by Alli Sims
“I could have helped, you know.” He couldn’t stop touching her. His fingers lightly caressed up and down the curves of her body. “My younger brother is a private investigator.”
She looked up at him. “Yeah well until a few hours ago we weren’t exactly asking favor kind of friends.”
He had to laugh at that. What a difference a day makes.
~
Two weeks had passed and still there was no word on Jane Doe’s true identity. She was moved last week to the rehabilitation wing of the hospital due to the extensive media coverage speculating on her identity. They had guessed she was a European princess down on her luck, the daughter of some fallen Hollywood starlet or a swimsuit model the world had presumed dead. So far none of those guesses had amounted to nothing more than office gossip.
Kasie was close to giving up on finding Jane’s identity, which she still felt was that of her sister Holly. But she had no proof and Jase’s brother hadn’t produced one solid lead.
So while finding her sister had technically brought her and Jase together, it brought her no closer to reuniting with her sister. But her nightly and sometimes mid afternoon meetings with Jase had given her skin a magnificent glow and had the entire hospital trying to guess the identity of her mystery man. Her lips were sealed until or unless she and Jase became something more than really intense fuck buddies.
Was it fair to relegate him to such a crass term when they in fact ate meals together at his place or hers, caught a few movies, went to the park and she was currently packing for a weekend away? In fact, Jase would be here in fifteen minutes. They did more than have sex, even though the sex was earth shattering. Hell it was Kasie-shattering too. She knew Jase had ruined her for other men with his forceful ways, attention to detail and desire to see her entire body quake with orgasms. But she also knew that right now they were an undefined twosome. Slightly more than sex buddies but not quite a relationship. And she couldn’t invest her heart in an undefined twosome, even though she feared she already had.
Yes, Jase was much more than she had anticipated. She knew he was a likeable guy because, well because everyone liked him. But he was also funny and kind and considerate. He would make her the best damned surgeon she could possibly be, but he also might break her heart.
He would almost certainly break her heart. But that was a problem for another time.
She heard him enter her apartment and a smile spread across her face as it always did when he was close by. “I’m almost ready,” she called out, grinning as she packed a few more scraps of lace to entice him plus a set of leather cuffs she bought online. She saw him walk into the room behind her and the look on his face nearly stopped her heart. “What’s wrong Jase?” His green eyes were sad like someone had died and it was making her heart race a mile a minute. His silence just made the worst case scenario playing in her head even worse. “Whatever it is, just tell me. Please.”
It was the pain in her plea that did him in. “It’s about Jane, Kase.” She whipped around, eyes wide with hope and fear. Hope that it would be Holly and fear that she already knew the truth. “Jane Doe is not your sister sweetie, she is Sylvia Whittaker, the governor’s daughter.”
Kasie shook her head in disbelief. “It can’t be. She’s been a Jane Doe for nearly two months and no one has claimed her. It just can’t be!”
He wrapped his arms around her and held on tight as he explained that the governor and his wife and kids were out of the country and had no idea what was happening. Sylvia’s younger sister had received a message on Twitter and the family took the redeye home. Jase met them at the hospital and they identified Jane as Sylvia. “DNA tests will be done to confirm everything but it looks like it’s her.” Jase’s heart broke for the small sobs she tried to hide from him. “I told the Governor about your actions to identify her and he would like to meet you.”
She shook her head vehemently. “I can’t Jase. I just…can’t.” How could she be happy for them for getting their daughter and sister back when it felt like she lost her sister all over again?
“I understand sweetheart and you don’t have to. I just promised to pass along the message.”
“But it is the Governor. Wouldn’t it be rude to turn him down?” Jase chuckled into her hair. His Kasie would always try to do the right thing, the thing that wouldn’t hurt anyone’s feelings.
“I think you should do it but I understand why you say you can’t.” He squeezed her tighter and pulled back. “But you’re so damned strong Kasie I know you can do this. Your strength is one of the things I love about you.”
Wait, what? She squinted at him as though the words didn’t make sense. “You love stuff about me?”
He smiled that magnificent contagious smile. “Yeah. Tons of stuff.”
Her green eyes widened. “Really?” He nodded, his smile getting bigger with every skeptical question. “Why?”
Jase threw his head back and laughed and laughed. “That right there is why. You were right about me, everyone falling at my feet. Everyone but you, that is. You made me work for it and goddamn you have totally been worth it.” He grabbed her cheeks and touched his forehead to hers. “So worth it.”
“Wow.” Did he really just say all that stuff? “Wow.”
He chuckled even though his stomach churned. “Anything else?”
“You want to know what I love about you?”
He nodded. “Well yeah Kase, I just told you I loved you so this is the part where you tell me how you feel.”
Her brows furrowed. “Wait, you love me?”
“What do you think I’ve been saying here, woman? Let me make this easy for you. Kasie, I am in love with you. I love you. Okay?”
She looked up into those green eyes she’d fallen in love with weeks ago and saw the sincerity of his words. God she never thought she’d see a man look at her with such love and devotion in his eyes. That she could fall in love with the one man she wasted time avoiding when she could have had more time with him. Yes she had wasted too much time, but she wouldn’t waste anymore. “I love you too,” she whispered, looking up as the confusion and worry faded to reveal a growing smile.
“You do?” She nodded and stepped closer, taking his mouth in the sweetest kiss.
“I do Dr. Jackson. I really do love you.”
“Good because I love you too.”
She smiled sweetly up at him. “Enough to let me use leather cuffs on you?”
“Enough to use the velvet ropes I just bought. On you.”
She shivered and laughed, wrapping her arms around his waist. “I think I’m going to love being in love with you, Jase.”
He kissed her lips gently. “Right back at you, Dr. Fulham.”
The End
Second Chance Bodyguard
Chapter One
“But Daddy, I don’t want a bodyguard!” Gemma flipped her mahogany curls behind her and rolled her eyes. Her father, Kurt Rochester, was on her case again about security, about her party habits and worst of all about taking the reins of Rochester Holdings.
“Dammit Gemma I won’t have you hurt like Liana!” He banged his fists on his oversized oak desk as her roared at her. “Either you will take a bodyguard or you will stay here.”
She sighed heavily, tired of this conversation she’d had for what felt like the hundredth time. Six months ago Gemma’s cousin Liana had been kidnapped and held for one week in a shack in the desert about two hundred miles outside of Las Vegas. When the $10 million ransom was paid Gemma’s father and his twin brother Ken took a helicopter to retrieve Liana. She was battered and beaten—literally—with a fractured leg and broken arm, broken ribs and a concussion. Since then poor Liana hadn’t left the family compound in Henderson, and poor Gemma had to deal with an overprotective father and uncle determined to wrap her in cotton. “Well Daddy I am a grown woman and you can’t tell me where I can and can’t go. I worked hard to win this trip and I’m going, so I suggest you figure out a way to be okay with it.”
> Kurt sat back and eyed his daughter critically. She was beautiful without a doubt, dark wavy hair that bounced when she walked, blue eyes flecked with green and a long dancer’s frame that she inherited from her mother. But Kurt knew Gemma was also stubborn and determined to get her own way, which she could attribute to his DNA. She was a party girl but, he had to concede, she was also a hard worker. He just wished she wanted to take over the family company Rochester Holdings rather than become a writer. He shook his head in distaste, a writer. Goodness he’d rather her do anything but that. “Don’t do anything until you hear from me Gemma.” Before she could respond he held up a hand to stop her. “Two days Gem. Give me two days and we’ll talk again. Okay?”
Gemma stood and leaned over the desk for a kiss. “Sure thing, Daddy. I’ve got a few things to pick up for my trip anyway. Call me when you’re ready to discuss my trip.” She smiled and bounced out the door before he could say anything else. It was her favorite trick to use on her father and her ex, Tad. She would rephrase their ‘orders’ in a way that suited her then rush off before they could contradict her. She smiled to herself that it had worked so beautifully this time, but she didn’t fool herself. This conversation about her safety wasn’t over by a long shot. In fact she wouldn’t be surprised if her father had already hired a bodyguard. She shrugged the thought off and slid her Chanel sunglasses on her face and let the Las Vegas sun wash over her. Grand Canal Shoppes here I come!
Five hours later Gemma was weighed down with more than a dozen bags and she was ready for her week on Indigo Dreams Island Resort. Whatever her daddy said, she would be on that plane in five days armed with a half dozen bikinis, her laptop, backup USB and tons of ideas for her first full length novel. She was officially a ‘Young Writer of Tomorrow’ even if she wasn’t all that young and barely a writer. But she’d won and this was just what she needed to prove to her father that she had her own career aspirations. She slid into her red Audi TT and turned onto the Strip.
She pulled up to the security gate of Rochester House and slowed when she caught sight of Tad’s black Mercedes. Jeez the man couldn’t take no for an answer. “What do you want Tad?” She rolled her eyes and tried to control the annoyance in her voice.
Tad flashed his flirty smile at her, the one that used to drive her wild. “Can’t a man just stop by to see his girlfriend?”
“Ex-girlfriend. And no he can’t. So I ask again, what do you want?” She stepped out of the car to make sure he didn’t try to stick his tongue down her throat again.
Tad sighed and came closer until she held up a hand to stop him. “Look Gemma this is ridiculous. We belong together, we’re perfect for each other. Why are you being so insistent about this?”
Belong together? Yeah right, Gemma knew Tad was interested in Rochester Holdings and the billions it made each year. “Because I don’t want to be with you Tad. I don’t love you, and with this behavior I barely like you right now.” She saw his eyes narrow in anger momentarily before reverting back to playful and flirtatious.
“Come on babe,” he held his hands out wide to show off his muscles under his blue dress shirt. “It’s me, Tad. I just want to love you and keep you safe.”
Gemma scoffed. “You don’t love me Tad and we both know it. And I don’t need your help to stay safe so thanks, but no thanks.”
He turned back to his car, hand gripped on the door handle. “We will be together Gemma, trust me.”
She looked at him closely and she could see the anger simmering just below the surface but she couldn’t understand it. She knew he was probably sore from missing out on the Rochester fortune but there was no reason to be that upset. She vowed to keep her distance from now on. Gemma looked back at him before she slid into her car, fingers hovering over the security pad. He was smiling but his eyes still looked angry and his smile was menacing.
“I’ll talk to you again soon Gemma. Real soon.”
Message received. Jerk off.
~
Brody Keller stood tall behind his desk, arms crossed and biceps looking intimidating inside his standard grey t-shirt. Kurt Rochester sat on the other side of the desk in his expensive suit and stern face, waiting for his answer. He needed a bodyguard for his “wild child daughter” and he didn’t want just any bodyguard. No, he had to have the owner of the company rearrange his schedule to travel to a tropical island to keep his spoiled princess safe. Things could be worse. “I’ll have to check my schedule Mr. Rochester and I’ll get back to you in twenty four hours.”
Rochester stood and adjusted his tie. “I’m willing to double your rate if you personally handle this, Mr. Keller.”
Brody clenched his teeth and mentally cited programming code to keep his fists from curling into balls and hurling toward the man’s face. Rich guys like this always thought they could throw money at a problem and solve it. “I’m aware of that Rochester but as the CEO of this company I have to make sure other matters will be taken care of before I can jet off to some island with your daughter.”
His eyes widened in surprise then settled into respect for the young man before him. “Very well then Mr. Keller. I hope to hear from you soon, then.”
Brody nodded and escorted the man out of his office and through the lobby to the elevator. “I’ll get back to you before the close of business tomorrow.”
Kurt Rochester nodded, “Please Mr. Keller. You may not take this seriously but I am terrified for my daughter’s safety but she insists on this trip and I’ve heard you’re the best.”
Dammit. The man had to go and make himself seem human, didn’t he? Brody knew he would take the job and he already wanted to kick his own ass for it. He could see the true distress in the man’s face and knew he would keep his daughter safe. Even if it killed him.
He stalked back to his office and picked up the phone and called his partner and best friend. “Max I’ve got a job for the next ten days so you’re in charge.”
Chapter Two
“I hope you know I haven’t changed my mind, Daddy.” Gemma felt an odd sense of déjà vu as she sat in the same plush leather club chair opposite her father in his office inside the building that housed Rochester Holdings. She was dressed casually in dark blue denim and a loose cotton t-shirt, a look her father loathed and she knew it. But today wasn’t just about a bodyguard, it was also about showing him who she was. And wasn’t. She was a writer now, which meant she was comfortable all day. She would no longer wear stuffy tea dresses or bland suits just to blend in with the rest of their social circle. She was her own person and Daddy would just have to accept it.
Kurt Rochester smiled a patient smile at his only daughter. “Well Gemma I haven’t changed my mind either. You can go to Indigo Dreams for your little workshop and redeem your trip, but you will take protection with you.”
She wrinkled her brows and nose, “You mean like a gun? Daddy I really don’t think there’s a need for a gun on a tropical island.”
“Not a gun, dammit Gemma. A bodyguard. I’ve already hired one so there’s no need throw a fit about it.” He sat back and waited for his daughter to throw the tantrum he knew was coming.
“No, absolutely not! Having someone else around defeats the purpose of winning a week of virtual solitude. How the hell am I supposed to write with some no neck muscle man hovering?”
“You’ll find a way Gemma or you’ll find Indigo Dreams shut down before your plane touches down.”
Gemma sighed. She knew her father wasn’t bluffing, he wasn’t capable of bluffing. He made a promise and he followed through. Period. End of story. “Fine.”
Kurt sat up quickly, suspicious of Gemma’s quick turnaround. “Fine? You’re not going to argue or act like a child?”
Gemma smarted at his description of her behavior but she refused to take the bait. “I said fine Daddy, what more do you want me to say?” She huffed impatiently and stood, slinging her soft leather hobo bag over her shoulder and walking to the door. “Just give the goon you hired my address and t
ell him to be there Tuesday morning.”
“Uh, sweetheart he’s,”
She threw up her hand. “I don’t care Daddy, just have him show up!”
“The goon is here.”
The fine hairs on the back of Gemma’s neck stood up at the deep rumble behind her. She could never forget the scent of sandalwood and lemongrass. It was a unique combination that she had only smelled once, for three wonderful days, and she knew the scent belonged to only one man. She turned and looked up, and up, and up at the one man she thought she’d never see again. “Brody,” she whispered in awe. Shock.
Brody paused for the briefest second and she saw the moment the mask fell into place. He extended his hand to her. “Ms. Rochester, good to see you.”
Okay so that’s how we’re going to play it? She raised a questioning eyebrow at Brody but he remained stoic, emotionless. She slapped her small hand into his—he was much larger than she remembered—and returned an equally cool greeting. “Mr. Keller.”
“Mr. Keller is the best in the field of surveillance and security. His firm has gained quite a lot of buzz from important people in the past few years so I trust him to keep you safe and you should too.” Kurt’s face lifted into what could be called a smile, if it didn’t look so strained and out of place on him.
Gemma cut a surprised gaze up at Brody who was looking at her father. She was shocked to hear her father so effusive about anyone, but especially a blue collar guy like Brody. Not so blue collar anymore, her conscious taunted. Apparently Brody Keller had done well for himself. Of course he did because he was also even sexier than he was five years ago. He was bigger, taller, more muscular, his face more defined. He was a big bag of yum and he was her bodyguard. His deep voice cut through her musings.
“I have your address Ms. Keller and I will arrive at your compound at 0500. That will give us plenty of time to get to the airstrip, do a sweep and board the plane.” He handed her a business card clenched lightly between his fingers. “Call if you find yourself in trouble.” He nodded to her father and walked away without sparing her a second look.