by BWWM Club
"What did you say?" He growled, his expression furious.
"I noticed the child seat in the back. If you're going to drive like that, be prepared to say bye-bye to them. Because you'll crash and end up dead and if your child is with you they'll end up dead as well because they won't have a chance in hell of surviving a high-speed crash."
Flashbacks of that night three years ago came back to haunt her. Little Alex's face floated across her mind's eye and Christina immediately shut him out. Now was not the time.
His fists clenched as if he wanted to hit her but he just made do with stepping in close, his chest almost brushing against hers. His voice was low when he spoke, low and dangerous.
"Don't you tell me how to be a parent."
"Then don't drive like a damn lunatic." Christina snapped. Having him standing that close was doing something to her body that made her want to blush. "You want to drive like that, go find a race-track. Don't do it on public roads."
His eyes flared and they flickered down to her lips and then back up again as a look of disgust passed across his face. Christina thought for a moment he had wanted to kiss her but then realized where his thoughts were going.
"You deserve to be spanked, young lady."
An image of her lying across his thighs as he smacked her backside with his hand shot into Christina's head. She blushed as arousal bubbled in her stomach and glared at him, shoving him in the chest enough to make him step back.
"Try it and I'll knock you on your ass." She glanced in disgust at the BMW. His parking was just as atrocious. "Drive safely and you'll be able to see your kid another day."
Then she turned away before he could answer and stormed off. Fury argued with desire in her body and she was sure if she stayed any longer she would either punch him or kiss him. Neither of them sounded like a good idea; he would probably sue her for what she had just said to him. It would be wise to get out of there while she could.
She was still seething as she climbed the stairs to the suite of offices the security firm she worked for owned. It was going to take a while before her temper calmed and she needed to bury herself in her work to forget.
It had been three years since her accident and it was still raw in her mind. And work was only just taking the edge off.
Her boss was in the main office area talking to one of his employees when Christina banged through the door. He raised an eyebrow at her entrance.
"You okay, Chris?"
"No. Got cut off by a flashy guy in a flashy car." Christina caught herself from calling the driver hot in time. "He thought he owned the road and had the gall to tell me I needed driving lessons."
Leo Connor chuckled.
"And you handed his balls to him on a plate, did you?"
"Very nearly." Christina tugged her hair tie out and gathered her tresses into a tighter ponytail. "What have we got on today?"
"It's very quiet right now. I've got a meeting with a client in a few minutes so I'll be busy for a bit. Would you finish off your report and have it on my desk by midday?"
"No problem."
Christina went to her desk and dropped her bag on the floor. She plopped down into the chair and switched on her computer. This was her domain. As the computer expert, she was much at home with electronics. They were her baby now. It wasn't much of a replacement for Alex but it managed.
She heard the door to their offices open as she logged in and heard Leo greeting the visitor. Evidently this was the client he was waiting for.
"Nathan, good to see you again."
"And you, Leo."
Christina froze. That voice. She knew it too well. She looked up and her eyes locked with the man she'd had a confrontation with a moment before downstairs. Her breath caught in her chest. No. He wasn't Leo's client. He couldn't be.
He was looking at her curiously with a raised eyebrow. A twinkle flickered in his eye and a sardonic smile touched his lips. Leo looked between them in slight confusion before ushering him towards his office closed off at the back.
Christina watched them go the whole way. The minute the door closed she slumped in her seat, rubbing her hands over her face.
"You have got to be kidding me."
*****
Nathan watched Christina through the half-open blinds. Her head was bowed as she typed furiously at her computer, large librarian-type glasses propped on her nose. Her hair was long, barely contained by her hair tie as it trailed down her back like a black curtain. It was kept away from an oval, petite face that defied her height, her dark skin looking as smooth as marble. He wondered if it was soft to the touch.
Being confronted by her had been an experience. No one challenged him, not even women. Especially not women; they usually flocked around him, draping themselves over him. The ones he knew were in for the big haul were the ones who weren't put off by the fact he had a three-year-old son. But even then they balked eventually.
Not this one. She had stood up to him, pure fire in her eyes. If they had been passing in the street, her worn clothes would not have awarded her a second glance. But on closer inspection Nathan saw she was a beautiful woman.
The animation and passion in her scolding would have been amusing if not for the content. After last night, it struck a nerve.
He should be angry at her and tell Leo to fire her for her behavior. But he couldn't stop staring at her.
"I take it you've met our resident computer tech Christina."
Nathan turned. Leo was sitting behind his desk, boasting a big grin. Six-seven and black as ebony, Leo was an impressive sight. He couldn't hide that he was ex-Special Forces, not with his build and military-style haircut. Even in civilian clothes he acted as if he was still in the military.
"She's got a mouth on her." Nathan ventured.
Christina. He liked the name. It suited her. And it suited her that she was a computer expert; she looked the part. In his experience computer experts tended to be geeky and eccentric and they could get away with wearing anything.
He wondered if she could get away with wearing something a little sexier. Immediately his mind cast an image of Christina lying across the hood of his BMW in a little white lingerie set that left little to the imagination.
"What did you do to get up her nose?"
Nathan remembered where he was and coughed, forcing the image away. Now was not the time to be thinking about another conquest.
"I apparently cut her off when I came into the parking lot." He sat in one of the two leather chairs across from Leo. "Then she started telling me if I kept driving the way I did I was going to kill my kid." He snorted. "She had a nerve."
The only woman who was allowed to tell him off was his mother. Right up until she died of breast cancer the year before, she was the only one who Nathan allowed to scold him. No other woman, not even his sister, was even given the slightest permission to try.
Christina broke all the rules. Nathan admired her courage but didn't like that she had used his son as an example, trying to play the guilt card.
"Maybe's she's right." Leo said. "You do drive too recklessly."
"Never with Jack in the car."
"But if you die in a collision, who is going to look after Jack?"
Nathan groaned.
"Don't tell me you're taking her side."
Leo leaned forward, his expression stoic but Nathan saw the warning glow in his eyes.
"Chris was a victim of a car collision where the culprit was driving too fast and lost control when he overtook her on the freeway. She lost her husband and son in the crash and spent two weeks in a coma." He pointed a finger at Nathan. "People driving like you do are a sore spot with her so a little respect might be in order."
Nathan was stunned. Then he remembered seeing pain in Christina's eyes when she had talked about Jack. He had wondered about that but knowing now why it had appeared made a lot more sense.
His heart clenched; he couldn't imagine losing a child like that. It would tear his heart out if Jack di
ed in that situation.
"Shit."
It was all he could say and it certainly wasn't adequate enough.
"Exactly." Leo sat back and the warning light disappeared. He was more jovial now. "Okay, now what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"
Oh, yes. They were here for a reason. Nathan shifted and forced all thoughts of Christina out of his mind.
"I was going to hire you but now I'm not so sure."
"Bull. I'm the best out there and you know it."
"And you do owe me a favor."
Leo winced.
"I wish I hadn't said anything now."
But he was right. He was the best in the business. Nathan had known Leo since high school and even then had recognized that Leo was going to be the best in his field. He had gotten top honors in the army and he ran one of the best security firms in Seattle.
Nathan needed that now.
"I've been getting death threats." He said simply. "There have also been attempts to sabotage my company."
"You think the two are connected?"
"Absolutely. I thought my last security team could handle it." Nathan's gut twisted as he remembered the events of the night before. "But then someone got into Jack's room. I found this on my bedside table this morning."
Hands shaking, he pulled out his wallet and took out the photograph of Jack sleeping peacefully in his bed. There was no written message - there didn't need to be. The message that they could get to his nearest and dearest was clear. He passed it across to Leo, whose jaw tightened when he saw the Polaroid.
"My God." He frowned at Nathan. "I thought Jack had a nanny."
"He did."
"Then how did someone get in to take this? She would've known."
"She was in my chief of security's room on the other side of the house." Nathan's mouth twisted grimly. "I'll give you three guesses as to what they were doing."
The image of finding his bodyguard on his back in bed with his son's nanny riding him vigorously with screams enough to tear the house down were still fresh in his mind. Bonny as she was, Nathan didn't want to see that much of her. Or his bodyguard.
"Needless to say, both of them have been fired. So have the rest of that team. So I now need a new security team and a nanny."
Leo nodded, looking thoughtful. Without sitting up he reached for his diary and began to flick through it.
"My sister is in charge of a qualified agency of nannies. I can ask her for a replacement."
"No."
The response was out of Nathan's mouth before he could stop it. He didn't want an agency nanny. Nathan stood up and strode to the window that overlooked the rest of the office, pointing a finger at Christina, who was still typing away, her fingers flying across the keyboard.
"I want her."
Those three words had a completely different meaning in his head. His body seemed to stir and have a mind of its own.
"Chris? But she's not a nanny."
"But she works for you. I need a female bodyguard for Jack, not a nanny."
Leo stood and came round the desk, coming to stand beside Nathan.
"Chris is a computer whiz, not a bodyguard. She doesn't do field work."
"Can she use a gun?"
"Yes."
"Does she know any martial arts?"
"She has a black belt in kickboxing."
Nathan grinned at Leo's surprised expression.
"I know your resume, Leo. You hire the best, which usually means ex-soldiers. If they don't have a military background they have to have some sort of fighting skills, even those who don't do field work." He stared at Christina's bent head. "I want her."
"Do you mean in the biblical sense?"
Nathan growled.
"Leo..."
"Okay, okay, Chris will be Jack's bodyguard." Leo rubbed a hand over his face. "Christ, I must be mad. The rest I can help you with."
"Good."
Nathan didn't look away from Christina, who had left her desk and gone to a filing cabinet. She bent over at the waist to look in a bottom drawer. Her pert backside pointed at him, stretching the fabric of her jeans, and Nathan's cock twitched.
If a woman with an attitude problem could cause that sort of reaction out of him, what sort of reaction would she get when they were up close and verbally sparring?
He couldn't wait to find out.
*****
"Chris?"
Christina jolted and nearly fell out of her chair. Catching herself against the desk, she righted herself and looked up to see Leo watching her. He looked amused. Christina took her glasses off and pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose.
"Sorry, I was miles away."
"I noticed."
Christina sat back in her chair. She had made herself scarce when she was aware that Nathan Gilmore, billionaire playboy, was leaving Leo's office. She didn't want another confrontation with him. Not when his body and his looks had everything that was female in her doing somersaults and swooning. She didn't like describing herself as cliché but that's how it felt for her. Not even her husband had made her react like this.
Leo was watching her curiously and somehow Christina knew what he was thinking about. She closed her eyes and took a moment to compose herself.
"He's an arrogant bastard, Leo. I'm not going there."
Showing attraction to a man Leo was close to was not a good idea. If he had been a client that would have been even worse. Christina told herself not to go there or she really would be in trouble. She had enough problems in her life without getting involved with a man who snapped his fingers and people did his bidding.
"Good." Leo sat on the edge of her desk. "Because he's now a client of ours. Someone's threatening him and his company. Last night they got near his son. The boy's only three."
Three. Christina's stomach turned over. Alex had been three when he had died. They had been traveling home from his third birthday party when the accident happened. Three years later and the memory still hurt.
Much as she didn't want to be anywhere near Gilmore, she didn't want any harm on him or his child. She swallowed.
"Is the boy okay?"
"He wasn't hurt but Nathan was worried. He's fired both his nanny and the security team in his employ and has hired us."
Something in Leo's expression and his words told her there was more. Christina felt the suspicion creeping in.
"Why do I get the feeling I'm included in that?"
Leo sighed.
"Nathan wants you to be the boy's nanny."
"What?" Christina stood up. "No. No way."
"Why not?"
Christina scrabbled around in her brain, trying to find a decent excuse. She was not going to be left in close confines with that man. She wouldn't be able to cope. Her body would be on high alert all day.
"If I say yes I'm under his control and he'll have me doing anything he can to humiliate me. Just because I told him off for his driving."
That excuse sounded pathetic the moment it was out of her mouth.
"Nathan's not vindictive like that."
"He has money." Christina snapped. "He can be anything he wants because he thinks he can get away with it."
Leo sighed and took a moment before he spoke.
"Whatever your reasons for disliking Nathan Gilmore, he wants you to guard his son and he wouldn't take no for an answer. We all get bonuses for this, Chris." He added.
He knew just what buttons to press. Christina needed the cash, which was why she had taken on extra work with him and freelance work to stay afloat. She was already behind on her rent and her electricity bill was astronomical. If she could get a bonus from a billionaire then she could pay both of them off and have some left over for later.
Leo knew she needed the money. Damn him for screwing that fact into her. Slumping into her chair, Christina knew she was beat.
"Okay, I'll do it." She said dejectedly.
"Good." Her brother chucked her chin affectionately. "Get yourself packed a
s soon as you get home, enough for two weeks. We're to be there for nine tomorrow morning."
He walked away leaving Christina staring at her computer screen. She wasn't sure but she had a feeling that she was going to regret having her arm twisted for this job.
Chapter 2
"Chris."
Chris felt the nudge and jerked awake. She blinked and turned away from the window. They were in the suburbs of Seattle and the houses were getting increasingly bigger and infinitely more expensive. The knowledge that these people were way out of her league and her comfort zone didn't sit well with her.
"I'm still here."
Leo smiled but his eyes were worried.
"Liar."
"Fine, I'm not." Christina looked down at her hands. "I don't like this, Leo. A rich guy ordering us about."
"Nathan's not always been rich, Chris. And he's not always been bossy."
Christina laughed without mirth. Bossy wasn't how she would describe Nathan Gilmore. Domineering, yes. Bossy was an understatement.
And so was handsome. Unfortunately Nathan was also downright gorgeous. That, Christina didn't like. She didn't want to be attracted to the billionaire; she could do well without.
"How do you know him?" She asked. "You never said."
Leo sat back. They were sitting in the back of one of the SUVs used for their protection duties. Clive Pepper, one of Leo's bodyguards and his best friend, was behind the wheel, his large hands negotiating the turns with delicate flexes. For a big man, he was extraordinarily gentle.
"He was in our class in high school." Leo indicated Clive. "He was also Clive's tutor. As a kid he was damn smart. The nerdy type with glasses, braces and out of fashion clothes. Despite Clive and myself being in a completely different social circle, we clicked."
"You don't need to worry about him, Chrissie." Clive's deep voice came from the front, sending her an affectionate look in the rear-view mirror. "He's a good guy really. He just hides it under a persona people expect him to be."
Great. Now Clive was on Nathan's side. Christina wondered if she was the only one who had got on Nathan's bad side. A horrible thought hit her and her stomach rolled.
"Did he know Clint?"
Leo shook his head.
"Clint lived with Dad when he was little and I lived with Mom. Nathan knew he existed but never met him." He gave her knee a squeeze. "He doesn't know your connection to me."