Generations of wealthy men in his family had married beautiful women. In turn, he had been blessed with great cheekbones, nice teeth, and silky hair.
His manners were impeccable. His ability to carry on small talk rivaled a Kennedy, and he held not my hand, but my fingertips, in between courses. I knew he was interested in me, both mentally and physically. The irises of his eyes were dilated, and he seemed genuinely engaged in my conversation, laughing at my jokes.
As far as dates, he couldn’t get any better, but it didn’t matter, because I couldn’t get someone else out of my mind.
Aaron sat at the next table over. He’d refused dinner, ordering only a cup of coffee. Compared to my date, his suit was cheap and unstylish, but his clothes didn’t matter. He was the most handsome man I’d ever laid eyes on.
Ever since he told me that he’d thought of and rejected the idea of dating me, I couldn’t get it out of my mind. I spent hours trying to imagine what it’d be like to become Aaron’s girlfriend.
Unlike the boyish guys I hung out with, his confidence and stature made him a real man. He had his own opinions about things. He demanded to watch his preferred movie, yet also conceded to watch one of mine. He knew what he wanted, and he wasn’t afraid to voice that. But he was generous in spirit, and he played fair.
My entire life, I paid for people to take care of my needs. But the day he had rubbed my feet, he had done so without me asking, and I had felt more pampered and cared for than if I had hired a world class masseuse. He said I wouldn’t fit into his world, and I didn’t know what that entailed, but I desperately wanted to try.
And his kisses…they made my head spin. His touch had been my undoing. Never before had a man taken complete control of my body. What would sex be like with him? I knew it’d be magnificent, but the full extent of that was beyond my imagination.
As if he could hear my thoughts, he turned his icy stare towards me. Anger radiated from his gaze, which thrilled me down to my $900 Prada pumps.
“Femi, did you hear what I said?”
I turned blindly back at Connor. “Sorry, I was lost in thought.”
He gave me a tender smile. “What do you say we ditch your bodyguard and go back to my place?”
No chance in hell.
“Not tonight,” I smiled beguilingly, “I have an early morning.”
Disappointment marred his features. “You sure?”
“Maybe next time.”
Always a gentleman, he nodded. “Let me get the check.”
* * *
Outside the restaurant, Connor walked me to my car. Aaron followed close behind and stood three feet away from us.
Conner hugged me and said low in my ear. “I want to kiss you.”
“I should go.” I whispered back.
We released our hug, and then he awkwardly moved his mouth to mine. At first, he missed my mouth, his lips finding my chin.
“Oh,” I said.
“Sorry,” he muttered, before planting his mouth on mine. He tasted like garlic and potatoes.
I pulled my head back, but his mouth followed mine, forcing me to lean back against the car.
“All right, have a good night.” Aaron spoke from beside us.
Connor lifted his head and glared at Aaron. “Excuse me?”
Aaron shoved Connor away from the door. “I said, have a good night.”
“I don’t know who you think you are?” Connor blustered.
Aaron opened the door, and I scrambled into the backseat. He climbed in after me. The car pulled away, and I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.
“Don’t even say it,” I huffed.
Pissed. He was pissed. “Wasn’t going to.”
“You interrupted my kiss with my date.”
“Seemed to me you were finished with that kiss.”
I couldn’t help it. I burst out laughing. “It was awful.”
He glanced over at me, and then a smile twitched on his lips. “What a dumb ass.”
“Why do guys do that?”
“Do what?”
“Spring a kiss on us and slobber on our chin or our cheek?”
“That’s never been my technique.”
I sobered at that comment. Aaron’s technique was to put his face up against mine, and talk against my lips until I was all but begging for his kiss.
“Why didn’t you eat?”
He shrugged. “No reason.”
“Weren’t you hungry?”
“I didn’t bring my wallet.”
“Excuse me?” I stared at him.
“I forgot my wallet. And your boyfriend told my waiter that my dinner was on me. I had exactly enough change for a coffee.”
“Aaron,” I cried, “all of your meals, when you’re out with me, are covered by me.”
He ground his teeth. “I hate that shit.”
“Hate what?”
“When you put my meals on your tab. I have a per diem. But I was in a rush, and I forgot my wallet.”
“You forgot your wallet. If you didn’t want me to pay for you, I’d have been happy to lend you money for your dinner, but always, Aaron, I am always so happy to buy you dinner.”
“Unnecessary.”
I twisted in my seat. “Why do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Let your pride get in the way?”
“It’s not pride. It’s the way things are done.”
“You give me twelve hours of your life every single day, risking your life to make sure I stay safe. Why can’t you let me thank you with some small gesture.”
His eyes were dark as he glanced over at me. Assessing me.
“I love the idea of you eating the best 20-oz steak this city has to offer. It makes me happy.”
“You don’t have to buy me stuff.”
“You don’t get it.”
“Get what, Femi?”
“I don’t have stuff to offer people. I have no other talents or gifts. The only thing of value I can share with people is my dad’s money. And you won’t even take that. It hurts.”
The driver made eye contact in the review mirror with me.
“Eyes on the road,” Aaron growled.
I sighed. And we drove the rest of the way to the hotel in silence.
* * *
We entered the elevator, and for the hundredth time, I wished it’d malfunction so that we could again sit together on the hard floor and talk.
He stood in front of me, so big and wide, I could only see his broad back. My human shield.
“Honesty.” His voice was low.
“What?”
“You share your honesty with me like no one else I know.”
I stilled. Listening.
“And I’ve never met someone who has more of a firecracker personality. You light up rooms.”
My lips began to wobble.
“And even when you’re in the biggest argument of your life, when you’re screaming mad, I’ve never seen you take it out on a staff member or wait staff. You’re what we’d call a classy broad.”
Two more floors passed before I finally managed a mangled, “Thank you.”
“I was only getting started,” he murmured. The elevator arrived at my floor, and the door slid open.
His words rang in my ears. Never before had anyone said such nice things to me. It made my knees weak to think that this is how he saw me. His kindness rivaled Tom Hanks, which in my opinion, really said something. I walked straight into his back. I gasped as he spun me around and pressed me to the wall. He put his fingers to his lips, signaling me to be quiet.
His entire mannerism had shifted. Something was wrong.
My wide eyes glanced towards my suite. The door was open.
“Wait here,” he mouthed.
Frozen, I watched as he unholstered the biggest, scariest gun I’ve ever seen in my life, and then he disappeared into my suite.
Chapter 15
Femi
I stood in the hallway, shaking and afraid for A
aron’s safety. What if someone overpowered him? Hurt him? Shot him?
“Please-be-okay, please-be-okay, please-be-okay.” I chanted with clenched teeth.
He reappeared a moment later and glanced up and down the hallway, before focusing his attention on me.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes,” I lied.
“Come on.” He tilted his head.
I followed him into the suite and inspected the room. The place appeared as I’d left it. Maybe a maid, who had come in to turn down my bed, simply forgot to shut the door?
“It looks fine.” I started walking towards the bedroom, while Aaron called someone.
“Femi, don’t go in there.” He called, as I pushed open the double doors to my bedroom.
Shock rippled through my body. Blood-red spray paint, on the wall above my bed, dripped the words: I’M COMING FOR YOU, BITCH.
“Hang on.” I heard Aaron say.
From behind, he put his arm around me. “Femi.”
Gasps of air squeezed in and out of my lungs. I couldn’t breathe. The madman hadn’t forgotten about me. He was more than a voice on the phone. He was a real live person, capable of breaking into my executive suite to threaten me.
I was going to die.
This monster would kill me.
Aaron kicked an ottoman out in front of us and pushed me to sit down. He crouched in front of me.
“Femi, look at me.”
I couldn’t breathe. I was choking. I clawed at my throat, eyes wide with panic.
“You’re okay, do you understand? You’re safe. You’re having a panic attack.”
My rib cage seemed locked rib.
“Here.” He showed me his hands. “Take my hands and squeeze happy birthday to me.”
What?
“Do it. Pretend my hands are instruments and squeeze me that song. It’ll help you relax.”
I put my small hands around his fingers and started to squeeze.
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
He nodded. “That’s right, keep on going.”
Happy birthday, dear Aaron
Happy birthday to you
Blue eyes studied my face. “How do you feel?”
Like I never want to let go of your hands.
“I can breathe.”
“Can you do me a big favor?”
I nodded.
“I need to make some phone calls, so I need you to sit right here and not move, can you do that?”
“Yes.”
* * *
Three hours later, the hotel moved me into another suite. An unfamiliar suite. Two maids had shown up in my old suite, to gather up my belongings and move them for me. The maids silently hung up my clothes and set out my toiletries, and someone else delivered a complimentary basket of fruit and wine to my new room.
After a blistering hot shower, wearing my housecoat, I sat on my bed and waited. One floor down, in my old suite, a team of forensic specialists combed the room for fingerprints and evidence. A team of police officers had interviewed Aaron, myself and Clark, and they had opened a file in my name.
Aaron, Clark and my dad had a hushed conference call. As I walked out of the suite, I heard my dad say on video chat that he had liquified twenty million dollars into cash in case this situation resorted to a hostile ransom. It was obvious they were concerned about their ability to protect me.
I knew Aaron was the only man who could keep me safe. I trusted him more than anyone else.
Right now, two bodyguards sat in my sitting room, edgy and alert, while another one stood outside in the hallway.
Someone knocked on the door.
My head lifted when I heard Aaron’s voice. “Where is she?”
A light tapping sounded on my bedroom door.
I drank him in, noting the exhausted look on his face. His jacket was missing, and his dress shirt was untucked and rumpled.
He stepped into the room. “How are you doing?”
“Did you get something to eat?”
He shook his head. “Not yet. I’m going to take care of that soon.”
I wanted to beg him to stay with me. It’d be grossly unfair to ask him that. Lately, the guy seemed to work around the clock. “Okay.”
“Hotel has heightened their security. We have a guard in the lobby, two in the hallway and two in your suite. You’re safer than the president.”
“Okay.”
But it didn’t feel okay. A tear leaked down my cheek. “Sorry.”
“Hey,” he crouched down in front of me. “Are you worried?”
Yes!
I shook my head.
He put his hand on my knee. “Try and get some sleep, okay? I have some things I need to take care of, but I’ll be here first thing in the morning.”
I nodded. Wishing more than anything he’d stay.
But he didn’t.
Chapter 16
Aaron
What a shit show. Damn fuck. I wanted to vent my rage at someone, something, but there was no place to put my emotions.
Clark met me in the lobby, holding a bag of burger and fries. “You know I pay you a lot of money, so you don’t have to eat like this.”
“Long story,” I said, diving into the bag. “What did the hotel say?”
“They’re giving us carte blanche of their security tapes.”
“What are we waiting for?”
* * *
It took two hours before we found the full footage of our perp. He came in as a fake delivery man through the back entrance of the hotel kitchen at their busiest time. He disappeared into a utility closet for close to an hour, before reappearing dressed as a bellboy.
“Look at him,” Clark pointed at the screen. “He knows where all the cameras are. No matter how many angles we try we can’t get a shot of his face.”
We watched footage of him taking the service elevator up to Femi’s floor. He attached some electrical sensor to her door, that rendered it disabled.
He was inside the suite less than two minutes before he strolled back out.
“He’s a professional.”
My greasy burger turned over in my gut. “A professional hit man?”
He shrugged. “He’s not some rabid, obsessed fan. This guy knows what he’s doing.”
I couldn’t stop myself from pulling out my phone to text Benny, one of the guards in Femi’s room.
ME: How is she?
BENNY: Hasn’t come out of her room.
I rubbed my tired eyes with one hand. It was almost 2 AM. “What is the plan going forward?”
Clark leaned back in his chair. “I’m going to attach two more shadow guards on you both. Some of my best guys. I want him to think you’re acting alone, and not realize that there’s a full team ready to go Defcon on his ass.”
“What are you doing to find this guy?”
“That’s up to the police.”
“You’re not looking for him?”
“Aaron, we provide protection. We don’t go hunting.”
I hated playing defense. I preferred to hunt.
“She’s shit scared.”
“I know.”
“With her smart mouth, she won’t last an hour with her captor before he shoots her.”
He solemnly nodded. “I know that.”
“How soon do you think this will roll out?”
“Soon. In the next week or so.”
I studied him. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“We might want to flush him out.”
My hackles rose. “You mean to use her as bait.”
“It’s better to play offense than defense.”
That was a terrible fucking idea. I wanted to howl at the thought of deliberately putting her in harm's way. This was the kind of situation that kept me up at night. I kept all those emotions to myself and stood up. “Fine. Keep me posted.”
Chapter 17
Femi
In bed, I curled on my side and watched as the alarm
clock flipped to 2:32 AM. Aaron was probably asleep, but I didn’t care. I threw back the covers and grabbed the hotel housecoat and slippers.
I walked into the living room and flipped on the light. Both of my guards jerked awake, bewildered and blinking.
“What room is Aaron in?”
“What?” Benny stood up, wavering on his feet.
“I want to go see Aaron.”
“He’s in his room.”
“What room is that?”
“I don’t know.” He gave a helpless look to the other guy.
“Find out and take me there.”
“Why?”
“Do it,” I barked.
He texted something on his phone, and his cellphone immediately buzzed back.
“Let’s go.”
Flanked by four guards wearing suits, I stood in the middle of the elevator wearing my white housecoat. They exchanged glances, but no one dared to breathe a word.
We marched down a long hallway, and then one of them rapped on the door.
Aaron swung open the door and essentially took away my breath. Faded jeans hung low on his hips. His hair was damp from a shower, but all I saw was hard corded abdominal muscles and a chest that would make a sculptor weep.
“May I please come in?” I asked, lifting my chin, wondering if he’d say yes.
He answered by opening the door wider.
I marched in but paused when I realized that my other guards were trying to follow.
“You stay outside,” I demanded.
They froze and then backed out of the room. I walked into the small room, that was smaller than the bedroom of my suite. There was a king-sized bed. A bureau dresser’s top doors opened to a television. A desk with a lamp and a business chair were tucked in the corner.
“Where’s the rest of your room?” I couldn’t see the door to his sitting room.
“You’re looking at it.”
I looked around. “Why is your room so small? Doesn’t Clark know how important you are?”
He gave a short laugh and pushed his hand through his hair. “Where I come from, this is considered pretty luxurious.”
My Donut Princess: The Navy SEAL Series, Novella Page 6