Bodyguard Pursuit

by Joanne Wadsworth

“I can’t put her on. She’s filling in paperwork for her new job.”

  “What?” He tapped the phone. “This connection must be acting up. Did you say paperwork for a new job?”

  “Yes, she got the offer this morning, but told me not to say anything until the deal was all signed and sealed. We’re at the hospital now with Dr. Hika. He wanted everything recorded formally. You know, so she’s covered for any eventuality, insurance and all. We’ve already organized a Fijian bank account for her wages.”

  “What job are you talking about? Saria doesn’t have a job.” She couldn’t work here, not when she’d be too far away from him. His heart started beating out of time.

  “She accepted a nursing position with Dr. Hika. She’ll be staying on at Resort Island once we’ve sailed away.”

  “For how long?” He thumped his chest, got his ticker back onto the right beat.

  “Only four weeks. The nurse who usually holds the position is dealing with a family illness. I’m so excited for—oh, here she is. You can talk to her now. Saria, Ben’s on the phone. He wants to talk to you.” A crackle came down the line then all went quiet. Lydia must have covered the mouthpiece.

  He rapped one foot on the dinghy’s floorboards where a little water sloshed within the hull.

  “What’s happening?” Tyler leaned forward, his gaze narrowed.

  “Saria’s accepted a job as a nurse here at the island. A temporary one, but I don’t like it.”

  “Ben, she’s too busy to talk to you right now.” Lydia was back. “Sorry, but we’ve got to catch a cab and get back to the helipad. Tell Tyler I love him. See you guys soon.” She hung up and a piercing tone buzzed in his ear.

  Lydia had not just hung up on him. And Saria had certainly never been too busy to speak to him whenever he’d called. What the hell was going on?

  “Well, what did Lydia say?” Tyler held out his hand for the phone and he passed it back.

  “They’re catching a cab now to the helipad, and she said she loves you.” He scrubbed his face with numb fingers. “Saria can’t take a job here.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I can’t reach her quick enough if she needs me.” He hauled his line in, including another bunch of useless seaweed he wanted to toss at snoring Brigs.

  “Hey.” Tyler gripped his shoulder. “Calm down. She’s no longer in The Program. She shouldn’t have a need for you to get to her.”

  Tyler was right, only Ben couldn’t stand he was.

  They weren’t in a relationship, and never would be. That hurt almost as much as the thought of her being so far away.

  * * * *

  Saria jiggled in her seat as the chopper flew in over the island then settled with a gentle bump on the resort’s concrete landing pad. The blades whirred down and Lydia squeezed past her and bounded out. Tyler waited by the storage shed to the side of the tennis courts in tan shorts and a brown and white striped t-shirt. Lydia ran into Tyler’s arms and he swung her about, sending her knee-length lilac skirt flying. She adored how much Tyler loved her sister.

  “I’ll get your purchases for you.” Dr. Hika hopped out then grasped the large box holding Lydia’s wedding gown and her bridesmaid dress. The shop assistant had carefully wrapped both in white tissue paper after they’d made their final selection.

  “Thanks.” She climbed out onto the helipad after him. Her hair whipped around her face and she tucked it behind her ears.

  The sun was close to setting, and the last couple who’d been playing tennis closed the wire gate and handed their rackets and balls to the attendant standing inside the beachside bright yellow sports kiosk.

  Dr. Hika handed her the box then reached back in for his briefcase. “If you’re still after that appointment, instead of trying to make one at the pharmacy, I could see you during my lunch break tomorrow.”

  “You don’t mind?”

  “Certainly not. You can take a look through the nurse’s office and get comfortable with where everything is.”

  “That’d be perfect.” She didn’t start until Monday, once the others had sailed.

  “See you tomorrow afternoon at one.” He waved and strolled away.

  Tyler strode across, took the box from her and grinned. “Thanks for keeping an eye on your sister for me.”

  “Anytime, although it was more the other way around today. She found her dress straight away, while I took forever.” She slung her purse over her shoulder and followed him and Lydia along the wharf as they nattered.

  They boarded, and she hurried down the stairwell. Guilt still ate at her for not taking Ben’s call earlier, but she wasn’t ready to talk to him about her decision to take the job and remain here.

  She snuck into her room, locked the door and leaned her forehead against it.

  “About time you got back.”

  She spun about, banging her hip on the brass doorknob. “Ben, what are you doing here?”

  “We need to talk.” He rose from the white leather couch and stared her down.

  “I—I—” Her gut clenched.

  He raised one blond eyebrow in a hard angle. “Did you have a nice day on the mainland?”

  “Yes. What about you? Catch any fish?”

  “Not one.”

  “That’s a shame.” Now he was in her room, he’d demand an answer. She nibbled on her bottom lip. There must be some way she could sidetrack him. “I bought a new dress and some shoes as well.”

  “I’m more interested in this new job you’ve got.” He pressed her against the door, his chest rising and falling heavily. “Explain yourself.”

  She was out of time. “I was presented with an opportunity I couldn’t turn down, and it’s only temporary.”

  “I’m aware it’s temporary.” He slid his fingers in under her hair and around the nape of her neck. With his other hand, he played with the top button of her dress. “For an entire four weeks.”

  “What are you doing?” She desperately wanted him to undo that button, and the next.

  “Nothing.” He held her, his rapid heartbeat pounding against hers. “I’m doing absolutely nothing, as agreed.”

  She wrapped her arms around his waist and held on.

  In the quiet, the day’s frustrations melted away, and a sense of rightness stole over her. The setting sun sent a blaze of gold shimmering across the walls.

  “I told Brigs and Tyler everything.” His words rumbled over her.

  “Did they take it well?” She hid her smile in his shirtfront.

  “Yes, and I should have told them years ago. I know you’re smiling and thinking I-told-you-so.”

  “I’d never do any such thing. I’m enjoying the moment.” She rubbed her cheek against his chest. “Is there anything else you want to tell me since we’re having this heart to heart?”

  “I’ve never known what it’s like to have a true home.”

  “Keep going.” Her heart lifted. Finally, he was opening up.

  “The first time I ever had a room to myself was after I left the army and started up my own firm.”

  “How did that happen? What made you set out on your own?”

  “It’s not a secret. One of the men in my dorm room heard about an outside job going over the Christmas holidays. A bodyguard was needed and the pay was good. Since I was due some leave, I offered to take it. It wasn’t like I had anywhere else to go during the holidays. No family and all.”

  “No, but you have wonderful friends.” She looped one finger through his belt hoop. “Who was the job for?”

  “A wealthy actor. The studio he worked for took me on to do another job following that one. In the end, I had to keep extending my leave to cover the additional work. Three months all up.”

  “You enjoyed the work?”

  “Yes. Referral after referral came in, and before I knew it, I could no longer handle the number of assignments on my own. I left the army for good, and at that point, Brigs and Tyler joined
me. Within two years, I had more than a dozen men on staff. I expanded, rented a city office, and from there began accepting local authority and government contracts. I’ve never looked back.”

  “I’m glad it was you who took on my job.”

  “When your report came across my desk and I discovered two innocent women were running for their lives, I couldn’t turn either of you down. Two sisters within one family. Hell, had your parents or brothers lost you, I would never have lived with myself. They’re good folks.”

  Ben met with her parents occasionally, gave them updates and assured them he’d see their case solved and their daughters returned to them. It meant the world to her that he did. And when a secured line could be patched through to her family, she and Lydia got to speak to them.

  “You have the biggest heart.” She looked into his eyes, and a touch of the rising moonlight tracking through lit the sky-blue depths and made her pulse race. “I’m so lucky to have you.”

  “It’s the other way around.” He twined a lock of her hair around his finger. “It’s almost dinner time. Would you like me to escort you upstairs?”

  “No, I’m going to take a shower first. You may escort me there if you wish.”

  “Don’t tempt me.” He twirled her away from the door then opened it. With one last look over his shoulder, he blew her a kiss then left her alone in the dark.

  “Scaredy-cat,” she called through the closed door.

  His chuckle echoed down the passageway.

  Chapter 7

  Impatient, Ben paced the pristine white carpet of the clinic’s waiting room as Saria had her doctor’s appointment the next afternoon. The empty nurse’s area, located behind a high wooden curved front desk was where she’d be working come Monday morning. Without him.

  Hell, he was leaving her all alone, in the middle of the South Pacific without even any family. What kind of a man did that?

  He should stay. It would be easy enough to ask his office assistant to organize one of his bodyguards to cover for him with the next job. He shoved his hand through his hair and raked his fingers across his scalp. Except Saria would be safe here. Her desk was right next to the doctor’s office. Still, he couldn’t shake these nerves.

  At the window, he gripped the polished wooden sill. Outside, the resort’s lush gardens and countless coconut trees swished in the breeze. Not even the amazing view could relax him.

  The office door opened and Saria walked out, her long luscious brown locks swaying. Rosy-cheeked, she smiled at him. “Dr. Hika’s free for another twenty minutes if you’d like to see him.”

  “Thanks.” He’d asked her to check if he could have some time. He needed to make certain the doctor understood all her needs. “Where will you be?”

  “Right here. I need to get acquainted with this area and ensure I know where everything is stored.”

  “Good. Remain here, and don’t move from this spot.” He caught her chin, desperately wanting to plant a kiss on her lips. Sleeping apart from her last night had been hell, and when he’d finally napped, his dreams had revolved around her.

  “Relax. I’ll be right here.” She sashayed toward the cupboards, popped her bottom out as she bent then gave it a wiggle. Her pink skirt’s short ruffled layers beckoned him to flip them then smooth his hands down her creamy legs and touch every inch of her body. She better damn well be wearing panties today.

  “Do you have a uniform?”

  “When I was in Nadi, I was issued with my work whites.” She peered into the cupboards and moved things about. “Stop procrastinating and go and see the doctor.”

  “Sure, but I won’t be long.” He dragged himself away from her, knocked on the door she’d left open and nodded at the doctor. “Is it all right to come in?”

  “Yes, take a seat, Ben. Make yourself comfortable.” He closed a file with Saria’s name emblazoned across the top then slotted it into place on a corner carousel filled with similar manila folders. “Anywhere you like.”

  Two gray padded chairs sat in front of the doctor’s solid walnut desk, but instead of choosing one of those, he wandered around the coffee table and settled on the long forest green couch nestled under the window. “Nice office.”

  “Thanks. Sometimes I end up sleeping in here on long nights, and the couch makes a good bed.” He picked up a pen and pad from the corner of his desk and sank into the swivel chair opposite him. The black leather creaked as it welcomed his weight. “What did you want to chat about?”

  “Saria.”

  “Right.” He tapped the pad. “I’ll answer what I can, provided it doesn’t overstep the boundaries of patient or employee confidentiality.”

  “You don’t need to answer anything, just listen.” From his wallet, he handed over a business card. “My contact details. Should she need anything, for any reason, call me. Her safety and wellbeing are my responsibility.”

  “She said before you came in here, you might do this.” He slipped a card from his shirt pocket and waved it. “I already have one of your cards, compliments of Saria.”

  “Take both. You can keep one in your office, and one on you.”

  “Well, thank you.” Smiling, he slotted the card back in his top pocket. “Most appreciated, although you should have more confidence in Saria’s ability to look after herself.”

  “I have the utmost confidence in her ability.” He certainly wouldn’t be leaving her here if that weren’t the case.

  “Good.” The doctor eased back and crossed one leg over his knee. “So, we’ve time to kill. You can speak freely if you wish. Certainly anything you say will remain between us.”

  “Saria’s my life.” The words shot from his mouth before he could register them. “I mean, she’s important to me. I can’t have any harm coming to her.”

  “I’ll look after her. You have my word on that.”

  “This past year, we’ve gotten close.” He’d bottled things up for so long, that his thoughts had nowhere to go but out.

  “She mentioned that, and although no details were discussed, she did say you’d had a difficult childhood.”

  “More like a nonexistent one. My father was the worst kind of criminal, and my mother an innocent. I was the result. All I can say is the past is the past.”

  “Yes, unless of course our past affects our future.” His focused gaze became more intent. “If you don’t mind me asking, where do you see yourself in say five years, or even ten?”

  “I’ll still be doing what I love. Protecting others.”

  “An admirable job, and what about Saria? Where do you see her in that same length of time?”

  “With a man who can give her what she needs and children running around her feet.” His heart wrenched at the thought, that she’d accept another man into her life.

  “For that to happen, you’d have to let her go. Is that something you want to do?”

  “No.” He couldn’t break all ties with her. The only light in his life would be gone, forever.

  “What are you thinking right now?” The doctor edged forward with a squeak of his chair’s wheels. “Open up, Ben. Give yourself the freedom to speak and know someone wishes to listen and understand. Like you, all I desire is to help others.”

  “I have nothing to offer her. I don’t want a family.”

  “Is there a particular reason why not?”

  “All my life, I’ve lived with the stigma of how I came into this world. My birth should never have been, and wouldn’t have except for one man deciding he could take it all. I won’t follow in his path. His line ends with me.”

  “So, you’re punishing yourself for your father’s misdeeds?”

  “Not punishing, ensuring order is restored, and no else can do that but me.”

  “I see, but there appears to be one flaw in your argument.” The doctor slowly breathed out. “In the process of ensuring this order, what if you’re also punishing Saria, the woman you’ve chosen to protect?”
r />   “I’m not. I’m giving her the freedom she deserves.”

  “Is that how she sees it too?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “Then I hope you’ll consider asking her.” He walked around his desk, foraged in a drawer and returned with a card. “For you. These are my contact details, and should you ever need anything, for any reason, then call me. The safety and wellbeing of every patient who walks through my door is my responsibility.”

  “You’re good, Doc, very good. You should be a shrink.” He pocketed it, stood and extended his hand. “Thanks for the conversation.”

  “You’re welcome, and anytime.”

  He left the doctor, closed the door then perched on the corner of Saria’s new desk.

  Reading papers in a folder, she stood before a three-drawer metal filing cabinet, her studious frown so endearing.

  “Do you think I’m punishing you, Saria?”

  “Punishing me for what?” She slid the folder away and closed the drawer.

  “For saying no to a relationship with you.”

  “We both agreed there’d be no commitment and I can handle that, but do you think you’re punishing me?” She walked toward him, wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. “Or is it more important for you to right the wrongs of your past, which I might add, were never your fault in the first place.”

  “Clearly you and the doctor have an understanding. You speak the same language.”

  “No, I only have an understanding with you, and yes, I’d like more, but I’d never ask you for it. Not when I know you’d turn me down.”

  “Is that how you truly feel?”

  “Yes, but I’m not condemning you for that decision.” She breathed warm air against his neck as she popped a kiss there. “I’m just stating the facts. After my sister gets married, you’re leaving. You’ve made your position very clear.”

  “So where do we go from here?”

  “You hold all the cards, so we go nowhere.” She stepped back, picked up her purse, and strode out of the room.

  “Hey, where are you going? We haven’t finished talking.”

  “To check out my new room. Dr. Hika gave me the key code.”