Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Noah Vandermeer tightened the knot on his neck tie.
He cast a longing glance across the Bennett Security workroom, where morning sun glinted across the ocean through the windows.
If not for his boss’s urgent call half an hour ago, Noah would still be out there right now, getting a nice runner’s high.
Instead, he was on his way to woo some mysterious new client. At least he looked damn good in this suit.
Max Bennett strode toward his desk. “Aren’t you ready yet?”
“I thought I was. But you said I should look professional. You look fancy.”
Max was dressed in a suit, too, but he’d opted for a three piece Noah recognized as a Tom Ford and a silk tie. Bringing out the big guns, apparently. Who the heck was this client?
“What?” Max looked down at himself. “This is how I dress.”
Right. “I could’ve worn something nicer if you’d told me.” Well, nicer wasn’t the right word. More expensive.
“It’s not a competition, Vandermeer. Enough preening. We can’t be late.”
Noah grabbed the paper bag sitting on his desk. Most bodyguards didn’t have an assigned space in the workroom, but as a captain, he had administrative duties to deal with. “Want a bagel? I picked them up on my way in.”
“Do you have any idea how many carbs that would be?”
“Hey, I ran five miles this morning. I would’ve kept going if you hadn’t called me in.” Noah pulled off a chunk and took a bite. Salmon cream cheese on pumpernickel. Delicious.
Devon Whitestone met them by the elevators, his gray suit perfectly squared away, shoes shined. He was only a few months out of the army and was one of the more uptight Rangers Noah had ever met. Though Devon had loosened up a bit since meeting his girlfriend.
Noah held out the paper bag. “Bagel? I offered it to Max, but he’s watching his figure.”
“Can’t blame him. Metabolism drops in old age.” The paper crinkled as Devon grabbed one.
“Fuck you both. I’m only thirty-five.”
And Noah wasn’t far behind, but he didn’t point that out. Age snuck up on you and bit you in the ass like everything else. Nothing lasted forever. Especially the best stuff.
But he was going to enjoy the good times while he could. Noah took another bite of his bagel.
The three of them got into the elevator.
“Eat fast,” Max said. “I don’t want crumbs on my leather seats. And check your teeth for poppyseeds and shit before we go into the meeting.”
Noah snickered, shaking his head. It was funny when Max got this worked up. “Seems like you’re nervous about getting this contract, Bennett. Who’s it for? Some celebrity?”
“I don’t know for certain. But I have a few guesses.”
“Such as?”
“There was an incident at the natural history museum yesterday.”
“I heard about that,” Devon chimed in. “Billionaire’s daughter almost kidnapped in broad daylight.”
Billionaire’s daughter? That description made him think, automatically, of a certain name. A certain someone he’d used to know. But Noah hadn’t seen her in West Oaks in years.
All the same, a pang hit him square in the chest. Always did, whenever he thought of her.
Max nodded. “I got the call this morning from a concierge service. They keep their clients anonymous. They said someone needs a bodyguard team urgently, and price was no object. Preference for ex-special forces.”
“No wonder.” A brazen kidnapping wasn’t the kind of thing that happened here every day. But West Oaks had its share of one-percenters, many with second homes, who traveled in and out of the seaside town. They provided Bennett Security with ample business.
The elevator doors slid open on the lower level, and they walked toward Max’s black Lexus.
“I can see why you’re trying to put the best face of Bennett Security forward.” Noah gestured at himself, and Max snorted.
“Right. Or maybe Tanner didn’t answer when I called him first. When somebody wants a bodyguard, they usually picture a giant who benches 700 pounds. Like him. I had to bring you and Devon both to make up for it.”
Noah laughed. “Oh, come on. Nobody benches 700 pounds.”
“We know you definitely don’t.”
Max liked to give Noah shit for being the “lesser” of the two former Navy SEALs on their bodyguard team.
Noah and Tanner were as tight as brothers.
And although Noah looked small in comparison to his co-captain, he was still six-one and over 200 pounds of lean muscle.
He didn’t have any trouble reaching things on the top shelf.
“Then it’s too bad Tanner didn’t answer the phone,” Noah said. “I could be eating my breakfast in peace after finishing my run.” He slid into the shotgun seat beside Max, while Devon got into the back.
Joking aside, he didn’t mind working weekends. Unlike Devon or Max, he didn’t have a significant other taking up his time.
Noah preferred having a relationship to dating around. He enjoyed getting to know someone, finding out what made her laugh. What made her moan. But unlike some of his teammates, he wasn’t a romantic. Once upon a time, he’d believed in “forever,” but the universe had only laughed.
“We don’t need this contract,” Max said as he drove, one hand resting casually on the steering wheel. “But what can I say? I’m a competitive bastard. And so are you, Vandermeer.”
This was true. Noah and Max got their motivations from very different places. But they both liked to win.
Sometimes, Noah wished he could give a shit about starting companies or running a business empire, like Max did.
Max was a former Green Beret who’d started Bennett Security from nothing and grown it into a top security company in Southern California, serving an elite clientele and consulting with law enforcement.
But Noah had seen firsthand that leading a successful corporation and making gobs of money didn’t guarantee happiness. Neither did being in love. His parents were case in point. But he had experience of his own.
Noah had been in love twice in his life. First, with a girl. Then, it was a job.
Both times, Noah had gotten his heart broken.
It was far wiser not to fall in love at all. Better to make peace with whatever you had, safe in the knowledge that you could bear to lose it.
They pulled into a nondescript office building. A guard took their IDs, wrote down their license plate, called to check they were on the list, and then finally waved them into the garage. More armed guards watched as they parked.
“You sure they need more security?” Noah muttered. “Looks like they’ve got plenty.”
“But we do our job with a smile. Makes all the difference.” Max said this with a sardonic frown.
They got out of the car, and a man with a salt-and-pepper flat top came over to meet them. He looked like he could play a four-star general on TV.
“Max Bennett? I’m Blake Halston, chief of security for the family. Formerly with the 7th Special Forces Group.”
Family? Noah thought. What family was Halston talking about?
Max turned on the charm, flashing his grin as they shook. “I was with the seventh as well.”
Fellow Green Berets. A good sign for getting this contract, Noah figured.
“Though a few decades apart, obviously?” Blake said with a chuckle.
“I wasn’t going to point that out.”
Blake gestured for them to follow, and they got into an elevator. “We can head straight up. Mr. Foster-Grant is ready for you.”
The elevator doors slid closed just as Noah felt the urge to bolt.
Foster-Grant?
Oh, fuck.
No, no, no.
Danica.
His heart pounded like it was repeating her name. Danica. Danica. His chest felt like a vise had closed around it.
Had she been the target of the kidnapping attempt? Had she been hurt? Was she here, in this building, right now?
He’d instantly gone into protective mode, wanting to demand answers though he had no right. Not as far as Danica was concerned. If anything, her day would get even harder if she had to see him.
I have to get out of here.
Blake and Max were chatting loudly at the front of the elevator about their army days.
Noah leaned over to Devon. “I can’t be here.”
“What? Why?”
“Nobody said who the client was. I…I know this family.”
Devon’s eyes widened. “You know William Foster-Grant? The billionaire?”
Somewhere in the top ten richest people in the world, depending on the day and the stock market. “We were neighbors. I used to be best friends with his son, Soren.”
“Used to?”
It was too complicated to explain in the time they had. Which was minutes. Maybe just seconds.
Noah glanced at the two men in front of them, sweat breaking out over his skin. Bad guys with AK-47s didn’t faze him, but it had been over twelve years since he’d last seen her. His heart wasn’t ready. Especially because she wouldn’t want him anywhere near her.
The elevator stopped, and the doors opened. Blake stepped out, followed by Max.
Their boss glanced back and noticed them hesitating. His gaze was stern. What the hell are you doing?
“Come on, guys. Hop to it.”
The elevator doors were starting to close. Noah had no choice but to get out alongside Devon. But he pulled his boss toward him and lowered his voice even more.
“Trust me, the Foster-Grants won’t want me in that meeting. I need to go.”
Blake had turned around. “Gentlemen? Something wrong?”
Max’s eyes locked with Noah’s for a moment before he faced Blake and spoke, an easy smile returning to his face. “Not at all. It seems an emergency has come up with another client, and Noah’s going to handle it. I apologize. It’ll just be Devon and me.”
Blake nodded brusquely, and they resumed their path down the hallway.
Noah exhaled. That had been close.
He spun around and hit the elevator button. He’d find a coffee shop nearby to wait. Just as long as he was away from this building and from anyone named Foster-Grant.
But when the elevator dinged and the doors opened again, a vision from Noah’s past stood inside.
His ex-best friend’s older sister. The only girl he’d ever loved.
And now, here she was, standing in front of him.
His heart started up its rapid-fire chorus again.
Danica.
She was in a loose top and jeans, looking down at her phone. Effortlessly beautiful, as she’d always been.
Immediately, his mind called up his last memory of her.
His mouth on hers. Arms around her waist. Promises about when they’d see each other again.
I’ll be thinking of you until then, she’d said. Every second.
His most intense feelings for her had faded a long time ago, but the last thing he wanted was to upset her. Could he disappear into the walls somehow? Evaporate into the air?
But by then, she was already looking up.
Danica froze. For a moment, the two of them just stared.
She looked confused, like she was trying to place him. Then recognition hit, and shock overwhelmed her features.
“Noah?”
Sweat rolled down his sides. “Danica. Wow. It’s been a while. How are you?”
Maybe she’d play along. Pretend this was a normal, chance meeting between old acquaintances and not completely excruciating.
But no such luck. She was still gaping at him. “What are you… Why are you here? How are you here?”
“I was just leaving.” He cleared his throat. “Are you getting out on this floor? Or going down?”
She looked around as if just remembering where she was. “I’m going down. Yeah.”
“Okay. So am I.”
Danica shuffled to the side as Noah got on the elevator. He felt the skin at his neck jumping as his pulse jack-hammered.
The car started moving. His eyes watered, unblinking, watching the numbers tick slowly down. Noah was holding his breath, trying not to breathe in her scent.
Jasmine, like the scent of summer in the hills.
Had the elevator been this slow before? Or had time itself literally stopped, stranding him here?
“Could you answer my question?” Her voice was careful and even. “What are you doing here? The entire building belongs to my dad, so don’t act like it’s a coincidence.”
He took a breath, and jasmine filled his nose.
“I work for Bennett Security. My boss got a call about someone needing bodyguards.”
“Um, yeah. I was almost kidnapped yesterday.”
“I’m so sorry. That must’ve been terrible.”
She wiped a hand over her face. She looked almost the same. Dark hair framed her delicate features. Her cheekbones were more prominent, and shadows lay beneath her eyes. That made him worry about how she was doing.
Which he had no right to do.
“It sucked,” she said. “But honestly? Right now, I’m just trying to get used to the fact that you’re here.”
“I didn’t know you were the client. If I had, I never would have presumed.”
She looked over at him, but he didn’t see anger.
She’d never been afraid to hold eye contact.
Yet that didn’t mean she was easy to read.
This woman had more than one master’s degree from Ivy League schools.
No wonder she was leading a major nonprofit these days, making waves in the media and changing the world.
The elevator doors had opened on the ground floor. Danica still hadn’t said anything. Those mesmerizing gray eyes seemed to be studying him, deliberating.
Noah stepped out into the lobby, then turned back to face her. “I apologize again. We have a great team at Bennett Security, and I promise they will take very good care of you. You won’t have to see me again.” He smiled with his lips closed, planning to head toward the nearest exit.
But Danica hurried after him, placing her hand on his elbow. “Wait a second. That’s all you have to say to me? Seriously?”
“What else do you want me to say?”
“You could explain what the hell happened.”
His brows knit. “You mean, with Soren?” Didn’t she already know?
Annoyance crossed her features. “You’re a dumbass, you know that?”
Noah couldn’t help laughing. The front desk security guard looked over.
Danica huffed. “Come on. We need to talk.”
She pulled him by the arm down a hallway. Her grip was firm and brooked no argument. But if she wanted to see him, even just to unleash a tirade? He wasn’t about to refuse.