Guarding Amberley

by Nicole Flockton

  “Thanks,” she murmured as she ducked under his arm and got into the car.

  The leather seat was cool after the warmth from the sun. The interior was spotless. Had he just had the car detailed or did he always keep it this clean? Probably the latter. She couldn’t imagine that Thomas would be a slob with his car.

  The first time she’d snuck a look into his room she’d been surprised by how neat it was. The bed was made, not precisely, but still made. No clothes laid over the back of his desk chair or strewn on the floor. His desk had books piled up neatly in one corner. She imagined if she’d opened his closet all his clothes would be lined up in an orderly row. When she’d asked Jenny about it, her friend had laughed and said Thomas liked a clean space. Jenny, on the other hand, well her room had looked lived in and Amberley had loved it.

  Amberley’s own room had been as neat as Thomas’s, whereas Thomas’s room held books and trophies and had a lived in feel, even as clean as it was. Her room always seemed sterile, as if, like her, constantly on display. She’d never been able to relax for fear her mother would come in and scold her for putting a crease in the bed cover.

  “Where do I need to take you?” Thomas asked, pulling her from her thoughts.

  Taking a deep breath, she smiled at him. “Your place?”

  “What?”

  Amberley was glad they were still in the parking lot and not out on the road with the way Thomas looked at her as if she’d sprouted another head. She reached over the console and placed her hand on his forearm, the muscles bunched beneath her touch.

  “Please, Tom. I know it’s out of the blue but if the roles were reversed you know I’d let you stay at my place without question. And I know Jenny would be happier knowing that I was with you and not in some hotel.” A little white lie but she wasn’t above pulling out the big guns if she had to, and mentioning Thomas’s little sister was a sure fire way to get him to agree with her.

  His fingers clenched around the steering wheel and with her hand still on his arm, she felt the muscles contracting.

  God, what would he look like naked?

  Would he have a six-pack? Duh, of course he would, the guy probably worked out every day. Had to, no doubt, with his job.

  His job.

  That was another thing she could use to persuade him to let her stay with him.

  “You know how I texted you questions about the things you do?”

  “Yeah. What about it?” He answered cautiously.

  While he’d been forthcoming with information, he’d also been pretty vague and cagey when she tried to get specifics out of him. He’d told her that for his and his team’s safety, not to mention the well-being of the people they’d rescued, he couldn’t go into the nitty gritty of his job. She respected that, even though she’d been disappointed at the same time.

  “Well I’m writing the screenplay for a major action and adventure movie. I’ve come out here to, not only escape my parents.” She’d been honest about that, she had needed space from her mom’s interference. “But also to see if I can get some inside information about what you do and how you do things on a mission. I want to give the movie as much of an authentic feel as I can.”

  Instead of answering he shook her hand off, started the car and pulled out of the bay. Amberley tried not to feel disconcerted with the way he’d removed her grip, like she was a pesky fly. And especially after the hot kiss they’d just shared.

  Once they’d cleared the parking garage and were on the road, he spoke. “Okay, well in answer to your first question, yes you can come and stay with me. It’s not much but I do happen to have a spare room.”

  “Thank you, I appreciate it. I promise I won’t get in your way.”

  “Yeah, well that remains to be seen.” He chuckled and the sound reverberated down her spine. He’d always had that effect on her. It had taken everything in her when she was a teenager not to try and sneak a kiss or two from him when Jenny wasn’t looking.

  Unfortunately, he’d always put up barriers whenever she tried to get close to him, and then he’d had a girlfriend his final two years of high school. Eventually Jenny had spilled that she’d told him to stay away from Amberley. That little bit of information had hurt her. Why would her best friend do that to her? Especially after she’d hooked up with one of Thomas’s friends. But by then Thomas was dating Joanna so there was no way anything could have happened between them.

  Well they weren’t teenagers now. Jenny and Darren were married and they were nowhere near to see what she and Thomas did.

  “As for your second request, I’m not sure if you’ll be granted access on base. There’s a reason we keep our tactics on the downlow. Not only are our missions classified, we don’t want the enemy to know what we do. We’re so successful on our missions because of the element of surprise.”

  “Oh, right. Damn.” A stab of disappointed flowed through her at not being able to watch Thomas’s team as they trained.

  “I’ll try and helps as much as I can, Ambs. I’ll even talk to Robot and see what I can do.”

  “Robot? Is that like a machine you punch things into or something.” Amberley pictured a structure of shiny metal and flashing lights, with a keyboard and a built-in printer.

  “He’s a real person not a machine. Brendan is his name and he’s my team lead. Robot is his nickname.”

  “Do all of you guys have nicknames?” She recalled that when he answered her call he’d called himself Red.

  “Yeah we do.”

  “And yours is Red?”

  It was almost comical the way he whipped his eyes off the road and looked at her. “How do you know that?”

  She shrugged, surprised he’d forgotten he’d told her. “You answered my call, and identified yourself as Red, and then you told me it was your nickname, remember?

  “Right, I did.”

  “Your team leader has a cool nickname.”

  “Team Lead.”

  “What?” Confusion filled her. Had she missed part of the conversation? She didn’t think she had.

  “Robot is a team lead, not team leader. You should make a note of that as well.”

  “Right, will do. So how did you get your nickname? Did you tell the guys what to call you?”

  Thomas chuckled. “No we don’t pick our own nicknames. If we did we’d all have something cooler than Red, Italy, or Robot.”

  She cocked her head to the side. “Well I’ve already said Robot’s name is cool. The others all sound reasonable too. And intriguing. Go on tell me how you got yours.” She cajoled and batted her eyelashes at him. Not that he saw her do that because his focus was on the road. She did, however, note that his fingers flexed a little tighter around the steering wheel.

  “It’s not very exciting but I turned up at BUD/s training badly sunburned. One of the guys training us pointed and yelled at me, Red, move your slow ass. By the end of the drill everyone else was calling me Red and that was it. That’s how I got my name.”

  Amberley laughed, she could totally visualize it in her mind. During her research she’d found out about the brutal training course they weren’t through to become a SEAL. “Oh that’s priceless. And everyone gets their nicknames at BUD/s training?”

  “Not always, some guys already come with nicknames. The guys all have their own stories for how they got their names.”

  Interesting and something she definitely would include when it came to writing her script. Maybe she could talk to the rest of his team to find out how they all got their nicknames. Even though it had been a spur of the moment decision, she was really glad that she decided to visit Thomas. Although keeping her hands to herself was going to be harder now.

  Chapter Three

  What the hell was he thinking agreeing to let Amberley stay at his house? Not to mention telling her how he got his nickname. Not that he was ashamed of his nickname, well maybe a little embarrassed, but he did his job and that was all that mattered. Resisting Amberley was going to be impossible now. Es
pecially after the kiss she’d laid on him when he greeted her at the airport.

  What was with that anyway? Never before had she shown any indication that she was into him. If she had he wasn’t sure what he would’ve done. It had to mean nothing. Although it didn’t feel like nothing.

  “Hey Tom, do you have any coke? I can only see diet coke in the fridge” Amberley strolled into the living room of his apartment. She’d had a shower not long after they’d arrived at his place. She claimed she wanted to wash off the remnants of travelling in a tin can breathing recycled air of the occupants. Now she wore a long flowing dress that hinted at luscious curves begging for him to explore. He kind of missed the Iron Man shirt, but she looked cool, calm and as sexy as sin. And he was calling on all his training to resist kissing her again.

  While she’d been showering he’d run out to the store and picked up a few groceries. Things he thought she might like, including diet coke.

  “Don’t all Hollywood people like diet stuff? You know, they want a skinny latte or soy milk Frappuccino.”

  Amberley busted out laughing and he enjoyed the sweet sound of it. “Thomas Grant you’ve been watching too many TV shows.” She came over and sat next to him on the couch. A waft of fresh coconut floated around him. He breathed in, and the scent reminded him of sun, sand and days at the beach where people smeared coconut oil over their skin in an attempt to get the perfect tan.

  It wouldn’t take much to imagine him rubbing oil over Amberley’s half naked body. She’d looked amazing in a bikini as a teenager and he had no doubt as an adult, she’d look even better.

  His dick twitched against his jeans and he jumped up from the couch. The last thing Amberley needed to see was how she affected him. That was a secret he’d rather keep to himself. Kiss or not, he wasn’t going to cross the line and wreck the friendship they had. “I’ll, um, go to the store and get you some coke. I won’t be long.”

  Again the scent of coconut assailed him and he closed his eyes, willing is body to settle the hell down. He tensed when her hand landed on his shoulder.

  “It’s okay. I don’t mind diet coke, I just prefer the real stuff. No need to go out and make another trip. You’re already going above and beyond for me when I pulled this surprise on you.” She pointed back to the couch. “Why don’t we sit and we can talk more about some of the things I need for my script. I’m really interested to know about the nickname thing, like how the rest of the guys on your team got theirs. I wanted to ask you more in the car, but that guy cut us off and I didn’t want to distract you so I didn’t say anything.”

  Tom blew out a breath. He’d only been around her for less than two hours and already he was strung tighter than a piano wire. The reason he’d run out to the store was because he didn’t want to think about a naked Amberley in his shower. Thank fuck his apartment had two bathrooms along with the two bedrooms. Sharing a bathroom with Amberley would be hell on wheels.

  Hopefully her visit wasn’t going to be long. Geez, he was a Navy SEAL, he’d been trained to deal with stressful situations, and while this wasn’t like any of the situations he and his team went into, he could use some of those techniques to get him through Amberley’s visit. All he had to remember was she came from a completely different world than him and the two could never mesh together.

  “Sure, that’s fine. Let me grab a drink and then we can talk.”

  He escaped into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, the cool air doing nothing to ease the fire of desire simmering within him.

  Tom grabbed a can of diet coke and his hand hovered over the green glass bottle of his favorite brew. Instead of grabbing it he withdrew a bottle of water. With Amberley around he needed a clear head. For the duration of her visit his alcohol consumption was going to be kept to a minimum.

  He paused outside the living room when he heard Amberley talking. It sounded like she was on a call and he didn’t want to interrupt if it was private. But his ears pricked up when he heard his name.

  “Yeah, mom, Thomas got me from the airport. I’m at his place now.”

  There was a pause where he imagined her mother was talking. Nothing Bettina said would shock to him. Amberley’s mom was probably chastising her for staying with a man well below her standing in life, instead of the presidential suite at a five star hotel as befitting her star status. Not that she’d been a star for years, but her parents were still revered in Hollywood.

  “I told you mom, Thomas and I are together now. You’re just going to have to accept it. He makes me happy.”

  What the actual fuck?

  Did Amberley just tell her mother that they were an item? It sounded pretty clear to him, but if they were together it was certainly news to him. Although it would explain the kiss.

  He walked into the room as Amberley turned around, her eyes widened in surprise. Her neck and face reddened when it dawned on her that he’d overhead the last part of her conversation.

  “I’ve got to go, Mom. I’ll call you later.” She pulled the phone away from her ear and tossed it on the couch. “Before you get mad, I can explain.”

  Tom placed the drinks on the table and crossed his arms over his chest. “I hope so, because what I heard was very interesting. And a total surprise, honey.”

  Oh shit.

  Why had she not looked around before she blurted that out to her mom? Simple, her mom had been lecturing her, again, about taking off and leaving a perfectly good man like Rob Gregor behind. Convincing mom that she and Thomas were an item was a much better option, than breaking Rob’s confidence about his sexual preferences.

  “You’ll laugh when I explain it all to you.” She started and fiddled with the fabric of her long dress.

  “I’m sure it’s quite the story,” he drawled. “But I expect the truth Amberley and not some screenplay you’re writing. If I think you’re lying our deal is off and you’ll be staying at a hotel instead of here.”

  She sucked in a breath. Okay, she’d expected a little pushback, but she never thought he’d renege on their deal. She needed his help.

  “I would never lie to you, Tom.”

  “Yet you lied to your mom. How do I know you won’t lie to me?” he asked as he sat on the couch.

  Damn, he had a point. Then again he had no idea the lengths her mother had gone to over the last few months. How desperate she was to be able to do her own thing and not what her mom deemed the best for her.

  Amberley walked over to where he sat and plopped down next to him. Holding her breath a beat to see if he would get up and put some space between them. When he remained where he was, she relaxed a fraction. Okay maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. “I wouldn’t lie to you because you’re my friend.”

  “I suppose I should be flattered. But it doesn’t explain why you lied to your mom. I’m pretty sure she’ll be happy to find out we’re not together. I’m not exactly her first choice for you. However, I do think she’d be upset that you lied to her.”

  The point he made was valid. Mom would for sure experience mixed emotions—happy that she and Tom weren’t together, but not happy about her lying. Secretly, though, Amberley wanted her lie to be true. She hoped that by the end of her stay she and Tom were a couple. Then her mom wouldn’t have to know she’d fudged the truth a little.

  “If you understood what I’ve been through the last few months, I think you won’t be so angry. Will you let me explain before you say anything else, please?” She paused, reaching over to grab the can of soda from the table. Popping the top she took a swallow as she waited for his answer.

  “Fine. I’ll listen and not interrupt.” Like her he grabbed his drink and gulped some down. The way his throat moved up and down was mesmerizing. Shaking her head she took another drink and then placed the can back on the table.

  Lacing her fingers together she sat straight and gazed at the blank flat screen television hanging on the wall opposite from where they were sitting. “Mom has always wanted me to go back into acting. She’s constantly
shoving movie and television scripts under my nose. Telling me I’d be perfect for this part or that part. Bettina Price can’t understand why the prodigy of two Hollywood A-List actors doesn’t want to have her name in lights. Or her face on the big screen in every movie theatre in the United States.

  “She won’t accept that’s not how I want to live my life. Yes, I enjoyed being on the sitcom when I was younger, but now my passion is in creating words. I want to see and hear people acting out what I write. Bring the vision in my mind to life on the screen, either movie or television. But she doesn’t see that. She’s sees it as a waste of my time. There’s no money in screenwriting in her mind. I’d be better off working in front of the camera. That’s where the money is.”

  Amberley jumped when an arm banded around her shoulder and she found herself being tugged down against a warm male chest. She breathed out and relaxed against Thomas’s side, placing a hand on his rock hard abs before continuing. “Mom is determined that not only should I go back to acting, but the time has come for me to marry. She’s been inviting suitable guys over to dinner for weeks. All of them are falling all over themselves to impress Mom and Dad with witty comments and agreeing with everything they say. All of them also tried to hit on me in some way or another. One guy, Simon, was so annoying that I ended up having to threaten him with a restraining order before he took the hint and left me alone.” Thomas’s muscles tensed beneath her chin and she noted his reaction and popped it to the back of her mind so she could examine it later. “In the end I needed to get away. It’s true I’ve asked you questions about what you guys do and you’ve helped me, but this script is a huge stepping stone in my career. I want to make it as authentic as possible so when the last dinner didn’t pan out like Mom hoped, and never would because the guy totally wasn’t into me and I wasn’t into him, I blurted out that I was coming to see you and that we were in a relationship.”