Bodyguard_An Older Man Younger Woman Romance Read online

  “The bedroom sure looks inviting,” she says. “But I think you do even more so.”

  I feel her index finger run along my shoulder before her hands settle on each of my upper trapezius muscles as she massages an area that needs it more than any other.

  Damn that feels good. Too good.

  I stand up quickly, but say nothing.

  “Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah. I’m fine.”

  “You don’t seem fine. You seem tense. We can go—”

  “I’m tense because I slipped out there today. That can’t ever happen again.”

  “Owen, come on. You can’t prepare for a shark.”

  “I’m not taking about that.”

  “Well then what are you…wait. Don’t you dare!”

  “We can’t, Mila. Not again.”

  “What are you talking about? I saw that look in your eyes Owen. I saw how badly you wanted me and I see how bad you still do.”

  “It’s not that easy.”

  “Are you crazy? What’s not easy about being in a rented bungalow in Hawaii with the ocean breeze in the air and the all the warmth and greenery of this place. It’s the definition of easy.”

  “Not like that.”

  “This place was made for what happened between us. It didn’t just happen as a matter of fact. It’s been there for a long time. It’s been brewing, percolating, and the environment we’re in just allowed it to finally come pouring out.”

  “It’s not a cup of coffee!”

  “What’s wrong with you?”

  “I have a job to do and I intend to do it. I’m not about to compromise it, or you.”

  “Compromise? I’m a fucking compromise! Uhhh! No, I’m not a compromise, you asshole. But you know what you are? Huh? You’re a prick. A stupid idiot who doesn’t even see the good that’s right in front of his face.”

  She storms off and a few seconds later I hear the door slam.

  I don’t care. It has to be this way. I’m getting paid to protect her, not to have sex with her.

  And not only that we almost had an incident today, but instead we had another incident that may prove to be even more dangerous.

  Fuck I crossed the line. The line no bodyguard is supposed to ever cross.

  It’s so cliché and such a rookie move, and yet I did it.

  The worst part is that it’s going to take everything I’ve got not to do it again.

  CHAPTER 6

  Mila

  “There she is. Diamond Head,” Pete says.

  Pete is Owen’s friend. He runs an Oahu sea and surf helicopter tour and agreed to personally take us for a ride today. I have to admit, Owen came up with a great plan for today…but I’ve got a plan of my own.

  “It’s beautiful,” I say. “And the water just offshore is so blue…like your eyes, Pete.”

  “Thanks. I’ll let my mom know you like them. They were a gift from her,” Pete says over our communication devices.

  “I bet your mom is hoping you’ll pass them down to your first grandchild. They’re so sparkling they’re like a family heirloom.”

  “Well, it’s going to be awhile before that happens,” Pete says.

  “No girlfriend?”

  “No. Too much time running the company,” he says.

  “All work and no play makes Pete a dull boy.”

  “I still get out there and surf and hike and enjoy the island.”

  “Owen tried to take us surfing yesterday, but he almost got me killed in the process. I’m sure I’d really, really enjoy it if a local could show me some good spots…maybe something private and secluded where I could enjoy nature more…naturally, if you know what I mean?”

  “Well, I’m not sure what Owen’s got planned for you two the rest of the day,” he says into the microphone attached to his headset. He turns to his right to look over at Owen who is still facing forward.

  “If Owen has other plans that’s fine. We can just go ourselves,” I say in my microphone. If Owen doesn’t want to pursue anything with me then I’m sure going to do what I can to show him just what he’s missing out on and seducing his friend into something is a great start.

  “Well, I’d…have to look at my schedule,” Pete says as his gaze turns back towards guiding the chopper.

  “I bet you can squeeze me in,” I say. “I’m know I could squeeze you in…even though I know you’re a very big, I mean busy, guy.”

  Pete looks back over at Owen. I see him shake his head ever so slightly. Yeah he’s angry and yeah I’m acting childish right now. So what? I’m going to do whatever it takes to enjoy my time here with or without Owen.

  “Maybe we should talk about it later,” he says. “Let’s just enjoy this Diamond Head while we’ve got this bird’s eye view.”

  “I agree, and I wanted to ask you. Does Diamond Head ever erupt?”

  “No. It’s extinct,” Pete says. “We’re safe.”

  “So there’s no chance it might just suddenly explode sending its warm, gooey, liquid substance all over us?”

  “Wow, you certainly are descriptive,” Pete says.

  “And she has a very vivid imagination,” Owen adds.

  “Nice to see you’re with us, Owen. And as you know most things that come into being start with an idea…something in someone’s imagination until they are ultimately realized, fulfilled, and enjoyed by everyone involved. Isn’t that right Pete?”

  “Yeah. I’d say so. You don’t think so, Owen?”

  Pete reaches over and punches Owen in the arm. He turns and looks out his side window. I know Pete’s partly enjoying this because he gets to watch his buddy squirm. Whether he’s enjoying it because he thinks my offer is genuine is a different story.

  It’s not, but at this point I’m so angry at Owen I almost could jump Pete’s bones. The problem is that no matter how angry, pissed off, and generally disgusted I am at Owen I still want him. And that just makes me angrier.

  Now that I’ve had him why can’t I just let him go? Just take the memory that I’ve been after for so long and be happy with it? It’s more than most women will ever get in their lifetimes. I mean, come on! I was able to live out my first crush fantasy in a way that was absolutely spectacular.

  But not enough. I know it will never be enough until I have Owen for real. For my own.

  Owen’s behavior just makes me want to erupt like this old volcano, but I have to remind myself that’s all it is. It’s just Owen’s behavior. He wants me too, he’s just trying to fight it. I’ll pull out the full bag of tricks to convince him. There’s no way a man can compete with a woman in this department, and he certainly can’t compete with me…a woman scorned.

  “What’s going on over there?” Owen says pointing towards the blue waters of the Pacific.

  “That’s where they take out the tourists for the shark diving,” he says. “Bad idea if you ask me.”

  “Why so?” I ask.

  “Not what Mother Nature intended. Plus they chum the waters and that can bring about other problems.”

  “When they chum do the tides ever carry the bait over there,” Owen says as he points. I look down and think about the roads we’ve been driving and their relation to Diamond Head. It’s easy to find my bearings and realize he’s pointing exactly where we were yesterday.

  “Nah. Tides don’t move in that direction. There’s a surf break there that would prevent it as well. It’s pushing one direction and nothing is going to pull in the other.”

  “That surf break?” Owen asks.

  “Yeah. That’s the one.” Owen pauses. “You seem interested in that spot. That where you went out yesterday?”

  “Yeah. Right there.”

  “And that’s where the shark came at you?”

  “Sharks. There was more than one.”

  “That’s strange. I mean we are out in the middle of the ocean and all, but they usually don’t go over in that direction. Water temperature is a bit different plus that’s not a good feeding ground.”<
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  “Unless someone was chumming.”

  “But no one would chum over there. It makes no sense.”

  Put! Put!

  Suddenly the helicopter makes a strange sound lurches forward. I feel my alertness level rise. Then it happens again.

  Owen looks at the controls as does Pete.

  “Fuel reading says three quarters,” Owen says.

  “Mayday mayday mayday,” Pete says into the communication device. “N59642 experiencing electrical failure. Setting down inside Diamond Head. Over.”

  “Roger that, N59642. Sending a team there now. Over.”

  Suddenly I feel my chest in my throat as we fall from the sky for a couple seconds, and all the electronics go dead. I hear a click and the lights come back on.

  “Backup, Pete!” Owen says into the communications device.

  “Engaged,” Pete says.

  Our elevation decreases rapidly as Pete brings us down toward the crater. I feel like I’m at an amusement park on a ride I didn’t stand in line for, didn’t pay for, and certainly don’t want to be on.

  Suddenly the chopper sputters again. The electronics stay on though.

  “Has to be the fuel,” Owen says.

  Pete starts punching buttons like crazy and we spin in a circle.

  Oh shit! I’m going to die!

  We straighten out and suddenly elevate. We’re getting closer to Diamond head and I make out the ground below us.

  We fly sideways as if nothing’s wrong. I count to three and close my eyes taking a deep exhale.

  Pete quickly guides us down and before I know it we’re not more than five feet off the ground as everything below blows in every which way as the helicopter blades spin as they should.

  We descend the last few feet and I fumble with all my belts and straps. I’m off that thing quickly followed by Owen and Pete.

  “This way,” Pete says. He motions with his head and we all take off jogging away from the helicopter.

  I hear sirens in the distance and continue running.

  “Don’t stop,” Pete says. “Keep moving.”

  The three of us continue jogging and suddenly I feel Owen’s hand take mine. “Faster. Let’s go!”

  I take two more steps and the next thing I know I feel a ball of heat behind me as I’m knocked off my feet as I go face first into the ground.

  CHAPTER 7

  Owen

  I knew something was fishy.

  I wasn’t willing to write off the sharks as a coincidence. After the helicopter, there’s no way we aren’t being targeted.

  I pull into the garage in our new rental on the North Shore. Most people only see the glitz and glamor of Hawaii, but there’s a whole other side.

  The North Shore is territorial where real men reside. Locals get the best, tourists get the rest as the saying goes in regards to the waves.

  Legends like Sunny Garcia and Gerry Lopez have made this one of, if not the most, famous surf spot in the world. The men that ride it will do anything to protect it.

  And that’s why I know it’s better to be here. If someone tries something here I can take them out. People on this part of the island don’t play. No one will bat an eye at violence, not that I’m looking forward to using it but it’s looking more and more like I’ll have to.

  It’s already dark by the time we arrive which is exactly what I wanted. There’s one main way to get here and I didn’t want somebody trying to follow us. Before I even came out here I went back to the airport and switched rentals. Dropped off the one I had at the first company and rented from an entirely different one. Picked the car out myself. They were local. I gave them cash. They gave me the keys. Old school…just how I like it.

  No way this new car has a tracker, if the first did at all. At this point it’s clear though that whoever this is doesn’t even need a tracker. They’re already one step ahead of us.

  I also bought another burner phone and ditched the first. Somebody knew I was heading to that helicopter tour today. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

  I know Mila’s getting scared and I need to show her there’s nothing to be worried about. Just keep her safe until her dad arrives for his speech at Pearl Harbor and then we’re good to go. I get my money and this whole thing is over.

  I’ll be glad when this is over with. I say it to myself, but I know it’s not true. I don’t want to lose her. I want her again, and not just once…for a lot, lot longer.

  We may not be connecting in as many ways as we could this weekend, but that was never the plan. She was never the plan! What happened on that boat was definitely not the plan.

  But what we have’s been building for years, for her at least. I didn’t really see it until now. But now that I have it’s coming on too fast to control.

  I need to get rid of her and end this so I can go back to re-establishing myself as an elite security professional. I protect. It’s what I do. It’s just that I’m not so confident in my ability to protect myself…from her.

  CHAPTER 8

  Owen

  I spent an hour securing the perimeter with the best stuff I could get my hands on. I’m embarrassed to admit I wasn’t planned for this. This was just supposed to be a cush job in paradise for a few days. It’s turned out to be nothing of the sort.

  I take a deep breath and put my hands under my head as I stare up at the ceiling. I just need to make it through tonight. I don’t have it in me to stay up all night, even with the endless amount of coffee I’ve been dumping down my gullet all day long.

  Just two hours and I can be back up and at ‘em. I should be outside keeping an eye on the traps I set.

  Two hours is all I need.

  I breathe in deeply again and let it go. I’ll be out in three more breaths tops.

  I hear a creak in the floorboard and my eyes dart toward the door. Shit!

  But it’s not the kind of unexpected guest I’m anticipating.

  It’s her.

  She’s wearing some sort of see-through white thing and there’s just enough moonlight bouncing around the interior that I get a damn fine look at her damn fine body. My cock immediately springs to attention and my left hand darts from under the pillow to the sheet next to me so I can cover myself.

  “I can’t be alone right now,” she says.

  And I’m not in a position to be left alone with her. Fuck I want her so bad, but not like on the boat. The boat was lust and hot wet sex. Two people thrown at one another and boy did they ever stick.

  Right now I want to take my time with her. Lay her out on this bed and enjoy her until sunrise. I’d enjoy the fuck out of it all night long and I know if I did exactly what I want she’d be right there next to me soaking up all that pleasure.

  “Your room is safe,” I say.

  “But I’ll feel safer with you,” she says. “Please. Just until I fall asleep at least.”

  I can see she’s genuine. There are no motives and no games. I’m not about to leave her by herself. It’s my job I remind myself. Protection isn’t just the physical kind, but the mental as well. If she doesn’t feel safe then she isn’t safe and right now she’s a mess. I can see it from here.

  “Just until you fall asleep,” I say. “But first I need to put something—.” It’s too late. She’s through the door and sliding head first onto the sheet and right in underneath my arm and next to me.

  Damn, why did she have to do that?

  I feel her hot skin against mine. Was she hiding under the covers like a child scared of a monster in the closet?

  Now I’m pissed. I want to get this guy more than ever. It’s not that I needed a motive before but this only assures that loser that I’ll find him that much quicker and when I do he better look out. I’ll stick around here if I have to. I’ll burn through the money I’m making on this just to put an end to this. I’ll go it on my own time. For her.

  She slides her hand across my chest and I bring my arm around behind her, letting her know I’m here for her.

  I
feel her body pull in even closer. Her face touches my chest. I feel her lips brush against my skin just under my pectoral muscle.

  Damn those lips of hers. I barely got a taste of them the other day. It only left me wanting more…much, much more.