His Reluctant Bodyguard

by Loucinda McGary

  So much for not getting involved.

  By the time she knocked on the door of the Wilderness Retreat, Avery had given herself the “do not get involved” lecture so many times, she’d lost count. She’d only squeezed in a fifteen minute cat-nap in her cabin before she showered and changed out of her uniform for lunch. The butler Nadeesh swung the door open in mid-knock, and Rip, dressed in cargo shorts and flip-flops, stood right behind him.

  “Hey, I was getting worried,” he said, pulling her inside and leaning down to give her a peck on the cheek.

  Avery quickly turned aside on the pretense of checking her watch, but in reality so that the kiss went wide. “It’s only five after.”

  Rip ducked his head like a little boy. “I know, but I missed ya.”

  The “do not get involved” lectures flew right out of her head. How could the big lug be so utterly adorable?

  Nadeesh herded them over to the dining table which sported fresh flowers and a bottle of wine. Avery craned her head but didn’t spot the CIA agent anywhere.

  “Mr. Smith is holed up in the bedroom,” Rip explained, holding her chair for her. “It’s just us, and Nadeesh, of course.” He rolled his eyes behind the fussy butler’s back.

  “No wine for me, please,” Avery declined when the butler tried to fill her glass. “I’ll have a hard enough time staying awake this afternoon.”

  Both Rip and Nadeesh tried to change her mind, but she would not be swayed. The meal of salad, chilled gazpacho soup, and chunks of mahi-mahi and grilled vegetables filled Avery past the point of satiation. Rip ate heartily too, and they talked about nothing in particular, mindful of the ever-present butler. Just as Nadeesh served the fruit tart dessert, Mr. Smith hobbled out of the bedroom.

  “Miss Knox,” he acknowledged with a nod before he settled into his usual spot on the sofa with his foot in the air. “Any food left for me?”

  Nadeesh dashed about to fill a tray with soup and salad. Avery offered up her dessert.

  “I need to watch my figure,” she explained.

  The agent snorted. “Brown and I and probably half the men on this ship will be happy to watch it for you.”

  Rip gave him a pointed glare as he rose to his feet. “I’ll get my trunks. Miss Knox and I are going for a walk around the deck and then a swim.”

  Smith didn’t look happy, but he also didn’t argue. Once Rip was out of the room, he addressed Avery with a stern expression. “He thinks this is a joke, but I assure you, Miss Knox, it isn’t. If the wrong people find out where he is… ” His voice trailed off ominously.

  Before she could respond, Rip walked back into the room with a blue Adventure Cruise Lines tote bag slung over his shoulder. “Let’s go, Avery.”

  Once they were in the elevator, Rip dug into the bag, pulled out his wallet and shoved it in his pocket. “Is there any place we can stash this bag for later?”

  “Later?” she asked in confusion.

  “I thought we could go ashore for a couple of hours. I’ve never been to Puerto Rico and you said you’ve only been here once —”

  “But you told Smith… ” she interrupted, but the elevator stopped and several other passengers got on, so she didn’t say more.

  “That guy needs to lighten up!” Rip muttered. When they stopped on the gangway floor, they got off the elevator with everyone else, and Rip continued in a normal tone. “Besides, I told him we were going for a walk and then a swim. I didn’t say what we were doing in between.” His dark eyes took on a mischievous sparkle. “I saw this fantastic looking old fort when we were coming into port this morning. Can’t we just go out and take a quick look at it?”

  “That’s El Morro, the original Spanish fortress,” Avery explained.

  In truth, she would enjoy seeing it too. Strictly for the historical perspective, of course. Not because she wanted to be alone with Rip. At least that’s what she told her conscience to help alleviate the sting of guilt. She stashed Rip’s bag under the customer service counter, and fifteen minutes later, they were in a taxi headed to El Morro, which was perched on a rocky promontory at the tip of the harbor.

  “Hey, you speak Spanish really well,” Rip said after she had commandeered the cab and instructed the driver of their destination.

  “I just finished four contracts cruising to Mexico.” She couldn’t feel the vehicle’s air conditioning, so she asked the cabbie to put the window halfway down. “After all the years you’ve lived in Southern California, I can’t believe you don’t speak it.”

  He flashed a wicked grin. “Only swear words, so don’t curse at me or I’ll know.”

  A few minutes later they arrived at the parking lot, paid the cabbie, and started the long uphill walk over the grassy park to the fort itself. Much to Avery’s relief, a fresh breeze had picked up, making the humidity far less stifling.

  Rip obviously enjoyed it too, for he spread his arms wide and exclaimed, “This is more like it!”

  “Much better than that stuffy cab,” she agreed as a group of school children galloped by them going in the opposite direction.

  Once they got inside the fort, they saw several more groups of students and two large guided tours of tourists. They opted to do the self-guided route, and Rip bought a disposable camera in the gift shop. In front of the first building, he asked an older couple to take a photo of Avery and him. Then he asked someone else in front of the next place.

  He kept stopping people and asking them to take their photo, until finally Avery said, “I think you’re just doing this so you can put your arm around me.”

  “You’re onto me,” he answered with a wink.

  Alarm bells clanged in Avery’s brain and the ‘do-not-get-involved’ speech roared back to life. She glanced down at her watch, but Rip noticed the gesture and interpreted correctly.

  “Just a few more minutes,” he insisted. “I want to see the view.”

  He grabbed her hand and tugged her along the stone wall to a spot where they could look out over the crumbling top at the sea. Rip leaned against the wall, closed his eyes and let the wind blow into his face for a long moment.

  “This reminds me of the ruins in Saturnina,” he said at last. He opened his eyes and turned to face her. “That’s the biggest city on Benezet, and the ruins are on the highest point above the harbor just like these. I remember playing up there when I was a little kid. Five, maybe six years old.”

  “How old were you when you left Benezet?” Avery asked.

  Looking distant and contemplative, he said, “My parents divorced when I was eleven, but I was already at boarding school in the States. I only went back to the island a couple of times after that, until my father’s funeral a year ago last July.” He shook his head and gave a rueful smile. “I noticed a cell phone tower up on the hill in the middle of the ruins.”

  Feeling uncomfortable that she’d pried into his private memories, Avery shifted her weight from foot to foot and murmured, “What a shame they didn’t preserve that piece of their history.”

  “I remember my father telling me Benezet must look to the future not the past.”

  She nodded and a few strands of her hair that had worked loose from her ponytail blew across her face. He smoothed them back as he said, “I want to concentrate on the future too.”

  His hand slid around to the nape of her neck and his mouth moved closer. With her internal alarm going off like a Chinese gong, Avery looked away and started to duck her head.

  “Don’t,” Rip whispered, and his lips descended over hers.

  The kiss started as light and soft as the brush of butterfly wings. But then his other hand went around her waist and pulled her against him, as his mouth settled hot and hungry atop hers. The alarms melted on a wave of pleasure as his tongue followed the seam of her lips and demanded possession that Avery wouldn’t — couldn’t deny. She twined her hands behind his head and deepened the kiss.

  Heat burned across her nerve endings as she met his fervor with her own, momentarily abando
ning herself to the glorious sensations racing through her body. Holy moly! Rip’s kiss felt just as good as she’d always imagined.

  A childish giggle made them abruptly pull apart. Two pre-pubescent girls in school uniforms stood a few feet away. “Get a room,” one of them muttered.

  Avery felt her face flame, but Rip turned a steely-eyed glare on the pair of intruders.

  “Go away.” His tone was the soft kind of scary, like an executioner, and the two girls stumbled then sprinted off.

  Her common sense thundered back in a rush, and Avery dropped her hands, putting one palm against his chest to push herself away. But Rip caught her fingers, stopping her.

  His voice was low but still intense as his dark eyes delved into her. “I never should have let you walk away ten years ago, and I won’t let you do it again.”

  Looking down, she shook her head. “Please, Rip —”

  But he interrupted her before she could object. “No, listen. I don’t know how or why our paths have crossed again, but I am not going to blow it this time. The second I laid eyes on you yesterday, I knew you were still special, that we could have something special. Give us a chance.”

  Pulling her hand free, she took a step backward and tried to calm her racing heart.

  “No, Rip. This is crazy.” She bit her lip. “I just started a new six-month contract, and you’ll be getting off the ship in two more days when we dock in Martinique. Who knows what you’ll be walking into on Benezet, much less how long you’ll be gone.”

  She could tell by the set expression on his face that he refused to see her logic. “Whatever is going on there can’t have anything to do with me. I’ll go long enough to see for myself and get Smith and his agency off my back. I figure it’ll take a week, two at the most.”

  He made it sound like them being together could actually happen, but she knew better. “That doesn’t change the fact that you live in California and I’m in Florida.”

  His stubborn look of determination was back, but his voice sounded cajoling. “Me and the guys are looking to expand again. Maybe we should buy a bar in Miami? You have to get off the ship once in awhile and I’ll be waiting on the dock when you do.”

  Heaven help her, she really wanted to believe him, but her practical side wouldn’t let her. She’d been down the long-distance relationship path before and it ended badly.

  “It’ll never work.” Avery shook her head and turned to walk away. Better to stop this now when it wouldn’t hurt so much.

  “You don’t know until we try.” Rip threw up his hands in exasperation and fell into step beside her.

  Avery refused to make eye contact as they walked out the front gate and started back across the grassy park. After a few yards, he muttered under his breath, “I’m not giving up, just so you know.”

  She had a sinking feeling it was going to be a long two days.

  Vehicles crowded the parking area creating mass confusion. Avery led the way across the street and flagged down a taxi. A very small car. She and Rip were wedged close together in the cramped back seat, legs rubbing and with his arm over her shoulders, his fingers trailing down her arm. Everywhere they touched, she felt tingles of sensation that threatened to derail her practical intentions.

  As the cab wound its way through the old downtown district, Rip finally spoke. “Is there someone else?”

  Avery didn’t think he sounded contrite, or even particularly worried. “Would it matter if I said there was?”

  “No.” His blunt admission didn’t surprise her, though his next words did. “Besides, you didn’t kiss like a woman in love with another man.”

  “Maybe I kiss everyone that way,” she said with a haughty tone. If she could keep those feelings of annoyance going, then perhaps she could avoid feeling anything else.

  “I know you don’t.” That smug answer irritated her too, which was good.

  But then he pushed some loose strands of hair behind her ear and the brush of his fingers on the side of her face sent an electrical current of awareness coursing through her. Which was really not good! The cab made another left turn and relief washed through Avery when she caught a glimpse of Valiant a few blocks in front of them. She needed to get out of such close proximity to Rip before her resistance crumbled again.

  “Wait! Stop here.” Rip suddenly ordered the driver. As she gave him a questioning look, he explained, “I need some sneakers, and I see an athletic shoe store.”

  The cabbie pulled to the curb, they got out and Rip paid him. Five minutes later, he stood at the register and bought a package of socks and a pair of black and white cross-trainers. Men had no concept of shopping, Avery decided with a sigh.

  Back out on the sidewalk, the strong breeze seemed to have followed them from El Morro, and puffy white clouds scudded across the sky. Even on the short two block walk back to the ship, Avery found she couldn’t maintain her irritation with Rip. His good humor seemed infectious as he pointed to a group of street vendors who had set up their own marketplace in the harbor parking lot.

  “How ‘bout a souvenir?”

  “You’re liable to get your pocket picked,” Avery warned, even though she knew he would ignore her.

  He did, veering into the parking lot. “Careful Miss Knox, I might think you care.”

  “Just doing my duty as your bodyguard.” She followed as he wound his way through the makeshift stalls and rickety tables that offered the same junk sold all over the Caribbean — cheap Tshirts, woven straw hats and totes, spice necklaces.

  Rip dodged the most obnoxious of the hawkers, and headed for a fabric covered screen displaying colorful beaded earrings. “You have pierced ears, right?”

  Thinking he must be the most stubborn man in the universe, Avery nodded, but said, “I told you before, I can’t accept —”

  “Gimme a break,” Rip interrupted. “We’re not on the ship. Nobody needs to know.” He held up an earring with a little silver dolphin charm amid blue beads. “Besides these match your eyes. How much?” he asked the young woman standing next to the screen.

  “Twenty dollars.”

  “Rip… ” Avery protested.

  “Ten,” he countered.

  Before the woman could reply, Avery heard a loud pop like a fire cracker. Rip staggered, grabbing his arm while the screen of earrings shook.

  “Gun!” Somebody shouted as another pop sounded and a woman screamed.

  Rip fell to his knees as chaos erupted all around them.

  Chapter 4

  A searing pain raced across Rip’s upper arm as he went down on one knee. With his other arm, he pulled Avery beside him while screams and shouts rent the air.

  Ah shit! Just like the other night in Miami.

  Avery landed on her rear next to him, her eyes round with terror. “Are you —” She stopped abruptly and pointed a shaky finger at the bloody slash across his biceps. “Your arm! Call 9-1-1!”

  Her cry scarcely escaped her lips when a siren wailed. People scrambled out of the way with noisy exclamations in Spanish and English.

  “Oh my God, Smith was right,” Avery gasped, trying to regain her feet. “Someone is trying to kill you! We’ve got to get out of here.”

  “Stay down!” Rip insisted, jerking her back when she stood. Forgetting about the burning pain, he crawled crab-like toward an overturned table, dragging Avery along with him.

  In spite of what had happened in Miami, he hadn’t really believed the agents. Now he had to admit to himself that their wild stories might actually be true. He was in danger, and by being with him, so was Avery. But how the hell had the bastards found him so fast?

  The police roared up at the same time he and Avery reached cover behind the table.

  “Not a word,” he cautioned in a low growl. “Let’s just get back to the ship.”

  She nodded in silent agreement.

  Unfortunately, they didn’t make their exit from the parking lot unnoticed. With no less than four police cruisers on the scene, a cop stopped
them and began asking questions in Spanish. To Rip’s surprise, Avery quickly recovered her poise and answered with a calm, business-like tone. After three or four polite questions, the officer let them go.

  A clearly agitated Williams, leaning on a cane, met them just inside the gangway. “What the hell were you doing on shore?” he demanded, his expression like a thunder cloud.

  “Not now,” Avery snapped, obviously not intimidated by the agent’s bluster. “Mr. Brown needs to see Doctor Samuelson.”

  Head held high, she led the way to the elevator. Williams had no choice but to follow, though not happily.

  Once inside, Williams scrutinized the scratch on Rip’s arm. “Do you know how fucking lucky you were?”

  “It’s nothing,” Rip muttered, but the other man ignored him.

  “Maybe now you two idiots will take me seriously.” Williams continued, still irate. “Wasn’t the shooting in Miami enough?”

  Rip had no answer so he gave a half-shrug with his uninjured arm, while Avery gave him a questioning look.

  “By the way, Davis contacted me about an hour ago. Seems your friend Luc DuBois never met up with the agents waiting for him at LA-X airport. Never claimed his luggage either.”

  “What do you mean?” Rip demanded, but the elevator door slid open and Williams clammed up. “Just a minute,” he declared to Avery as he pulled Williams aside into the empty stairwell. “You’re saying something happened to Luc?”

  Williams looked at him like he was a simpleton and explained in a low tone. “Somebody besides the agency took DuBois out of the airport. Whether voluntarily or not, we have to assume he told them everything he knew about you and this operation.”

  “Luc would never… ” Rip started to deny, when another terrible possibility struck him. “Are you telling me he was taken against his will?”

  “We’ve found no evidence of foul play.” The other man replied. “Yet.”

  Fear stabbed Rip in the gut. He couldn’t believe for a moment that the man who’d been his most trusted assistant for over a year would purposely betray him. But the other scenario left him sickened with dread.