by M. S. Parker
I stared hard at the surface of the desk and waited for the ax to fall.
Then, to my surprise, Detoine started to laugh.
I snapped my jaw shut before looking up.
He leaned back in his chair and laughed until there were tears running down his dark cheeks. It took him nearly five minutes to get it under control. “Boy, I will tell you what, you land yourself in some crazy predicaments, but this has to be the funniest one by far. And the best.”
He leaned forward and snagged a tissue from a box, dabbing the tears from his face. He tossed it into the trash can by the door and then looked from me to Carly and then back. His face got serious.
“Now, as entertaining as this is, I do have questions that I need to have answered. By Bobby, and only Bobby. Let’s get them over with so you can be about your business.”
“Will Bobby be able to come with us?” Carly asked.
She sounded like a damn kid asking for a cookie before dinner. And I was the cookie. I didn’t know how I felt about that.
A smile tugged at Detoine’s mouth. “Just let me do my job, Ms. Prince.”
Then he looked back at me. There was humor in his eyes, but if I wasn’t imagining things, I thought I also saw relief.
“So you played knight errant, if I’m not mistaken.”
I shrugged, not really agreeing with his choice of words.
He picked up a pen and started to tap it on the desk. “At some point, did you let them know you’re a convicted felon?”
“Yeah.”
He nodded. “I figured as much. You aren’t the kind to hide things.” He glanced past me for a moment and then came back to me again. “Did you tell them what you were in for?”
“Yes.”
He nodded yet again. “Okay, then. Seeing as how they’re here with you, I guess it didn’t matter much to them. How long will this job last?”
“Four days–” I started to say.
Carly interrupted. “That’s still under consideration.”
I turned my head and glared at her.
She smiled innocently. “I never said the job offer wouldn’t be extended.”
“Hmmm.” Detoine tapped his pen harder.
Pushing Carly and her stubborn head out of my mind, I looked back at my PO.
He asked his next question, “What does the job entail?”
“Watching her.” I jabbed a thumb at Carly, hurrying to answer before she did her thing. “I keep reporters back, watch for suspicious activity, and if she needs protection, I provide it.”
“I can see you providing the protection. Even watching for suspicious activity. You’ve always had an eye for trouble.” He rocked back in his chair. “Problem is, instead of avoiding it, you usually dove right in, fists up and ready for blood. Are you certain this is the right job for you?”
“Mr. Sampson.”
Ryan leaned forward and now I could see him as a lawyer, all slicked up and polished, ready to argue with some judge, or another lawyer. “I’m sorry, I know you need some answers from Bobby, but if I could...”
Detoine held out his hands.
“You didn’t see him that night.” Ryan smiled. “We did. He didn’t know who she was, and even though she tried her best to knock his head off his shoulders with her purse, once he realized there was a problem, he waded through a good twenty reporters and put himself between her and them. That’s what a good bodyguard does, puts himself between the person he’s hired to guard and harm. More than that, he took both Jake and myself down.”
Detoine’s eyebrows shot up. “Is that supposed to be a good thing?”
Ryan chuckled. “I’m a former cop. Jake did eight years in the army. And Bobby took both of us without breaking a sweat. That proves he’s strong, determined, and a survivor. Plus, he cares about Ms. Prince.”
I tried not to shift in my seat. I couldn’t believe Ryan was saying that with a straight face after what he’d caught Carly and me doing. Almost doing.
“If I was being offered five thousand dollars, I’d care too,” Detoine pointed out.
“He’s tried several times to walk away,” Ryan countered. “He says with his past, he’d bring more trouble than he’s worth. I believe he’s wrong.”
I hadn’t known I was going to have to listen to them talk about me like this. I could feel the heat creeping up the back of my neck.
Detoine’s focused shifted back to me. “You want to walk away from a job that pays five grand, Bobby? That’s more money than you’ve seen in a long while.”
My head was pounding. Rubbing the back of my neck, I stared out the small rectangle that served as a window. “I just don’t want anybody to have trouble because of me. I’ve caused enough.”
Moments ticked by.
Detoine finally blew out a rough breath. “Kid, I just don’t know what to make of you, you know that?”
Since I didn’t know how to answer, I didn’t bother.
“Okay, I’ve just got one more question.”
I looked at him.
He stared at me with grim eyes. “You’re not going to like it.”
“I haven’t much liked anything about being here, sir,” I said honestly.
“Then you’re really not going to like this, but I have to ask.” He very pointedly didn’t look at Carly so when he first said it, I wasn’t quite sure what he meant.
The question was just so…so…bizarre, it didn’t make sense.
Finally, I leaned forward and spoke in a carefully controlled voice. “Would you repeat that?”
“Bobby.” Elbows braced on his desk, Detoine said softly, “I need to know if you’re providing any other services to Ms. Prince. Anything other than what you’ve explained here.” He hesitated, and then added, “Personal services.”
I looked over at the woman next to me. Her face was white, her lips pressed into a nearly invisible line. I could feel Jake and Ryan shifting behind me and knew it was taking all of their self-control not to intervene.
“You’re serious,” I said, turning back to Detoine. “You think this woman is paying me to sleep with her?” If it’d been just Detoine and me, my question would’ve been a lot less polite.
“Sex for money has been known to happen.” Detoine looked pretty damn uncomfortable with the situation, and that was the only thing that let me keep my temper in check. His gaze skittered away from mine, and he busied himself tidying up his desk. “I realize this is terribly personal and uncomfortable, but the question needs to be answered.”
“Why?” Carly demanded coldly.
I glanced at her and saw that she had two spots of color high up on her cheeks. I suddenly realized that she might have been embarrassed at first, but now she was pissed off. Like swing-her-purse-at-someone’s-head pissed off.
Detoine looked up, but didn’t meet her gaze. “It just does.”
“No.”
Carly whipped her head around and glared at me, anger turning her eyes to blue fire. “Don’t you dare give him the satisfaction of an answer.”
“I have to,” I said softly. Then I looked back at Detoine. “The answer is no, Detoine. I’m not being paid for personal services. And you can also tell Dale Mitchell to fuck off.”
His facial expression didn’t change, but his lashes flickered. That was all. Just the quickest flicker, not even a blink, really. But it was enough to confirm what I’d suspected.
Dale was the entire reason I was here. The fucker.
“Some detective with a grudge questions my motives for hiring a bodyguard and the two of us have to be subjected to...” Her hands gestured in front of her like she couldn’t find the words to describe what was happening.
“Now, Ms. Prince,” Detoine said, moving to defuse the situation. “This is just a routine interview. Considering the rather exorbitant fee you’re paying him, I had to make sure there was nothing else involved. That’s my job.”
“Exorbitant?” She laughed, but the sound was brittle. “Five thousand is pocket change to me, M
r. Sampson. I’ve spent that on a spa day without blinking. Hell, I might’ve spent that just on clothes for Bobby yesterday. I don’t even look at the bill for things like that.”
Blood rushed to my face and I found myself staring at the soft, steel gray trousers that had been delivered to the hotel just that morning. Five thousand dollars? That hadn’t been the number I’d seen...
Fuck. The suits. She’d put a rush job on the suits. For all I knew, the damn suit they expected me to wear later that day cost five fucking grand on its own.
Detoine cleared his throat. “What’s pocket change to you is several months’ income to others.”
She stood up abruptly and leaned across the desk. “That’s not the point. We’re here because a cop with a grudge got his jockey shorts in a twist and you fucking know it. Don’t you? But you can’t tell that cop to fuck off, can you? You have to act like me wanting Bobby to work for me is something...sordid.”
I stood up.
“Carly.” I caught her elbow. She stiffened, and I knew she was going to pull away. Leaning in until I could smell her apple-scented shampoo, I whispered, “You asked me not to quit. Now I’m asking you to do something for me. Let this go. It won’t help.”
Slowly, she straightened. A shudder wracked her body and she turned to face me. “It’s not fair,” she whispered. “You went to jail. You did your time.”
My heart twisted. What had I done to deserve her protection? Her faith?
“You don’t get it.” I brushed her hair back from her face, forcing my hand not to linger. “Whether or not I did my time doesn’t change the fact that his brother is still gone. Nothing brings him back. He’s always going to hate me. And he has a right to.”
“So he gets to abuse his badge?”
I didn’t have anything to say to that.
“No.”
I looked up at Detoine’s quiet voice, except he wasn’t looking at me. He was focused on Carly and his eyes were gentle, understanding even.
“No cop has a right to abuse his badge, not for anything.” He sighed and then leaned back in his seat, skimming one hand back across the neat crop of short black hair. He focused hard on the wall for a moment, and then shifted his attention back to me. “Bobby, if you would, sit. Please. Ms. Prince.”
I sat. A moment after I did, Carly did as well, but it was pretty clear from the rigid line of her spine and the way she swung her foot that she wasn’t happy about any of this.
Yeah, well, neither was I. Shame twisted my gut up as I shoved back out of the chair to pace the small confines of the office. I knew exactly how many strides I could take before I had to turn around. Three. Pivot. Two strides – he had a massive file cabinet and it blocked the western wall. Turn. Three strides back.
“Bobby.”
He came out from behind the desk and intercepted me on my third lap. “Come on, kid. You know as well as I do that I’ve got a job that needs to be done.”
I shot him a look.
Yeah. He had a job. His job, too often, involved questions or actions that were embarrassing as hell, but dignity wasn’t a part of my life anymore. I’d given up that right when I’d taken a life. I got to piss in a cup on a regular basis, and any time some cop decided he didn’t like the look of me, I ended up with my face against the wall while he searched me for weapons or drugs.
“I know you’re doing your job,” I said levelly. Turning my head, I stared out the window as I answered his question. “No, I’m not being paid to have sex with Carly Prince.”
Then, because I was worried about her, I slid her a look. Her eyes were snapping and hot, staring lasers straight into Detoine’s head. But he was still looking at me.
I sighed, “Hell, just look at her. You think she needs to pay somebody for sex? Men would sell their soul to share her bed.” The last bit just slipped out, but I didn’t take it back.
It was true, after all.
I heard, and felt, the reaction coming from Jake and Ryan, but I didn’t look at them. Never let it be said that I didn’t know how to burn my bridges in spectacular style.
Detoine looked even more uncomfortable now, and he rubbed his hand across his scalp. “Like I said, kid. I’m just doing my job.”
“Your job sucks.”
He gave me a grim smile that said he sometimes thought the same damn thing.
7
I waited until we were outside before I looked at them, but it was only in their general direction. I couldn’t meet anyone’s eyes.
“I can find my own way back.”
“Back where?” Carly hadn’t looked at me, not even once, since we’d left Detoine’s office, but her wide blue eyes swung around to meet mine now and she scowled.
“Back home.” I jerked my shoulder in a shrug, my gaze sliding away from hers. “I know this wasn’t what you thought you’d be getting when you...” Ridley was the only one not staring at me and, after a moment, it hit me. “You still want me to work for you.”
“Why wouldn’t I?” Carly sounded confused.
Blowing out a breath, I shifted my gaze to Jake. He was the logical one of the bunch, and definitely the one in charge. If Carly would listen to anyone, it’d be him. He looked tired today, but what did I know? “Talk some sense into her.”
“I’ve been trying to do that since she was just a kid, Bobby.” He shook his head, a fond smile on his face. “It’s not going to happen.”
She rolled her eyes at him, and came toward me. “Look, you think I’m going to change my mind because some asshole cop decided to jerk your chain? I’m not.” She made a dismissive motion with her hand, her expression serious. “All it does is make me that much more determined to keep you with me. I bet you anything he did this because he thought it would make me write you off.”
Carly came closer, so close now that I could smell something soft and gentle on her, something that complemented the apple shampoo. Maybe the lotion she’d put on a few minutes ago. I didn’t know what it was, but I liked it. It was...soft. Soft and gentle. There was no room for soft and gentle in my life. Maybe it was stupid, because standing there, close to her while the wind teased her hair and she studied me, I felt that loss keenly. My mom hadn’t been soft, but she had been gentle. Sometimes too gentle. Life had chewed her up and spit her back out, too. I’d learned young that gentle didn’t survive in the real world.
Carly had a look in her eye now, the kind of look that made me think that life had tried to do the same to her, but it hadn’t worked. Still, she had that soft and gentle feel to her. Not weakness. Hell, no. She was one of the strongest people I knew. With her, it was caring, compassion. Hope. Some people, they never really lost it, no matter what the world did. Somehow, they just kept believing in things. In people.
And, for some crazy reason, Carly had decided she was going to believe in me.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked, my voice gruff.
“Because.” She shrugged and turned away.
“That’s not an answer,” I said to her back.
She swung around, walking backward with a grace that belied the four-inch spikes she called shoes. With a wide, easy smile, she said, “That’s the best you’re going to get for now. Ask me again in a few days.”
That night sucked even worse than the morning had, and it was far worse than the past night. It was so bad I was ready to gouge out my eye with the dessert spoon before we’d been there thirty minutes. I knew it was the fucking dessert spoon because Jake had hammered that fact, and several others, into my head over the span of two hours. We were attending a dinner banquet, and while Jake, Ryan and the ever-silent Ridley would get to stand in the shadows, I would, apparently, be dining with Carly.
“If I’m supposed to be a bodyguard, why am I sitting at the table and eating?” I asked during a break in the conversation. I kept my voice low. I was getting the hang of the subtle thing, I thought.
Carly didn’t seem to agree. She kept a smile on her face even as she leaned in closer and murmured,
“Not here.”
I pinned a glare on her, but I didn’t ask again.
She picked up her wine glass and took a sip. Then she held it to her lips and sighed. “It’s complicated. You’re doing more than being a bodyguard at the moment. I’ll explain later.”
Before I had a chance to press her to explain now, some guy who had to be twice her age said her name. He was standing on my other side with the sort of look that said he fully intended to take the seat at her side as soon as I moved.
Carly clutched at my arm and gave him her signature smile. “Oh, it’s so good to see you, Hank. I hope you understand if I keep Bobby with me, though. It’s his first time to one of these and he’s nervous.”
“Of course.” The smile Hank gave back didn’t fit his words.
He walked around the table and took the seat across from her as I pulled out her chair, pushing it back in the way I’d practiced.
I sat next to her, stiff and uncomfortable, but ready to do what needed to be done for my job. When I felt her tense ever so slightly when Hank leaned forward, I realized that I no longer needed her to explain why she wanted me to sit next to her. Although the width of the table separated them, something about her body language was subtly broadcasting it was nowhere near enough space.
I shifted my attention to the guy, my jaw clenching.
Hank was staring at Carly the same way I would have stared at her if we’d been alone back up at the hotel. He didn’t let the fact that he wasn’t alone with her bother him. Nor did he let the fact that she was clearly not interested bother him. This guy didn’t know how to take a hint. My hands curled into fists. Maybe I needed to make the hint a little less polite.
“I’ve been hoping we might have a chance to have a drink together while you’re in town. It’s been a long time since we’ve talked, Carly.” His voice was so oily, I could’ve run a car on it.
I didn’t look directly at her, but I could see how her nails were digging into her palms. Going on instinct, I curled my arm around her shoulder. She leaned into me and I felt the tension drain out of her body. Carly smiled at Hank.