Protect Me (14 page)

And
yet… she looked pretty good. Maybe even pretty, full stop. The dress was floor-length
black satin that was filmy and see-through at the top around the swooping
neckline, and filled in modestly as it went down her front.

There
was no hiding the hard curve of her muscle, but the soft material clung to her
curves and flattered her body. Hope found that she liked the way she looked,
even with so much more skin exposed than she was used to. For once she hadn’t
pulled her hair back entirely; she’d pinned most of it up in a bun but let a
few tendrils hang forward to frame her face.

“You’ll
do,” she told the mirror.

A quick
glance at the clock on her nightstand told her that she couldn’t afford to give
much more time over to vanity. The party was starting in… now, actually, the
party was starting right now.

She
grabbed her purse. It would be suspiciously heavy to anyone else, but nobody
else would be holding it.

She
stepped outside the door and Rick immediately offered his arm before giving her
a long, appraising look. Hope was going to have to talk to him about the
creeping issue at some point.

“You
look beautiful,” Rick said. Coming from him the statement sounded simple and
honest, in a way that Hope had never quite heard it spoken before. Not to her,
not to anyone. Usually those words were tinged by lust, or envy, or affection.
Rick said them with his eyes wide open and his face an open book, like the
words were her right. “You look beautiful and strong and smart all at the same
time. I can’t remember ever wanting anybody as much as I want you right now.”

Her
throat clenched. Around the tightness she managed to say, “You aren’t supposed
to say things like that.”

Rick
half-smiled and took a step toward her.

“Why
not?” he asked softly. “I’m not trying to do anything - well, I suppose I am,
but that’s not why I’m saying it.”

“Because
people don’t tell the truth like you do.” Her breath was coming hard now. Rick
was too close; she could feel the warmth of him crowding up close, her skin
sensitive in this too-thin dress. “And that - that can’t be the truth anyway.”

The
words cost her. She hated to admit to weakness; to acknowledge her
shortcomings. It made her feel pathetic and small. But it was honest, and that
felt very important right now. Somebody needed to be the voice of reason. This
kind of thing - it just didn’t happen. And even if it did, it couldn’t - not to
her.

A large
hand came up and hovered by her cheek. Hope suppressed a shiver as Rick’s
fingertips grazed the line of her jaw.

“I’d like
to explain to you, in detail, how completely wrong you are,” he said
matter-of-factly, his voice low and intimate. Hope couldn’t bear to look at his
face.

The
hand dropped away and the feeling of his presence vanished. Hope looked up in
confusion to see Rick watching her from a safe distance, his eyes solemn and
slightly sad.

“But
not if you don’t want to hear it,” he added.

Hope
opened her mouth. Before she could decide what she wanted to say, her cell
phone rang.

Both of
them jumped a little before she dug into her purse for the stupid thing.

“Is
that a…” Rick started to ask, staring at the inside of her purse, but she
shushed him and tapped in the call.

“Yes?”

An
excited voice that she could barely hear in a din of music and murmurings
shouted down the line, “Hope? Are you here? I’m in and it’s awesome but I’m
kind of, uh, by myself.”

Hope
suppressed a grin and started walking. “What, you can’t find any pretty ladies
to hang out with?”

“Uh,
well, I’m sure I will. Later! But you’ll do for now. Are you here?”

Hope
rolled her eyes. “Thanks ever so. No, I’m not, but I’ll be there in a minute.”
She cut the call and tossed the phone back in her purse while Rick watched her
curiously.

“Your
guest, I assume?” he asked.

She
nodded. “Full disclosure, he’s actually a colleague. He’s young, but he’s
learning. Watching me work could be a good experience for him… and he really,
really wanted to come to one of your damn parties.”

Rick
laughed. “You’re a softie at heart, aren’t you?” He bumped her shoulder lightly
with his own and smiled sweetly at her.

Hope
frowned and moved away, only teetering a little on her heels.

“I’m
not,” she said firmly.

Rick’s
smile didn’t waver; she shook his head and gave her such a look that she paused
and stared back, wondering what he was thinking.

“You
know, you’re not exactly what I was expecting,” Rick said. “Not right when I
met you – later, after I knew you a little.”

“Oh?
How do you mean?” Hope raised her eyebrows, but she knew exactly what he meant,
and she knew that Rick knew it when he met her gaze in the mirror with
identical raised eyebrows.

He let
it pass. “I mean, I figured you’d be… uh…” Rick struggled with himself for
about a quarter of a second before giving in and telling the truth, “hard. The
kind of person who believes in loyalty but not trust. Someone who’d turned
their back on the world.”

There
was a subtle meaning in the difference between trust and loyalty, Hope knew,
but she’d be damned if she could figure it out. She just shrugged and gave him
a tiny smile.

“You
romanticize the hell out of things, Stone,” she said by way of an answer, and
was rewarded with Rick’s deep, startled laughter.

Noise
blared out of the ballroom as they walked up to the side entrance, accessible
only to people already in the mansion. Out of the corner of her eye Hope
watched Rick draw in a tiny, almost unnoticeable breath.

“Do you
still get nervous for these things?” she asked in a curious undertone.

Rick
curled his fingers around the door handles and glanced over. He gave her a
crooked grin.

“It’s
not nerves. It’s foreknowledge.” Then he pulled the double doors open and Hope
blinked into the light. Strong fingers threaded through her own and Hope
grasped them instinctively.

She
forced her eyes open ruthlessly. Through the haze of green and blue splotches
she found herself already nearing the middle of a horribly crowded ballroom.
She glanced instinctively at the rafters and breathed a quick sigh of relief. All
her round mirrors were up there, in places only she would be likely to look.

They
stopped walking and her vision finally cleared. Rick was smiling at her.

“Do you
want…” he started to ask, when someone ran up to their side.

“Hope!”
Javier lunged forward and gave her a huge hug that was fortunately as brief as
it was overenthusiastic. “This place is awesome! It’s huge! Did you know
there’s like fifty kinds of champagne here?”

“No
drinking on duty,” Hope said sternly, unable to help herself. Javier was
bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet like a huge puppy. He was dressed
in a clearly borrowed suit that was almost too small for him, but his bright
eyes and wide smile made up for it.

“Who’s
on duty? Not me!” Javier said gleefully. “Hey, look, an oxygen bar!” He darted
off on too-big scuffed shoes.

Rick
coughed into his fist, clearly hiding a smirk. “I take it that’s your guest. Is
he house-trained?”

Hope
rolled her eyes out of loyalty. “Cute, Stone. He’s young. Not everybody’s as
old as you are.”

Rick
grasped at his heart and stumbled back. “Arrgh, my heart! You wound me, Miss
Lasser. How could you be so cruel to me?”

“It’s a
lifestyle choice,” Hope said, and the corners of Rick’s eyes creased up as he
laughed harder than she’d ever seen. She couldn’t help smiling; it felt as open
and honest as the way that Rick always smiled at her. All she could see was the
way Rick’s face looked right now, creased into imperfection and so gorgeous
that she reached out a hand to take his, because yes, she realized that she
actually did want to dance with him…

“There
you both are!” Trinity trotted up, balancing perfectly in high heels. She had
on a flowing red dress that accentuated her curves perfectly. Trinity laid a
hand on each of their shoulders. Hope deflated a little but smiled, not wanting
her to feel unwelcome. “I wondered where you’d gotten to. Rick, someone wants
to see you.” She raised a single plucked eyebrow.

Rick
looked like he was forcing a smile and trying not to stare at Hope. “Yeah? Who
wants to see me?”

“Everyone.”

He
groaned. At the edge of her peripheral vision, Hope noticed that someone was
getting a jump on things.

A
petite woman on heels tall enough to make her willowy seemed to glide up to
them. She touched the back of Rick’s hand in a delicate movement that Hope
would never have even thought of, let alone been able to emulate.

“Hello
there Mr. Stone,” she said in a slight lilting accent. “It’s been a long time,
hasn’t it?”

Rick
turned. His eyes lit up in genuine welcome and he gave the woman a quick
one-armed hug. “Iseul! It’s great to see you again. It’s been - uh - it’s
been…”

“Too
long,” she said with a smile. “How are you? How is the, er, invention coming
along?”

Rick’s
face grew serious and he grasped one of Iseul’s tiny hands between two of his.
“Great, thanks to you. Your help made things go about twelve times faster.
Honestly, I can’t thank you enough. Now we’re just waiting on the FDA’s
approval. If you could…”

Iseul
nodded. “I’ll see what I can do,” she promised, and Rick beamed.

Then he
let go of Iseul’s hand and moved to Hope’s side. She looked at him askance,
startled; she’d assumed Rick had forgotten her entirely.

A warm
hand settled at the small of her back. “This is Hope, my date,” Rick announced.
“She’s also my bodyguard.”

Her
blood froze so quickly that she almost missed Iseul’s surprised expression.
Hope’s eyes narrowed and she turned on her heel to grab Rick’s arm a little
harder than necessary.

“Can I
talk to you for a minute?” she said between clenched teeth. She flicked a
glance toward the ladies. “Excuse us.”

She
dragged a protesting Rick a few feet away and leaned forward to hiss in his
ear. “I’m undercover, remember? If you blow my cover, what’s the point in me
being here?”

“To be
my date?”

Hope
gritted her teeth. “Look, just… don’t… talk. About me. To anyone. Got me?”

Rick
looked at her silently for a moment, their faces close.

“If
only,” he said. His hand came up and he traced the curve of her clenched jaw
with a finger; for some reason she couldn’t think of for the life of her, Hope
let him.

The wistfulness
dropped from his expression like a curtain had fallen and he stepped back,
leaving Hope feeling cold.

Rick
slung his hands into his pockets and his face reverted back to the happy
socializing mask. And suddenly Hope felt very alone.

“I’ll
remember,” he said with a nod. “I don’t want to put you in any danger. I
should… I should probably go do my duty. Schmooze, mingle, talk the talk, you
know. Why don’t you go talk to Iseul? She’s nice. You’ll like her. She’s sharp,
like you.”

He
turned and walked off so quickly that Hope didn’t have a chance to tell Rick he
ought to keep her close.

CHAPTER NINE

But the
truth was, Hope didn’t need to smother him to do her job. It was a rookie
mistake not to give the client space when they needed it. In theory clearing
the area should prevent anything bad from happening at all, and worst-case
scenario as long as she had an eye on Rick, there wouldn’t be time for anything
truly heinous to start.

She was
standing alone on the dance floor, and she didn’t know anyone else here that
she hadn’t lost sight of, so she walked back over to where Iseul was improbably
still waiting.

“Um…
sorry about the interruption,” Hope said, uneasy. Iseul was giving her flitting
looks like Hope was some kind of scary beast. Hope had no idea what to say to
someone like this woman, who wore towering heels and a slinky green dress in
the casual way that Rick wore his fantastically expensive suits.

"You
know, I don't want to date Rick anymore," Iseul said hesitantly.

Hope's
head snapped up; she blinked. "What?" She’d had no idea, but now that
she thought about it, that made sense. Someone with Rick’s reputation had probably
dated an awful lot of the women in this room.

Iseul
rubbed at one slim forearm with her hand and glanced away.