by Amber Rides
The area was bigger than my entire beach bungalow.
And it serves as nothing more than a place to drop your coats and shoes. And impress your guests.
And I was impressed. By a million-dollar closet.
Teekay’s voice cut through my stupefaction. “You like it?”
“It’s beautiful.”
“When it’s sunny, it looks like a unicorn shit out a rainbow all over the goddamned place.”
In spite of his not-so-elegant description, I had no problem imagining it.
One side of the entryway faced east, and the other west. When the sun was setting or when it was rising, it would shine right through those floor to ceiling windows. It would hit the chandelier and send a cascade of color through the whole room. It would be stunning.
“My dad and his damned showmanship,” Teekay added.
“Your dad?”
He laughed. “Yeah, my dad. Can you imagine me building something like this? Everything in here is courtesy of Big Ted. The prettiness. The fucking fountain. Me.”
My forehead creased at his acidic tone. “You’re a person. Nobody owns you.”
“If only you could tell that to big ol’ Southern Ted.” He laughed again, this time with far less acrimony. “Now that’s something I’d pay to see. Meek little you telling my dad he couldn’t own something.”
My face was warm yet again. “It’s still beautiful in here.”
“Come over by the fountain and I’ll show you my one tiny contribution.”
I followed him to the edge of the pool at the bottom of the decorative structure. Teekay pointed up. Just underneath one of the spouts was a piece of chewed up bubble gum.
“I put that there when I was twelve,” he told me proudly. “No one’s ever taken it out.”
“Ew.”
He grinned. “Tell me what you really think.”
“I really think ew. But aside from the gum…It looks like you could throw a penny into it and make a wish and it would have no choice but to come true.”
I flushed as the ridiculous statement finished making is way out of my mouth. But Teekay’s smile just widened. His hand shot out, and before I could blink, he’d reached into the coat of my borrowed coat and fished out a coin.
“Will a quarter do in place of a penny?”
I stared down at the silver in his palm and blurted, “Does that line always work?”
“Work for what?”
“The girls you bring home.”
“What are you suggesting? That I’m some kind of man-slut?”
“No!”
But Teekay didn’t look offended at all. In fact, he looked amused.
“They don’t usually see the fountain. I bring them in the back door.” He winked and held up the quarter. “I take them out that way, too. Make your wish.”
“I’m not really going to throw that in there.”
“Yes you are.”
“I can’t.”
“Are you arguing with me?”
His smile turned devious as he closed his hand over-top of mine and swung our arms back and forth together.
“One.” Swing. “Two.” Swing. “Three!”
On the last pass forward, he pinched my rear end with his free hand. I squealed and released the quarter involuntarily. It flew through the air, landed on the edge of the marble pool at the base of the fountain, then rolled in.
“See?” Teekay said smugly. “Told you.”
“That was cheating!” I replied with surprising boldness. “You’re a cheater!”
He raised an eyebrow. “Name calling? Really?”
When I spied the predatory look in his eyes, I took a step away. And straight into the fountain.
It was only four inches deep. My head was above the water. And there was no reason for my heart to be thumping in such a terrified way, or for my breath to be coming in such short gasps. But my body had its own ideas.
“Maggie!”
Teekay’s voice rose above the storm in my head. I tried to anchor myself to it, to use it to drag myself from the fear that was sucking me down. But my vision was blurred and my arms and legs wouldn’t respond.
“Maggie!”
This time, Teekay’s hands accompanied his voice. He pulled me from the fountain and into his arms and suddenly I was clinging to him desperately.
“Hey,” he murmured soothingly. “You’re all right. I’ve got you.”
“Don’t let me go!” I gasped, realizing as soon as I said it how ridiculous I sounded.
But if Teekay thought so, he didn’t say. His hands just smoothed back my hair and rubbed my back through the leather coat, which was now dripping.
“We should take this off,” he said. “Get you into something warm and dry.”
His hands closed over the collar of the leather bike jacket and he held me in place.
Then, he began to unzip it.
And the atmosphere between us changed. It grew more electric with each inch.
When he reached the bottom, he pushed the whole thing back, away from my shoulders. It slipped to the ground and neither of us made a move to retrieve it.
I was aware of a hundred little things. The melody of the fountain in the background. The unevenness of my breathing. The rush of rain outside.
But none of it compared to my awareness of Teekay. His damp curls. His wide shoulders. His deep, desire-filled eyes.
“Maggie.” His voice was so rough it was almost raw.
“Yes?”
“Beg me. Now.”
Yes. Okay. Yes.
I opened my mouth, a plea at the ready.
“Ahem!”
We jumped apart at the emphatic throat-clearing.
A man – in his mid-fifties if I had to guess – was giving me a thorough onceover. He had long, salt and pepper hair drawn back into a ponytail, and his face was covered in a matching beard. He was dressed in khakis and a golf shirt, but something about him screamed ripped jeans and dirty concert t-shirt.
And he looked royally pissed off.
Teekay’s mouth had twisted too. “You spying on me, Jeeves?”
“Is the front door wide open, Junior?” the man countered.
Teekay’s eyes flicked toward it. “Looks like it is. Why don’t you go ahead and close it?”
“For the hundredth fucking time, I’m not a butler,” the man retorted.
“Which is good. You’d make a pretty shitty one, apparently. Since the door is open.”
“I don’t close doors. I just keep them locked. And you’re not making my job any easier.”
“Likewise.”
“Where’d you go, Junior?”
“Home. Obviously. Jeeves.”
“Stop fucking calling me that.”
“I will,” Teekay agreed. “When you stop calling me Junior.”
I watched the exchange with interest while trying to pretend I was looking at my feet. The last thing I wanted was to have either of their furious jabs turned my way.
What was he? A security guard? To protect the house? Or to protect Teekay?
I couldn’t think of anyone more obviously competent than Teekay Marcus. But the older man’s next statement made me sure he wasn’t there for the house.
“You dad’s dime is paying me to watch you,” he stated angrily.
“If you can’t keep track of me, Jeeves, maybe you should quit and admit that Big Ted should’ve hired someone with more highly honed stalking skills,” Teekay suggested coldly.
The guard rolled his eyes. “You can’t just disappear every time I go to take a piss, Junior.”
“Why not? I can’t think of a better way to demonstrate how little I need a babysitter.”
“I can’t think of a better way for you to show that no matter how little you want a babysitter…You need one.”
Teekay shrugged. “At least you recognize yourself for what you are.”
The older man ignored that comment. “Your bike – which is worth more than my salary, I’m sure – is
outside in the pissing rain. You left the front door open and that same rain is making its way in here.” He paused and glanced my way. “Oh. And you let in another stray bitch, Junior.”
Teekay’s reaction was so fast that the other man didn’t stand a chance of getting out of his way. Teekay’s fist connected with his face and sent him flying backwards directly into the fountain where I’d been just minutes earlier. The guard spluttered in the water, slipped on the marble, then fell down again.
Teekay stalked toward him, hands raised.
The security guy managed to get himself to his feet. He stepped from the fountain and faced Teekay. Blood dripped from his nose, but he seemed indifferent to the pain or the mess.
My hand came up to cover my mouth and I fought to keep from screaming. I was scared of getting caught in the crossfire. I was worried about how badly Teekay might hurt this man. And for some reason, what I was most terrified of was what he was going to do to Teekay.
“Maggie!” Teekay snarled, making me jump. “Upstairs! Fourth door on the right. Go!”
I bolted for the wide stairs at the end of the entryway and raced up them, two at a time. I didn’t stop until I got to the top, where I collapsed against the wall, panting.
And I could still hear the two men.
“I’m here to protect you, you crazy little pissant!” the guard yelled.
“By insulting me?” Teekay shot back. “And insulting my guest? My dad must really have been scraping the bottom of the barrel when he hired you.”
“Your guest?” The sneer was clear in the older man’s voice.
“Yes, Jeeves. My guest. To whom you owe your life at the moment. Because the only reason you’re not lying on the ground unconscious and barely breathing is that you need to give Maggie – my guest – an apology.”
“Oh, please. Your father’s money doesn’t pay me to dance around your feelings, and it doesn’t pay me to cater to the whim of every slut you bring home.”
There was a smash and a yell that cut off abruptly, and I wondered if I should call the police.
I took a breath and looked because I had to.
Teekay was on the ground and the security guard had his knee in his back, and his arm twisted awkwardly so that his hand was stuck between his shoulder blades. Teekay’s face was against the ground.
“Listen, shit-for-brains,” his captor said coldly. “Your crazy-ass unpredictability is what landed you here, right this second. Your emotions are what got you in trouble to start out with. The combo of the two is going to be your ultimate downfall.”
“Fuck you,” Teekay mumbled into the floor.
“Likewise,” the older man agreed. “We can keep pretending you don’t know why I’m here if that’s what makes you happy. We can fight it out. But I’ll come out on top, every time. I know your weaknesses, don’t I? I will exploit them for all they’re worth. If you wind up dead, I’ll suffer. But if you wind up with two broken legs, my job gets a hell of a lot easier. Are we clear?”
This time, Teekay said nothing.
“Good,” the guard stated. “I’m going to let you up. You’re going to put away your bike – it’ll give you a minute to calm down – and I’ll go offer your guest an apology. And from here on out, you’ll let me finish my fucking job.”
He sat back slowly, like he half-expected Teekay to attack him again. I held my breath too, but he just stayed on the floor, his back rising and falling.
After several moments, Teekay pulled himself up. He strode to the front door without so much as a glance in the other man’s direction, and I exhaled.
But my relief was short-lived.
The security guard was staring straight up at my hiding place at the top of the stairs. I didn’t know if he could actually see me or not, and I wasn’t sticking around to find out.
I scrambled backwards down the hallway, counting the doors as I went.
One.
Two.
Three.
At the fourth door, I stopped and grabbed the handle. I flung it open, then closed it quietly behind me. I stumbled into the room and ran my hand up the wall in search of a light switch. On the third sweep, I found it. I flipped on the light and blinked frantically, willing my eyes to adjust.
It was a bedroom. I spotted the outline of a bed, a tall dresser, and then my eyes fixed on an armchair.
I dove for it just as the doorknob twisted.
The guard’s thick form darkened the doorway.
“Maggie, is it?” he asked as he stepped into the room.
I nodded wordlessly.
“Mind if I sit too?”
“No.”
He pulled up the footstool that matched the armchair and slumped onto it.
“Bit of a mouse, aren’t you?” he asked with a sigh. “Doesn’t matter anyway. I’m Donnie.”
“Hi.”
“You wanna tell me how much you heard of that garbage down there?”
I eyed him nervously. Now that he was sitting down, he was far less frightening, even with the macabre amount of partially dried blood still on his face and shirt.
“Enough,” I finally answered.
“Probably not,” he told me, then sighed again. “I told J – Teekay, I mean, that I’d apologize. And I’m a man of my word. It seems important to me that you know that. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“I’m sorry, Maggie. You shouldn’t have had to witness that, and I’m sure you’re none of what I called you. That little sh – err, Teekay has been dodging me for weeks, refusing to admit he still needs me. I usually catch up with him pretty damned quick, but today he got away for several hours. When I saw you down there with him, I sensed an opportunity to put him in his place and I took it. So again. I’m sorry.”
“Okay,” I said again, this time sounding a little more like I meant it.
“You truly think this is okay? Because I think you should run in the other direction as fast and as far as you can. Teekay Marcus is unstable...” Donnie paused to shake his head. “Even if he doesn’t hurt you directly, his wake is wide and high, and you can’t count yourself as safe even if you think you’re riding it well.”
I didn’t know if it was the water sports analogy – which would’ve set me on edge anyway – or if it was just the warning itself, but either way, a bit of doubt crept into my mind and the fingers of fear crept up my spine, too.
Donnie cracked his knuckles ominously. “I’m not being paid to look out for you. And I wouldn’t be very good at my job if I gave away my client’s secrets to the first pretty girl who asked. But just consider this…How safe can you be with a man who needs the twenty-four-hour surveillance of an armed guard?”
I desperately wanted to know more. It was an unusual thing for me, to be tempted to push a conversation rather than to wish it never started at all. But I didn’t get a chance to explore it.
Donnie glanced toward the door, then jumped to his feet just as Teekay made his entrance. He was soaked and his expression was as stormy as the weather he’d come in from.
“Did you apologize?” he demanded immediately.
“I did,” Donnie confirmed.
Teekay looked at me. “Is he telling the truth?”
“Yes,” I replied quickly.
Teekay’s glare sought the security guard again. “So why the fuck is he still here?”
Donnie flashed a toothy smile. “I was just leaving. But I’ll be in my apartment if you need me.”
Teekay narrowed his eyes, and I knew he was wondering if the other man was speaking to him, or to me. I was half-wondering the same thing.
In reply to our unasked question, Donnie offered us a shrug before he slipped from the room.
The second the door closed, worry reared its head. I was alone with Teekay. Was I really unsafe?
The rattle of a closet drew my attention back to the room. Teekay paid me no mind as he stripped off his wet t-shirt and soggy jeans and then slipped into a pair of flannel pajama bottoms. He didn’t even make a s
uggestive joke, and when he turned a cool-eyed stare my way, my nerves spiked.
“You’re in my chair,” Teekay announced. “And my room.”
“Didn’t you—”
He didn’t let me finish. “Fourth room.”
“I—”
He cut me off again. “I didn’t mean for you to count the bathroom.”
I could feel my cheeks heating up and I fought it. But I couldn’t suppress my automatic apology.
“I’m sorry.”
“Yet you’re still sitting there.”
The coldness in his voice made me jump from the chair like it was on fire. But once I was on my feet, I remembered I had nowhere to go.
The huge house was too far from my own cottage for me to walk there. It was too far from anything for walking. That was probably one of the reasons the rich built the homes up the mountain in the first place.
I considered whether or not Donnie would help me. He might. Except he’d made it clear his priority was his obligation to Teekay’s father. If he had to leave Teekay behind to take me back down to the beach, I doubted he’d choose me.
And Teekay himself clearly had no intention of going anywhere. I wouldn’t dare ask him to drive me home anyway.
He was pacing the room in his pajamas, a sullen expression on his face. He paused in front of the window, opened it, and let the wind and the rain sweep over his body.
Any trace of the protective, caring guy who’d pulled me from the clutches of Kirby and her friends was gone.
Or maybe he was never there.
Yes, he’d saved me, but if I really thought about it, he’d been violently angry then, too.
I glanced nervously toward the closed door as the gravity of my situation finally started to hit me.
How had it even happened?
I was always careful. Well-schooled in the art of self-preservation. I rarely, if ever, let my guard down.
How had I let myself go from an afternoon of solitude on the beach to being trapped in the bedroom of this possibly unstable man?
I wasn’t a crier, not usually. Tears gave bullies fuel for their fires of cruelty. But for the second time that day, my eyes burned.
Never before had I wished so desperately for a cell phone. I’d never needed one before.
The fourth room, I remembered.
The real one. Teekay had tried to send me there.