“Never? Are you sure?”
“I’m positive.”
“Really, because I think you want to kiss me right now.”
She laughs. “Get a life, Roman. The last thing in this world I want to do is kiss you.”
“What if I told you the only thing I wanted was to kiss you?” I say. She jolts to face me. She wrinkles her nose after she assesses me.
“I’d say too bad, so sad.”
I laugh. “Oh, I’m going to kiss you.”
“No, you’re not. That ship has sailed.”
“That ship is about to dock,” I lean closer to her.
“Why is your boat called Moby Dick?” she asks. “And how come you’ve never use it?”
I shake my head. “Always after information.”
“You said ship and it made me think of another question.”
“How badly do you want to know?”
Her eyebrows lift. I’ve piqued her curiosity. “What do you have in mind?”
“If I answer your question, you have to kiss me again.”
“I don’t want to know.”
“Too bad. It’s a great story.” I don’t want to tell her, but I really want to kiss her.
“Ugh. Fine. But only because I want to know. For the game.”
“Right. For the game.” I nod and scrunch up my face because she and I both know it’s more than that.
“So?”
“Have you read Moby Dick?” I ask.
“I think maybe in high school.”
“Moby Dick is a sperm whale—”
“Is everything about sex with you?” she asks, lying back and covering her face with her hands.
“Like I was saying, he’s a whale that’s untouchable. He’s tough and difficult and even though he dies in the end, there’s something in the book about daring the sea and losing your soul. It spoke to me. I like words.”
She sits back up. “So why haven’t you ever used the boat? I heard you’ve never taken it out.”
“I want to. I really do, but water… I don’t like it.”
She regards me. “But you’re sitting by the pool.”
“And it’s very, very hard.”
“Why don’t you like the water?”
“Ahh…” I hold up my finger. “I believe I answered the required questions. I want my kiss.”
Her lips curl upward and she stares at my mouth. I’m fairly certain I’ve never wanted to kiss anyone this badly in my life.
“Close your eyes,” she says.
I do as I’m told, but not before I lick my lips and smirk. I’m going to kiss the shit out of her and after she’s going to beg me for more. Then I feel a small peck on my cheek.
“Done.”
My eyes dart open. “Oh, hell no!”
She laughs. “I wish the cameras were on right now. If you could have seen yourself.” She licks her lips and moans, like she’s trying to wet her face. Then she laughs even harder.
And I’m mad. Rising, I grab the bag of cookies. “Goodnight, Ms. Manning.”
“Oh, come on, Roman. I’m just playing. Don’t go back to the Ms. Manning shit.”
“Roman, what the hell?” Dawson is standing by the doors and grimacing. “You can’t seriously be out here alone?”
“I was about to go inside.”
“Please wait,” Reed begs as I enter the house.
“Are you asking for trouble?” Dawson asks as he follows me down the hall.
“For what? The pool or the girl?”
“Both,” he replies adamantly.
“Go back to bed. It’s where I’m headed after I put this shit away.”
Dawson scrubs a hand over his face before making his exit.
I walk into the kitchen in the dark and toss the bag in the pantry, missing the shelf. The cookies fall and spill all over the floor. “Fucking perfect end to a fucking perfect day.”
I bend over and pick up cookie pieces, tossing them back into the bag. I finish scooping up the last crumbs and turn to leave. Reed is blocking the pantry door.
“There aren’t any cameras in here, right?” she asks.
“No. Now move,” I tell her angrily.
She places her hands on each side of the doorframe. “Grip, positive control, grip.”
“I’m tired. I want to go to bed.”
She takes a step toward me. “No more evasive maneuvers.”
“What are you talking about?” She’s starting to get on my nerves.
She takes another step toward me and places her hand on my chest. She flexes her fingers over the fabric on my T-shirt as our eyes collectively travel to the spot she’s touching. Fire burns inside me, but it’s not anger, it’s something else.
“No more evasive maneuvers,” I whisper.
“This is wrong on so many levels,” she says, shaking her head.
I run the back of my fingers along her cheek. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.
“You’re so fucking beautiful,” I say.
“So are you.”
I grin, and she opens her eyes like she said the wrong thing. Then she shrugs. “You are.”
“Pay up, Reed.”
She takes a step toward me and when there’s no space left between us, she lifts her head and gently places her lips to mine. As much as I want to ravage her, there’s something about the feel of her that makes me want to enjoy every slow delicious second. This time, I kiss her back. It’s soft and tender, like a first kiss should be. Like a first kiss that will go down in history as “the kiss” that sealed the deal.
I thread my fingers into the hair at the back of her neck as I hold her mouth against mine. I’m not sure which one of us is breathing more heavily as I lick her bottom lip. She folds in my arms as if I touched a magic nerve. She slides her arms under mine to my back, where she kneads my skin.
We’re all lips and tongues, as what started tenderly now becomes all about passion and need. I want her. I need her. Everything about this feels so right now that she’s in my arms. Slowly lowering my hand from her neck, I touch my way down her back until I reach her ass.
She pulls away. “Holy crap, I did it again!” she says as she pushes away from me.
“Don’t,” I say, pulling on her arms. “Don’t lessen this moment or make it sound like it was a mistake. It was a long time coming and it was fucking perfect.”
“But the game? I can’t—”
“Yes, you can. No one knows anything, and we’ll keep it that way.”
She shakes her head. “I refuse to win this because I’m fondling the boss.”
I can’t help but smile. “Are you suggesting there will be fondling?”
She rolls her eyes and I step toward her.
“I’m not going to make this easy on you. If you want to work for me, you’ll have to earn it through the challenges, like the rest of them. What happened tonight won’t have any effect on the game. Got it?”
She nods.
“With that being said, you need to know that I’m insanely attracted to you.”
“I was drinking. That’s what this was.”
“Nope.”
“I had too much to drink and I—”
“Nope,” I say again and place my lips on her forehead. “It was just meant to be. I’ll see you in the morning.”
I leave her alone in the pantry. She won’t call this a mistake. It might be one of the best moments of my life.
Maybe it wasn’t a mistake. It was amazing. He’s warm and funny and kind and he tastes like chocolate chip cookies and perfection.
I couldn’t sleep after I got back to my room. I paced the floor and analyzed what had just happened. Being with him was so easy. He wasn’t arrogant or pig-headed. He was sweet and normal. He’s a rock star and he’s nice too? It can’t be real, can it? Did I get the best kiss of my life in a pantry?
“Welcome back to The Praetorian. Today is bound to trigger all kinds of fun.” Bryce steps to the side as tapestries billow on cue. It’s all so cin
ematic.
“Today we have a challenge like nothing you’ve ever seen, but first the contestants are going to need some training. Let’s bring out Jean Paul Beck to tell us more.”
There’s a moment of silence and Bryce stands by awkwardly as we fix our eyes on the stage. He normally comes out right on cue, but this time, nothing.
“Cut,” Esto yells from overhead. “Can someone find JP?”
The crew moves about the room and Bryce turns to Logan and shrugs. I wonder what’s going on this time? I haven’t seen Roman yet today. He wasn’t at breakfast again, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited to see him. He gives me butterflies. I haven’t felt like that since my first school crush walked into math.
“Sorry about last night. Hope you didn’t miss me,” Tori says as she sits on the corner of my table.
“No worries. I crashed hard.”
“You look different today.”
“I do?”
“Yeah. You seem, I don’t know… happy?”
I laugh. “Gee, thanks. I guess that means I seem miserable on other days?”
“She does look happy today,” Raul adds. “Drinking suits you.” He winks at me as he places a water bottle at his spot before heading off to talk to Bobby.
“Holy shit! Did you and Raul hook up?” Tori asks.
“No! Hell, no! Why would you say that?”
“Because he keeps looking at you and you’re all gooey today. You totally hooked up. Is that why he didn’t sleep in his room last night? Did you two get it on?”
“I don’t know anything about that. I slept alone last night. Alone. And how do you know he wasn’t in his room?”
“Akio told Logan, Logan told Kari, and Kari told me.”
“Why did you sleep in Kari’s room?”
“Um, well—”
“What?” I ask, furrowing my brows.
“I came back to the room and you were snoring. Like really loud.” She imitates me and if it’s accurate, I sound like a dying cow.
“Oh fuck, Tori. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s no big deal.”
“Okay, people, back to your seats. We’re ready to start again,” Bryce announces. “But first Esto has something to say.”
Esto rounds the corner, carrying a clipboard. “I think you should know someone stole Roman’s iPad.”
“How do you know he didn’t simply misplace it?” Logan asks.
“Misplaced iPads don’t change settings on their own. Whoever took it knew his password and was able to turn off location services.”
I glance at Cedric, who rubs his chin.
“If any of you have any information, we’d appreciate your help. If you saw something or heard anything suspicious, please report it. All right, back to business. Let’s set up.”
Esto trudges back behind the stage and Bryce resumes his position.
“You have a thought?” I ask, leaning toward Cedric.
“I have a few. There are lots of extras, but I’ve never seen Roman with an iPad. Is it safe to assume he only uses it in his personal space?”
“I’d say yes.”
“Then that would mean someone with access took it.”
“But how would someone know his password?”
“Lucky guess?”
I frown, and he chuckles. “Exactly. Feel like doing some investigative work later?”
I almost fall off my chair. “Hell yeah!”
“Ready people! JP, we’ll start with you coming down the stairs. In five, four, three, two…”
“Good morning contestants. Today is going to be broken into two parts. Basic training and then the challenge. Let’s start with training. If you’d please stand and follow me. We’re about to take a little trip.”
Glancing behind me as I walk, I search for signs of Roman. He’s nowhere to be found today. I have a pit in my stomach. What if he regrets last night?
I hear laughter ahead of me and when I get outside, I see why. There’s a large open-air bus waiting for us. It’s more like an army bus then a tour bus. It’s camo and says Seamore Productions on the side.
“Hop in. We’ve no time to waste!” Jean Paul says. Still no sign of Roman.
Raul slides into the seat next to me and Tori turns around and winks at me. I shake my head and mouth “No” to her, but she faces forward so quickly, I’m certain she didn’t see it.
“What’s that all about?” Raul asks as the bus pulls away from the house.
“She’s just being Tori.”
“What does that mean?” he asks, reaching up to hold onto a strap for balance.
“That means she thinks she knows things, but she actually doesn’t know squat.”
“Enlighten me.”
“It’s dumb,” I say.
He stares at me intently and I gaze around the bus. There are plenty of open seats. No one is sitting with another person besides Raul and me. I suddenly feel uncomfortable.
“I’ll tell you some other time.”
“No one’s around. Tell me now.”
I sigh. “She thinks there’s something going on between us. Dumb right?”
He smiles shyly and blinks a couple of times. “I don’t think that’s dumb at all.”
Clearing my throat, I turn away from him. I need to focus on something besides Raul. “Oh look…” I search desperately for something to point out but we’re in the middle of nowhere. My sentence ends with look.
“What?” he questions, scooting closer to me.
“I, uh, thought I saw a squirrel.”
“A squirrel, huh?” He curls his lips ever so slightly.
“It’s, well, there’s a guy.”
“He’s not here though, is he? And what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him, will it?”
“Um…”
“Think about it. I like you, Reed. A lot.”
He nudges me with his shoulder and then stands, moves forward, and plops down in a seat near Logan. They bump fists. What the ever-loving hell?
A few minutes later we pull up to what looks like an abandoned building in the middle of nowhere. There are at least six Seamore vans and trucks and the place is crawling with people, yelling at each other and pointing.
Jean Paul stands and shouts, “Sit tight for a few minutes.”
Everyone is quiet as we wait for any clue to what we’re going to be doing.
“Move those vans,” someone screams. Two guys jump into the vehicles and drive them away. As the dust clears, I see him in the distance, like in a movie.
Roman is wearing ripped gray jeans and his black combat boots. He’s got on a black V-neck T-shirt and some sort of black rope chain around his neck. He’s wearing sunglasses and the sun reflects off his nose ring. He turns and scowls as someone taps him on the shoulder. I think it’s his agent—I can’t remember his name. He crosses his arms and his arm muscles tighten.
I wish I would have paid closer attention to his tattoos last night. I can’t describe even one of them. That’s so unlike me.
My heart picks up speed as he moves. What am I doing? What am I thinking? He’s so not my type. I’m usually more interested in someone like… I glance at Raul, who is chatting with Logan.
I’m not the kind of girl who kisses rock stars I barely know. I’m a cop who protects or arrests them.
Roman shakes his head at something someone is saying and then does a double take at the bus. He lowers his sunglasses with his hand, gazing over them and smiles. I swear he’s looking right at me and damn, if he isn’t the sex god the internet said he was. Not now, Reed. This is the game. Stop looking at him. No eye contact. Stop picturing him naked. Look anywhere else. Anywhere.
I gaze up at the ceiling of the bus. There’s nothing to see and I regret my impulse choice. I’m certain I appear as dumb as I feel. I could have looked out the window like a normal human being.
“Hey, everyone.”
I hear his voice and try to nonchalantly gaze at him as if I hadn’t seen him before. It’s as if he doesn
’t notice me either.
“I know it seems disorganized and crazy, but I promise it’s going to be a kick ass day.”
“Roman!” Esto calls and Roman hops down the bus steps and jostles over to him. Esto points to somewhere out of my line of sight and Roman nods and walks in that direction. The makeup girl follows him, holding a leather coat.
“If you’d all exit the bus, we’re about to get started. Please stay near the bus and wait for further instructions.”
I didn’t even see Bryce until he spoke, but apparently he was on the bus with us the whole time. I need to get more sleep and more coffee. My observation skills are seriously lacking this morning. It’s time to step it up. Pinching my leg a few times helps shake off the drowsiness. I need to prove I deserve to be here and can do this job. Roman said no favors and I’m going to hold him to that.
Bryce, Esto, and Jean Paul are discussing something quietly as I move over near Kari. Everyone is trying to figure out what’s going on. I’d like to find out what’s going on between her and Logan. I place that on top of my agenda for the day, right after winning this challenge. No matter what it is.
I’m at the shooting range Seamore put together on the hill near the building. The contestants excitedly approach. There are plastic dummies set up along with a separate area with circular targets to my left.
“Today,” JP begins, “we’ll be discussing the art of protecting your principal. This is a TV show, so while you’re here, and for the safety of the crew and staff, we’ll be using paintball guns specially made for this contest. Each of you will have range practice before the challenge begins. First let’s discuss what guarding your principal means.”
JP moves to the center, meeting his mark and the camera follows him. He really likes the attention. Even though I hear he’s a juggernaut when it comes to protection, I think he’s more of a whore when it comes to the cameras.
“When there are unknowns present, you want to stay an arm’s length away from your principal. Make it a habit to practice keeping your client on the side opposite your weapon. If you need to draw your weapon, this will allow you to move him out of the way with one hand while simultaneously pulling your gun with the other. We call this the reaction side.”
He moves over to Bryce and places his hand on his shoulder. “Bryce is to my left, so I can move him with my left hand and draw my weapon with my right, since I’m a right-handed shooter. We’re going to practice shooting two rounds at a time. I know some, if not most of you, are already trained in using a gun, but here, you’ll do it my way or not at all. Understand?
The Praetorian Page 18