Protect Me

by Jennifer Culbreth

  “Ok, you let me know if you need anything else at all.” She winked as she left out of the doorway.

  He had determined that the last thing he needed right now was another woman screwing with his thoughts. Sex craved or any other type, it had been everything in him not to think about Abbi the past few days. Tonight would be about having a good time, and mingling with his employees, he had just hired on a few new guys so it would be nice getting to know them. Under no circumstance was he letting Jace talk him into saddling up with anyone tonight. He quickly slid of out his business suit and replaced it with a pair of boat shoes, khaki pants, and a white polo shirt. He tucked his shirt in and put on his belt before zipping up his suit in the garment bag and heading back to the front desk.

  “That was quick.”

  “Yes, thank you for accommodating. Could you please have this sent back to my truck?”

  “Of course Mr. Dixon. Are you sure there isn’t anything else I can do for you?”

  “Yes I am sure, thank you. Have a great evening.” He said heading the opposite direction of the front desk.

  “You as well sir. I will be here if you need anything.”

  Man she was reaching. He never understood why women didn’t get the first hint. Though through all the reckless pursuits he had seen Jace go through, he guessed men didn’t do too well in that department either. He just always looked at women as more dignified than men, must be his mother’s influence.

  Before making his way to the party he stopped to check on the caterer’s. He had ordered an array of different hors ‘devours, platters full of sandwich meats and cheese along with a multitude of other appetizers. He looked over the platters and dishes attempting to make out what each one was. He confirmed that they had stocked the alcohol and mixers well, one thing was for sure the guys that worked for him could put down some booze. After checking to make sure that everything was moving smoothly he made his way towards the party.

  Colorful lights hung all around almost as if it were Christmas in the summer. Music from the DJ blasted into the night sky. There was already a handful of people milling about as he made his way up to the party. He noticed Jace standing to the side and walked up to him.

  “Well boss man I think we are going to be having another exceptional party tonight. As always you have outdone yourself.” Jace slapped him on the back.

  “Ha, well just make sure you’re not puking on your date like last year. That girl looked mortified. Didn’t she send you the dry cleaning bill?”

  “Dry cleaning, shit, she sent me a bill for a new damn dress. Whatever woman pays $650 for a dress, is no woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. I need a bargain shopper.”

  “Well good luck with that because you’re not going to find many of those around this town. And besides aren’t you wearing designer shoes right now. I am sure those cost a pretty penny.”

  “Yeah, actually I have been meaning to ask you, isn’t it time for my yearly raise?” Jace elbowed him as the two men greeted a couple walking up to the party.

  “Yeah we can talk about it, but it doesn’t mean you’re getting one. How’s everything inside?” Ryan scanned around the party noticing a few people partaking in the appetizers and drinks.

  “Good, other than the fact that we should have hired some dancers or something. Slim pickin’s in there as far as ladies.”

  “I told you that some of the guys are bringing their wives, I don’t think they would be too happy with strippers.”

  “Oh come on, every woman secretly loves strippers.” Jace smirked.

  “Maybe the women that you hook up with you kinky bastard.”

  “I am just waiting for the right one to fall into my lap.” He paused briefly “Face first that is. Nothing wrong with taking a few test drives before you pick the right one.”

  “Jesus Jace, your warped sense of relationships scares me.”

  “Oh yeah, I forgot you were in love nowadays. Have you seen your dream girl lately?”

  “No, just the other day at the grocery store.”

  “Well you got her number right? Call her, set up a date.”

  “The last thing I need right now is to be complicating things with a girl.”

  “Yeah I hear you man. If it’s meant to be it will be right? Isn’t that the saying?”

  “Yeah, that’s what I have been asking myself.” Ryan turned and headed towards the party, he really didn’t want to talk about this tonight. He was supposed to be having a good time. Before heading in he turned to Jace “Cast off at nine, right?”

  “Yep, I already confirmed it with the captain and deckhands.” Jace turned and welcomed another couple making their way onto the yacht.

  Chapter Eight

  Abbi spent the rest of the ride to the Marina sipping on her drink and nervously laughing at all of the flattering compliments that Jeff had been giving her. She was relieved when the car finally pulled up in front of the main building.

  “Show time ladies.” Jeff lifted his brows at Abbi as the chauffer opened the door.

  As she stepped out of the car a few people walking past stopped and looked, as if expecting to see celebrities getting out. But even after they saw that it was her and not some well-known movie star, they still stared. It was making her feel a bit self-conscious. Was her skirt tucked into her panties? Brushing down with her hands in the front and the back to make sure, she realized it wasn’t. So what were they staring at? Then slowly it started to sink in that she looked that good. A beaming smile stretched across her face as the butterflies slowly started to go away. Tonight was going to be good night.

  Ashley and Judy came up to her left side, Judy slipping her arm into Abbi’s. Jeff came up to her right side smiling down at her, and placed his hand on the small of her back.

  “See, I told you I would have to beat them off of you.” His eye’s alight.

  The group made their way to the side walk and then took the path leading towards the rows of boats. The marina was huge with hundreds of boats ranging in size and shape. Some large yachts, some medium sized fishing boats, but she could see from where they were standing, that one stood out in particular. It was eight thirty and the last of the pinks and oranges of the sunset were still swirled in the air. The yacht at the end of one of the piers was larger than any other one in the harbor. Twinkling lights strung all over the boat as the sounds of the music floated in the air. She could just make out the figures of people dancing as they began to make their way closer. The panoramic view was breath taking, almost as beautiful as the weather. A warm breeze blew gently, as the crisp salt air rolled over her skin.

  This was it, she was going to jump in head first and hope she didn’t drown. Jeff had told her the boat would be casting off at nine p.m. sharply and wouldn’t return back to port until approximately two a.m. Once she was on, she was on for good. Excitement started to take over the feeling of nervousness, maybe it was the champagne she had been drinking, but oh well. She hadn’t let loose in a long time and tonight was a night about having fun and not worrying about bills or having enough money for food. Not worrying about being stuck in a small town where she would never have the chance to get out, she had done it. She had left and taken the world by the balls.

  The closer they got to the yacht the bigger it got. Abbi had no depth perception and was horrible at guessing length and distance, but this ship had to be at least one hundred feet long and she assumed it was ultimately even larger than that. It had three levels, windows lined half the sides of the first two levels and the top portion of the yacht was open with railings along the sides. The same railings lined the open front portion, which now had people dancing around to the music being played from the DJ booth. If one thing was for sure, the people of LA knew how to throw a good party.

  Jeff took Abbi by the hand and they went up to the entrance of the party.

  “Yes, I am Jeffrey Rawlings, I am an employee. I have a party of four.”

  There were two men at the entrance to the
party, both in dark suits with matching ear pieces. Abbi wondered for a moment if they worked for Ryan’s company, they didn’t look like bouncers but more like FBI agents. While they scanned the list on their clipboard, she let her mind wonder back to the Sunday she had ran into him at the grocery store. She just needed to get over him, she knew he was too good for her, even with her gain in confidence she knew it were absurd to think that two people that came from two completely different social structures could ever stand a shot. And here she had a man who was willing to dote on her and eagerly take her out and show her off, she may not be immediately attracted to him but that can always come in time right? She didn’t want to be with someone who would punk out at the opportunity served to them on a silver platter, like Ryan did. No tonight, she wouldn’t think about him, she would have fun and be carefree. As the gentleman motioned for them to go into the party a tall man with short brown hair came walking down the plank from the boat. Abbi turned to make sure that Ashley and Judy were close by and then realized that Judy’s eyes were locked onto the man coming down from the boat. Hell, she was practically drooling as he made his way towards them.

  “Hey Jeff, I am glad you made it man. Who do you have here?” the guy said as he shook Jeff’s hand looking at each of the women until his eyes locked on Judy’s.

  “Jace, this is Abbi my date, and her friends Judy and Ashley.” Jeff motioned to the girls as he said their names. “Ladies, this is one of my bosses, Jace.”

  Abbi noticed that Jace was now looking at Judy with the same look that she had been giving him as he walked off the ship. He stepped forward and broke eye contact long enough to shake Abbi’s hand, before taking Ashley’s and then Judy’s. His hand lingered in hers a bit longer than it did anyone else’s.

  “Well, How about we get you ladies into the party.” He said looking at Judy with a beaming smile. “Allow me.” He said sweeping his arm into Judy’s and ushering Ashley to his other side as they made their way back onto the ship. Judy took a look back at Abbi with a huge smile.

  “Well looks like they hit the jackpot tonight.” Jeff laughed as he watched Jace escort the two ladies into the party.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Oh, he and Ryan are the owners of the company. They make the big bucks.” He laughed.

  “Ryan? Um, what exactly do you do Jeff? For a living that is.” She asked nervously, she prayed inside that he would say plumber, tow truck driver, actor, anything other than a body guard. Ryan was a common name. She bet there were plenty of plumbers named that.

  “I am a personal protection agent A.K.A a bodyguard.” He said with a tone of confidence.

  Shit, well there goes the night. The butterflies were back now and with full force. Suddenly her knees got weak underneath her and she faltered a bit. Jeff put his arm around her and caught her before she went down.

  “Easy there, you ok?” He looked at her with concern.

  “Yeah, I’m ok. I think I just need to eat something.” She lied.

  “Ok, let’s get inside and get you some food.” Jeff pulled her closer as they made their way up the ramp towards the gangway of the ship.

  She glanced back behind her taking in the sight of freedom. I could run like hell and I bet they’d never catch me, the thought flittered through her mind. As they entered the semi full room, she glanced around to see if Ryan was anywhere in sight. This was a huge ship, it wasn’t completely ridiculous to think that she may not even see him the whole night. Not seeing anyone who remotely looked like Ryan, she began to take in the interior of the ship. It was a large dining room with tables lining the walls full of trays of foods. To her left was a large bar that was fully stocked. Blue lights lined the back of the wall behind it shimmering against the hanging glasses. The walls were made of a polished mahogany, and the windows lining the sides of the room now showed the lights of LA. It was beautiful and elegant, everything she could imagine a lavish party would be in this city.

  Jeff escorted her over to the tables of food. She picked up a small plate and filled it with a few finger foods. She honestly wasn’t even hungry, but if she was going to have to choke down something to keep from blowing her cover, she figured some fruit and a few cheese cubes would be a good choice. Making her way back over to a table near the corner she politely grabbed a glass of champagne off of a tray carried by a server dressed in all white.

  “You didn’t get much. Do you want me to go get you something else? I can elbow my way over to the turkey if you’d like.” Jeff eyed her almost bare plate.

  “No, thank you. I don’t want too much on my stomach until I get my sea legs.” She gave him a weak smile.

  “Ok, I am going to go and get a drink from the bar would you like anything?”

  “Nope, I grabbed a glass on my way over. I’ll be right here.”

  With that Jeff turned and walked in the direction of the bar. She picked at her food and took a few large sips of her champagne. Ok, what on earth was up with this? First the bakery, then the grocery store, now she was sitting on his rather large and gaudy yacht. If you find this funny God, you and I have two different types of humor, she eyed up at the ceiling as if it weren’t even there letting out the silent prayer. She let out a deep sigh and scanned the crowd. Everyone looked to be having the time of their life. She wondered where Ashley and Judy had ended up, she was sure they were eating it up that they were the arm candy of one of the head honchos. Just as she thought it, the two girls came through the crowd smiling as they met Abbi’s gaze. They walked up to the table and took two of the seats across from Abbi.

  “Ok, so can I please tell you that man is beautiful! Like so beautiful it shouldn’t all be put into one man.” Judy fanned herself as if she were having heat stroke.

  “You two sure looked like you had some sparks, do you know who he is?” Abbi glanced sideways at Judy trying to gauge if she had known that they were coming to Ryan’s party.

  “No, he said his name was Jace and that he is one of the boss men. I could care less; I just want to lick whip cream off his nipples.” Judy laughed.

  “I do not want to know about his nipples!” Abbi said choking on a cheese cube.

  “Yeah, me either. I have to admit I am a bit jealous of little bit over here. I don’t think he has any interest in me at all.” Ashley stared off into the crowd as if in search of her own Mr. Right.

  “It’s ok girl, we will find you someone to use and abuse I promise.” Judy patted Ashley on the leg as she took a sip out of her glass.

  “So did you two know this was Ryan’s party?” Abbi stared blankly at the two girls as Judy nearly spit her drink out on the table.

  “Holy shit, you have got to be joking. This is his party, like this is his yacht?” Judy glanced around as if just seeing it for the first time. “I am impressed, I knew the bastard had money but damn.”

  “Yeah, Jace apparently is the other boss. You swear you didn’t know?” She looked at Judy and then to Ashley.

  ‘No, I promise we had no idea. If I had, we would have chosen you a more cleavage enhancing dress.” Ashley laughed. “I will be right back. I think I see some unsuspecting prey at ten o clock.” She leaped from her seat and made her way to the other side of the room where a tall dark skinned man stood.

  “Judy, what the hell am I going to do? I honestly just want to hide now. I told you how he shot me down the other day.” Abbi gave Judy a mortified look.

  “You know for such a country girl, you sure are a drama queen. I am going to change your nickname to backwoods Barbie.” Judy smiled at her. “Listen, Ryan didn’t shoot you down, hell he gave you his number. But some guys just get… nervous, like they can’t go in for the kill. That’s where you need to make the first move.”

  “But I am here with Jeff.”

  “Do you like Jeff, like want to potentially date him, ever see him again, have sex with him? I have seen the way you have been reacting to him and if you did want any of those things with him, you wouldn’t even be thinking about R
yan. But the fact that you are tells me who you should be going after.”

  “It just seems crazy to me, here I have this guy who is what every girl dreams of, but yet I really don’t have any attraction to him.”

  “Girl, no one said the game was easy. You just have to know who’s a King and who’s a rook. Do you want to leave here tonight with Jeff?”

  “No.”

  “Ok, then you get yourself a drink, fix your lipstick, perk up that rack, and let’s go find Ryan.” Judy’s eyes beamed as she smiled.

  “Where on earth is Jeff anyway?” Abbi glanced back towards the bar and noticed him talking to another guy with a drink in one hand and a shot glass in the other. Oh well, she would leave him to mingle for a few minutes, what could it hurt.

  She grabbed her glass from the table and slammed it back. If she was expected to have any nerve to go and find Ryan she was going to need some liquid courage. She made her way towards the end of the dining room and out onto the bow of the boat, a large wooden deck was filled with people dancing to the music pumping out from the DJ booth. She glanced over at the deck hands that were now un-tying the large ropes that had been strung out, holding the ship to the dock. Within seconds she felt a slight rumble beneath her feet as the sight of land began to drift away. This was it. She had passed the point of no return. She turned and found Judy just to her right side.

  “I need a drink.”

  “Ok, there’s a bar over in the corner.” Judy said pointing across the deck.

  The two made their way over to the bar, Abbi ordered a Jack Daniels and Coke with a wedge of lime and Judy ordered a gin and tonic. They took their drinks and made their way onto the dance floor. Abbi wasn’t much of a dancer but the music wasn’t half bad. Maybe she would make her way out here later, after a few more drinks. She could only accomplish one mission at a time. The two girls pretended to mingle as they made their way around the deck of the boat, Abbi taking big sips of her small glass. The smell of the salty crisp air made its way to Abbi’s nose. This was why people had boats. Between the sounds of the waves splashing against the sides and the salt air, stress just began to melt away.