century, focusing on innovation, and poured resources into research and development.
It was paying off. Spencer Aeronautics was thriving. Instead of morale-killing rounds of layoffs, I’d saved jobs and hired hundreds of new employees. I insisted on paying well, providing good benefits, and making it easy for working parents to juggle their work and home lives.
If I was confident about one thing in my life, it was what I did here.
The mostly-empty parking garage was quiet, so I opened my door, clutching the pepper spray I hadn’t admitted to my friends I now carried.
“Morning.”
Whipping around, I pointed the pepper spray in the direction of the voice.
The corner of Jude’s mouth twitched, like he was trying not to smile. “Nice reflexes.”
“Don’t scare me like that.” I tucked the pepper spray into my purse. “I could have sprayed you.”
He shrugged, like it wouldn’t have mattered to him if I’d burned his eyes. He had a black backpack slung over
one shoulder and was once again dressed in a crisp button-down shirt and slacks.
It was a good look on him.
“How long have you been here?”
“I arrived a few minutes before you.”
“Is that a coincidence, or are you psychic? I didn’t tell you when I’d be in.”
“Emily texted me when you left home,” he said. “And we can talk about schedules upstairs.”
I wanted to argue with him. It was like an instinct I could barely control. But I had hired him, and it did make sense to coordinate our schedules in the comfort of my office, rather than standing here in the parking garage.
Still, I narrowed my eyes. I didn’t want him thinking he’d scored points on me this early in the day. “I have a few things to take care of, then I can meet with you after my eight-thirty rundown with Brandy.”
He acquiesced with a small nod.
I pretended to ignore him as he fell in step behind me and followed me into the elevator. My skin tingled at his presence, like he emitted biological radiation that warmed me from the inside. It was both comforting and disconcerting.
“What’s in the backpack?” I asked. “Your secret bodyguard arsenal?”
“No. Laptop.”
“That’s very mundane,” I said. “I suppose you keep a gun tucked in your belt or somewhere no one can see it.”
“I don’t carry a gun,” he said. “Not unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
“How would you know if it’s going to be necessary?”
He was quiet for a beat before answering. “I always know.”
I wasn’t sure how I felt about that answer.
Once in my office, I got to work, putting Jude out of my mind. Thankfully, he didn’t linger in my doorway or try to stand guard behind my desk. I didn’t know where he went, but somehow I could sense him nearby. Maybe he’d taken up a position at Brandy’s desk or parked himself in the small conference room next door.
A report from my research and development team captured my attention. We were testing elements of a new guidance system that was going to be crucial to managing aircraft reentry into the atmosphere. Initial results were promising, although I could see from a quick sweep of the data that we had more work to do.
I blinked in surprise when Brandy poked her head into my office.
“Hey boss lady. Ready for me?”
“Sure.” I minimized the report on my screen and took out my phone to open my calendar.
Jude came in behind Brandy and silently took the seat next to her, as if he’d been invited to our morning meeting.
My eyes flicked to him briefly, but I decided to allow it. I needed to figure out what to do with him while I was just sitting here working anyway.
Brandy went over my schedule and her list of reminders for me. She didn’t seem bothered by Jude. In fact, when she noted I had a lunch meeting at a nearby restaurant, she glanced at him, as if acknowledging that he’d be joining me. Which was interesting, considering I hadn’t had a conversation with her about his role yet.
“One more thing,” Brandy said when she’d finished our usual rundown. “Do you need me to get paperwork for Jude from HR?”
“No, Mr. Ellis and I have a private contract,” I said. “It’s a personal expense.”
“Sounds good. Also, Bobby was here about ten minutes ago, but he took one look at Colossus here and left.”
Jude’s brow furrowed and he glanced sideways at her.
“Colossus?” she asked. “He’s a superhero. Big guy. Sorry, my husband’s a comic book nerd.”
“Wow, effortlessly saving me from a Bobby Spencer encounter,” I said. “You’ve already earned your keep today.”
“I aim to please,” Jude said.
“Since we’re on the subject, what am I supposed to do with you during the day when I’m working?” I asked. “Are you really going to hang around the office in case my would-be mugger gets through security in the lobby and rushes in here to try to grab my purse again?”
“Here’s how this works,” Jude said, clearly ignoring my snark. He shifted slightly in the chair, making his shirtsleeves tighten around his bulging arms.
Not that I was looking at his bulging arms. Or his thighs straining against the fabric of his slacks. That would have been totally unprofessional.
“I am going to be here while you’re working,” he continued. “Ideally, you’ll set me up at a desk outside your office or nearby so I have easy access to you, and you to me. I’ll accompany you to meetings, both on and offsite. I’ll be very unobtrusive. You’ll hardly know I’m there.”
I raised an eyebrow. It was difficult to imagine a man his size being unobtrusive, but I decided not to comment.
“I can take care of the desk situation,” Brandy said.
I nodded to her. “Please do.”
“I’ll escort you from your car into the building in the morning and back again at night. If you leave the office, I go with you. That includes evenings and weekends. If you’re going anywhere other than home, I’m going too. For the time being, at least.”
Once again, the instinct to challenge him flared hot. But challenge him on what? I could insist he let me go to meetings without him. Did he really need to stand in the conference room while I listened to R&D’s latest report or met with the accounting or finance departments? Probably not, but quibbling with him over small details would just make me look bratty. So I kept my lips pressed together.
“I also highly recommend filling your social calendar for the next couple of weeks. Find reasons to be seen. If someone is targeting you, we want them to know you’re not unprotected. It might be enough to get them to back off.”
“Wait, Cameron’s being targeted?” Brandy asked.
“No,” I said at the same time Jude said, “Possibly.”
We locked eyes but he gave me an almost imperceptible nod.
“There’s a small chance the attempted-mugging wasn’t random,” I said. “But I’m positive there’s no reason to worry.”
“She’s right, there’s no reason to worry,” Jude said. “She has me now.”
I met his eyes again. There was no cockiness in his comment. Just a statement of fact. And for some reason, I believed him.
A layer of tension I’d been denying melted from my shoulders. I still had a million things on my to-do list and the future of this company—and its thousands of employees—in my hands. But for the first time since some jackass in a hoodie had tried to grab my purse—or me—in the parking garage, I felt safe.
8
Jude
Brandy set me up at a desk near hers, just outside Cameron’s office. When Cameron’s door was open, I could turn my head and see her. Although the threat level was on the low side, I was glad I had an easy view of her. Only because it made my job easier. Not because I liked looking at her.
I did. But I was a professional and my job had nothing to do with that thick red hair or those mile-long legs. The fact that she was gorgeous was a nice perk, nothing more.
This area of the building was spacious and open. Framed photos of aircraft in flight decorated the walls, some clearly decades old. Spencer’s other executives had large, windowed offices. Their various support staff sat at desks arranged in a neat grid.
But what could have been a stark workplace was actually quite comfortable and relaxed. Brandy’s desk had a string of chili pepper lights around the edge and a bulletin board with scribbled crayon drawings on the wall next to her. She had photos of her husband and son, and a mug with a rainbow handle held a supply of pens.
The other desks were similarly personalized. Family photos, kid art, and quirky décor seemed to be not only allowed, but encouraged. I’d noticed on my walk-through of the building yesterday that the other floors were similar.
There were the usual desks, office chairs, phones, and computer equipment. But I’d also seen an engineer in a bean bag chair, the accounting department had several vases of freshly cut flowers that looked like
they’d come from someone’s garden, and among the expected aerospace-themed artwork were framed prints featuring snarky quotes and sayings.
It combined to create an environment that was both professional and comfortable. Not typical for an old-school company filled with engineers. It made me wonder how much of it was due to Cameron’s influence.
I’d done a brief search on the history of Spencer Aeronautics already, but today I needed to dig deeper, both into the company and Cameron. She’d hired me to handle her personal security and part of that was assessing potential threats to her safety. This was where I differed from some run-of-the-mill bodyguard for hire. My services included more than just muscle.
Cameron was back at her desk after I’d accompanied her to a short meeting in the large conference room on this floor. I had insisted on shadowing her during internal meetings, but not because I thought she was in danger here. I needed to learn her routine. See how she worked. Plus I needed to get her used to me being nearby.
My presence also sent a message. No doubt the office rumor mill had gone into full swing after the attack on her. It had happened here, in the parking garage most of them used. Tightening security around their boss showed that the threat was being taken seriously. It also implied that the potential danger was focused on her, not them, while simultaneously reassuring people that she was protected.
All things I’d been prepared to point out to Cameron last night. But she’d needed less persuading than I’d expected.
Brandy brought a white to-go container and set it on my desk.
I looked up from my laptop. “What’s this?”
“Lunch. I ordered it for you.”
A friendly gesture, but she eyed me with coolness in her expression.
“Thanks.”
She pulled a chair up next to my desk and lowered herself down, crossing one leg over the other. “Who are you, really?”
Suspicion, probably a sign of loyalty and protectiveness toward her boss. I liked that. “Jude Ellis. We met before.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Is that your real name?”
The Mogul and the Muscle: A Bluewater Billionaires Romantic Comedy Page 6