Wicked Bad Boys (58 page)

“Are you okay?” Amanda’s voice broke into my distracted thoughts. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m sure it will all be fine. Most of these turn out to be harmless. We just have to be careful and take each one seriously.”

I looked at her. She seemed genuinely concerned, the way she leaned toward me and placed a hand on my shoulder. I was all tensed up before, but her touch chased all that away. Suddenly I wasn’t angry at Kevin anymore. I could figure that out later, given the new information he had shared with me wasn’t actually all bad.

I smiled at her. “Yes, I’m fine, really. It’s just been hectic, that’s all.”

She asked me about my music. I was starting to get into a relaxed conversation with her when Kevin re-entered the room.

“I just got off the phone with the FBI. They’re on it.”

“That was fast,” I answered.

“They’re sending an agent out here tomorrow morning.”

“What? You mean for protection?”

“I don’t think so. They’re still investigating. But as an extra precaution starting tonight, they recommended that we beef up the security here at the house, and wherever you go, Johnny.”

Shit. Like I didn’t have enough going on already.

Kevin looked at Amanda. “Is there any way you can stay here with Johnny tonight and start the assignment early?” he asked. “We have perimeter guards on the grounds, but I’m not sure they’re trained for personal security.”

Kevin was on board! On the inside, I was pumped at the thought of Amanda under the same roof with me tonight. I did my best to stay neutral at the news. That was incredibly difficult—all I wanted to do was kiss Kevin for suggesting it, then get him out of my house so I could focus on this woman who had plagued my thoughts for years.

“Tonight?” Amanda asked. “My things are at the hotel, but, yes. Definitely. Does that means I got the contract?”

I couldn’t help but smile. We needed her. Kevin needed her, and he was miserable. He hated being backed into a corner.

“The contract is yours.”

I
got a million-dollar gig
. I got a million-dollar gig! If no one were around, I would have run around the room, whooping and pounding my chest for effect. I couldn’t believe it was happening. With the offer on the table and the contracts ready to be signed, the knot of anxiety in my stomach faded away, but was replaced with some new concerns. I let myself start taking it all in. It was no small task I was getting into. With the FBI already looking into the threats against him, this was serious business. Still, the stars aligned and put me in the right place at the right time. And I was the right person for the job, at last. This was meant to be.

Almost as soon as we finalized the arrangements verbally, Kevin kicked into gear. He started by calling the hotel where my things were, so they could send them here with a driver. After that, he called his assistant and got her to change my return flight details. I had originally been scheduled to leave the next day, but with this development, he wasn’t sure when I would fly back to Miami.

It felt surreal. It was really happening!

After it started to sink in, it hit me—neither of them bothered to ask if I had family, pets, or other plans I needed to rearrange to be able to stay indefinitely. Kevin seemed to just assume I would be free. Which was correct, to be honest. I had nothing going on. And I wasn’t about to jeopardize a million-dollar job offer over the inconvenience of having someone swing by my place to feed my two goldfish, Trevor and Lulu. I could easily get my best friend Eva to do that. Still, it would have been nice to have been asked. For all he knew, I could have been married with six kids waiting at home for my return. Somehow, my gut told me they already knew a lot more about me than they let on.

Kevin finished up with his phone calls. He turned his attention back to me, and the two of us got started on the very large pile of documents. He sat across the coffee-table from me and went over each section of the contract, answering any questions I had. It was all straightforward—and because he had emailed me the documentation beforehand, my lawyer had already checked it out and given the okay.

It was during this focused time I got the sense Kevin did not like me. He was being professional, but he didn’t seem as enthused as Johnny was about me coming on board. It was his eyes; they never quite met mine, and his voice was clipped and short with each answer. There had to be more at play. This contract was crucial to me. I made the split second decision to ignore the uneasiness. I initialed and signed in the places he pointed out, skimming over the words for any obvious red flags, but in all honesty, I didn’t need to. I would have signed it that day my lawyer had told me it was fair.

At some point during the process, Johnny excused himself from the room and disappeared. As I had signed everything in triplicate, Kevin gave me one copy from the pile, and he left as well. He said he needed to place a few more phone calls and would be back shortly. Alone in the massive room, I sat back on the couch and sent a text to Eva. I started by asking if she could take the fish to her place for a while. I knew what would come next, so I waited for her reply. And she did not disappoint. I couldn’t tell her much—after all, I had just signed a non-disclosure agreement, and wasn’t perfectly clear on exactly what I could and could not say. I settled for telling her I was working a security job out of town. True to form, Eva peppered me with questions.

“You gotta give me more than that, woman
!” one of her messages said.

Before I could key in my reply, the phone buzzed.

“Hi Eva,” I answered.

“Girl, you sound so upbeat! Come on, Amanda. I want details. I just poured myself a glass of wine and was about to watch a movie. This sounds way better. So make sure you don’t leave anything out.”

“All I can say is I’m in LA. I don’t know when I’ll be back, but this job is
huge
!”

“How huge, hun? What, you’re guarding Dwayne Johnson? Because
that
would be huge.”

I laughed out loud and hoped no one was nearby. “The Rock doesn’t need a bodyguard, Eva. Seriously, though, I can’t tell you anything at all. I literally just signed an NDA ten minutes ago. If I break it and tell you anything, I’m pretty sure bad things will happen to me. And I’m positive it’ll make a new record for fastest breach of contract ever.”

“What’s a NDA?”

“Non-disclosure agreement. It means I have to keep my mouth shut.”

“Are you sure it counts for best friends?”

“Pretty sure. Sorry, hun.”

“Dammit.”

“So can you take Trevor and Lulu to your place? Or are you going to be mean and bail on me since I can’t tell you more?”

“I’ll watch the damn fish,” she said, acting angry. “You know I will. Why do you think I still have your damn apartment key? But now you owe me a pitcher of margaritas and a story when you get home.”

“Deal! I’ll call you later, okay? I’ve got to go.”

I tossed my phone into the bag at my feet. When I looked up, Johnny was standing at the other end of the room, his hands in his back pockets. The man was so damn sexy. I couldn’t stop my eyes from roaming up and down his body. So far, a flutter of nervous energy would rush through me every time my eyes met his. He smiled seductively, and I wondered how long he had been standing there watching me.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hi.”

“All set with the contracts?”

“Yes. It’s a done deal, and you can’t change your mind,” I joked. Maybe it was too early for me to get this informal with him.

“I wouldn’t think of changing my mind now that Kevin’s on board. Well, I just wanted to let you know your luggage just got here.”

“That fast?”

“Yes. Everyone jumps when Kevin calls. Anyway, I can show you to your room, if you’d like to settle in.”

“Thanks. That would be great. But actually, would you mind if we take a walk through this main floor first?”

“Uh, sure,” he said, confused.

“I just want to get a sense of the layout, see what the house has in the way of exits, access controls, cameras, alarms, that type of thing.”

“Oh! Of course,” he said. “I’ll show you around. And that’s a good point. Kevin and I should have thought of mentioning that. When we’re here at the house, you’ll only be responsible for me. We’ve got a security firm that monitors the grounds. They’re not the same ones we use for events or anytime I’m offsite. They’re stationed at the hut near the gates. They’re very low key, but they’re always there.”

“Okay. That’s good to know. Thanks for explaining. Do you have a way of reaching them if there’s an emergency?”

“Yes. Their phone numbers are listed on all the alarm consoles on the main and second floors.”

“What about the panic room? Is it secure?”

“Yes. I’ll show you where it is.”

“And weapons?”

“The guards at the gate have licenses to carry the big ones. They store them out at the guardhouse. I personally have licenses for two Glock twenty-ones. One is down here in the library. The other one is in my bedroom nightstand.”

“With forty-five caliber bullets, right?”

“Yup. The ammunition is with the guns. I got them all in combination lock storage cases. I’ll get you those codes too.”

“Great. And do they monitor your camera feeds from outside?”

“Yes. It’s nothing like Big Brother, though. There aren’t cameras in bathrooms or pointed at any beds.” He must have realized he was taking the conversation into dangerous territory. He cleared his throat and looked embarrassed for a moment before continuing. “But it covers most of the rest of the house.”

“Excellent,” I said, trying not to react.

He took me from room to room, and showed me the alarm system, panic room, and main camera feeds. We walked to a large office on the main floor where he pulled a file from the desk drawer and took out a sheet of paper.

“This is the alarm entry code and instructions to reset it. Keep it. I’ve got a few copies here.”

“Thanks.”

“So we’re all set to show you to your room now?”

“Sure,” told him.

I followed him to the bottom of the staircase near the main foyer. The stairs were wide enough that we could walk up together, and then some. At one point, he lagged behind a step. I had to wonder if he had purposely hung back to check me out. I was comfortable enough with my body. I gave my hips an extra swing so he could have something to think about, just in case he was actually watching. And the idea of him wanting me sent my pulse racing.

At the top of the stairs, he moved ahead of me again.

“This room is yours,” he said.

He stopped at the last door on the left side of the hallway. The door across from it was propped open. A quick peek inside as I passed by told me it was likely the master suite—Johnny’s room.

“Is that you, then?” I asked, nodding to the open doorway.

He gave me a wicked smile. “That’s me. I figured I would keep you nice and close, in case I need protecting during the night.”

My breath caught at his words. He was not going to make this easy for me. I wasn’t sure I could keep my hands off him either, if he made a move. What did I get myself into? His eyes locked on mine and for a moment, neither of us broke from the gaze. He leaned in close and his hand rested on my waist. His lips were close enough to kiss, and I swore if he had made contact, I would have no ability to resist. At the last moment, he turned, leaned around me, and switched on my bedroom light.

“I put your bag inside already. But don’t worry, I didn’t rummage through it,” he said, continuing to smile at me with that easy, yet torrid smile.

“Thanks,” I whispered, releasing the breath I had been holding in.

I wanted to stay there and bask in the warmth of his body heat. He had this magnetic pull I had a hard time ignoring, but I needed to step back before I let myself get too carried away. This was a job, not some guy I picked up at a bar—which is how I usually got my sexual urges taken care of. I sidestepped him into the huge bedroom. It was no surprise to find it was larger than my entire apartment in Miami. I looked around, soaking in the bedroom, attached bathroom, and walk-in closet, before turning back to face Johnny.

“Looks great,” I told him.

“Dinner will be ready soon. Make yourself at home, and come back down whenever you’d like.”

I nodded at his instructions and he went back downstairs. I spent a few minutes having a serious talk to myself, chastising my body for not getting on board with the fact that I needed to keep it professional.

I
had been tossing
and turning for about an hour when I finally gave up and got out of bed. It wasn’t that the bed was uncomfortable. Actually, it was probably the most restful-feeling bed I had ever slept on—or at least, attempted to sleep on—in my entire life. The problem was I couldn’t get my mind off the bed across the hall. More accurately, the man in the bed across the hall.

Johnny was so different. He was sweet and kind, and I couldn’t forget smoking hot. He sent magnetic waves of energy my way at every opportunity, and it did wild and sensual things to my core. At first, I tried to convince myself I was just horny. That was true too, but there was something strangely different about how I found myself reacting to him. Over the course of the evening, I knew it for sure.

He was also attentive to me. It was more than being a good host. I felt pampered, to be honest. He had his chef prepare us dinner, put in the extra effort to send his driver out for wine when he realized he didn’t have a bottle of my favorite, and he even offered to call in his massage therapist when I mentioned my feet were tired from standing for twelve hours the day before. And although he was flirtatious, he didn’t treat me like a piece of meat. The combination of his personality, looks and how he treated me was turning out to be a clear distraction.

I tied my black silk robe around me and started to pace in front of the door to my room. I had been trying to talk myself out of going to him. In the end, my body took over. I rationalized that it was my job to check in on him. But going over there with just a robe on did not fall into the definition of professional conduct, not even here in Los Angeles. This was lust, pure and simple.

I was on autopilot when I opened my door. I stepped into the dark hallway and scanned the area. I had walked the halls and checked the entrances less than an hour before. It struck me as odd that in this huge, sprawling house, Johnny and I were the only people inside. His chef left after dinner, his housekeeper only worked during the day, Kevin lived with Lady Dame a few houses away, and even the driver was on call.

And the silence was unnerving. I hurried across the hallway and knocked. When he told me to come in, I turned the handle on the door, which swung open silently. I was surprised to find Johnny sitting up in bed. He had a laptop beside him and was writing into a notebook. The bedside lamp was turned on, giving the room a soft glow.

“Hey. Is everything okay?” he asked, instantly setting down his book as I stepped into the room.

His eyes raked over me. I shivered with anticipation, the way he lingered on the bare skin of my legs before taking in the rest of my body.

“Yes,” I started, almost unable to speak coherently.

I was suddenly aware of the heat pooling between my legs as I stared at the smooth skin of Johnny’s bare chest and abs. Two tattoos were now fully on display, no longer halfway hidden underneath a T-shirt. They were definitely tribal. “I wanted to check in on you, to make sure you’re fine. I did my rounds earlier. The house is all clear…and so silent.”

“Great. Yeah, it is pretty quiet at night.”

“Do you ever get lonely? Here all by yourself, I mean.”

He shook his head. “Not usually. My life is pretty hectic, so the downtime alone is like therapy.”

“Oh,” I replied. I started to panic inside. I had possibly just made a huge mistake coming into his room like this. I took a step back. “Well, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“No, no. You didn’t. I could use some company tonight. Did you want to watch something?” He pointed up at the TV that hung on the opposite wall from his bed. “I’ve got satellite. And internet TV too, I think. There’s tons you can watch.” His voice trailed off as looked at me. All my nervousness was channeled through to my hands. I toyed with the silky belt that kept my robe tied closed. It probably distracted him. His eyes were fixated on it. “Unless you had something else in mind.”