Chapter Three Oliver
“What do you say? Will you take the job?” Darcy asks, pulling sunglasses off her head and resting them on her face. The mid-morning sun blazes down on the back deck of Sienna’s home.
I run a hand through my hair. On the face of it, the job’s not bad. I get paid for twenty-four-seven protection, and I get to sleep on the job. It’ll be mostly at Sienna’s house, which has a decent security situation. As far as body coverage is concerned, this is low level.
As far as work responsibility, it’s high level. Having Darcy trust me with her friend raises the standards of what I have to communicate to Darcy and the service I have to give to the client.
And the adversary is a fucking lunatic. I’m presuming it was Blake who tried to run us over at the clubhouse. Darcy said he’s rented a place in Sunbreak Harbor to keep tabs on Sienna. He’s rich. He’s obsessed. And he's fucking careful. They haven’t been able to land a restraining order on him.
As for Sienna, my possible client, fuck.
I’m embarrassed at my reaction to her. First, she knocked me off my feet.
Then, I realized she knocks everyone off their feet.
That’s how she makes a living. What the hell is sexual wellness?
Showing people how to have sex? Sleeping with them? Sleeping with couples?
Before that, she was an escort?
I’m hardly unique in having a sexually charged reaction to her. It’s what she’s programmed to do. How many men has she done it to? Hundreds? Thousands?
For that short period of time, until I found out she'd been an escort, I thought she was exactly the woman I wanted to be with. The one I wanted to lose my damned virginity to.
Not the case. If I wanted an escort to get over my virginity, I’d have hired an escort years ago.
“Are you sure there's really a job for me here? Blake’s unlocked this situation. He's got access to the clubhouse and the golf course. I bet he’s spent plenty of time lurking in that row of trees.” I nod at the pines where the yard meets the fairway.
I don’t want to tell Darcy how to deal with her old friend, but there seems to be an obvious solution. “Why don’t you have her stay at your place?”
A holler on the golf course has both of us looking toward the sand bunker behind the neighbor’s yard.
“I offered, and she declined. She needs to be able to see clients and film videos for her online work. I don't think she was comfortable doing it at my place. So I rented this place for her. It’s all in my name. But he tracked her here.”
Darcy frowns. “I’d do anything for her. She helped me at a time in my life when I was truly lost. My mother…. Well, let's just say, she checked out. My father was living his own life. I was confused and wasn’t taking very good care of myself.”
Her mouth tightens. “I let myself be used.
Let's leave it at that. The bullying that I got for acting on my low self-worth was brutal. Sienna always defended me. No one could get away with shaming me or making me feel worthless when she was around. Thanks to her I had the confidence to be the person I wanted to be.”
Darcy leans closer. “I was homecoming queen my senior year,” she whispers conspiratorially.
I burst out laughing. “I never would've guessed.”
“No one would.” She looks back at the house. “It's not only that I feel obliged to Sienna. I respect her and adore her.”
Darcy assesses me with her cynical gaze. “I know she told you about her unconventional past. I also know that you’re more of a conventional guy. Is her past a problem for you?”
I shake my head, which is half of the truth. As far as she’s a client, her having been an escort is meaningless to me. As far as I wanted to be the only man who’s ever touched her, I’m still smarting about that one. “She’s a client. Her past is unimportant.”
“Then you’ll take the job?”
“Yeah, I will.”
Darcy lets out a relieved sigh.
I feel good about being Darcy's chosen one for the job. I’ll get over whatever twisted emotional funk keeps coming over me when I’m around Sienna. Patience, control, and toughness have gotten me this far, and they'll get me over this useless lust, too.
We head back inside.
Sienna is in the kitchen. “I filled up my online cart,” she says, holding up her phone.
“Good,” Darcy says. “You shouldn’t eat anything that’s already been opened and wash off the dry goods before you open them. That reminds me. You’re going to have to feed Oliver.”
“Oh?” Sienna says.
“He’s decided to take the job. He’ll be your bodyguard until Blake ceases to criminally stalk you or we’re able to get enough decent evidence to get a prosecution going.”
Sienna beams at me, and a warm burn covers my skin. I’m too flattered by her relief. “Thank you for doing this. After what happened today, I feel like you're one of the only people I can trust in Sunbreak Harbor. I need that right now.”
“What Oliver needs is sleep,” Darcy says.
“Tonight you two should go out somewhere in town. Be visible. Let Blake see that Sienna’s being covered by a Sunbreak Security bodyguard.
Even better if you two can make lovey-dovey eyes at each other.
You know, flirt, or whatever. Then he’ll think there’s more than just a bodyguard situation going on. ”
I gulp hard. There’s no way in hell I’m going to flirt with Sienna. I don’t flirt with anyone, much less someone who I can’t control myself around.
“Good idea,” Sienna says.
“The cost for protection will be the same as it was for when Heath was following Blake. All you have to do is feed Oliver and give him a place to sleep.” Darcy grins like she expects me to be amused at her comparing me to a dog.
I give her an eye roll. “If you could point me to the spare bedroom, I’ll nap now, if that’s works.”
“Here, I’ll show you to the room.” Sienna moves toward the kitchen door.
I hold up my hand. “Just point me in the right direction.”
She motions down the back hallway. “There’s a master bedroom. That’s where I sleep. And two other bedrooms. Take your pick.”
“Will do. Let me know if I’m needed.”
I take the short hallway to a cluster of three rooms. One door is open. I stand in the doorway. The faint scent of jasmine along with a touch of something exotic I noticed when I was sitting with Sienna in the clubhouse lingers in the air.
I’m the bodyguard, which means I get to check it out. Still, I feel like I’m overstepping by going uninvited into the bedroom of the woman who threw my whole being into chaos.
She's a client.
I take a few steps inside to get a full picture of the master bedroom space. White, breezy curtains hang over the windows. There’s a shut door, probably a walk-in closet. He could hide in there. On the far side is a short corridor to what looks like the master bathroom.
Does she see clients in here? As part of her intimacy therapy?
None of my business.
I open the door to the bedroom across from the master. Sienna will have to sleep with her door open. So will I.
I imagine her lying in bed in a pretty, lacy black nightgown. No panties covering her wet, delicious pussy.
My dick gets heavy with lust. I've got to shake these feelings or I'm going to fuck up, and she's going to get hurt.
I head to my car for my duffle with the spare clothes and toiletries I kept with me for attending gala events with rich-man-boy Alex. When I get back inside, I'm going to take a nice long shower, wring out my dick, and get my head screwed on straight for this job.