Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
“My, but don’t you three look handsome.”
Miss Hudson’s voice drew Colton’s attention to the staircase, and he couldn’t pull his eyes from the woman he’d last seen in a conservative business suit.
The bright blue, sparkling gown hugged her in all the right places, with short sleeves and a mid-thigh-high slit up one side of the straight skirt.
She’d pulled her long black hair up on her head in a simple bun with a ring of diamonds encircling it.
Blue teardrop-shaped gems dangled from diamond stud earrings.
What a chameleon she was. From jeans and a sweater Saturday night, to the tasteful red suit she’d donned for work today, and, now, to this stunning gown. Hair up, down, pulled back, or left loose. It didn’t matter. She was always striking and comfortable in her skin.
He cleared his throat and held out his hand for her coat. “You look quite nice yourself, Miss Hudson.” An understatement, but it would be inappropriate to tell her she was breathtaking. “Your parents just left. We should be about five minutes behind them.”
“Thank you.” She let him take her overcoat when he reached for it and turned her back to him. He pulled the coat up to her shoulders, and she faced him again with one of her thousand-watt smiles. “You could be a little less serious, Mr. Blankenship. It is a party we’re going to.”
“For us, it’s work. Shall we go?”
She sighed as her grin disappeared. “Do you ever loosen up?”
“On my own time.” They followed the others to the SUV parked in the circular drive, and he opened her door.
“When is that exactly?” she asked as she slid into the back seat.
“When I’m not with you.” He closed her door and walked around to the other side, climbing in beside her.
“So, not until this detail is over, is what you’re saying.”
Clearly, she wasn’t going to drop it. “It’s the job. That’s why it pays so well.”
“Does it? Pay well?”
“Well enough. By most people’s standards.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What does that mean? That I wouldn’t understand well enough?”
“You do live in a different world than ninety-nine-point-nine percent of us.”
“Then you think you know me, based on my socio-economic status. Seems an unfair judgment, Mr. Blankenship.”
He glanced away as the SUV made its way down the drive to the gate before regarding her again. “You’re right. I pegged you incorrectly based on supposition. I apologize.”
“You supposed I was a rich, spoiled socialite, and you’d be spending your days following me while I shopped.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, maybe.”
“Why’d you take this job if you didn’t want to do it?”
“Mack asked me to take it. And I never said I didn’t want to do it.”
“Hmm. Good work ethic. Very commendable. But don’t any of you guys have families?”
“I do.” Paul checked both directions before turning onto the road. “I’m married with a little boy. Valerie and Landon.”
“How old is Landon?”
“Four.”
“Don’t they miss you?”
“At times like these they do. But I was with the FBI for six years before we got married, and two years after, and was never home. I left a couple of years ago after we had Landon. With Petersen, I get to pick most of my assignments. Sometimes I work a specialized detail, then work in Tech Ops or Transportation for a month or two. Or take off a few weeks after an especially long detail.”
“What about you, Trevor?”
He glanced over his shoulder. “Girlfriend. Gemma. We’ve been together a little more than a year, so she understands the demands.”
“Did you work in another capacity prior to Petersen?”
“Military Police, Special Ops. Army.”
To Colton’s consternation, she brought that dogged focus to him. “Were you in law enforcement before this job?”
“Secret Service. Almost seven years.”
“Impressive. Why’d you leave it?”
“Got shot protecting a visiting dignitary.” He swallowed the acid taste the memory always brought with it. “Decided it wasn’t worth the pay and started looking into other ways I could use my skills.”
“Was it bad? Your injury?”
“Bullet nicked my spine. Four months of rehab.”
Trevor glanced over his shoulder at him. “Seriously? I didn’t know that.”
He should’ve never mentioned it. He didn’t share his personal business with people he hardly knew. Riley Hudson must excel at pulling stuff out of witnesses on the stand because he’d opened up like a cracked egg after two simple questions.
“One of the charities I’m involved with is Small Steps,” she said instead of pressing for more.
Thankfully. “We raise funds for the long-term care of patients with spinal cord injuries. We also fund research. You should consider getting involved on some level. Time, money. However you see fit, since your outcome was so favorable.”
“I’ll look into it.” Their eyes held another moment. “Are you always so straightforward?”
She shrugged. “I’m a firm believer that those of us who are fortunate owe something to those who haven’t been. And I don’t just mean money. You were blessed with good health after what could have been a devastating injury. So, you owe something because you were delivered from it. See?”
“Sure.”
“Besides, I’ve found it’s not only good for those who receive, but for the soul of the person giving.
I offer people the opportunity to better their lives by getting involved in charities.
It’s certainly enriched mine. As if by focusing on someone besides myself, I’m getting out of the way to let God work in my life.
It’s when I start telling Him how things should go that I get myself into a mess. ”
“Been there, done that,” Trevor threw over his shoulder.
Colton finally pulled his eyes from her to the street view ahead. Another thing he hadn’t known about her—her strong faith, which could explain why she appeared to be completely unfazed by Saturday’s incident. Why she felt their efforts to keep her safe were a waste of time and resources.
Although Colton was fast coming to the conclusion that not a whole lot scared Miss Riley Hudson.
“So, how’d you end up with Petersen?”
He resisted the urge to sigh. How much longer before they reached their destination? “Mack was the Assistant Director of the Secret Service when I went through FLETC. Oversaw the training of new agents.”
Her brow crinkled. “What’s … fletsy?”
“Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. Mack heard from a mutual friend I was no longer with the Service and called me a little over six years ago. He’d left a few years before I did and started his own private security operations company.
Offered me a job.” A gift when he thought he might be washed out of the protection biz for good.
“What about family? Are you from Houston?”
“Isn’t this all a little personal?” he countered instead of answering her question. Most of their clients were content to let them do their jobs. They didn’t have to be buddies.
“You follow me everywhere, you’ve checked out all my friends, my co-workers, know what I’m doing every minute. I’m not asking what your deepest thoughts are. Do you have a family? That’s pretty tame, isn’t it?”
This time, he gave in to the urge and sighed. Nosy woman. “I’m not married, if that’s what you mean. My parents live in Spring. Dad’s a retired pastor, and I have a sister. Married with three kids.”
Her face lit up. “Your dad was a pastor? What church?”
“My folks founded Faith Community Church in our living room thirty-two years ago. I was five and assumed all preachers and their families lived in their churches, until I learned otherwise.”
“That’s cute.”
Cute? He supposed at one time in his life, he might’ve been considered cute. Maybe as a three-foot-tall mini-human. “My brother-in-law Micah is the head pastor there now.”
Her eyes widened. “Your brother-in-law is Micah Thompson?” She snapped her fingers. “And your dad is Fred Blankenship, who retired, what? Two years ago?”
Surprised, he nodded. “You know them?”
“I know of them. Hard not to in Houston. That church is huge and does a ton of charitable work. I spoke at a women’s ministry breakfast there last year and met Micah’s wife, Lisa. She’s your sister?”
“She is.” This was all a little too close for comfort. She’d met his sister? Had been to an event at the church? The church he’d left without a backward glance? How long before she asked—
“That’s where you worship?”
And there it was.
Shrugging, he diverted his gaze to the view out the windshield. “I’m a member there.”
When the silence stretched, he turned back and found her studying him with a crease in her brow, as if she could see into his soul. He certainly hoped not. All she’d find was a knotted mass of questions and confusion he’d packed down under layers of ambition and duty.
But, “Raised here in Houston, then,” was all she said, even though he suspected she itched to know more. Probably that attorney in her. “Where’d you go to school?”
“Considered Sociology at UT but decided on Criminal Justice at Texas State. Better option for my career track.”
He hoped keeping his answers short and to the point would provide her enough to satisfy her.
“Both excellent schools. I applied to the School of Law at UT.”
Applied but didn’t get in? “Where’d you end up going?”
Turning her attention to the window, she twisted her emerald ring around her finger. It couldn’t be that bad. Regardless of where she got her law degree, she was doing a lot with it.
She cleared her throat. “Um, Harvard.”
“Harvard Law.” So, she wasn’t embarrassed that she didn’t get into a good school, but humble about attending one of the best in the country. “Nice back-up plan.”
She laughed, and his pulse did that twitchy thing again. He’d have to work on that. Or get to a doctor.
“It’s okay, I guess.”
“You’re such an underachiever, Riley,” Trevor said with a teasing grin over his shoulder.
She laughed again, and Colton couldn’t look away.
What a surprise this Riley Hudson had been, from the first moment he’d set eyes on her Saturday night, to poring over her packed schedule yesterday, then spending the day with her in business mode.
Unlike the society princess he’d expected, she’d instead shown herself to be mature, confident, independent, intelligent, and extremely caring of her fellow man.
The only disappointment of the day had been Graham Harding.
Nothing like the man he would have imagined she would be with.
Too slick, too arrogant. Colton caught himself chuckling from his place when she suppressed a yawn as they’d neared the end of their lunch date.
Then the guy all but ditched her afterward without even a kiss on the cheek.
Yes, Miss Hudson could do much better than Graham of the Fort Worth Hardings.
They drove through another decorative iron gate and pulled up to the walk.
Trevor stepped out of the SUV and flashed his agency ID and concealed carry permit at the valet approaching the vehicle. “Personal security for Miss Hudson. We’ll handle it.”
“Yes, sir,” the young man answered before moving to the next car.
While Trevor stood where he could scan the area around the vehicle, Colton walked to the passenger side and opened her door. Tonight, however, instead of taking his usual position, he offered her his arm.
Her surprised smile had his stomach coiling. He hadn’t had any reaction to anyone in over four years, and it was completely unacceptable under these circumstances. He really needed that time off.
Paul left to park nearby as he and Trevor, taking his position behind them, walked her into the house. Her hand clutched his arm above the bend of his elbow, as if they were actually on a date. A high-end, completely-out-of-his-league date.
They checked their overcoats at the door and made their way through the receiving line.
She let go of his arm to hug their hostess for the evening. “Rebecca. Senator. This is Mr. Colton Blankenship and Mr. Trevor Paxton.”
The elegant woman in a flowing yellow gown smiled warmly as she shook his hand. “Yes, hello, Mr. Blankenship, Mr. Paxton. It’s nice to meet the men taking such good care of our Riley. She’s a treasure worth guarding, that’s certain.”
“So I’m told,” he replied, returning her smile.
The Senator’s wife beamed at the blushing young woman beside him. “I did as you requested, and the caterer was happy to provide two more plates for Mr. Paxton and … Mr. Jamison, was it?”
“Yes,” Riley answered. “Paul Jamison.”
“They’ll both be well-fed tonight.” She returned her smile to Colton. “And you will join us at our table, Mr. Blankenship.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Cantrell,” he responded, surprised by her invitation.
“Now, I know you’re on the job, but Riley is safe as the President in this house.”
“Yes, ma’am. I spoke to your head of security this morning.”
“Then you should enjoy the evening.”
“Thank you again.”
Colton led Riley away from the Senator and his gregarious wife as Trevor moved into position at the French doors leading to the veranda.
“That wasn’t necessary.” Leaning toward her, he caught a whiff of her subtle fragrance.
It reminded him of a garden he’d walked through in Japan a couple of years ago.
“We’re not here to eat and have a good time. ”
“But you’re here. You may as well enjoy a nice dinner. I hated the idea of you standing around while I partook of some of the best food in Houston.”
“Is their security staff eating?”
“They’ll eat in shifts in the kitchen. But you are now my plus-one, Mr. Blankenship. I hope you don’t mind.”
He gave her a reluctant grin. “You’ve finally given in to your fate, huh? That we’re your shadows for the time being?”
“Shadows.” She chuckled. “That’s funny.”
“How’s that?”
“Oh. Nothing. Are you ready to mingle? I have a lot of money to raise tonight.”
Mingling was the last thing he wanted to do. But as her plus-one, now he had the perfect cover for sticking close.