by Nikki Rose
“Fine. Whatever. I'm going to take a bath before Amanda comes then.”
“Enjoy.” I smiled which only seemed to irritate her further. Maybe I was a sadist, but I so enjoyed getting under the spoiled princess's skin.
Caroline whirled around and stormed off to the upstairs bathroom. Good riddens. At least I would have some peace for a little while.
I went back to the work on my laptop, studying everything I could about the case. I was determined to find out more information about whoever these people were who had hacked into the agency’s system.
Forty-five minutes passed before I knew it and I realized I hadn't seen Caroline come out of the bathroom yet. The layout of the bathroom flashed in my mine, including the window just next to the sink. When I scanned the house that first night, I'd thought that the trellis just outside could pose a security threat should someone try to get in. I hadn't given much thought to the security risk of Caroline sneaking out that same window. But, after the night before, it was a real possibility.
I rushed up the stairs, taking two at a time until I reached the bathroom door. I knocked but there was no answer.
“Caroline? You still in there?”
No answer. Shit. Not again.
The nice thing about interior door locks is that they are mostly designed to just keep someone from walking in at an inopportune moment, not to actually keep out real invaders. I pulled my good old Swiss from my pocket and picked the lock within seconds.
There was Caroline, lounging back in the tub, her body covered by a blanket of white bubbles with her long, tanned leg propped up on the side of the tub.
It was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen in my life — and I'd seen a lot.
Caroline caught a glimpse of me out of the corner of her eye and nearly jumped out of the tub, wrapping her arms around her chest to better cover herself.
“Geez. What the hell, Chris?”
“You've been in here a long time. I started to worry we'd have another incident like last night.”
“Ever heard of knocking?”
“I did.” I finally recovered from finding her naked in the tub. I stalked over to her and yanked the earbuds from her ears.
“Hey, what the—?”
“Maybe if you didn't have these turned up so loud you could hear when someone was calling you. It's really not safe to have those up loud enough to drown out your surroundings.”
“Well excuse me for thinking I was safe in the privacy of my own tub.”
I lingered a moment, as unprofessional as it was, I lingered, soaking up the sight of her in the tub.
“Do you mind?”
“Oh, sorry. Just answer next time I knock.”
I left the bathroom and went back into the study to try to get my mind on anything other than how sexy Caroline had looked, dripping wet with patches of bubbles barely hiding her most intimate spots.
A thunderhead rolled in just after five and I was glad we had nowhere to go on such a gloomy day. I sat at the Director’s desk while he was at the office wondering if he was always away from home so much. It seemed like he was always at the office. The rain began to pound onto the ground outside. Thunder rumbled and a large flash of lightning lit up the only window in the room. Thank God we were staying in tonight.
I loved storms but they always seemed to bring out the crazy drivers so I prefered to enjoy them from the comfort of my own home, or the Director’s home as the case may be.
I was busy reading the case updates on my laptop when there was a knock on the front door. Instincts kicked in. I jumped from the chair and hurried to the door. I reached my hand to my hip to insure my gun was still in place and pulled my shirt down over the pistol. Ms. James was just reaching the door as I made it out of the study.
“Amanda, dear. You are soaked to the bone. Come inside and let's get you into something dry.”
“Thanks, Ms. James. You're awesome. I — who are you?”
The young blonde who couldn't be more than 100 pounds dripping wet — which she happened to be from trudging up the drive in the storm — looked me over.
“I'm Chris.”
Her eyebrows rose with interest and she scanned me up and down. “Your the bodyguard?”
“Yes.”
“Lucky.” The word was whispered under her breath as she turned back to Ms. James but I was still able to hear it. “I'm going to go on up and see if Caroline has anything I can change into.”
Before anyone could respond she was already bouncing up the stairs.
I checked in on the girls every few minutes for the whole hour they were upstairs, not trusting them to not sneak out again after the first night when Caroline snuck out to the club. It was almost time for me to go up to check on them again when I spotted Caroline and Amanda coming down stairs through the open study door. Both of them were dressed in pajamas like they were ready to go to bed. Caroline was in a loose pair of pajama pants, Amanda wore extremely short sleep shorts, and they both wore skimpy little tank tops like the ones women would wear under their clothes. I knew I couldn’t be so lucky that both of them were tired and going to sleep early. Caroline would never make it that easy on me but a guy could hope.
“You girls turning in early?” I called out to them and they both came trotting into the room.
“At nine o’clock? We haven’t even had dinner yet.”
“Then what’s with the get ups?” I motioned to their clothes, however lacking they might be and Amanda giggled.
Caroline nudged Amanda with her elbow to stop the giggling. “We’re going to order pizza and watch a movie or two in the den.”
“You should join us.” Amanda’s voice had turned to what could be perceived as seductive if I hadn’t found her immaturity irritating.
The last thing I wanted was to sit around with these two watching chick flicks and listening to them giggle all night. But, it was my job to watch over and protect Caroline and I was nothing if not loyal to my job. I wasn’t comfortable leaving her unattended for more than a few minutes at a time so I figured I might as well settle in for an evening in the den rather than get up and down all night checking on them every few minutes.
“Sure. Sounds...fun.” I couldn’t hide the sarcasm in my voice. Caroline rolled her eyes at me and Amanda grinned before they both turned to lead the way to the den.
Amanda was a little troublemaker. That much I was sure of. She put an extra sway to her hips, knowing I was walking behind her down the hall. I might have appreciated the little show if I hadn’t found her personality so off-putting. Physically she was an attractive girl but otherwise, she just wasn’t my type.
After pizza and a movie, I fought sleep in an overstuffed chair in the corner of the den while Caroline and Amanda were entranced in their second mushy chick-flick on the big screen. They were both sniffling at a sickeningly sweet moment, surrounded by empty soda cans and the reminiscence of the pizza we’d ordered earlier..
The storm had blown through and the late night was quiet. Or, it would be quiet if I wasn’t having to sit there and listen to the sniffling girls. There was a thud from upstairs just as the movie credits began to scroll on the screen to a romantic love song. I grabbed the remote from next to Caroline and muted the T.V.
“Hey, I was listening to that.”
“Shh.”
“What—?” The damn girl didn’t seem to know what shh meant. I clasped my hand over her mouth to quiet her but her protests still came through muffled until another thud silenced her.
“Someone’s in the house.” I whispered as I removed my hand from her mouth.
“How’d they get past the security system?”
“I don’t know but I’m going to check it out. Stay here and call the police. Lock the door when I leave and don’t come out no matter what.”
“What are you going to do?”
“My job.”
I pulled out the gun I kept on me at all times while on mission — even if the mission was just watching romance
movies — and slipped out of the den. I waited until I heard the click of the lock behind the door before moving away from the girls.
I hated the idea of leaving them unprotected, but it was better that I caught the guy away from the girls than waited for him to come to us. I crept up the stairs without a sound. The quiet thud we’d heard from the den was right above us. From my calculations of the house layout, that put the intruder in Caroline’s room. I didn’t tell her that, but it concerned me more because it told me that she was most likely their target.
I kept my gun extended, ready to shoot if need be as I crept down the dark hall, closer to her room. There was no other noticeable sounds and no way to tell if the intruder was still in there. The door wasn’t fully closed. I used my foot to slowly push the door open. Stepping inside the darkened room, I looked one way then the other just as a shadowy figure struck hard, knocking the gun from my hands.
As his body came down with the strike that knocked the gun from my grip, I brought my elbow up into his face. There was a sickening crunch as I connected with his nose under the black ski mask and he stumbled backward. It didn’t take long for him to rebound. I bent down for my gun but he brought both elbows down hard across my back, knocking me off my feet. His right foot struck my ribs and I rolled out of the way before he connected again.
I kicked, taking out his knee and bringing him down on the floor with me. He pulled a large blade from his ankle. We rolled, fighting for the upper hand but he landed on top of me. He aimed the knife at my chest but I held his fists away. My arms shook. We were well matched and he had gravity on his side bringing the blade slowly creeping closer to my throat.
My strength faded. Each moment I held the blade from my neck, my muscles were slowly giving out. I had to act fast. I put all my strength into shoving the blade away and to the left. That caught him off guard and the knife flew out of his hands, clattering onto the hardwood floor. He scrambled for the knife but I managed to bring my knee up and kick him in the side just below his ribs.
He flew across the floor and I scrambled for my gun. I grabbed the pistol and turned to shoot but he zigged when I was sure he would zag. Before I could aim my gun again, he slipped out of the window and down the trellis. I tried to catch him but by the time I’d made my way down he’d already disappeared beyond the gated lawn.
Flashing lights signaled the police had arrived. My phone rang and I pulled it from my pocket. It was the Director.
“Director Applegate, I was just about to call you.”
“I was on my way home when it came across my police scanner. There was an intruder?”
“Yes sir.”
“Is Caroline okay?”
“She's fine but the intruder got away. I've got uniforms arriving now to do a sweep.”
“Alright, I'll be there in ten.”
“Roger that.”
I hung up and met the police at the front gate with my I.D. In hand.
“Agent Chris Andrews. The intruder took off into the woods on the East side of the property.”
“We’ll scan the area and see what turns up. Anyone injured?”
“Nothing that needs assistance. I’m going to go check on the girls. You’ll let me know if you find anything?”
“Of course.”
I shook his hand and he called to his men as I took off running back into the house. I didn’t stop running until I made it to the still locked door of the den.
“Caroline? It’s me. It’s Chris.”
The door clicked unlocked and as soon as it was open, Caroline lunged at me, wrapping her arms around my neck and holding me close.
“We could hear the fight through the ceiling. It sounded awful. Did you get him?”
“He got away but the police are searching the woods now. Your dad should be here in a few minutes. Stay here and keep the doors locked. I’m going to help them keep looking.” I turned to walk away but Caroline grabbed my arm. The unfamiliar feeling froze me in my tracks as I gazed down at her, waiting.
“Can’t you stay here with us? The police can look for him. I just — I’d feel better if you were here.”
She looked so sweet and so scared, there was no way I could say no to those big doe eyes and pouty pink lips. “Come on. Let’s see if we can find another movie to watch.” I motioned the girls back into the den.
Chapter 5
Monday morning came too early. After the break in the night before, it was hard to sleep. Amanda went home because we had class the next day but part of me knew she wanted to get out of that house as much as I wanted to. She just actually had an excuse. I spent the night staring up at the ceiling and thinking of what could have happened if a number of things had been different.
If I’d been up in my room instead of in the den watching a movie with Amanda and Chris...If Chris hadn’t chased the person away...So many things could have been different. As much as I hated my dad’s overprotective ways, this time had possibly saved my life.
I applied an extra coat of concealer around my eyes to cover the dark circles but it didn’t do much good. I threw on a pair of jeans and a fitted tee, too tired to put too much thought into my outfit. And, I frankly didn’t care at seven in the morning. Chris insisted on us getting to class early because he wanted to scope things out and find the best escape routes and some other stuff I tuned out as he’d rambled on about it.
I was grateful for him being there to chase the intruder away the night before but it didn’t mean I was happy about being put in a situation where I had to have a bodyguard to begin with. I just wanted to live a normal life which didn’t include security following me around during school.
I made my way down the stairs, looking forward to a strong cup of coffee before going to class. Chris sat at the kitchen table finishing a cup of coffee with an empty breakfast plate in front of him. He flashed me a sexy smile and I hated him even more for looking so refreshed and rested after the night I’d had. I wasn’t sure how he did it.
“Took you long enough. You still need to eat and we have a thirty minute drive to get there by nine. It’s already...” He paused to check his watch. “Fifteen after eight.”
“I don’t eat breakfast.” I mumbled as I made my way to the cabinet to get my travel mug out and proceeded to fill it with coffee, cream, and sugar.
“You need more than coffee to keep you going. Sit. Eat.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“I’m not debating. Ms. James made you an omelette. So, be grateful and eat.”
I plopped down at the kitchen table and Ms. James placed the plate in front of me with a timid smile. I’m sure it was hard for her to decide who she should listen to and I hated putting her in such an uncomfortable situation. Especially since she had practically raised me since I was twelve, when my mom was killed in a car accident and my dad withdrew into his work.
Chris hovered, watching and waiting for me to take a bite. I took a big overly dramatic bite and glared at him but it seemed to satisfy him enough to leave me alone.
“Everyone’s watching us.” I groaned as we made our way to the main building where my first class was held.
“It's all in your head.”
“Yeah, because most girls have some random guy following them everywhere they go.”
“You have to quit sweating the small stuff. So what if they are looking at you? Who cares if you have a security detail? Life happens and you just have to roll with it. If you spend your whole life worried about what other people are going to think then you are going to be miserable for the rest of your life.”
“That’s some pretty good psychobabble. Maybe you should pop into one of the philosophy classes while you’re here.”
“I already took philosophy in college.”
“You went to college?”
“Why does that surprise you?”
“I don’t know. I just picture most of the guys who work for my dad as being more of the dumb jock type than the college philosophy graduate.”
&nb
sp; “Well you’re way off there. You father only hires extremely intelligent people to work for him. We have to be able to use our minds as well as our physical strengths to keep people safe and take down the bad guys.” He opened the front door for me and led me into the building.
I had to admit I was impressed to find out that Chris was a college graduate. That there was more to him than just rippling muscles, a great head of hair, and a killer smile. He was handsome enough to be a model but to find out he was also smart was surprising. Even though I had somewhat suspected it just from his clever quips.
I led Chris to my first class — English Lit. I went down toward the front of the class to find a seat while Chris lingered in the back, watching as each person filed in. As much as I tried to focus on the class at hand, all I could think about was how distracting Chris’s presence was.
I could feel his gaze on me throughout most of the class. He was like a magnet pulling me toward him even though all I wanted to do was to push him away like some internal tug of war.
“Who's the new guy?” Tracy, the girl who sat beside me leaned over to whisper.
“New? Oh. He’s not a student.”
“You know him? What's he doing here?”
“He’s...uhh...he’s here because of me.” The last thing I wanted to explain was that my dad hired him to babysit me from some guy who broke in my house the night before. So, I offered as little info as I could.
“Oh my God. You and him?”
I shrugged, keeping my eyes on the professor. I didn't want to lie but letting her think what she wanted was better than trying to explain the truth.
“You have to tell me more.”
“There’s not much to tell.”
“Have you been seeing him long? Is it new? How’d you meet him?”
“Tracy...”
“Ms. Applegate, do you have something to add to the class?”
My cheeks heated and I had to fight the urge to sink down into my seat. I cast Tracy a warning glance before looking back to the professor.
“No, sir.”
