Chapter 6
Chapter Six
G ia strode into the Firelight PR offices, trying to pretend Saxon—sauntering one step behind her—didn’t exist.
Yeah, right. Ever since she’d met him, it was as if her body was designed to notice Saxon Buchanan.
At the front reception desk, Janine’s eyes popped wide.
“Morning,” Gia said.
“Hi,” Janine breathed.
“Ignore him, he’s my bodyguard.”
Janine eyed Saxon. “Gia, that is impossible.”
Saxon chuckled, but Gia kept walking. “Ashley, tell me you have a latte for me.”
Ashley held out a cup, but her gaze was on Saxon.
“Ashley, this is Saxon, my bodyguard. Saxon, Ashley is my bossy, over-organized assistant.”
Gia sipped the coffee. It was hot. Not for the first time, she wondered how her assistant managed that, especially when Gia was a fraction late today. Late because she’d been busy letting Saxon give her a delicious, breath-stealing orgasm in her kitchen.
No. Don’t go there.
“A pleasure, Ashley,” Saxon drawled.
“Wait, Saxon. Saxon Buchanan?” Ashley glanced at Gia. “The same Saxon you said was—” Ashley clamped her mouth shut.
Saxon laughed. A deep, sexy sound that skated through Gia.
“Don’t worry, Ashley, I’m well aware of everything Gia says about me. She’s never been afraid to say it to my face.” He glanced sideways and smiled at Gia.
“Well, when you’re as arrogant, bossy, and annoying as you are, you must be used to it.”
“Ah, there’s that sweet tongue of yours, Contessa.”
She poked it out at him. “Enough. My staff know me as levelheaded, professional Gia.”
“So, you’ve been lying to them?”
“Enough.” She sailed into her office. She set her belongings down and Saxon followed.
She straightened. “Ashley will find you a place to sit.”
He shook his head. “I’m staying close to you.”
“No, I can’t concentrate with you looming.” Because she’d stare at him and be highly aware of him, and wouldn’t get any work done.
He grinned, and it lit up his handsome, aristocratic face. He scanned her office. “I like your desk.”
It was gorgeous and she loved it. Saxon managed to convey “I’d like to strip you naked on it” with just one look.
“Shoo.” She waved her hand at him.
He crossed her office, sat on her couch, and pulled out his phone. He should have looked silly on the feminine piece of furniture. Instead, it just made him look more masculine.
Gia’s desk phone rang. Right, work . She quickly got absorbed in calls, emails, and files that required her attention.
She was on her way to a meeting in the conference room, when Ashley caught her arm. Saxon had gone on ahead to clear the room before the meeting. Gia rolled her eyes. Just in case Dennett’s goons could scale buildings.
“Tell me you’re banging him,” Ashley said.
“What? No! He’s my brother’s best friend. The man works my last nerve.”
“Mmm-hmm.” Ashley didn’t sound convinced.
“It’s true.”
“The way you two look at each other…” Ashley fanned her face with a file.
“There’s nothing going on.”
Saxon appeared in the doorway. “Then what do you call that orgasm I gave you this morning, Contessa?”
Ashley choked on a laugh.
Incensed, Gia spun. “This is my place of work , Buchanan.”
“The conference room is clear.”
Stifling the need to scream, she brushed past him.
“Contessa,” Ashley said. “He even has a cute Italian nickname for you.” Her assistant sighed, taking her usual seat at the table.
Gia moved to the head. “Shut it, or you’re fired.”
Ashley just hummed, clearly not fearing for her employment.
Saxon leaned against the wall. Gia’s team started filing in, all eyeing him with interest. He was a big distraction.
“Saxon is my bodyguard,” she announced. “I’m peripherally linked to a friend’s troubles. It should all be cleaned up soon.” Please, God . “Now, let’s get to work.”
The rest of the day was busy. Saxon stayed close, but out of her way. She was aware of him every second, her body filled with a low-level hum.
Her traitorous hussy of a body wanted more orgasms. She glanced his way, and noted the way his pants clung to his fine, muscled ass. She wanted to bite him.
His cell phone rang, jolting her out of her about-to-turn-X-rated day dream. She tuned out his conversation and focused on her client’s brand update.
“Gia?”
She looked up. Saxon stood at her desk, watching her with a smile.
“What?”
“Fuck, it is so sexy watching you work. All confidence and in command. It’s hot.”
She felt heat in her cheeks. Not every guy found a smart, accomplished woman a turn on. The look in Saxon’s eyes said he liked it. Big time.
“Vander called,” Saxon said. “We’ve got a lead on the gems.”
She straightened in her chair. “Really?”
“Yeah. I’m going to follow it up. Rome’s on his way here to take over watching you.”
Gia had a second to be annoyed that she needed a bodyguard in the first place, but she nodded.
Saxon leaned down, dropped a quick kiss to her lips. “Stay out of trouble.”
She glared. “I’m working, Saxon, and I’m not responsible for everything that’s happened.”
He ran a finger down her nose and strode out.
And dammit, she watched his fine ass until he disappeared from view.
She finished her notes and went out to Ashley’s desk. “Ash, can you please—?”
“Oh, my God, I think I just had a mini orgasm,” Ashley drawled.
Gia frowned. “Can you quit talking about orgasms?”
“Says the woman who got one from a hot guy today.”
“You’re fired.”
“Whatever. The man headed this way is divine .”
Gia looked up and saw Rome striding across the open-concept office area. Everyone stopped work and was blatantly watching him.
He did look good. His big, muscular body caught the attention, as did his brown skin and his way of moving that made her think of a big cat. He had a strong jaw, bold masculine features, and amazing pale-green eyes.
He scanned the office, and she knew he would have absorbed every entry, exit, and every person in an instant. Vander had told her that Rome made the best bodyguard because of his exceptional situational awareness.
“Gia.” His voice was a deep rumble.
“Hi, Rome. Thanks for coming.”
Ashley rolled her eyes back in her head.
“This is my assistant, who I just fired, so I won’t introduce her.”
“I’m Ashley.” She smiled. “Gia fires me a few times every week.”
Rome didn’t smile. He rarely did. “Rome Nash. Nice to meet you.”
“I need coffee,” Gia announced. “Is it okay if we head downstairs to the coffee shop?”
Rome frowned. “Is it in this building?”
Gia nodded.
“Something you usually do?”
“It’s not uncommon, but I don’t always go at the same time.”
“Okay, but stick by my side.”
Ashley made a sound that said she’d like to stick by Rome’s side and Gia raised a brow.
“Sorry.” Ashley cleared her throat. “I’ll have a skinny white chocolate mocha with extra whip.”
“I think I’ll get you a decaf tea.”
Ashley blew Gia a kiss.
Shaking her head, Gia headed out with Rome.
The coffee shop was busy. There were several mothers there with strollers and babies, and noisy, fussy toddlers.
“You want anything?” she asked Rome.
“Americano. Black.”
Apparently badasses didn’t drink frothy, coffee-flavored drinks.
Gia ordered and then stood to the side with Rome, waiting. An older man in a suit with a loosened tie was waiting, too. He was hunched over his phone.
“Hey!” one mother screamed. “Get away from my baby!”
Gia spun around and saw a young, skinny guy snatch a baby out of a stroller. The mother sprang up, kids screamed.
Gia took a step forward, but Rome grabbed her arm.
“We have to help!” she cried.
Rome didn’t look happy. They watched as the man started shoving his way toward the door, the baby in his arms wailing.
“You’re my priority,” Rome bit out.
“Rome, I don’t think the barista or that guy in the suit are going to attack me. We have to save that baby.”
His rock-hard body didn’t move, but she saw the indecision on his face.
“Fine, I’ll stop him.” Gia charged forward.
With a curse, Rome shoved her back and strode ahead. He reached the man and, with a quick, practiced move, hit him in the lower back. Deftly, Rome snatched the baby before the man dropped the crying child.
The guy looked terrified and Rome quickly shoved the baby at its mother. Then he turned around and punched the guy in the face.
Suddenly, something shoved into Gia’s lower back. She sensed someone move up behind her.
What the hell?
She looked back. It was the older guy in the suit, but now that she looked closely at him, she saw that it was the guy who’d attacked her at the museum.
“You!”
He was wearing some sort of makeup that altered his appearance.
“Come quietly. Mr. Dennett wants to talk with you.”
“Are you insane? My brothers are going to stomp you to dust.”
There was a flicker of something in his eyes. “Dennett pays well, and I have a reputation to keep clean. You muddied it at the museum.”
She snorted. “None of that’s any good if you’re dead.”
He jammed what she guessed was a gun into her back even harder. “Quit talking and move.”
“What are you going to do if I don’t? Shoot me?”
The man’s face hardened. “A bullet hole in your leg won’t stop you from talking.” He pressed the gun to her thigh.
A thousand knots tangled in Gia’s belly, but she grasped onto her anger. She swiveled, grabbed a teapot off a nearby table, and smashed it over the man’s head.
“Fuck!” the man cried.
The ceramic pot broke, and hot tea poured over his face.
Gia shoved him and, as he fell, he grabbed her dress. They both went down in a tangle, more cups of tea and coffee falling off the table.
The gun went off, the bullet hitting the ceiling. Gia grabbed a nearby chair and tipped it over on her attacker’s face. He cursed.
Then Rome was there. He lifted her off the man, and drew a gun, aiming it at the man’s chest.
“Don’t move,” Rome growled.
Rome’s face didn’t change expression, but Gia knew he was pissed. Anger pumped off him in waves.
She straightened her dress. Coffee had spilled on it. Ugh . “It’s all okay, Rome.”