Exception to the Rules

by Stephanie Morris

  She must have fallen asleep because the sound of the door opening awoke her with a start. She couldn’t have been asleep too long because she hadn’t shifted in the bed.

  “Hi, Bas,” she said, her eyes still closed. “I’m glad you’re here.”

  Bas didn’t say anything, but she could hear the soft thud of his clothes hitting the carpet. She wiggled under the sheet, anticipating the incredibleness of Bas plus comfortable bed plus soft sheets plus her. It totaled up to one sensation experience.

  His feet barely made a sound as they crossed the room. She opened her eyes slowly, zoning in on his good parts. With a jolt of revulsion, she realized they weren’t his good parts at all.

  It was Arnold, clad in nothing but a pair of way-too-small green bikini briefs, his spare tire sticking out over the edges all the way around. He grinned at her as if he were George Clooney, and if she hadn’t been so freaking horrified, she would have laughed uncontrollably.

  She placed her hand over her cell phone and without even looking at it, pressed speed-dial three. Then, very calmly, she asked, “What are doing, Arnold?”

  “I know all about your boyfriend.”

  “What?”

  Arnold made his way over to the bed, and for a terrifying second, she thought he was going to slide in bed beside her. Instead, he sat on the edge, casually crossing his legs as if they were at the Byron Nelson Country Club instead of her bedroom.

  “Oh yes. I know everything.”

  She struggled not to roll her eyes. “What do you think you know, Arnold?”

  “That you are paying him. He’s your escort. He doesn’t mean anything to you.”

  She arched a dark brow in his direction. “Why do you think I did that?”

  “Because you’re scared.”

  If only you knew, buddy. “Of what?”

  He leaned forward slightly. “Of us.”

  “And why would I be scared? Because you broke into my room and came into my bedroom while I was taking a nap?”

  Arnold chuckled.

  Gaea was grateful for the thin sheet covering her as she prayed her scheme worked. She had never realized Arnold was this far out of his mind. Did he really think she found him attractive? That showing up and stripping down to his underwear was going to be the move that convinced her?

  “I know you’ve felt this…connection between us,” he replied. “I know you think it won’t work because of my wife, but you have nothing to worry about. I’m in love with you. Yes, my wife is nice. She’s a wonderful person, but love? That hasn’t been there for a long time, not certain it ever was.”

  “Is Cheri aware of that, Arnold?”

  “Of course she is. Cheri’s very happy being a mother, being at home. She doesn’t care what I do with my spare time. As a matter of fact, she’d be ecstatic to get me out of her hair.”

  Can’t say that I blame her. “So you’ve told her how you feel about me?”

  “Sure, sure.”

  He stood, making her heart nearly jump out of her chest. Maybe she should scream, but who would hear her if her cell phone call hadn’t connected? This hotel was built for privacy, sound proofing included.

  “Why don’t we talk about it, Arnold? In the living room. You go on out there and wait. I’ll follow shortly. I just need to make myself presentable.”

  “You don’t have to do that, Gaea. You’re impeccable the way you are.” He retook his seat on the bed, his hand moving toward her leg.

  Gaea slid all the way over to the other side, but if he made one more move, she’d have to take some sort of action. Screaming was not an option, but maybe she could use one of the lamps and smash it over his head.

  She glanced at the door, willing it to open.

  “You seem to have the wrong idea, Arnold,” she said. “How did you come up with this ridiculous idea about me hiring Bas?”

  “This morning, when you were talking with Kallie. I heard the entire conversation.”

  She laughed, but it sounded extremely strained. “That was a continuation of another conversation. You heard it out of context.”

  “I heard enough. He’s an escort, that’s all. A male prostitute. You don’t have any feelings for him. I heard you say it.”

  Just then the bedroom door flew open, and there was Bas, flanked on both sides by two beefy men in dark suits.

  “Funny,” Bas said. “I don’t feel like a whore.”

  Arnold sprang up from the side of the bed, placing his hands in front of his genitals. “Hey, what the hell is going on?”

  Bas held up his cell phone. “We heard every word. Especially the part about you breaking into her suite and her bedroom. You, stool pigeon, are about to find out how popular those green briefs are going to be in the county jail.”

  Arnold blinked as if it was all a bad dream. The two men, security for the hotel, walked over to him. It was obvious they weren’t interested in anything but removing Arnold from the premises before there was a scene.

  Bas stepped away from the door. “Don’t worry, babe. The police are downstairs.” Then he turned to Pratt. “I can’t wait to see what the Dallas Morning News has to say about this.”

  “My clothes,” Arnold protested as each man grabbed an arm. “At least let me put my pants on. Do you have any idea who I am? I’m a very important person. I can show you my ID if you let me get my—”

  Bas closed the door behind them, then turned to her, his expression full of worry. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded, but her entire body shivered uncontrollably. It felt as if the temperature in the room had dropped to below freezing. Bas reached for her robe and held it out to her. Gaea climbed out of bed shakily and allowed him to wrap her up. He held her tightly, warming her as much from his concern as his body heat.

  “I heard the entire conversation. I was downstairs in the restaurant,” he murmured.

  “Thank goodness. For all I knew, you were in Richardson.”

  “That weasel is going to rot in jail for this.”

  “I don’t care about him rotting, but I’ll make certain the president of the company and all the chairpersons hear about it. I just feel sorry for his family. Cheri really is a nice woman.”

  Bas pulled back for a second to stare at her. “He didn’t touch you, did he?”

  She shook her head.

  He smiled, kissed her, then pulled her back into his arms. “Thank you for trusting me to help.”

  She didn’t respond, but the severe quaking had lessened, and that was enough.

  “Come on,” he whispered. “Let’s get you into the shower. You need to warm up.”

  “I can’t. I have to go to Botanical Gardens.”

  “Kallie can’t take care of that by herself?”

  “Not with Arnold in the back of a squad car.”

  After tying the sash on her robe, he grudgingly released her. She didn’t want to work right now. Not after that. Still, she had to get dressed and find out what she needed to do to press charges. Damn weasel. Now she just had to get through the rest of this campaign sane. For some reason, that sounded easier said than done.

  Gaea made her way toward the bathroom, almost shocked at how she was still shaking. Nothing had happened, except that Arnold was no longer an issue. She hadn’t been hurt. He hadn’t even seen her naked. Thinking about him in his underwear made her want to pour bleach into her eyes, but she doubted that the sight of Arnold would cause permanent damage. Although, she would never forget it.

  Gaea was also startled at how thankful she’d been to see Bas, and she wondered if she would have been as excited to see anyone else come to her rescue or if it was specifically Bas.

  She splashed a little water on her face before returning to the bedroom. Her gaze met Bas’s briefly as she traveled through the living room. While she dressed, she went over her strategy one more time. The more she rehearsed it, the more reasonable it seemed. And now she knew that if all went as she planned, Bas was someone she could rely on even if it wasn’t one of
their coordinated weekends. Good to know.

  Gaea had to depend only on herself for such a long time, she had mixed feeling about having someone else to count on. Her mother had died a few years ago, and her father had never been someone to depend on, so it had rested upon her shoulders. Graduating from high school, getting into college, finding her first apartment…she’d researched everything on her own. In that way, she supposed she and Bas were similar.

  Although from what he’d said, he had his mother. She was jealous of what sounded like an awesome relationship. Then again, her lack of closeness with her family had given her the ability to go down her own chosen path with no meddling of any sort. That was one of her fears about getting too involved with Bas, with anyone for that matter. She didn’t play well with others, never had. Her mission was always to be the skipper, the commander, the chief. Never a follower. That’s what made this job mean even more to her. After this, the real bonus she’d receive would be freedom. She would be able to bargain her way into a position of real power. No more Arnolds to contend with.

  It was a firm plan, and had given her success so far. It was going to turn out magnificently. It would be interesting to see what happened with Arnold. Begum and Guinn might just ask her to take his place. If they offered enough money, she’d take them up on it. There were so many things she wanted to implement in the company.

  Dressed, she checked her appearance, ran a brush through her hair, and went back into the living room. Bas was just hanging up the phone.

  “I’m going to the police station when you leave for Botanical Gardens. How long do you think you’ll be?”

  “Quite a while. We have to wait until the last contestant crosses the finish line. I’m positive it will be real late.”

  “What about dinner?”

  “I’ll send someone to pick up something.”

  “Okay, I’ll call before I stop by and see if you need food.”

  “Sounds good. Thank you.” Gaea glanced at her watch and saw she was late. Kallie was probably pacing in the lobby. She caught Bas around the waist, gave him a brief kiss, then whispered, “That thanks was for more that the offer to bring dinner.”

  “I know.” He kissed her back, and then she was out the door, heading toward the elevator. It wasn’t until the light above the elevator dinged that she realized she no longer needed Bas’s services. Without Arnold around, she didn’t need an escort at all.

  It was just after seven-thirty when Bas left the police station. He made certain Arnold wasn’t going to walk away from this unscarred. In fact, he wanted to scar Arnold to the max.

  He flagged down the driver of his assigned car as he dialed Gaea’s cell phone. She answered after the third ring. Her hello was agitated and short, setting the tone.

  “You want food?” he asked.

  She paused.

  He waited.

  “Yes, please. Make it pizza. Five, no, six large ones. A sausage, one hamburger, two pepperoni, one cheese, and one vegetarian.”

  “No problem. Need drinks?”

  “No. We have a vender here with beverages.”

  “Okay. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  “Sounds good. Oh, and Bas?”

  The driver pulled up to the curb and he opened the door.

  “Yeah?”

  “You don’t have to do this, you know.”

  “I know. Now get back to what you need to do. I’ll call you if anything happens.”

  “Okay,” she responded, then she disconnected the call. He gave the driver directions to one of his favorite pizza restaurants, which was relatively close to Botanical Gardens. He looked up the number on the Internet via his cell phone, and called the number to place the order. If all went well, the driver wouldn’t even have to park. With traffic as smooth as it was, he might have everything wrapped up in thirty minutes.

  Leaning back, he rested his head against the back of the seat and inhaled deeply. Ever since he’d received that strange phone call from Gaea, his heart had been beating wildly and he’d been hyper. Completely ready for a fight, which wasn’t entirely wise, because he’d gotten a little agitated with a officer at the precinct, and it was a miracle that he wasn’t keeping Arnold the Stool Pigeon company for the night.

  He studied the passing people as they made their way through traffic, thinking about how fortunate he was to be going to Gaea. Someone had already won the cruise, he was sure. Maybe she would like to take a vacation with him. Take a cruise. He hadn’t been to Hawaii in a long time. Or maybe she’d like to do a train trip across a European country. He didn’t give a shit, as long as it was with Gaea.

  Today’s events had made him more certain than ever that they needed to be together. She might be tough when it came to business, but she was still a woman, and he was still a man, and despite the great lack of nonsexist thoughts, every instinct he had was to protect her, to care for her, to make sure no one would ever hurt her. He wanted to fall asleep with her right beside him. As a matter of fact, having her next to him felt like the only way he’d sleep well.

  If Arnold had hurt her…

  Bas sighed. All was well, and Arnold was safely out of the picture. He swallowed hard as the thought reverberated in his mind. “Damn it,” he murmured. He finally understood what Gaea meant, when she said he “didn’t have to.”

  He was officially out of work.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The last of the contestants found the Botanical Gardens at 9:48 p.m. Gaea had allowed Kallie and Dax to leave a short time ago, the same for the rest of the support team. She gave the final couple their gift certificate to purchase Marcella Girardi clothes and assured them that they could keep the GPS.

  Several minutes later, Gaea and Bas were headed toward the hotel. She hadn’t said anything to Kallie about what had occurred with Arnold. Her assistant would find out soon enough. In the meantime, she kept contemplating what she should do about Bas. Ask him to stay? Leave? The latter thought was far more depressing than she ever would have imagined. She’d become used to him being there for her.

  All she wanted was to go back to the suite and crawl into bed with him. She could easily imagine the comfort of his arms, and while she’d held it together in front of the crowd, she felt a great need for Bas’s strength.

  There wasn’t much traffic out tonight, for which she was grateful. As if sending him her thoughts telepathically, he put his arm around her just as the car came to a light and took a turn. Gaea leaned into him, knowing there was nowhere else she’d rather be.

  What in the hell had happened to her these past few days? Something bewitching? When was the last time she’d thought of anything so fanciful? Not since she’d been a little girl, that’s for sure. Her father used to claim she was the most obtuse girl in all of Dallas. The sobriquet made her cry the first time she’d heard it. But by the time she’d received her full scholarship to Texas Christian University, she’d worn it as an insignia of pride.

  “Do you find me obtuse?” she asked.

  His quick burst of laughter made her feel better immediately. “Of course not. Why?”

  “I was told I was obtuse as a child. No one’s ever made me feel it wasn’t true, except you.”

  “I’d never call you obtuse. Fixated, yes. Ambitious, without a doubt. Excessive—”

  She placed a finger to his lips. “Thanks. I understand.”

  He ensnared her hand, kissing the back softly. “How are you?”

  Gaea smiled. “Much better. I was really knocked for a loop by what Arnold did.”

  “I’m not surprised. It was a breach of your privacy, your trust.”

  “I think I would have handled it a lot better if I hadn’t been naked.”

  “And I wouldn’t have wanted to kill him in so many ways if you hadn’t been naked.”

  She laughed. Something else she hadn’t done in a long time.

  “I like that,” he murmured, then rested his head on hers.

  “Like what?”

&nbs
p; “The sound of you happy.”

  “I seem to be happy a lot when I’m with you. Which is weird since I’ve spent the last eight years of my life trying very hard to be the most tenacious woman in my field. I’m in your presence for a few days, and I’m a grinning and laughing romantic fool.”

  “Wonderful.”

  She turned to look at him, disturbing him from his strange resting place. “Why is that wonderful?”

  “Because you baffled me, too. It’s insane. But for the first time in years, something has become more significant than my military career, than my research projects. I didn’t think it was possible.”

  “Is that why you haven’t asked me any more questions?”

  The car turned right and they both leaned into the door. When they righted themselves, Bas cleared his throat.

  “Actually, there is a question I’d like to ask you.”

  Gaea sat up a little taller. “Only if you allow me to ask you something in return.”

  “You can ask first,” he stated.

  “You sure?”

  He nodded.

  She exhaled deeply, not sure at all if her timing was bad. But he didn’t have to stay, and she didn’t want him to leave, so…

  “I was wondering,” she started, “about the end of this fashion campaign. I mean, now that Arnold’s no longer an issue. Our arrangement is pretty much no longer in effect.”

  “Ah.”

  She felt his hand on the back of her neck, just perched there. Long fingers, soft pressure. It was a dominating move without bring demanding or aggressive. Perfect.

  “I was thinking that we might like to continue to see each other.”

  “Uh-huh,” he said.

  “But not in the usual sense. What I want to suggest is something a little more uncommon.”

  His hand fell away from her neck, and she missed it. Looking up into his face, she knew she had to do some fast talking because his eyebrows had bunched together something serious.

  “Listen to what I have to say before you make your decision.” She shifted so she could see him more clearly. “I’m positive you’ll agree when I say it’s been the most spectacular week. There’s no denying that the two of us have a unique connection, that we mesh sexually. We both have busy lives, we’re both self-reliant, and not ready in the least.”