Her Protector

by Rianna Campbell

  Janie arrived next and, like Amanda, she went upstairs to Alexandra’s room. He wasn’t sure why, but the thought of those three women together upstairs made him uneasy. Oh, to be a fly on that wall.

  He knew that Tom was on a detail tonight, and that Cam was on call, so Jackson, Sam, Parker and Ian were the only ones free tonight. Jackson had taken great pleasure in making sure Connor knew he would be there. Jackson was a good guy, a hell of an asset, and one of his best friends, which is the only reason he hadn’t gotten himself punched in the face several times this week.

  They all arrived together, which didn’t surprise him, but he was left to play host while the girls remained upstairs, which did. He was about to go up and see what the hell was going on, when Janie and Amanda appeared.

  Janie looked good, as she usually did. She was a curvy redhead who seemed totally at ease in her own skin, which gave her a confidence that was appealing. She wore a simple dark green dress that hugged her curves and set off her pale skin and complimented her blue-green eyes. Amanda had changed out of her restaurant wear and into a denim skirt that showed off her long slim legs, a pair of knee high black riding boots and a plain black t-shirt. Connor noticed that she had a tattoo on her wrist and one on her forearm as well.

  He stopped noticing anything the moment Alexandra strolled in behind them. He didn’t even blink. Her hair framed her face in soft waves and she looked positively edible in a pair of jeans that hugged her curves and skimmed her long legs to where they disappeared into a pair of brown booties with a chunky heel. She wore a simple cable knit sweater in a soft cream color that molded to her body.

  It was so… her. He’d noticed that in her off time, Alexandra preferred comfort. She might wear power suits and designer heels in the office, but at the gym, the bar or at home, she opted for casual. But even in a potato sack, she would be a beautiful woman.

  Connor stood, dumbstruck, while Alexandra introduced her sister and her friend, and welcomed everyone. He helped her make and carry drinks for everyone and then followed her back to the kitchen. She retrieved containers of shrimp and mussels from the fridge before turning to him.

  “Nobody’s allergic to shellfish, are they?” She asked him.

  “Not that I know of.”

  She nodded and went about adding the seafood to the dish, carefully setting the timer and checking the heat.

  “Need any help? I am handy in the kitchen after all.”

  “Yes, I remember.” She said dryly.

  “You do, do you?” He asked as he stepped closer. Her cheeks flushed and he wanted so badly to kiss her on those glossy pink lips.

  “It’s a bit… hazy, if I’m completely honest.” She said waving a hand vaguely in the air.

  “Would you like me to refresh your memory?” He asked, leaning closer. He kept his hands in his pockets to make sure he didn’t forget himself. He’d told her he would wait. He wanted her to be sure about anything that might happen between them. And although he certainly wasn’t going to miss an opportunity to get her thinking about him, he wasn’t going to push her. The next kiss-- and so help him God, there would be another-- was going to be because she kissed him.

  She seemed to consider it for a moment before looking him straight in the eye and blushing anyway.

  “Maybe later.” She smiled.

  God, she slayed him. The fact that she could be so sexy and flirty and still blush made him hard. She might be confused and unsure about some things, but when she made up her mind, even if it made her feel embarrassed, she said-- or did-- whatever she wanted.

  “But, if you wouldn’t mind, I could actually use your help.” She added sweetly.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Two hours later, dinner concluded, Alexandra couldn’t help but smile at the people gathered around her table. It felt good to put it to use after living in near isolation for so long. Aside from needling Connor about his “hands-off” edict, and asserting her independence, the other reason she wanted this dinner was to throw Janie and Jackson together and see what happened, but in a casual, no pressure way. If it worked, wonderful. If it didn’t, they’d be none the wiser.

  She snickered to herself and Connor gave her a curious look. Deciding he’d been far too at ease all evening, she turned to Jackson, who sat next to Janie on her left.

  “So how’s your mom, Jacks?” She asked innocently.

  “She’s good.” He gave her a warm smile. It was so sweet how much he loved his family. It made her sad to think that he’d given up so much to take care of them.

  “Any plans for a visit around the Holidays?” She asked, sipping her wine.

  “She’s comin’ here for Thanksgiving.” He nodded, clearly excited. “Then I’m headin’ to Texas for Christmas.” He shot a glance at Connor, as if confirming he’d have the time off and Connor nodded.

  “You should bring her over while she’s here, maybe for dinner. I’d love to meet her. She sounds like an incredible lady, and I want a chance to tell her how awesome her son is.”

  Alexandra meant every word of it, but she felt almost bad for Jackson. He blushed and looked uncomfortable, especially when he saw Connor glowering at him.

  “So where in Texas are you from?” Janie asked, turning slightly to face him better.

  “Outside Dallas.” Jackson replied. His eyes lit up and she saw him study Janie for a long moment before he realized he should probably say something else. “What about you, where are you from?”

  Alexandra smiled and tuned out their conversation, satisfied. My work here is done. Then she moved on to the next victim. She spent the next half hour studiously ignoring Connor and trying to pry open Parker, Sam and Ian. Sam was a serious type, but seemed genuinely nice. Ian was more of a talker and seemed to have a million stories.

  Parker was a tough nut. He was quiet. He hardly spoke at all, and when he did it was mostly to Jackson. He spent a lot of time watching everyone else though, especially Amanda. Interesting.

  When Alexandra got up and started clearing dishes,Connor leapt up and offered his help. To her surprise, Amanda popped up as well.

  “I’ve got it.” Amanda said, with a wink at Connor. Alexandra was not happy with the jealousy that shot through her. But she reminded herself that Amanda was Amanda. She was bold and upfront and more than a bit of a flirt. It was just her way.

  “Thanks, Mandy.”

  As soon as they were in the kitchen, Amanda pulled her aside with a quick glance back to the dining room.

  “What the hell?” Amanda whispered.

  “What?” Alexandra said, surprised.

  “Are you fucking the bodyguard?” Amanda asked.

  “Which one?” Alexandra replied archly, though the flush on her face ruined the effect.

  “Connor.” Amanda pressed, not to be dissuaded. Man, she could be just like a dog with a bone when she thought you were hiding something. “He’s been staring at you all night, and not in a professional capacity.”

  “I have not had sex with Connor.”

  “Yet.”

  “Yet.” Alexandra confirmed. “He’s hot. And I think he likes me, but it’s a professional relationship so it’s complicated.”

  The look Amanda gave her said she didn’t buy that. “He more than likes you. He’s been looking at you like a starving man looks at a ribeye.”

  Alexandra flushed and gave Amanda a whispered, highly abridged, account of Saturday night and Sunday morning.

  “I just don’t know if it’s a good idea. I mean I don’t think relationships formed in high stress situations have a high success rate.”

  And then Amanda gave her that pitying look and Alexandra shut down completely.

  “Are you sure that’s what it’s about?”

  “Of course.” Alexandra shrugged. “I’m just not sure it’s going anywhere, that’s all. He’s cute and fun, but I don’t know that long term we’d have that much in common.” She knew that she sounded like an ice princess and a cold hearted bitch, and she hated it. But
she’d rather feel like a bitch than a basket case. Every time her sister or her parents gave her the look, she wanted to shrink into nothing.

  Dammit, she was fine. She’d moved past it and she didn’t need them feeling sorry for her for the rest of her life. It was as if she’d forever be defined by her worst moment instead of all the moments that had come before or after. She refused to let who she was and what people thought of her be dictated by anyone else or by anything other than her choices and her actions.

  “Will you take the pastries in while I make coffee?” Alexandra asked. She turned away but Amanda caught her arm.

  “Lex-”

  “Don’t.” She snapped. “I’m fine.”

  “Okay. I hear you.” Amanda took a deep breath. “Now what can you tell me about Parker?” She added with a wicked gleam in her eyes.

  “Poor man.” Alexandra sighed and forced herself to smile and roll her eyes.

  Amanda grinned and just like that, everything went back to normal. At least on the surface.

  Alexandra was exhausted but happy by the end of the night. More or less. She was glad she’d invited them all to dinner. She genuinely liked each of Connor’s guys that she’d met so far, and even though she hadn’t met the others yet, she looked forward to it.

  She hadn’t gotten much chance to talk to Janie and feel out if she had any interest in Jackson, or vice versa, but Janie had whispered a “we’ll talk tomorrow” when she’d hugged her goodbye. She hoped that meant something. She wanted Janie to be happy and Jackson seemed like a great guy. Hell, she thought he deserved happiness too.

  As she said goodbye to the group of men, she noticed Connor wasn’t with them. She locked the door behind them after promising to have them over again sometime.

  “Connor?” She asked. The table had been picked up and she wandered into the kitchen. To her great surprise, he was loading the last of the dishes into the dishwasher. The counters were clean and all the food was put away.

  “Wow.” She raised her eyebrows. “You didn’t have to do that.” Connor simply shrugged. He picked up his wineglass and finished it before loading it, too, into the dishwasher.

  “Well, thanks.” She took a step forward, unsure what to say or do next.

  “So, did you have fun?” He asked. His tone was light, but his eyes were unreadable.

  “Yeah. I really like your… employees? Friends?” She noticed Connor’s jaw clench and unclench several times and he stepped forward until they were almost toe to toe.

  “Last week I would have said both, now I’m not so sure.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Because now I keep feeling the urge to break their necks.” He said softly. She swallowed, but forced herself not to move or say anything.

  “Because now I find myself worrying you might want one of them instead.”

  He shifted closer until their bodies were almost touching. He ran a knuckle down her cheek, along her jaw and down her throat until it met with the neck of her sweater. She shivered and her eyelids started down. She blinked them open and looked up at him.

  “I’m selfish, Alexandra. I want ye to want me. Only me.”

  Her breath hitched and she took a step back, shocked by his honesty and the fierceness in his eyes. She didn’t know what to make of this man. He was so honest, so forthright, but his moods shifted so drastically. Sometimes he’d tease and joke and smile, and sometimes he became so intense and predatory that it gave her goosebumps. He was sinfully handsome-- tall, perfectly sculpted-- and yet he’d been jealous. Because of her.

  Ass. How was she supposed to stay mad at him? How was she supposed to make her point when all she wanted to do was close the distance between them and climb him like a tree?

  “I do. Want you.” She stammered. His answering grin was sinfully seductive, but she mustered all her righteous indignation to keep going. “But I’m not a parking spot, or the last can of beer, o-or the last donut. You can’t call dibs on a person.” She added a raised eyebrow to illustrate her displeasure-- though she was feeling anything but displeasure at his proximity. Her blood was boiling, and singing, simultaneously.

  “It’s a guy thing.” He said with a shrug, never looking away from her.

  “Unacceptable answer. Try again.”

  “Those guys are practically family to me.” He said with a sigh. He took a step back and shoved his hands through his dark hair. “We work together, but we’re friends too. Men only lose friends because of two things- money or a lass. So, guys have a code of sorts when it comes to dealing with stuff like this. When he finds a girl he wants, he tells his friends so they know she’d off limits.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a death glare at the idea that they had any right to decide who she could be attracted to. It was a moot point, but he didn’t need to know that. She had serious issues with men thinking they could control women in any way shape or form. He rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his hair, clearly frustrated with his inability to explain male psychology.

  “It’s not about forcing anything on you, or any one else. It’s about keeping my friends, who I also happen to work with every damn day. They’re good, decent guys. If I brought you in and introduced you as my girlfriend, I wouldn’t sweat it. But… when it’s someone you’ve just met, and you’re interested but nothing’s… settled, there’s nothing to stop them. So when one of us is interested in someone we make our interest clear to avoid having to beat the shite out of each other later.”

  She continued to stare, wondering how deep a hole he’d dig himself before she stopped him.

  “Listen, lass,” He huffed, clearly frustrated. “How would you feel if Amanda or Janie came on to a guy you were interested in. Isn’t that what half of high school drama revolves around? ‘Suzy went out with Timmy even though she’s best friends with Betty and Betty likes Timmy. Like likes him.’” His falsetto almost made her laugh, so she bit her lip. She couldn’t quite hide her smile, though. His mouth quirked up at the corner and his eyes heated.

  “How would you feel if Janie had slipped me her number before she left?” He asked quietly, taking a step toward her.

  “That’s different.” She shook her head. “Janie thinks we’re dating. That would be a total breach of friendship.”

  “What about Amanda then? She knows the story. She wouldn’t be breaking the rules coming on to me.”

  I’d punch her stupid face.

  Alexandra shrugged. “I wouldn’t be thrilled with the idea.” She said coolly. “But I would expect anyone interested in me to ignore it. I’d like to know that someone chose to be with me despite having other options.”

  “So you wouldn’t be jealous? You wouldn’t want to take her aside and tell her to back off?”

  “I didn’t say that.” She frowned. Damn, she was losing ground. To illustrate that point, Connor chuckled.

  “Listen, Braveheart.” She scowled, being intentionally snotty because she didn’t like the idea that he might be right. “The point is, you don’t get to decide who I, or any other lass, gets to be with. It’s not up to you. ”

  “I know that. I’m not sayin’ it’s a perfect system, but if one of them came in and swept ye off yer feet because he was lookin’ fer a quick hookup, then I’d have to break his legs. This way, I tell them I’m interested-- seriously interested-- and they know that they had damn well better be serious as well if they’re gonna get in my way.”

  “Oh.” She muttered. “I guess, maybe, I see your point.”

  “I hope so. I really would hate to have to fire them all.” He said.

  “I just…” She began. How to explain this without seeming psycho? “I have issues when I think people are trying to take away my choices. I need to know that… certain things are in my control.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of taking away anything from you, Lex. But a man’s gotta do what he can to skew the odds in his favor. If that means growling at some of the competition then growl I will.”

&nbs
p; “Are you saying I can expect more of this behavior?” She said, appalled that he’d learned nothing.

  “Maybe just a wee bit. Maybe just Charles.”

  “What?” She asked, truly confused.

  “Your friend Charles. He was all over you at the bar last week.”

  Alexandra was struck dumb by the thought that Connor hand’t just been looking out for her safety, he’d also been jealous. The thought warmed her to her toes, not that she’d tell him that.

  “Charles and I are just friends.” She rolled her eyes.

  “So you’ve never dated?” He asked, closing the distance between them. “You’ve never fucked him?”

  Shit.

  As if sensing her hesitation, Connor's body tensed and he stood rigidly still and waited.

  “Once. In law school.”

  “What?”

  “Not that it’s any of your business,” She retorted. “We dated for a while in law school. We had sex once, and it didn’t do it for either of us so we broke up.”

  “You’re still friends with an ex?” He said stunned, as if it was the most unnatural thing he’d ever seen. Like she was an alien. Then his brows furrowed. “I knew I should have knocked him on his arse.”

  “Listen,” She spat. She was pissed now, all goodwill and understanding evaporated in a heartbeat. She’d worked so damn hard to make peace with herself about her past, and she wasn’t going to ever let it affect her future. And she damn sure wasn’t going to let anyone judge her for it. “You don’t get to be pissy about who I’ve slept with, who I’m friends with, or who I spend time with. You’re not my father. And even if you were, I’d still tell you to go fuck yourself because I’m a grown woman and I make my own choices.”

  She realized she was yelling, and that she was as far up into his grill as she could get, hands curled into fists at her side. She was debating the merits of slapping him versus punching him in the gut when he kissed her.

  As furious as she was, she kissed him back as if her life depended on it. She fisted her hands in his shirt to get him closer. As if he could be any closer.