by Ali Parker
She raked me with a glare, but let her eyes move down the full length of my body.
Eat your heart out, baby.
I winked at her and walked to take the seat in front of her father. The blue dress she wore was a little higher than I would expect from a respectable girl such as herself, but maybe she wasn't the woman I had made her out to be in my head. Her long tanned legs went on forever, the soft smooth skin of her thighs screaming for me to run my fingers along it, pushing her skirt up and leaning over to bury my face between her thighs. I wanted to taste her almost as bad as I wanted my next paycheck. Almost…
Stop it. Lock that shit up. Now.
"Chloe. Sit down. Now!" The Senator pointed to the chair and she dropped into it, her actions reminding me of a five year old. She needed a spanking. I would have been happy to take that up as part of my job duties, but decided not to mention it, being the good guy I was and all.
I clasped my hands over my stomach and leaned back, keeping my attention on the older man in front of me. He had lived quite a life, and part of my interest in working with him and the pretty girl next to me was to hear more of his story. It wasn't every day that you got to talk to a United States Senator.
"I'm glad that you decided to take the job. I've finished my review and had Pauly sign off on everything. We'll be bringing you in starting today."
Chloe stiffened next to me, sitting up and moving to the edge of her chair.
I glanced over at her as she groaned loudly. Her long hair was down, spilling over her back and around her shoulders. I turned my attention back to her dad before I reached out and ran my hand down the silky tresses.
"I don't have a say in this at all? It's fucking unfair. I’m twenty-one goddamn years old." She stood up and I reached up, pressing my hand to my mouth to force myself not to smile. She was such a spoiled ass. It was almost comical.
"Watch your language and no, you do not." He stood as well. His words were loud, but there was no real weight to them. She could push hard enough and he would give in. Why she didn't, left me with more questions than answers. The girl was a complete mystery.
"Fine. Do what you want then. You always have anyway. I'll go back to the box where I live and when you need me, just jerk my strings and I'll come out and dance to your fucking tune." She slapped the desk and turned, walking from the room and slamming the door hard behind her.
The Senator let out a long sigh and dropped down in his chair, his fist pressing against his mouth as he took a minute.
I sat in silence, not willing to offer anything up to assist him. His relationship with his daughter was his own deal. It had nothing to do with me. I was the protection unit and nothing else.
Chloe and I didn't have to speak a word as long as she knew my rules and followed them. If not, we'd have more than just words. My ability to keep this gig would all be based on my effectiveness in keeping her safe and she played a part in that as much as I did.
"I'm sorry about that." He let out a long sigh and shook his head. "She's really a great kid, she just gets wrapped up in what she believes to be fair and not, and then the world explodes."
"She's not a kid. She's a woman." I moved my hands back into my lap. "Tell me where I'm moving my stuff to and what days I have off."
"Sundays and I'll have Pauly bring a truck to your place later today to pick up anything you want to bring to the beach house."
"Make it a small truck. I don't have much and I'm not giving up my place." I brushed my hand just under my nose and sat up. "Anything else you need from me? If not, I'll start packing and then I'll scope out the place before setting up some rules with Chloe."
The Senator laughed. "Good luck with that."
"I figure this will be a good challenge for me. She doesn't want to be put in harm’s way, she just doesn't realize that she's not invincible yet. We all go through it." I shrugged. "I'm going to keep her safe either way."
"I know you will. I trust your brother and he trusts you explicitly." He stood and tapped the desk. "I know I don't have to say this, but as her father, I can't help but lay down the law. No making her uncomfortable by what you wear or don't. No touching her or seducing her in any form or fashion, and no bringing women to the house where she is. Got it?"
I stood and nodded. "Absolutely. I'm here to do a job, nothing else."
"Good. If anything happens to her, I'll be holding you and Cole completely responsible. It's a great opportunity for you, but a difficult one."
"Yes, Sir. I appreciate it." I reached out and shook his hand before turning as the door opened. A rough looking old guy stuck his head in and nodded toward the Senator.
"This the punk?"
I smiled and glanced back as Chloe's father nodded and smiled as well. "This is the guy, Pauly. Please go easy on him. He's seen Chloe at her worst and is still willing to help us out. Let's be good to him."
"Of course, boss. I'll only fuck him up if he hurts our girl." Pauly winked at me and opened the door. "Let's go get your stuff and we'll get you settled."
"Yeah, sounds cool." I walked out and glanced around the large lobby. I guess sending a truck meant he would escort me back to my place. It was irrelevant. I had the job and I would be able to take another step up in the world. The girl was going to act like an ass no matter who landed in the bedroom next to her.
I only prayed I could get her to act relatively amicable toward me. If not, it was going to be a long-ass summer.
*
"Let me just warn you now that it's going to be a long-ass summer. The Moore's are good people, but they have more family drama than anyone I know." Pauly chuckled as we finished loading up my dresser and closed the bed of his truck.
"I'm fine with drama. It doesn't affect me much, namely because I choose to let it brush by me. It's not my family, so it's all good." I walked around to my side of the truck and got in, buckling up and saying a silent good-bye to poverty for the next few months.
"Good outlook, kid." Pauly pulled out of the parking lot and turned the radio down before clearing his throat. "I know Chloe is a beautiful girl, but you'd do well to remember your only invitation where her body is concerned is to guard it."
"I get it. She's not at all my type and even if she was, I can act as professional as the next guy." I shrugged, not too concerned with my ability to keep my cock in my pants. I wanted the girl, no doubt, but I wasn't willing to deal with any level of emotional bullshit. I'd just pick up a few more one-night stands and imagine them to be her. Easy enough.
"Cool. It's a twenty-four hour detail and you'll have Sundays off, so it's your choice if you want to head out on Sunday mornings to do whatever you want, but you need to be back by Sunday night at midnight."
"Damn. Not one night in my own bed back at home?" I turned to him, a little surprised.
"Nope. We need full coverage on her. I'll be with her on Sundays, but I’m with the Senator the rest of the time. At least you get a day." He shrugged.
“How long have you been doing this?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“As long as I’ve been working.”
A silence fell between us and I let it, leaning back and closing my eyes for a few minutes.
Twenty-four hour detail. Fuck me.
We arrived a few minutes later and Pauly helped me get my shit unloaded before going over the rules one more time. There was an alarm on the house that I needed to set each night and his three numbers were locked into my phone.
"You good?" he asked and patted my back.
"Yep. I'll call if I need something. Just do what I do, and go where she goes."
"Exactly. You'll be great." He winked and walked to the truck.
I moved back in the house and breathed in deeply, the smell of her everywhere. It had a faint hint of vanilla and drove a stake of desire through my stomach and caused my dick to stir. I tried to calm myself, but it was no use. She’d become the center of my fantasies, which was beyond inappropriate. That very fact would keep her there.
&
nbsp; The house was beautiful and open, the beach a stone's throw out the back door. It was exactly the type of place I could only dream of owning.
I heard her before I saw her, the sound of her voice causing my body to wake up further and growl.
"Yeah, it should be really good. We can get some steaks and just grill out tonight."
I turned as she rounded the corner. A soft gasp left her as she stopped short, the tiny brunette beside her half plowing into her. The white bikini she wore barely covered her nipples and the small triangle of her sex. She was made for such a tiny bit of cloth. Delicate and so intensely feminine. She shaved her pussy. She had to.
My mouth watered and body ached at the idea of finding out.
Smiling, I nodded at her and the girl. "Never too early for a steak and a beer, hm?"
"Oh my goodness." The new girl walked toward me, extending her hand as Chloe stayed back. "You are so much hotter in the sunlight. I'm Angie. We should totally be friends, you know, seeing that Chloe is off-limits."
I laughed and shook her hand. Where did these crazy chicks come from? "Ian."
"I'll be in the kitchen." Chloe turned and I moved to follow her, leaving her needy friend just that... needy.
Chapter 11
Chloe
He couldn't have looked any better than he did. The burnt orange swim trunks, flip flops and a white tank top fit him as beautifully as the dark t-shirt and jeans did in the club. My heart beat so fast it felt like it was trying to make a less than subtle escape. I took a deep breath and walked into the kitchen, leaving Angie with him in the living room. They could flirt it up, seeing that nothing could be more dangerous for me.
Maybe I should just let her have him. Fuck no.
Sex would be incredibly hot with him, and I knew without a doubt that he was the hard-hitting bad-ass I'd been dreaming about sweeping me off my feet since I was a girl. No way was I going to get close enough to have my heart torn from my chest. We would fall for each other and get through the summer only to have him leave and forget all about me, this assuming that he was lying about me not being his type at all.
"I took the last room on the left. I hope you're good with that."
I jumped at the sound of his voice, hitting my head on the refrigerator as I leaned into it. Growling, I turned and pinned him with a hard stare. I wasn't sure who to be in front of him, but the real me was completely out. He would chew me up and spit me out if he saw the real girl tucked under the layers of defense I had built up. I was far too weak, too broken, too lost to let anyone see me, especially him.
"Whatever," I grumbled and popped open the beer in my hand. "There's beer in the fridge and food in the cabinet. Help yourself to whatever, but stay out of my way. I've never noticed my shadow before. I don't want to start now."
He smirked and my knees went weak. "You won't have to entertain me, Chloe. Your fits of immaturity and poor choice in clothing are going to do that for you, dear."
"Fuck you," I spat and walked past him, not getting far as he reached out and grabbed my arm, his fingers rough and strong. I wanted those fingers all over me, deep inside of me, in places I shouldn’t have even begun to consider.
"I'm fine with us not getting along, but here're the rules you will abide by." He leaned in, and damn if the smell of his cologne didn’t light up my senses. Wetness pooled between my thighs as my body betrayed my need to remain unattached.
I jerked my arm from his grasp. "You're not my father, Ian. Stop acting like it."
"Clearly. You would have respect for other people if I was." He turned and took up the space in front of me, his eyes filled with challenge. My stomach tightened as my eyes moved from his handsome face to the thick swell of his chest and shoulders.
I didn't say anything, namely because I couldn't breathe.
"No leaving the house without me, no sneaking out or away and no inviting anyone over of the male persuasion that I haven't okayed first." He was so close I could feel the warmth of his breath on my lips.
I lifted an eyebrow at him and chuckled, trying to play off the intense feelings raging through me. "Yeah, got it."
He leaned in farther as his hair brushed down into his eyes and he narrowed his gaze. "Don't test me on this. Act like a woman if you want to be treated like one and if not, I'll keep treating you like the spoiled little girl I see standing in front of me."
There wasn't much to say to that without sounding even more spoiled. I set the beer down and tugged the string at the back of my top, pulling it from around my neck and putting my breasts on full display.
"It's all good. I get it. You expect me to be something that society says I should be. Awesome. They can suck a dick, and honestly… you can too." I walked out of the kitchen, leaving my top on the floor behind me. The look on Ian's face had been priceless. He could use his big-bad threats all he wanted. I had something he didn't - a kick-ass body that I was more than willing to use against him.
Angie glanced up from her phone. "Fuck. It's topless hour?"
"Yep. First girl to get felt up gets a hundred bucks." I laughed and walked to the back door to the house as Angie pulled her top off. "Ian. Come grill these steaks for us. I can never figure out the propane, and red meat grosses me out when it’s raw."
He didn't respond, but I would assume not. I prayed he was in complete shock. It was a place I wanted to keep him each and every time we came face to face.
Little girl. We'll see who's the one throwing fits soon, cockhead.
*
He never came outside, but the party began to bore me knowing that he was somewhere in the house. I wasn't interested in the girls that sat around me, but the handsome biker who had officially fucked up my peaceful world had every last drop of my attention.
I waited until just after lunch to get rid of everyone and walked into the house with a towel in front of my chest. He was lying across the couch with nothing but his swim trunks on, watching TV.
He glanced up at me and nodded. "Get the steaks done? Your chef finally show up?"
"Yeah. I figured it out." I walked to the kitchen and put the plate down before leaning over and grabbing my top. Somehow my actions didn't seem so bad-ass now that he lay on the couch, completely uninterested in me.
I finished getting dressed and put the food up before walking around the counter and leaning against it. He was magnificent, his big strong body etched with his efforts in the gym, and every inch of his chest and abs covered in various designs.
"Like what you see?" he asked, not looking over at me.
"Yeah. I want a tattoo pretty bad, but like you said... my image won't allow it." I felt myself slipping, the real me starting to peek around the edges of my shitty persona.
He glanced up and his expression softened, as if he saw it too.
No. Don’t slip up. Don’t. He’ll just grow to feel sorry for you. Fuck that.
I moved to the couch and sunk down in front of him, reaching up and brushing my fingers over the small simplistic cross in the center of his chest. He sucked in a tight breath between his teeth and my nipples hardened. How badly I needed to have him sink into me, to help me forget how cold the world around me was. I was a grown up, I just hid her well beneath the immaturity of a child. Most people wouldn’t strike a child emotionally, but a woman? She was game… she might be, but I wasn’t.
"No. Don't touch me, Chloe." He nodded toward the TV, obviously working to divert me. "You like old movies?"
I glanced back as the burn of rejection raced through me. "Yeah, it's whatever."
The small silver studs that sat in his nipples weren't something I would have been drawn to before, but they looked so good against his dark skin. I tried to ignore how badly I wanted to taste him, to touch him... to anything him. What the hell was wrong with me? Needy. I was needy for attention. It was sickening, but I couldn’t help it.
I rarely got rejected by anyone for anything, but it was a good reminder. Standing, I turned and walked toward the hall, tears burning
my gaze. I wasn't sure what I had expected, but it was defunct, as most things in my world were.
"Where you going?" he called after me, but I ignored him.
I'd slipped a little in front of him, but it wouldn't happen again. Too many beers and an innumerable gaggle of fake friends left me reaching for something that was real and whole. It just happened to be him there when I wanted something tangible to cling to. I didn’t even know him really. He could be as fake as everything else in my world, including me. Hell, it would be better if he was.
I locked the door to the bathroom and started the shower before getting in. The water was cool and felt good against my skin after having the sun beat down on me for hours. I tugged my bottoms off and tossed the top to the bathing suit out onto the floor.
A deep throb continued in the center of my stomach until I pressed my back to the wall and ran my fingers over my sex, the skin slick and hairless. I groaned softly, the water of the shower beating against the front of my body, making me feel sexier than I was.
I needed him to want me like I wanted him, which was an out of control burn that raged in the midst of denial. Sinking my fingers into myself, I jerked my hips and groaned again, making my hand his and my need Ian's completely.
"Fuck," I whispered and began to take care of myself. It had been too long since I spent any time letting anyone, including myself, bring pleasure from deep inside my body. I arched my back and picked up my pace as my eyes closed. I could feel the pressure building inside of me. The thought of Ian walking in and stripping down pushed me closer to explosion.
"Take me," I whimpered and buckled as my mind moved us around the room, his slow thrusts so deep and hard that I shook from the force of his desire. I shouldn’t have wanted him the way I did, but the carnal attraction had a hold on me so tightly that I wasn’t going to break free any time soon. The saddest part was that I didn’t want to.
