KILTED DESIRE - Sands of Betrayal (7 page)

After returning from the buffet, it was time to talk, to let
her know what to expect and to find out more about her and her business there.
They introduced themselves to each other at the airport, but it was brief.
Scott sat on the couch and waited for Britney to get dressed after her bath.
She appeared wearing grey sweat pants and a white t-shirt. She had nothing on
her feet and her red painted toenails reminded him of Katie. She sat down on
the couch next to him.

“So, first, tell me about you,” she said, taking control of
the conversation.

“I want to know everything about the man who is going to
protect me.”

Scott was not expecting this. He thought he was going to be
asking the questions and explaining a few things. However, she was right; it
was only fair that he give her some details about credentials and his plans to
keep her safe.

“Well, I served in the S.A.S. fer over ten years.”

“What does that mean?” she interrupted.

“It stands fer Special Air Service, a Special Forces
regiment of the British Army. We completed many missions in Iraq and
Afghanistan a few years ago so I know this area quite well, I’m highly trained
in the art of warfare, guns, knives, hand-tae-hand combat, etc.”

“So, I’m pretty safe as long as I’m with you?” she asked.

“Aye, yer do as I tell yer and yer will be fine.”

“That’s good. My mom is very worried about me being here. I
told her that I’d have specialist protection, but it didn’t really make her
feel any better.”

“Yer can tell yer mom yer in guid hands.”

“That’s good. Now tell me about this place. What have I got
to do to help you?”

“First of all, yer must remember tae always trust me, even
if yer dinnae understand why. If I tell yer tae do anything, there is going tae
be a reason fer it and I will nae always have time tae explain.”

“I can do that, go on,” she said.

“I know yer nae used tae being in a place like this, but yer
going tae have tae get used tae hearing explosions and gunfire. Yer will
probably see things when we travel that will upset yer. Roadside bombs are
commonplace here. If we pass close by tae where one has recently gone off, then
yer will see injured people, probably even dead bodies. It really is nae
pleasant, but I’d rather warn yer aboot it than have yer get taken by surprise
and be shocked if it happens. There are people here intent on causing trouble.
Yer know that. I’m sure yer watch the news. There are groups of people here that
would love tae kidnap yer. I’m nae saying this tae scare yer, but yer have tae
understand. They would try and get a ransom from your company and these people believe
they can get more money fer a woman.”

He paused, waiting to see if she was going to respond.

“Okay, I understand, so what do we have to do?” Her voice
was a little shaky, but she seemed to be coping quite well.

“First of all, I want tae hide the fact that yer a woman. I
know it will nae be easy, but anytime we travel, I want yer tae wear a baseball
cap or a scarf on yer head and try tae tuck yer hair inside it, wear loose
fitting jeans or trousers and tennis shoes. And starting tomorrow, anytime we
go anywhere, yer wear a bulletproof vest. I know this will nae work if anyone
sees yer close up, but if there are any undesirable people who see us from a
distance, maybe we can avoid trouble.”

“Makes sense, I can do that.” Scott was impressed with her
attitude, He thought he was going to have a problem when she was whining and
complaining so much earlier, but maybe she was just tired. Now, she seemed to
be listening and willing to do as he asked. He was curious about something
though and needed to ask.

“Yer have tae tell me something. Why? Why are yer here? Yer
obviously an intelligent, attractive, young woman. Why would yer want tae come
tae a place like this?”

She smiled at him, pleased that he complimented her.

“I was offered a huge promotion if I would come here and start
up the business. They knew I was the best person for the job. My job is very
important to me. I’m very good and I love it. Plus, I just got out of a bad
relationship and I wanted to get away for a while. It’s all very complicated.”

“Okay, none of my business, I just wondered. What is it
exactly that yer do?”

“I’m in charge of the entire cell phone division back home
and that’s the part they want to develop and expand here.”

“Reet, sounds important.”

“It is. Another thing is, I like adventure. The whole idea
sounded very exciting and challenging and I know there are very few women in
the world who could do this or would want to do this so that makes it even more
attractive to me.”

“Okay, fair enough.” Scott didn’t really get it. He thought
she really had no idea just how dangerous this place could be, but it was her
life and she was entitled to do whatever she wanted to do.

“How about you, why are you here? Aren’t you going to miss
your wife?” she countered.

“I’m nae married,” said Scott. Looking down at the wedding
band on his finger, he knew why she asked the question.

“This is a present from my girlfriend. Where we live,
anytime I go anywhere without her I seem tae attract the attention of women
when I talk. This is just tae let them know I’m nae available, and I kind of
like it. He laughed to himself. “I’m here because the money is very guid and I
can buy us a nice house when I get haem.”

“Ah, I see, British accents are cool, especially Scottish
ones,” she said.

He laughed again and she smiled at him. She was feeling a
little nervous about some of the things he told her, but he did make her feel
safe.

“How long will the drive take to get to work?” she asked.

“It depends on which way we go, the traffic and whether
there’s any trouble that day. I would say we could do it in forty minutes, depending
on the situation. But, it could take an hour, sometimes longer.”

The place they needed to go was in the north of the city. It
was a straightforward trip, but Scott knew it was not that simple. He decided
he would take a slightly different route each day and leave at varying times
just to try to ensure they were not being followed.

“I have a lot of work to do and will be doing work on my
laptop when we’re in the suite too, but what else can we do here? I know it’s
not a place where we’re going to be going out to bars or nightclubs, but is
there anything to do?” she asked.

“It’s going tae get pretty dull. Yer either going tae be at
work or here. We do have internet access, so I guess yer can be on yer laptop
or maybe read some books if yer like doing that, but apart from that, nae
anything.”

It was the reply she expected. They both knew that it was
going to be a long six months, but they each had personal reasons for being
there.

Later that night after Britney went to sleep, Scott called
Katie. She knew he was picking up his client today and she would have many,
many questions for him.

“Hey babe,” he said, when she answered.

“Hi baby, how are you? How did your day go?”

“Nae too bad. We’re both at the hotel now, nae problems,
we’re both fine.”

“So is she pretty?”

Wow, that did not take her long, he thought.

“She’s an attractive, young woman, but yer know I only have
eyes fer yer.”

“Good answer, so tell me about her.” Katie was intrigued.
She wanted to know more about the woman who was going to be living with her man
for the next six months.

“Her name is Britney, late 20’s maybe, very posh, slim, pretty,
long red hair. I thought she was going tae be a reet pain in the arse fer a
while, but we had a talk and she does nae seem too bad. I think it will be
fine.”

“So what has she already done to annoy you?” she giggled,
inquisitively.

“She was just doing a lot of moaning when we got tae the
hotel. I think she expected a wee bit more luxury than she got. I get the impression
this lass is nae used tae roughing it.”

Katie laughed.

“The hotel isn’t that bad, is it?”

“Nae, it’s fine. It’s a decent size and it’s clean, but it’s
nae five-star if yer know what I mean.”

She laughed again. She was expecting this woman to be older,
but she was not worried. She tried to remember why he was there and what he was
doing for them. She trusted him.

“It sounds like you’re going to have your hands full. You’ve
left behind one princess and now you’ve got another.”

Scott smiled and laughed, he really liked it when she made
him laugh.

“I miss yer baby, I can’t talk fer long tonight though
because I’ve had a long day and I’m tired.”

“Okay, go and get some sleep. Call me tomorrow.”

“Will do, gorgeous, I love yer. Guid night.”

“Night baby, sleep well. Love you more.”

This time, it was her turn to hang up the phone before he
could object. He smiled as he lay down. I’ll give you this one, he thought as
he closed his eyes.

It was Friday evening in Baghdad, and Scott and Britney had
just arrived back at the suite. He wanted to take a shower, and she was going
to lie down for a short time. She was thinking about dressing down and trying
not to look feminine. This was hard for her. She knew she was a beautiful,
shapely woman, but she understood why it was necessary. She was also adventurous,
and very intelligent. She completed her Master’s Degree in Business Management
by the age of 22, and moved directly into an executive position for an
electronics company. She was well aware that she had received the position
because her parents were close friends with the CEO, but she didn’t care. She
wanted “that” job. She was the only child of very wealthy parents and had grown
up very privileged. She grew up living in a beachfront house in an exclusive
area of San Diego. Everything she wanted, she was given, and was very used to
that. After having received many promotions, she became the Sales and Marketing
Director for the entire North American cell line division before reaching 28. She
had been romantically involved with one of the company’s, vice-presidents. He was
married and their affair recently was made public. It had become messy, and she
was asked to take the Baghdad position largely because she was the ideal person
but also, to get her out of the limelight until things settled down. The company
didn’t want to lose a valuable employee and this was an ideal situation. She
needed to get away for a while, since she knew her lover’s wife and things were
uncomfortable. Plus, she enjoyed a challenge. Some years back, she wanted to
join the Army, but her parents talked her out of it. These days, she thought it
was probably a good thing. Some of the things she had seen over the last few
days made her realize that she was not cut out for that kind of life.

Her time thinking and relaxing was interrupted by the sound
of an explosion. She jumped up and ran out of her room to see if Scott had heard
it.

“Scott, did you hear that?” she asked, trying to stay calm
as she knocked on the bathroom door.

“Hang on, I’ll be reet oot.”

A few seconds later, the door opened and he appeared wearing
only a towel wrapped around his midsection. Water was still dripping down his
chest, flowing over his stomach, and eventually disappearing beneath the towel.

“What’s wrong?”

“An explosion! I think it was close this time,” her voice
trembled.

“I did nae hear anything, but I’ll have a look oot the
window. Go tae yer room fer now and get under yer bed just in case.”

She moved quickly and crawled under the bed. Scott grabbed the
binoculars and looked out the window; he did not think it was anything. If it
was close enough to cause them any concern, he would have felt and heard it. He
saw smoke rising in the distance, on the other side of the river, maybe two or
three miles away. There did not seem to be anything happening now or any imminent
trouble, so he headed towards her room. He knocked on the door and opened it
slightly.

“There’s nae anything tae worry aboot, looks like it was a
minor blast a few miles away and on the other side of the river. Yer can come
oot now.”

She crawled out from underneath the bed, looking a little
embarrassed.

“It’s fine. Yer did the reet thing by telling me and hiding
under yer bed. There’s nae need fer us tae take any chances.”

“Okay, thanks.” She stared at his chest. Wearing only a
towel his torso glistened, still moist from the shower. She smiled. He made her
feel safe. She knew, about Katie, but seeing him standing here with his upper
body exposed made her forget about the explosion and she was having thoughts
about him that she shouldn’t be having. For the last few days, she was thinking
differently about him. She liked the idea of him protecting her. Truth be told,
it turned her on. Now, seeing him without his shirt on made her decide to take
it a step further. She decided she would do a little flirting and see how he
reacted.

“I’m going tae get dressed now and try tae get in touch with
Katie,” he said, as he turned around and walked toward his room.

“Okay,” she replied, as she stood up and followed him.

“Scott,” she called, as he was about to enter his room.

“Thanks again, and sorry, I will get used to the noises… and
I really like your tattoos.” She was genuinely sorry and did think she eventually
would not panic every time she heard a bang. But, she also wanted another look
at his body.

“Thanks, I think, and nae problem, that’s what I’m here fer.”
He closed the door behind him and got dressed.

Scott thought the first couple of weeks went quite well.
Each trip, they drove a slightly different route to her office and left at
different times. There were no real problems, although the remnants of a
previous day’s roadside bomb or other visible carnage was becoming more and
more common. He would tell Britney to lie down on the back seat when they were driving
by, so she did not see anything too graphic or be spotted by anyone who might
do them harm. There was quite a bit of gunfire and the occasional explosion
like the one she heard, but nothing too close. As far as he was concerned, at
no point up till now were they in any immediate danger. They had not seen much
evidence of the U.S. military presence in the city. Scott knew they were there,
but the troops were still targets, so any patrols they conducted were few and
far between. It was going quite well, and Britney was well aware of plans and directions
to follow in the event of an emergency. He did regular perimeter checks of the
hotel and her office building and everything so far had been fine. In addition,
he notified the PCPS office every time they set out on a journey and again when
they reached their destination. Everything that could be done to keep them safe,
was being done. He lay down, thinking about taking a nap. He wanted to talk to
Katie, but she was eight hours behind and would be at work. If he napped for a
couple of hours, he could give her a call around midnight when she would be
home. He missed her. He missed the times he would lie on his back and she would
snuggle up to him and lay her head on his chest. Taking naps just wasn’t the
same without her. Instead of going to sleep, he decided to turn on his laptop
and check out some pictures she had emailed to him over the last few months.
For an hour or so, he scrolled through old emails, reading them repeatedly,
looking at her pictures and wishing she were there. He wanted to touch her,
feel her soft warm body against his skin. He missed her touch, wanted to hold
her, to be deep... He thought he probably should take another shower, and a
cold one at that. Maybe it was better to try to sleep for a while, and then he
could talk to her later.