12
Well, that didn’t go exactly as I’d hoped. The kidnapping details worked out as I had planned them. There were a few small hitches, but nothing that took us off track. I just hadn’t counted on my feelings. She was always so confident and strong, so when I saw that terrified look on her face, I wanted to call it all off. That was when I realized this was becoming too personal. She was becoming more than a client to me.
In any case, even if I was developing feelings for Nikole, it would be pointless now. She hated me.
The wind picked up and blew mist over the window. I grabbed my jacket from a chair and pulled my arms through the sleeves.
My left arm burned, and a bruise was already forming. I couldn’t help but grin at the memory. It hurt like hell, don’t get me wrong, but watching her in a temper railing at her assailant was a sight I’d never forget. At that moment, she showed me she had fire in her belly, and that she could take care of herself. But I wouldn’t admit that to her. At least, not yet.
I turned at a knock on the window.
“Can I come in?” she mouthed.
I opened the door and ushered her inside.
“Welcome.”
“Thank you.” She sat in a chair next to me and stared out into the ocean. “Where are we exactly?”
I followed her gaze and saw the same vast waters. “We’re off the coast of Long Island, heading back to New York.”
“Why haven’t we seen any land or boats?”
“I sort of took the path less traveled.” I smiled sheepishly. I wasn’t sure if puffing out my chest over my excellent strategy was the right response.
She sucked at her teeth and nodded.
“How long have you been planning this?”
I knew she would have questions. I was prepared.
“Not long,” I said. “Only a couple of days.”
“You pulled this all off in a couple of days? How? Where did you get the boat from?”
“Well, I own the boat. And my friends and business partners helped, too.”
She raised an eyebrow at this. “I don’t know if I’m more surprised that you own this yacht or that you have friends that would help you kidnap someone.”
I leaned back, affronted. “I don’t know which offends me more, that you think I couldn’t afford this or that I don’t have any friends.”
“I never said you couldn’t afford it, just that I hadn’t expected you to. And I’m not surprised that you have friends, only the kind that don’t bat an eye at kidnapping.”
“Oh, they batted an eye all right. Will nearly batted me with his fist. But I convinced them I had it all under control.”
Her gaze remained in the distance as well. “All under control, huh? How’s your plan working out for you now?”
I breathed a long breath through my nostrils and out. “Fucking terrible,” I admitted.
She laughed. This time, it was real.
“Yeah, I’ll say.”
She crossed her legs and leaned back against the chair with her hands clasped on her stomach.
“Was I really that difficult that you felt you had to go to such extreme lengths?”
“Well, you did try to lose me in traffic, and jumped out of a courthouse window. So, yes, I thought extreme lengths were necessary.”
She smiled, and my breath hitched. I refocused on business.
“I received some information last night that pressed me to act sooner rather than later.”
“What information?”
“Jager, one of my business partners, found evidence that this man followed your mother from D.C. to New York. This guy has also been inside her office and this morning he tried to get inside her apartment building. He’s not letting this go.”
She sighed and pushed back her hair with both hands.
“My poor mother.”
Finally, some concern. I may have regretted scaring her, but I was glad to hear her taking this seriously.
“Don’t worry. Your mother is protected. But she won’t be safe until we catch the guy. We have the police on it now, but he’s still out there.”
“When we get back, I’ll check if any civil charges have ever been brought up against him. Do you have a name?”
“Yes, Norman Fields. But it could be an alias.”
She nodded, lost in thought. Her skin glowed from the water’s reflection. Despite it being November, the sun speared a soft ray through a thick gray cloud. Her lips pouted as she considered something.
I smiled as a thought popped into my head. “I probably should have just invited you on my boat to get your attention.”
I saw her smile in my periphery and my pulse kicked up a notch.
“Yeah, you should have. It would have been a lot more impressive than the white van and balaclava.”
I chuckled. “Right. I tend to have these brilliant ideas after my really bad ones.”
Her eyes twinkled with mischief. “That’s unfortunate.”
I laughed louder, this time from my belly. I knew she hadn’t forgiven me yet, but at least she could tease me. And that felt pretty damn good.
“How long until we get to shore?”
I glanced down at my watch. “Probably another hour or so.”
She nodded. “Well, since I’m here. Can you show me around?”
Hope filled my chest, and I nearly pumped my fist in the air, but I kept it cool. “Yeah, sure. I’ll just put this on auto and connect it to my watch to send me notifications if there are any issues.”
“You can do that?”
“It’s amazing what you can do with technology and enough money.”
Her bottom lip did that pouty thing it did when she was thinking. I wanted to press my thumb against it and over her mouth. The thought was completely irrational.
“Follow me.” I opened the door and she tightened the blanket around her neck. “I have a sweater you can wear if you’d like.”
She shook her head. “It’s all right. I’ll keep this on for now.”
I wasn’t sure where to begin. The yacht was 377 feet long and designed by one of the most celebrated designers in the world. I didn’t get involved with color options; I left those decisions to him. The only things I asked for were a basketball court and a golf green to be added to the layout.
“Where would you like to start?” I asked.
She pressed her lips together and looked around. “Perhaps the warmest room.”
I grinned at her. “Sounds like a plan.”
We took the mirrored elevator to one of the lower levels. “John, my designer, called this the Sanctuary Room, but it reminds me of a medieval harem.”
“Really?” asked Nikole, looking around. “I love the mosaic tiles on the walls and floor. And the antique pottery.”
We turned the corner, and she smirked. In front of us was a large thirty-by-twenty-foot hot spring-inspired pool with tall white columns. “Ah, I think this is what you meant when you said it reminded you of a harem.”
I leaned against one of the columns and crossed my arms. “Yup.”
She walked over the edge of the warm water and ran her fingers through it. “The water feels nice,” she said. “I don’t know. I sort of like it. It makes me want to take off my clothes and wrap myself in silks.”
I stopped breathing as an image of a nearly naked Nikole wearing nothing but a silk wrap popped into my mind.
I cleared my throat, searched the room, and spotted a door. “If you like the warmth, you’ll love this.”
I opened the first door next to the pool that led to a dry sauna. Further down, there was a larger eucalyptus-infused steam sauna, but this dry one was closer.
“Ah,” she groaned when she walked inside and dropped the blanket. She twirled in a circle. “This feels sooo good.”
I turned away for a second, to control my body from reacting to her pleasure. It wouldn’t be ideal for her to see a bulge in my pants right now.
She sat on the wooden bench and leaned back. “This feels marvelous after being outside in the cold.”
She closed her eyes, and a smile stayed on her lips. I took advantage and studied every line on her face, every contour of her round cheeks and chin. I wished at that moment that I could draw so I could sketch her portrait and remember this moment.
Shit. Now I was getting sentimental. Don’t go down this path, Jake. Not again.
I sat next to her, crossed my arms over my chest, and extended my legs. Closing my eyes, I exhaled a large, frustrated breath. I was annoyed with myself. After all these years, I still fell into old patterns of romanticizing someone. It always hurts like hell when reality sets in. Like when I realized my dad wasn’t the hero in my life, but the villain. Or, when the love of my life, who I thought could do no wrong, cheated on me. Yeah. Reality sucked. And I wouldn’t let myself fall into that trap again.
“This is relaxing,” she whispered next to me.
“Mmm-hmm,” I murmured beside her with my eyes closed.
We stayed that way for a few minutes before she turned to me. “We should go before my blouse gets all sweaty.”
A sweaty Nikole was more than I could take.
I stood and opened the sauna door for her. But as I turned to look back, a tiny bead of water at the base of her neck caught my attention. My throat went dry, and I blinked. Instinctively, I grabbed a towel on the shelf by the door and held it up in front of her. “May I?”
She nodded and stared at me. I held her gaze while I slowly brought the edge of the towel to her neck and patted her skin. She moistened her lips, the tip of her tongue darting just for an instant, but the vision of the pink flesh made my temperature rise. I grabbed a towel for myself and patted the back of my neck.
“Where can I take you next?”
“Um,” she replied. “How about the dining room?”
“Good idea.” No chance of getting hot and sweaty in there.
We stepped inside the elevator again, except this time when the mirrored doors closed, our eyes met through the reflection. Her face showed no emotion, but electricity tingled in the air. A surge of power flowed from my fingertips to the top of my head and I shoved my hands in my pockets, afraid that even the smallest touch from her would burn me.
Finally, the doors opened, and I led her to the dining room. It was arguably my favorite room because it was the one I hadn’t expected to love so much. I shared wonderful dinners with my friends and spent some of the best nights of my life here so far.
“Wow! This room is spectacular,” Nikole whispered, turning around in a circle and staring up at the ceiling.
“The designer surprised me with this one. He knew how much I loved to travel, so he created a map of the world using precious gemstones for each country. The result is pretty amazing.”
“Yes. The colors are beautiful, but the stones bring each country to life, like a three-dimensional piece of art. It’s mesmerizing.”
Her neck strained to hold her head as she walked closer to the table and the artwork. “Ow,” she hissed when her foot struck one of the table’s legs. “Shit.”
“Are you all right?” I rushed over and put my hands on her shoulders. Her face scrunched up in pain and she sucked in both of her lips.
“Fine,” she managed to say, but she didn’t look fine.
“Let me see.” I tried to lead her toward a couch off to the side, but she limped when she took the first step. I had no choice but to lift and carry her to the couch.
“What are you doing?”
“It obviously hurts you to walk, so I’m carrying you.”
“I’m fine. I just stubbed my toe. I do it all the time. It hurts like hell for a few minutes and then I’m fine.”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” I said, and carefully laid her on the couch.
I reached for the zipper of her boot, but she swatted my hand away. “I can do that.”
I crossed my arms and waited. When she struggled to remove the footwear, I placed my hand on the back of her heel and yanked forward. The boot slipped off and into my hands.
Rubbing the material between my fingers, I noted, “This material isn’t very thick. Is it real leather?”
“It’s vegan leather,” she said. “And they’re not my winter boots but my fall ones. That’s why they’re so thin.”
I shook my head. Vegan leather.
Placing the useless boot on the ground, I examined her baby toe. It was red, but I didn’t see any bruising. “Can you wiggle it?”
The toe in question moved along with the others. “Good. I think it’s fine.”
“Thanks, doctor. I’m so glad you were here.” She deadpanned.
I narrowed my eyes. “You could have broken it, you know. That table is screwed down to the floor and made of solid oak. Trust me, if you had hit it any harder, it would be broken.”
I rubbed the foot to increase circulation and encourage healing, but she yanked it away and put her sock back on. A blush rose on her cheeks and I wondered if it was me rubbing her foot now or the memory of the other night that had her blushing.
Don’t ask, you idiot. Don’t you dare ask.
But I couldn’t stop my next words “Do I make you nervous, Nikole?” She didn’t make eye contact with me and I wondered if she was feeling even a hint of what I was starting to feel.
“Of course not,” she said and pushed her brown hair behind her ears. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“All right.” I sat on the cushioned ottoman in front of her and rested my elbows on my knees. “I’m glad to hear it. I want you to know that despite what happened earlier, you can trust me.” Judging by the distant look in her eyes, I knew it was going to take more than reassurance to earn back her trust.
She stared out into the ocean, avoiding my eyes. I wanted her to look at me and believe the words because I meant them. I would do whatever it took to have her trust.
Finally, she turned her gaze to me and there was a softness there. “It isn’t easy for me to let go if you haven’t noticed,” she smiled. “I don’t trust anyone. I think everyone has their own motives and interests at heart. But I do believe you take your job seriously and you will protect me if that time ever comes. Of that, I have no doubt.”
I was pleased to hear her say she believed in my ability as a bodyguard, but as a man, as someone who believed in honor, I wanted to earn her trust.
My watch beeped, and I checked the message.
“We’re almost at shore. We’ll disembark in fifteen minutes.”
She nodded.
Another message followed the last one.
“Shit,” I whispered and wished I’d held it back.
“What? What’s wrong?”
I read the text from Will and my muscles tensed. My body was primed to take action.
Nikole grabbed my hand, forcing me to look at her.
“I just received a text from Will,” I explained. “Someone went to your home. He said your apartment has been ransacked.” I looked her in the eye. “Nikole, you can’t go back there.”
“What?” Her eyes grew bigger and her chest rose and fell rapidly. “Someone came inside my apartment?” She shook her head. “Where am I supposed to live now?”
“You can stay with your mother. There will be two of us there to protect you if you do.”
She shook her head as soon as I said ‘Mother’. “No way. I’m not moving back in with her. It was not easy living with her the first time. I’ll stay at a hotel, anything. There has to be someplace else.”
Her eyebrows inched closer and she bit the skin on the side of her thumb, gnawing one side and then the other.
“There is,” I said before thinking it through.
She looked up with curious eyes. And I blurted, “You could stay with me.”