"Saturday? You know I can't do Saturday."
"Oh right, D.C. I'll blame Dallas for that one."
Although Mark didn't want to be in D.C. this weekend, he found himself silently counting his blessings that it had turned out that way. The reason he was down here was for a job. What made it so unique though, was that it was a job that he wouldn’t normally be doing. He was doing a good friend a favor and now, as he spoke with his sister, Mark smiled at the bullet he had dodged because of it.
Two weeks earlier, Mark's sister had been involved in a little trouble. Mark was actually a cop and would have loved nothing more than to handle the problem internally. But the problem she found herself in extended itself beyond basic law and order. As such, he sought the help of a good friend of his – Dallas. Dallas was an ex-Navy SEAL and worked for a high-end protection agency. He was more than happy to watch Mark's sister for him, while Mark did his best to get his sister out of the bind she was in. However, while Dallas was watching her, the walls came down. The end result was Dallas in the hospital with bullet wounds -- all done to protect Mark's sister. He was alive, but out of action, and of course, unable to work.
As a means to say thank you, Mark had volunteered to cover Dallas' next protection services job. That’s what had brought him to D.C. It was a simple job, just a routine bodyguard gig for an influential politician's daughter. But in reality, it was baby-sitting. The only positive that Mark could really glean from the situation, apart from avoiding this random set-up from his sister, was that it was a chance to say thank you to his friend for saving his sister’s life.
"OK, how about this?" his sister continued. "You're back on Sunday night? I'll book you and Tara in for a mid-week do. That's nice and casual. Kind of a dipping your toes into the dating pool scene – and don't say no. I loved her too Mark. I did, and I still do. But she would agree it's time you got back out there."
Mark let out a long sigh. There was no way that she was letting him off the hook. If it were anyone else, Mark would easily be able to put them off. Mark had always been a pretty strong-willed guy and was good at getting others to see his way of thinking – whether it was through charm or force. But this wasn't anyone else, it was his sister and she was as stubborn as he was.
"OK," Mark relented. "I'll go on one date, if it --
BEEEEEP!
A car horn blared behind Mark, snapping him back to the moment. He looked in his rearview, seeing the SUV gearing up to move forward. The only problem was the van in front of him hadn't moved yet. The car behind beeped again and this time the van finally started to roll forward.
Mark slowly started to advance but the driver of the SUV must have been anticipating a quick take off, because it suddenly rammed into the back of Mark’s pick-up with a crunch.
"What was that?" Cleo asked apprehensively, hearing the sound of crunching metal.
"It was my weekend getting off to a flying start," Mark grimaced as he turned off his car.
"What?"
"Listen Cleo, I'll call you back tonight, okay – please don't do anything until then. Love you."
As Mark hung the phone up, he glanced back into his rearview mirror. The driver of the SUV, a sweet looking, little old lady, was just getting out of the vehicle. She was rubbing her neck and holding her back, looking like the crash had near killed her.
Mark sighed as he prepared himself to face the old lady. He looked at himself in the mirror, readjusting his tie and hair before climbing from the car. As he did, he found himself thinking back to what Cleo had just said, about him needing to get back into the dating world. She was right of course. It just wasn’t easy to start. Not that he had a hard time finding willing dates – quite the opposite.
Mark knew that he was considered gorgeous by the ladies. He had been blessed with near perfect features, and a body that killed; a picture of what most men wanted to be and what most women wanted to be on. He stood over six feet tall and was built like the proverbial brick shit house, with broad shoulders, muscular arms and an ass that made women turn to take another look.
The old lady was hunched over the front of her car as Mark made his way towards her. She still held her neck and back, and looked even more frail up close. After taking a quick glance, Mark saw that it was her car which had taken the brunt of the damage. His pick-up had a tow-bar on the back, and it had all but crushed the grill on the old lady's SUV. The way she looked at it, her face scrunched up and pouting, broke his heart.
"Dear, I'm so sorry," she said when she spotted him. "My darn foot just slipped onto the gas and -"
"Hey, don't worry about it," Mark said as he flashed her a warm smile. She kind of reminded him of his own nana. "Are you okay?"
"Oh!" The old lady caught site of Mark for the first time. The moment she did, her mouth fell slightly open. Mark was actually used to this response when women caught sight of him, but it made him a bit uncomfortable when it was a grandmother. 'Yes… yes, I'm..."
"I can drive you to the hospital if you like?" Although he made the offer, a part of him hoped she would say no. He was running rather late for his first job and didn't much like the idea of being even more behind.
"Aren't you just the sweetest? But that won't be necessary. And it looks like my car took all the damage."
The situation was easy enough to deal with. Although it was the old lady's car that was wrecked, Mark still insisted that they exchange insurance information. Once he had helped her back into her vehicle and made sure that she was on her way safely, he climbed into his own front seat.
Mark let slip a small smile as he buckled up and turned the car back on. That was an easier situation to deal with than it could have been. He wasn't looking forward to his upcoming job. He had heard rumors about the young lady he was commissioned to look after and if reports were accurate, she wouldn't be quite as easy to control.
But hey, maybe Mark would get lucky.
CHAPTER TWO
"Where is he?" Eunice Warren said with a huff as she placed her hands on her hips and continued to gaze around the base of the Monument. "I said nine o'clock, sharp. Not nine thirty. Not nine forty-five. But nine. If he can't get here on time, I can't see how --"
"Mom, I told you, you can leave and I'll meet him. You really don't have to be here," Mia said to her mother for what must have been the tenth time in the last five minutes. Her mother had the ability to drive her crazy at the best of times, but when she was in a state like this, there was no satisfying her.
"And trust you to wait for him?" Eunice scoffed as she raised an accusing eye brow at her daughter. "You must think I came down with the last shower?"
Mia rolled her eyes at her mother's comment, choosing to turn her back on her instead. As she did, she went back to her previous past time of people watching. Really there wasn't anything else to do. Why her mother thought she would have a good time in D.C. was anybody's guess.
Where Mia really wanted to be was back in New York, with her friends. It was her best friend's birthday this weekend and she had been looking forward to it. It was going to be three days of drinking and partying. Instead, she had three days of sight-seeing to not look forward to. And, to make matters worse, not only did she have to spend the weekend wandering around D.C. like some sort of foreign tourist, but she had to do it under the watchful eye of a body guard.
"What does he look like?" she asked her mother who was pacing back and forth in front of her, getting angrier and angrier by the second.
"I don't know! Like a bodyguard, I suppose. Black suit. Tie. Sunglasses. The company I hired him from has a very distinguished reputation... well they did. But if he doesn't turn up soon..." And on she went.
Again, Mia couldn't stop thinking about how much she didn’t want to be here. The most annoying aspect was the fact that there was no actual need for her to be in D.C. at all. It was her mother who had to be here, not her.
Mia's mother was a politician from New York. A very powerful politician from New York. She very rarely made her way to D.
C. however, unless her voice was needed. This weekend, the Senate was voting on a bill to tighten up the immigration laws. Her mother had come down for the express purpose of voting on that bill and ensuring that it passed. Indeed, with her influence, her raised hand would make all the difference.
When Mia pointed out to her mother that she didn't need to come, her mother insisted it would give them time to catch up and bond. "It's a mother-daughter weekend we desperately need," her mother proclaimed. Although Mia agreed, she was seriously doubtful about her mother’s authenticity. Mia was twenty-six years old and her and her mother had never been close. They had probably never even spent more than a couple of hours with each other alone. So Mia had decided to go along with this mother-daughter weekend, in the hopes that her mother was actually genuine about her desire for them to spend some quality bonding time together, but inside, Mia was pretty sure this was just another control button being pushed by her mother. Her mom knew that there was going to be a great party for Jessica this weekend and she would do a whole lot to prevent Mia from going. Not only did she hate Mia’s friends – she hated anyone that wasn’t a book toting, seriously academic PhD-in-training. And true to form, the moment they had arrived, Mia was told that most of her mother’s time this weekend would “surprisingly” be taken up by meetings. Mia was going to be stuck with a bodyguard doing the solo tourist thing instead. Pathetic.
As her mother pulled her phone out in exasperation, preparing to make yet another angry phone call. Mia considered simply walking away. Realistically her mother wouldn't even notice until she was long gone. That was par for the course by now. And indeed, she might have, if she hadn’t suddenly spotted something across the way that caught her attention. And then held it firmly.
Walking straight towards them was the sexiest man that Mia had ever laid eyes on. Sure, he was tall and muscular, but it was the way he walked, that caught her eye. There was a confidence behind it, as if he just knew that the crowd would part for him.
Mia was gaping openly, and she didn’t even care. But then she noted what he was wearing – basically the same outfit her mother had previously described, minus the sunglasses. This, along with the fact that he was walking right towards her, gave away who he was.
"Ms. Warren?" he asked as he walked up the path toward Mia and her mother. Up close he was even more breathtaking. "I'm Mark. Sorry I'm --"
"There you are!" Eunice exclaimed. "Late and – is that your vehicle?! A truck?" Her mother looked with disgust towards the truck that Mark had pulled up in. Mia rolled her eyes, only too aware of her mother's opinion on such common vehicles.
"Oh," he said, looking back at the truck nonchalantly. "Yes, it's mine. But don't worry, we won't be driving today. It's a nice day, and since I was hired to accompany your daughter sightseeing, it would be better if we walked –"
"Yes, yes, that’s fine I suppose," Eunice cut back in, holding her hand up as she did. "Because of your tardiness I am now incredibly late." She hurried across to Mia, giving her a quick air kiss. "I'll call you later tonight?" And without waiting for a response, she was gone.
Mia watched with frustration as her mother disappeared across the lot, all but abandoning her with a stranger. Sure, Mark was gorgeous, but that wasn't the point. He was a babysitter, as simple as that. Mia wasn't about to spend the day being babysat, regardless of how good looking the babysitter was.
An uncomfortable silence descended between the two after Mia's mother had left. Mia could sense Mark's eyes on her. He was taking her in, working her out. She hadn't paid him any attention yet, but she was already on the verge of biting his head off for no reason at all.
"Get a good look?" she snapped as she turned back to address him for the first time. She wasn't going to be falling for his charm.
"Excuse me?" he asked, keeping his cool as he did. The nonplussed look on his perfect face only irritated Mia further.
"Never mind," Mia said with a sigh. "I suppose you want instructions or something?" The guy had the most piercing eyes Mia had ever seen. If it wasn’t for the fact that she found the situation completely untenable, she might have found him desirable.
"Not really," he said simply. “I used to live in D.C. so I know the area pretty well. I thought we could start by --"
"No" Mia said. She turned on her heel and began making her way down the path and away from the Monument. With her mother gone, maybe she could --
Before she had taken three steps, Mark was standing in front of her, effectively cutting her off without even touching her. “Excuse me?” he growled out.
"Look," Mia pulled up as Mark stepped in front of her. "Hiring you was my mother's idea. Not mine. I have no idea why she thought I needed a babysitter, but I don't and --"
"Your mother is an important woman. She clearly thought that might put you in some kind of danger? I'm to understand she's voting on some new legislature this weekend?" He tried to sound reasonable.
"Be that as it may," Mia continued with a sigh. "This whole thing is ridiculous. So here is how this is going to go down. I'm going to walk around. I'm going to look. I might even take a few photos. And you... you're going to hang back. We're not going to talk. You aren't going to walk beside me – in fact, I would prefer if no one could even tell we are together. Got it?"
For a moment, Mia thought that Mark was going to argue. His eyes cut into her with a look of disgust. Any other situation would have resulted in Mark “showing” the other person how it was actually going to be, but instead he smiled and replied with a curt, "Perfectly."
For the barest second, Mia actually felt a pang of guilt at the way she had behaved. But it was only for a second. She soon remembered the situation she had been forced into, and quickly felt that guilt melt away. The way she saw it, this whole thing was pointless and Mark The Bodyguard needed to know where he stood.... close enough for her to steal glances at when he wasn't looking, but not so close that he got in the way.
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