Sworn to Protect

by Katie Reus

  Another reason—not that he needed one—he wanted to kiss her. “Yep. They deserved it too.” As he moved to the sink to wash his hands, she spoke again, and this time her voice was tentative.

  “So…it’s none of my business, but you opened the door earlier so I’m just going to ask. When you said you haven’t gone out with anyone since me, does that mean you haven’t slept with anyone else either?”

  Because the two were very different things.

  She didn’t say the words, but he heard the silent question just the same. Grabbing a dishtowel, he dried his hands as he turned to face her. In that moment he was struck by how innocent she looked. He hadn’t thought he wanted that in a woman, hadn’t thought he wanted to settle down at all, but being in Athena’s kitchen now…he could see getting used to this, being with a woman like her day in and day out. Hell, not like her, only her.

  “I haven’t slept with anyone else. Haven’t wanted to.” Confessing that took a lot more effort than he’d realized, but he was glad she knew. He wasn’t done pursuing her, not by a long shot.

  Her lips parted just the slightest fraction, as if he’d truly surprised her. Good. Taking a chance, he covered the short distance between them and moving slowly, reached out and tucked a few stray strands of her dark hair behind her ear.

  She sucked in a shaky breath, her eyes flaring with an emotion he recognized well; lust. He wondered if she was remembering just how hot things had been between them. He hadn’t been able to get her out of his head for two months. Hadn’t been able to forget the way she’d looked as she straddled him in his truck, the little moans she’d made when he’d gently teased her nipples with his fingers—unfortunately over her lacy bra. She’d been so sensual, so reactive, and he couldn’t get enough.

  When she swallowed hard enough for him to hear, he let his hand drop.

  Not because he thought she wouldn’t be receptive if he kissed her. He could tell she was. Their attraction wasn’t the issue. But he didn’t want her to ever come back and say she’d made a decision under stress, that she regretted it. The next time they came together it wouldn’t be because of a situation where they were forced together and she’d just been terrified by an asshole.

  Because the next time, they weren’t stopping at just kissing and he wasn’t letting Athena go. Clearing his throat, he took a step back. “I’m going to grab a shower, but the timer should go off in an hour.” He’d be back down before it did, but needed some distance or he was going to forget his good intentions.

  Chapter 6

  One week later

  Athena peeked through the peephole of her front door and let out a little sigh of relief to see Ivan Mitchell waiting for her. She was flying out on one of Red Stone’s private jets today and he was her escort to the airport. Harrison wanted her in Vegas a day before the tradeshow started and that was fine with her.

  The past week she’d practically lived at the office, mostly because of work, but she’d also been taking all her lunches in the lobby deli because of ‘the incident’ as she’d begun to think of it. She’d literally just gone from home to work and back again. Since the past week had consisted of a lot of conference calls and other types of planning that she could work on in-office, the schedule had been fine. But it wasn’t a long-term option and she wasn’t screwing up her new job because of this thing with Glenn White. If she needed to meet a potential client out for lunch—which she knew would happen often—she was doing it.

  On top of everything else, she’d spent one night at her parent’s house because her mom had freaked out when Stephanos—the traitor—had broken down and told her about what happened. Not something Athena wanted to repeat any time soon. Whenever she went home her parents treated her like she was twelve. To top it off, all her sisters were in high school now so it was constant World War III drama over there. Thankfully she, with Belle and Grant’s help, had managed to convince her mom that she was fine to move back home. Athena would have left regardless, but it was nice that her cousin helped smooth the way.

  Glenn White hadn’t made any more contact with Athena and none at all with Quinn. Since White hadn’t done anything illegal the police weren’t involved. That didn’t mean Quinn wasn’t in a sort of protective overdrive mode. Which she understood, but she couldn’t let her life revolve around something that may or may not happen. And he’d wanted to stay over too, but after that first night she’d had to say no. She had a security system—literally the best since it was from Red Stone’s very small residential department—so no one was getting into her house. Plus Quinn and Grant made her check in with them every night and every morning. Overkill, but not the worst thing in the world to have people care about you.

  Quinn had also been texting her and doing daily drop-ins to see her at work, but she’d been trying to keep things professional between them. It was so hard though, especially since he looked at her with a simmering lust that always got her flustered.

  “I just need to set the alarm,” she called out to Ivan.

  “Okay.”

  She set it to away mode, then opened the door. Before she could think about protesting, the huge Viking-looking man picked up her suitcase and carry-on with a grunt. “You got freaking bricks in here?”

  “Ha, ha.” She shut the door behind her and locked it. “Something tells me Julieta packs a lot more than me.” His adorable fiancée was a fashion plate. The woman owned a local shop that sold lingerie and sex toys and always looked so put together. Julieta was a few years older than her, but Athena had gone to high school with one of Julieta’s younger cousins. Small freaking world.

  “You wouldn’t be wrong. She told me to tell you hi, by the way.”

  “Tell her hi back.” Athena slipped her keys into her purse, feeling like she’d forgotten something even though she’d triple-checked everything. “You ready for Vegas?”

  “There’s been a change of plans…” He trailed off as his phone rang.

  While he answered, she plucked her carry-on bag from where he’d set it down and slid it into the back of the open-hatch of the SUV.

  He made a sound of annoyance, but she ignored him. She’d traveled on her own for two years and didn’t expect anyone to carry her bags for her. He was faster than her with the bigger bag so she got into the back seat and pulled her tablet from her giant purse. She didn’t recognize the driver but smiled at him before turning on her tablet. She could at least check her email before they took off.

  At this point Athena had everything for tomorrow’s event pretty much lined up but she was supposed to meet with Iris Christiansen early in the morning. Iris was head of The Serafina’s hotel security—and was also the wife of billionaire Wyatt Christiansen. Athena knew the woman had once worked for Red Stone, and if she was being honest, she was a little intimidated to meet her. Whenever she’d heard any of the guys talk about Iris, it was with respect.

  Ivan was still on the phone by the time they reached the private airport, going over what sounded like last-minute security additions to another job.

  “Sorry about that. Didn’t plan to be on the phone the whole drive,” he said as they pulled up on the tarmac. “Blue’s keeping me here this week, but Harrison wanted a familiar face to escort you to the airport.”

  It took Athena a moment to figure out who Ivan meant but then she remembered that Alexander Blue was Ivan’s more-or-less direct boss. Blue ran one of the southeast divisions of Red Stone. There were so many names to remember but she thought she was doing a pretty good job so far. “No problem, work’s work.” Now real energy hummed through her at the prospect of handling her first real job for Red Stone. Raegan wouldn’t be flying out until Tuesday, so tomorrow and most of Tuesday, Athena was on her own.

  When the driver grabbed her bags, this time she didn’t protest, just walked with Ivan to the waiting plane. She was surprised she didn’t have any security with her since Harrison had made it sound like a team would be going, but maybe they were coming out Tuesday with Reagan. />
  Too excited about the job to be worried, she nearly stumbled when she stepped inside the plane to find Quinn standing next to a table where Travis sat looking at his laptop.

  Concealing her surprise—and that burst of pleasure that detonated inside her at seeing him—she moved farther into the interior of the sleek plane. “Hey, I didn’t realize you two were coming with me.”

  Travis spared her a quick smile and a nod, but didn’t stop whatever it was he was doing. From his intense expression she guessed it was work related.

  “Last minute change of plans,” Quinn said smoothly, turning so he faced her fully.

  There was something in his gaze she couldn’t quite define, but it made her heart rate kick up just the same. After his revelation on Monday night about not having slept with or dated anyone since going out with her, she wasn’t sure how to act around him. It was unnerving, reminding her of being in high school and feeling so damn unsure of herself. He’d really messed with her heart by ending things because of something that seemed so trivial, but she couldn’t deny that the past week she’d started to fall for him again. Okay, maybe there was no ‘again’. Just sort of a continual thing. “Oh.”

  “Don’t sound too excited.” His voice was wry now, those midnight dark eyes of his assessing.

  Her lips curved into a smile. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

  He started to respond when his gaze flicked over her shoulder. She turned to find the pilot and flight attendant—who looked like brothers—moving into the cabin with instructions about how they needed to sit for weight distribution and get ready for the flight.

  Moments later Athena found herself seated next to Quinn—who smelled far too good—with Travis across the aisle from them. He’d closed his laptop and pulled out earbuds, and surprisingly, a sleep mask. Travis glanced at them and held up the mask. “Little man didn’t sleep well last night so I’m going to catch a few Z’s on the flight.”

  Athena could imagine—though didn’t want to think about having kids for a long time—and nodded back. As the pilot’s voice came over the speaker and the flight attendant moved past them to the back, she leaned back in her seat to the soft rumble of the engine starting. She’d been on so many flights over the past two years, including on private planes, and usually found take-offs almost cathartic.

  Not today. Not sitting next to Quinn who was semi-casual in black slacks and a gray sweater that she was pretty certain was cashmere pushed up to his muscular forearms. Seriously, why did forearms have to be so sexy?

  Why did he have to be so sexy? And why did she have the ridiculous urge to reach out and stroke his…sweater. She just wanted to see if it was as soft as it looked.

  Right. She snorted at the thought then cringed as she saw Quinn glance at her out of the corner of her eye. She hadn’t meant to do that out loud.

  Half-smiling, she looked at him. “So Harrison gave you this last minute, huh?”

  He paused for a moment, his dark eyes unreadable. “I requested the job.”

  Ah, okay then. She so absolutely did not know how to respond to that. She’d told him last week that there was no chance between them. But there had been that weird sexual tension between them in her kitchen the night he’d stayed over. She’d been so sure he would kiss her, but at the last minute he’d reversed course and left her pretty much panting for more. Because she certainly wouldn’t have rejected him.

  He wasn’t pressuring her or anything, but he was just being so…honest about stuff. Why had he requested this job? Either he was worried about her because of White or he’d requested it because he wanted to work with her. Or maybe it was a combination of both.

  She wasn’t asking why though. Instead she decided to ignore the fluttery feeling in her stomach and stick to a safe topic. “Have you been to Vegas before?”

  He shook his head. “Nah. Never wanted to, but I’ve heard The Serafina is amazing. You been?”

  “I’m a first-timer too. And from the pictures I’ve seen, the hotel and casino really are amazing. Is there anything extra we need to go over for the tradeshow?”

  “Once we get settled in we’ll do a walkthrough of the tradeshow area and talk to all the onsite staff to get a feel for the layout, but I think we’re good for now. I read over your files. Very detailed.” A ghost of a smile teased those very kissable lips.

  She had to resist the real—and again, ridiculous—urge to lean in and brush her lips over his. He was making her feel out of sorts and she couldn’t deal with that. Not right now. “Good, that’s my plan too. Did you ever work with Iris Christiansen before?”

  “Yeah. She’s the best. Very professional.” Another smile touched his lips and this time she saw humor in his eyes.

  “What is it?”

  “Just thinking about the last job I worked with her. It was long before she married Christiansen and moved to Vegas. One of our clients—now an ex-client—thought he could get handsy with her. Before anyone on the team could move she had that guy flat on his stomach with one hand wrenched behind his back and was reaming him out with language that uh, could make a sailor blush. Working with her was always entertaining.”

  Feeling more at ease, Athena settled back against her seat as the flight attendant approached them, asking if they wanted anything to drink. After requesting a bottle of water—she’d learned to stay hydrated when traveling—she reclined her seat a bit more and decided to turn off her brain for the flight. Soon enough she’d be working her butt off and spending plenty of time with Quinn.

  That thought excited her way more than it should have. She was the one who’d said no to more with him, but just being in such close quarters with Quinn was short-circuiting her brain. Despite that, he still made her feel safe, secure. Even though White hadn’t reached out again she still liked knowing Quinn was nearby right now.

  * * *

  “I don’t know how you made a tradeshow room about GPS and transportation not boring, but everything looks pretty great,” Travis said as they got on the elevator to head up to the executive floor.

  Their bags had been taken when they’d arrived at the hotel hours ago and they hadn’t been to their rooms yet. And Athena didn’t know that she was sharing a suite with Quinn. Something he knew was going to annoy her, but it was happening. He was still wired about Glenn. Didn’t matter that they were across the country, Quinn took Athena’s safety seriously. And yeah, he wanted to open up the opportunity for more to develop between them.

  Since they’d have two separate bedrooms with an adjoining living room area, it was basically like they had separate rooms. He didn’t think she’d see it that way since Travis would be across the hall, but she’d just have to deal with it.

  “That wasn’t me, it was a local design firm who set everything up,” Athena said.

  “You hired them and approved everything,” Quinn said, pressing the button to their floor.

  She shrugged. “I’m pretty sure this is going to be one of the more fun tradeshows I’ve done. Everything’s set up ahead of time and there’s no take down from day to day which will ease a lot of headaches—and how cool was that multi-tiered tire cake?”

  Travis nodded, grinning as the elevator arrived on their floor. “I say we see if someone can save us some food tomorrow. The spread the catering staff already has set up is sick.”

  Quinn just shook his head. “We’re in Vegas, and The Serafina has world famous restaurants.”

  “I want some of that cake.”

  “I’ll make it happen,” Athena murmured, laughter in her voice as they all stepped out.

  Quinn had already pulled out his room key and handed Travis his as they approached the suite numbers. “Your bags should already be in your room,” he said to Travis.

  “Thanks. I want to Skype with Noel for a bit so I’m going to do room service. See you guys at six, right?”

  Athena nodded as Quinn said, “Yep, meet you right out here.”

  “So where’s my room?” she asked as the
door shut behind Travis.

  Quinn tilted his head at the door directly across the hall and slid the key card into it. He held the door open. “You and I are sharing a suite.”

  She stopped, eyebrows raised. “Excuse me?” Anger punched off her so sharply it was almost a tangible thing.

  That probably shouldn’t have gotten him so hot, but damn, she looked good angry. “Two separate rooms, two bathrooms, we just have a common living area.” But there was only one exit. Which meant if someone wanted to enter the room, they had only one way to do it. “No one’s getting past me.”

  She eyed him for a moment, her gaze narrowing. “Did you request this?”

  “Yes.”

  For a moment, she looked as if she might snap at him, but just as quickly pushed out a sigh. “You are so maddening, but I’m too tired and too hungry to argue with you,” she said as she strode past him. The sway of her ass was enough to make his entire body react.

  He inhaled her subtle tropical scent as she moved. He wasn’t sure what kind of perfume she wore, but whatever it was, or if it was just something that was intrinsically Athena, it drove him crazy.

  She drove him crazy. Ever since their ‘almost kiss’ a week ago in her kitchen he’d been going out of his mind. Well, more out of his mind for her. Especially since he already knew what she tasted like, how she felt in his arms. “No argument at all?” he asked, trailing after her, but not before engaging the locks and security bar.

  “If you really want an argument I might be able to build up some steam,” she murmured, entering the huge living area. “Holy crap this place is huge. For past jobs I usually got the basic room. Nice, but boring. This…” She glanced over her shoulder at him as he moved to stand next to her. “This is beautiful.”

  He nodded in agreement, taking in the living area in one sweep. The silver and purple drapes had been pulled back to reveal the sparkling city below. A circular, ornate table sat in front of a huge half-circular shaped white couch. A gift basket with an assortment of food and champagne sat on the table. On another two tables by the window were huge vases of what he was certain were fresh flowers. Purple roses to go with the rest of the room.