Last First Kiss

by Sidney Halston

  “Dead serious. I know hand-to-hand combat, I can hit a target the size of a baseball with my Glock from a football field away, and I can hack into almost any computer system.”

  “I’m sure you’re lethal, honey.” That body—it looked deadly. But there was no way a woman who looked like she did was capable of protecting him. He kept saying all the wrong things, apparently. Because she looked pissed off. The fact was, he thought her beautiful and would love to spend more time with her on a personal level. In fact, he was looking forward to it. But as a bodyguard? No. That just didn’t make sense.

  She was . . . a girl.

  He reached for the iPad Joey had offered and looked back down to the head shots, swiping over the screen one by one. The sound of Annie’s chair, grating roughly against the floor when she stood up abruptly, caused him to look up. Annoyance was written all over her face as she walked toward him.

  “Stand up,” she demanded. Rocco’s smile faded and his brows furrowed. “Uh . . . what?”

  “Stand up.” This time she said it even more demandingly and through gritted teeth.

  “Annabelle. Stop it,” Joey barked, this time pounding a fist onto the desk, but Annie ignored him. Faintly, Rocco heard Jax yelling too, but he was mesmerized by whatever it was that Annabelle wanted with him. So he stood up as instructed.

  As he did she took slow, long—sexy as fuck—steps toward him. Her movements were controlled and restrained, her expression muted. Damn, are those black high heels? The phrase femme fatale popped into his head.

  Her eyes never left his, and holy fucking shit—his dick stirred. Those long as fuck legs moved—no, sauntered—over his way.

  Did she want to talk with him in private?

  Hell yeah. He’d go anywhere private with her. Maybe having her as a bodyguard would have a hell of a lot of benefits. It was only a few months, after all.

  Her waist was small, her hips flared slightly, and her tits were full but not overly large. A good handful, he noted. As she got closer he noticed the sexy little mole by her left eye.

  That’s what he was looking at when suddenly he was airborne.

  Somehow she’d done some crazy-ass ninja move involving swinging his arm painfully back, shifting her body, hunching over and flipping him onto his back. The cold cement floor uncomfortably pressing against him, her ass was now planted on his chest and he was eye level to her pussy. “You need to tone down the cocky, Mr. Monroe. You cannot take care of yourself . . . clearly. And don’t you ever fucking call me honey again. First and last warning.” She tapped his shoulder and stood up. “You need me.” She said it more to her brother than to Rocco, it seemed.

  Ugh . . . His back would hurt tomorrow.

  But not more than his pride.

  She extended her hand and helped pull him back to his feet.

  Joey and Jax were leaning over the table, about to climb it, their eyes saucerlike and murderous. “Annabelle!” Jax, who had been calm, roared.

  “What the fuck, Annie!” Joey barked. “You’re fucking fired. I don’t care if you’re my sister!”

  “Like I said, earlier, Josef, suck my dick. I quit. Try working the calendaring system without me, asshole.” She walked around Rocco, whose mouth hung open and breathless from the surprise assault. He’d never seen a woman that feisty before. And Jesus Christ it was turning him the hell on. “Oh, and wait until I tell Mom,” she added, her back to them.

  After she slammed the door behind her, Rocco straightened his shirt, adjusted the silver cuff links, and ran his fingers through his hair. What the hell had just happened? He had never been more wrong in his life. The woman wasn’t just capable, she was a total badass. Why wasn’t her head shot in the iPad with the rest of the ICS employees?

  Joey and Jax rushed around the table, awkwardly, looking unsure as to how to help.

  “I am so sorry for my sister’s behavior, Mr. Monroe.”

  “Sorry?” He chuckled. She could absolutely blend in, pretend to be his girlfriend, and no one would know he required a bodyguard. “I want her. She’s perfect. She’s fucking hired.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Filming for El Traficante has been moved to an undisclosed location in Miami, Florida, for the majority of the film. Unfortunately, Colombia has become too volatile since word has travelled about Rocco Monroe portraying Gabriel Mendoza. As rumors continue to spread that Julia Vargas, Monroe’s ex-girlfriend, will play Victoria Mendoza, this reporter, for one, can’t wait to see Vargasroe back together on the big screen and off-screen too!

  “Vargasroe?” Annie rolled her eyes and threw the magazine to the floor. “What a ridiculous name mix. Julicco sounds better.”

  “I’ll send a note right away to E! News and TMZ.” She stuck out her tongue at Xander, her best friend and roommate, who was perched against Annie’s bedroom door. “What do you think you’re doing?” He gestured to the pile of clothes surrounding her on her bedroom floor.

  “Looking for appropriate business attire.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I just sent out twelve résumés to different agencies and I need to look presentable.”

  With his eyes furrowed, Xander pushed himself off and walked to the bed, picking up a white oxford shirt she’d thrown there. “And you think this is presentable? Girlfriend, this is dull and you’re a lot of things, but dull isn’t one of them.”

  “What am I supposed to wear, Xan? Leggings and combat boots?”

  “Well?” He shrugged as if he was considering it, so she tossed a handful of shirts at his head, which he caught just as quickly, then sat back to watch her lose her mind. “What kind of job did you apply for?”

  “IT jobs, what else am I going to apply for?”

  “You’re a badass soldier. Why would you sit behind a desk all day?”

  Annie blew out a breath and sat next to her best friend, laying her head on his shoulder feeling defeated. Maybe she had overreacted. Maybe she could’ve handled things differently. She couldn’t help but wonder if the entire operation was going to shit in the few days she’d been gone. “Because I don’t have an actual degree in badass but instead just a mere Master’s in Information Technology, which means I’ll be sitting behind a desk all day.”

  “Honey, you need to go talk to your brother. You need your job back.”

  She sat up straight and shook her head. No way. He’d been an asshole and she was in no way going to go and beg. Even if she loved working at ICS and the thought of sitting behind a desk for forty hours a week made her want to hide under her bed and cry. It was ironic, since at ICS she was essentially at a desk job, but she had her finger on the pulse at all times. One day she’d be sitting in the situation room helping command forces overseas and the next she could be planning a strategic way of wiring money for a scorned wife without her husband being the wiser. At ICS, things were never dull, that was for sure. But still, she had pride and the way Joey was treating her wasn’t cool. Of all her brothers, he’d always been the most overprotective, but he’d gone overboard this time.

  “Fuck him. I’m not begging. Let the office fall apart. Give him a few more days, then he’ll beg me.”

  “And you’ll take the job back, after he begs?”

  “Hell, no. But it’ll be nice to see him sweat. Besides, I flipped Rocco Monroe on his ass. I may have injured him. I really doubt anyone’s going to be begging me back. I may get sued, Xan,” she said, anxiously. Even though she was trying to act as if it wasn’t a big deal, it was a huge deal and it was making her very nervous. She’d acted on impulse, on anger, on pent-up frustration, and the poor prospective client had taken the brunt of her anger. He didn’t deserve it, even if he had been too cocky for his own good.

  The quietness, the lack of information for the last three days, was disconcerting. A man like Rocco, with an ego bigger than his head, wasn’t going to let it go. A woman kicking his ass? Never.

  “What were you thinking?”

  “I was thinking that . . . I don’t kn
ow what I was thinking. Clearly I wasn’t,” she admitted. She’d acted impulsively. He’d called her “honey,” he’d checked her out, but he’d never acknowledged her as a valuable member of ICS. Or was that Joey? Who was she really pissed at?

  Xander flicked her ear.

  “Ow!”

  “You’re a hardheaded bitch, you know that?”

  She rubbed her ear and pointed to the door. “Ha! The only bitch in this room is you, Xan. Get out, I have to pick up this mess and go shopping.”

  “Love you, honey.”

  She rolled her eyes and shook her head as he walked out of the room. Funny how Xander had always called her honey and it never bothered her, but Monroe said it and she immediately wanted to kick his ass. “Love you too, Xan.”

  Her phone rang as she was on her hands and knees picking up her room. Even mad, she’d never avoided her brother’s phone calls. What if there was an emergency? As the youngest of the siblings, everything she ever did was to impress them. To fit in. To feel like an equal. Joey had really let her down by doubting her skills.

  “What?” she answered, instead of hello.

  “So you’re still being a bitch, I see.” Second bitch of the day and it wasn’t even noon.

  “And you’re still being a twat waffle, I see.”

  He chuckled. “Do you stay up at night thinking of these insults?”

  She snarled into the phone. “What do you want, Joey?”

  “Monroe hired ICS. Well, the studio did, but at Monroe’s request.”

  “Great. Congratulations.” Why was he calling? Was he trying to rub it in her face?

  “There’s one condition, though.” When she didn’t say anything, mostly because she was losing her patience, he continued. “You have to be his bodyguard.”

  Annie stopped fumbling around on the floor of her room and sat down, her back against the bed, her ass on the floor. “What?” she asked, baffled and breathless.

  “Yep. You got your own case, kid. Happy?” Was he being snarky? He didn’t exactly seem happy about it and she certainly wasn’t happy after everything that went down.

  No, I must’ve heard wrong. “I guess you didn’t understand what ‘I quit’ meant.”

  “Actually you didn’t really quit. I fired you.”

  “You can’t fire someone who doesn’t want to—”

  He interrupted her rant. “Open the door. I’m walking up the steps,” he said and hung up. Annie glared down at her phone, outraged. Thumping the back of her head against the bed, she tossed her phone aside and stood up to open the front door.

  Xander was in the kitchen blending something in his juicer—something that looked utterly disgusting. He’d gotten her hooked on protein shakes, but those smoothies he made were questionable. “My brother’s on his way in. You may want to put on some clothes?” Her six-foot-tall, very attractive, and very gay best friend was standing there in just boxer shorts and socks.

  “No way!” he said, wagging his eyebrows back and forth. “How do I look?”

  “Does it matter? I’ve told you a million times, my brother doesn’t swing your way.”

  “You keep saying that, but I see the way he stares.”

  Shaking her head with a chuckle, Annie concealed her smile as she opened the door with a scowl. She was still mad at Joey and she wasn’t about to let him forget it.

  Kissing her on the cheek as if they weren’t in a standoff, her brother walked straight inside as if he owned the joint. “Hey, Xander,” he said, walking to the kitchen, patting his bare shoulder, and looking into the blender. “I’ll take some of that.”

  He stood close, not acknowledging Xander’s state of undress and huge toothy grin.

  “Sure.” Xander poured some green shit into a big glass. “Cheers.”

  They tapped glasses and Joey took a slurp, cringing as he downed it. “Fuck! This’ll put hair on your balls.”

  All the while, Annie sat watching the interaction while drinking some orange juice, amused but still wanting to wring Joey’s neck. Plus, she was surprised anyone would willingly drink that green concoction.

  “So, kid,” Joey began as he went around the counter to sit down. He had a green mustache from the drink. “Here’s the deal. You start in four days. I’ll email you the details but our Hollywood client lives in Coral Gables, not too far from here. The job’s twenty-four-seven, so pack a bag.”

  Her eyes widened, incredulously. He was just going to waltz in as if they hadn’t had a huge argument a few days ago? Even if the prospect of landing the job was exciting, there was still the principle of the thing. Joey didn’t trust her to do the job. He’d knocked her down in front of Rocco when she’d volunteered for it and he’d repeatedly refused to allow her to do fieldwork since she started working at ICS. He didn’t find her capable, and she was too proud to just roll over and accept the offer now just because he needed her in order to land a big client—she wanted him to want her to be the one to do it. “Did you not hear anything I said three days ago and then again five minutes ago?”

  “What’s up your ass?” He leaned in and narrowed his eyes. “Are you on the rag or something?”

  Xan spewed out a mouthful of green liquid at the same time as Annie’s eyes opened the size of saucers.

  She stood up, placed her hands on his chest and pushed him back. “Are you crazy? What the hell is wrong with you?” She grabbed one of Xander’s expensive throw pillows and slung it across Joey’s face. As the only girl in the family, she was used to her brothers being crass and oblivious, but today she wasn’t in the mood. “You never ask a woman that. And not that it’s any of your business . . . no, I’m not. And you have green shit all over your face, moron.”

  He wiped his lips with the back of his hand, uncaring. “Calm your tits. You’re not a woman. You’re my sister. And you’re acting bitchier than normal. It’s a perfectly reasonable question.”

  “I am being bitchy because you were being a complete dickhead the other day. Not just the other day, actually. Forever. You have forever been a dickhead,” she yelled. Oh my God, had a person’s head ever literally exploded? Because that’s what was about to happen to her. How could she ever say yes to the offer when he was being a complete jerk?

  “You sound crazy.” Joey turned his attention to Xander. “Doesn’t she sound crazy?”

  “I’m not answering that,” her roommate said, moving a step away and putting his palms up.

  Throwing her hands up in the air, Annie yelled, “You make me feel crazy!”

  Joey blew out a long breath. “Fine. I will concede to being a dickhead. But that doesn’t mean you can body-flip a client.”

  Okay, Joey was right, but it was her experience that men didn’t think women capable of physical things, such as fighting and shooting, and what better way of showing Rocco she was capable than to give him a little firsthand demonstration? But, yes, she could’ve hurt him. And, no, it wasn’t professional. He could’ve been really pissed off and sued them. She had been wrong, but she wasn’t ready to say so. Not when she was still waiting for an apology from her brother.

  “I’ll agree. I handled it a little . . . aggressively. But you were still wrong about not letting me do that job.”

  “Okay, well, you’re in luck. Now you got the job!” His sarcasm was starting to grate on her last nerve.

  “Fine. Great. When do I start?” Obviously, Joey wasn’t going to apologize but it didn’t really matter, at the end of the day she’d gotten what she wanted. And she’d be the consummate professional. Do a fantastic job for Rocco, NHN, and ICS. Protect the big Hollywood bigwig from threats near and far—and most important, prove herself to Joey.

  “You start next week.”

  “Great.” She stood, ready to walk Joey to the door. “Email me the details.”

  When he grabbed the back of his neck and squeezed, she knew immediately something was wrong. A big huge colossal “BUT” was coming.

  She fell back into the sofa. “What?”

&nb
sp; “He wants someone who could blend in. Fit into his lifestyle.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, give him space to fuck half of Miami. I got that, Joe.” She’d been there when he’d said he needed space to “entertain” and she hated that he’d said it. He was the hottest thing in Hollywood, and it was a no-brainer he had a very active sex life. But still, she’d felt oddly disappointed to hear it coming out of his mouth so casually.

  Joey reached forward and pulled her ponytail like he used to do when they were kids and wanted to get her attention. “Come on. You’re smarter than that. You were there. Read between the lines, Annie” He ran his palm down his face. “He feels emasculated for needing a bodyguard and he just wants to appease the studio. So . . .”

  Her heart beat, wildly. There was a catch coming, she could feel it. “What? Just spit it out already.”

  “You get to play Mr. Monroe’s girlfriend for the next four months.”

  Her approach had backfired in a big fucking way. She glared at her brother as she tried to process exactly what that meant.

  Pretend to be his girlfriend? Did they have to kiss? Hold hands? Definitely she wouldn’t sleep with him, but did he understand that? What about her job protecting him?

  “He says you’re perfect. You can blend in.”

  She stood up, feeling conflicted. “I’m a professional. Does he understand I’m not some sort of bumbling Barbie doll?”

  “Oh, I think he got that the moment he was airborne and then again when you slammed him against the cement floor.”

  Annie downed her orange juice and paced around the room. Of course, her big break was because of her assets, not because she was an asset. This asshole was no better than her brother. All he wanted was eye candy. He didn’t want her for her skill, to protect him. She should have kneed him in the balls after she flipped him on his ass. “How does that work for me?”