“Care to share what is so amusing?” He leaned forward, his face merely inches from mine as his hand came up to my face. His cologne wafted through the air and right in my nostrils, making me take in a deep breath. Our eyes locked as he leaned closer, and I braced myself for impact. Just when I thought his lips were about to touch mine, his hand grazed my cheek, pushing a piece of hair back from my face and behind my ear.
Before I could react, he was gone. I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I had been holding and poured myself a tall cup of coffee. I knew he was in a hurry, so I made sure to pour it in a travel mug so we could be on our way. As I entered the living room, I noticed a shoebox sitting on the coffee table directly in front of me.
“Are those for me?”
“Well they’re not for me.” He laughed.
I didn’t give him the satisfaction of a response. Instead, I just sat down and pulled on the crystal-embellished sandals. I stood running my hands down my dress, and then gathered my purse.
“Did you remember to grab your new ID and bankcard?”
I nodded in his direction as I pushed past him and out of the house. I couldn’t wait another minute to be rid of him. He opened my door for me and then rounded the front of the car. The short ride to work was silent and uneventful, which I was thankful for. A couple blocks later, we were pulling up in front of a small boutique with the name Fashionably Yours, scrolled across the top of it.
“Have a nice day, princess. I’ll pick you up around eight?”
Every time the nickname came out of his mouth, I wanted to punch him. He knew nothing about me, and making the accusation that he did was driving me insane. “Don’t bother, I’ll walk home.” I reached for the handle, but felt his warm strong hand gently pull on my elbow.
“It’s not safe for you to walk home. I’ll see you around eight.”
The look in his eyes had me shuttering on the inside. It was a look of authority and I knew he wasn’t to be questioned. “Fine, I’ll see you then.”
I hesitantly walked into the boutique not knowing what waited for me. Howser had told me that a girl named Kristy was whom I needed to meet, but that was about it. He never gave a description, and I never asked. I was walking into this situation blind, and that didn’t sit well with me.
When I first walked in, there was no one around. I made my way towards the back, all the while touching the beautiful designer clothing that hung on the racks. “Hello?” There still was no answer, so I walked a little bit further towards the fitting rooms. “Is anyone here?” Seconds later, a small Australian accent echoed through the small shop.
“Well hey there, you must be Sarah?”
“No, I’m Ly- I mean, yes I’m Sarah.” The new name was obviously going to take a minute to get used to.
“Well I’m Kristy. Nice to meet ya, love. You ready for your first day?”
“I suppose so.”
“Well come on then. I’ll show ya around.”
We walked back over behind the desk where the cash register sat and Kristy began rummaging through the drawers. “I have a set of keys for you somewhere around here. I just need to find them. I swear, if my head wasn’t attached, well ya know.”
“All too well I’m afraid.” I smiled. Kristy was nice, and it was nice to finally have someone around that I could talk to who knew about my situation. Well at least enough to be safe. Although I was getting the distinct feeling that talking about my past was strictly forbidden.
“Ah, here we go. So these are yours. This one opens the front door, and this one goes to the mailbox just up the way. I’ll take you over to it when the mailman gets here, so you know exactly where it is. Do you know how to run a cash register?” She looked at me as though I was stupid and my first thought was to snap back at her, but I had to remember the type of people she dealt with in her line of work, and I instantly forgave her.
“Yes. I used to work at a clothing store in the mall when I was younger.”
“Perfect, love. Then you should be set. Other than that, feel free to roam around and see what we sell. It’s nice to familiarize yourself with everything for when people ask, and trust me, they’ll ask.”
Ten
Ky
This morning couldn’t have gone any worse than it did. I have to admit that catching her watching me undress did something to me, and I figured it was only fair if I reciprocated the action. I didn’t expect her to react so badly to me being in the bathroom, but her feistiness only intensified the feelings I was already having for her. Something about this girl had my insides in knots, and I liked it.
When she said she was going to walk home, I almost agreed to it, knowing that we were out of danger for now, but the other part of me wanted to be as close to her as I could be. Even if it were only for a few blocks, because I knew as soon as we got home, she would go back to wanting absolutely nothing to do with me.
I sat in my office in a mind-numbing bore. There was absolutely nothing for me to do, mainly because this job was just a front, but also because Tom made sure that I was put in charge of the most boring division ever. All day, guys in suits sat around making cold calls to clients trying to get them to invest in stocks. I was suddenly extremely thankful for my real job.
Being a Marshal was far more exciting than being a stockbroker. I got to run after bad guys all day, and help put them away. Most people wouldn’t like my job because of the danger aspect, but that was precisely why I loved it so much. It’s not like I had anything or anyone to watch out for or keep safe in my everyday life. At least not anymore. It was the perfect life for a depressed, self-deprecating asshole such as myself.
I was about to start playing another riveting game of solitaire on my computer when there was a small knock at my office door. I wasn’t sure who it was, but I suppose there was only one way to find out. “Come in.” The door cracked open and a five foot eight familiar blonde came strutting into my office, stopping right in front of my desk.
“Well hey there stranger. Looks like I’m going to be your assistant. I just wanted to come in and say welcome aboard.” Sheena stood before me in one of the sexiest suits I had ever seen on any woman.
I sat back with a cocky grin as I took in her full frame. “Well lucky me.” I kicked my feet up on the desk and placed my hands behind my head. “So, was there anything I can do for you?”
“I was about to ask you the very same question.” She grinned as she leaned over my cherry maple desk.
I let my feet fall to the floor and leaned into her. “I think I’m okay for now, but if I think of anything at all, you’ll be the first to know.” I winked.
I could feel her erratic breath brush across my skin, and my pants tightened with every glance of exposed skin I caught. I was just about to push my flirting into high gear when another knock sounded at my door. Before I could tell whoever it was to hang on a second, my door was pushing open and a tall brooding older gentlemen stood, taking in the picture before him.
“So I see you’ve met my wife.”
Shit, shit, double shit. “We were just getting acquainted.” I stood, straightening my pants and tie before walking towards the man to introduce myself. “Hi, I’m Ky Parker.” I held my hand out, but he stood there unfazed by my gesture.
“I know who you are. Sheena will you excuse us, please.”
“Sure, baby.” She whispered, before planting a chaste kiss to his cheek. As soon as she was gone, he turned and closed the door behind her, leaving just him and me.
“I’m sorry if that looked bad, Sir. I didn’t know she was your wife.”
“But you did know she was someone’s wife, right?”
“I suppose so.”
“Take a seat Mr. Parker.” I did as he asked and sat back waiting for the ass reaming I’m sure I had coming. “First off, I’m Ronald Moore and I own this company. Secondly, if I ever catch you flirting with my wife again, there will be no conversation. You got me?”
“Yes, Sir.” Ron continued to ramble of
f other things, but I found myself tuning him out. I couldn’t believe that this guy was Sheena’s husband. He had to be at least twenty years older than her. I guess all in all it shouldn’t surprise me. With the way she looked and her flirty attitude, she had gold digger written all over her.
“Did you hear me?”
“I’m sorry, Sir. What was that?”
“I said, do you think your wife would have a problem with you working around my wife?”
I highly doubt it, given the fact that she isn’t really my wife. It’s what I wanted to say, but instead I answered the way I assumed a married man would. “I’m sure she would have a problem with what happened earlier, but she met your wife last night and seemed fine. So honestly, I’m not sure.” I was being a smart ass just to get under his skin, and by the look on his face; I would say it was working.
“And how on god’s green earth did you meet my wife last night?” I could see his face becoming increasingly red with anger and it only pushed me to be a bigger dick.
“Well she came by our house. She even brought me a homemade casserole.”
“Is that so?” Now he was seething. He was looking out at Sheena’s desk, smoke billowing from his ears.
“Mr. Moore, we just moved in next to you. She came by to introduce herself to me and my wife.”
“Well why didn’t you say so to begin with? You’re a real prick aren’t you, Parker?”
“I’ve been called worse, but I suppose so.” I smirked.
Ron made his way closer to me and hovered over my sitting form. “Look here, Parker. I know who you are and what you do, but when you are here in this office, I am your boss. I expect you to do some sort of work and I don’t want any back talk, or you will find yourself jobless. Do you understand what I’m saying to you?”
“Sure thing, Sir. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some work to do.”
Ron stormed out of my office seconds later, not looking back at me once. If he was going to be getting in my face the entire time I was to be here, then he was going to find himself in a situation that he really didn’t want to deal with. I didn’t take kindly to threats, especially when those said threats come from a piece of shit, higher than mighty cradle robber. I turned back to my desk and started up a new game of solitaire, Ronald be damned.
~~~~
The next eight hours passed by excruciatingly slow. When the clock finally hit six o’clock, I packed up my shit and walked out of my office as though there were a fire. I passed by Sheena’s desk, but didn’t say a word. I wasn’t exactly sure where her husband was lurking, but I knew he was keeping an eye on me.
“See you tomorrow, Mr. Parker.”
I waved to Sheena as I made my way over to the elevators. I waited impatiently for the metal doors to open, when my cell phone began ringing in my jacket pocket. I didn’t have to look at the caller ID to know who it was, there were only two people who knew the number.
“Hello?”
“Wakely, it’s Tom. We need to meet. Be at the diner on the corner of Broadway and 90th in twenty.”
Before I could respond Tom had hung up and I was entering the elevator. I wasn’t exactly sure what was going on, but my first thought was that something had happened to Lyndley. The elevator binged as it opened up to the lobby and I dashed through the sea of people to get to my car. I quickly dialed the number to the boutique, praying that Lyndley was all right.
“Fashionably Yours, this is Kristy. How may I help you?”
An Aussie huh? No, shit. I didn’t have time for this. “Hi Kristy, this is Sarah’s husband. Is she around by chance?”
“Well hey there. Actually no, she just left for a minute to grab us some dinner. Is everything okay?”
“No, no it’s not. Do you know where she went exactly?”
“Yeah, she was just going to the sandwich shop about a block away. She should be back any minute now. Do you want me to have her call you?”
Fuck! What the fuck was she thinking? I told her it wasn’t safe, damn it. “No, no that’s fine. I’ll just try her-“
“Here she is now.” I could hear her pull the phone away from her mouth. “Sarah, it’s your husband.”
I let out a huge sigh of relief. My heart was racing and I swear I was on the brink of having a massive heart attack. I took in a few deep breaths trying to slow down my erratic breathing when Lyndley came on the line.
“Ky?”
“Hey, I was calling to check on you. Everything okay?”
“Um, yeah. Are you okay? You sound winded.”
No I’m not okay, I just spent the last five minutes thinking that someone had taken you, or killed you or something else unspeakable. “Yeah, I’m good. Well, I have a meeting to get to. I’ll see ya in a couple of hours.” Before she could respond, I was hanging up and climbing into my car. I loosened my tie and stripped off my jacket, before I made my way out into traffic.
When I pulled up to the diner, I waited a few minutes before going inside. Tom hadn’t given any explanation about what we were meeting about, so I made sure to scope out the place before finally heading in. The bell dinged as I entered, and everyone inside turned to stare as I glanced around for Tom. I found him in the back corner booth. He was waving me over like a lunatic, and I quickly made my way over to him before he made an even bigger scene.
I slid into the pleather booth, and looked directly at Tom. “What is your deal?”
“I don’t have a deal, Wakely. Have you spoken with Sarah today?”
“Yeah, I just spoke with her. Why?”
“Well we have the phone at the boutique tapped and we overheard a very interesting call this morning.”
“Who was it between?”
“The FBI agent that’s working with her, Kristy. It was between her and a man named Lorenzo. I don’t know for certain if it has anything to do with Sarah, but it was very cryptic. They were talking about a package that had been delivered. She told him that she received the package today, and that he could come pick it up anytime in the next two days.”
“I’m assuming Sarah is the “package” in this scenario?”
“That’s our guess.”
“Doesn’t this Kristy chick work for the FBI?”
“Yeah, her father runs the mob division.”
“Do you really think a girl whose father is that high up in the FBI would risk herself to let someone get to Sarah?”
“Wakely, you can never be too sure who is in on what. I need you to keep an eye out. Make sure you stay as close to Sarah as you can.”
“Okay.” I huffed.
“Look Wakely, I know you’re not happy with the situation, but this is your job. Until we nail these bastards to the wall, you have to keep her as close as possible. You catch my drift?”
“Yes, Sir. Can I order my dinner now?”
“Whatever, asshole. Enjoy your meal. I’ll be in touch.”
“See ya, Tom.” I waved as I motioned for a waitress to come over. I swear that guy was more high strung than I was. I ordered my meal and sat back enjoying the silence of being alone. As much as I hated to admit it to myself, being alone was seriously the last thing I wanted to be. My how the tables had turned on me, and all because of one girl.
Eleven
Lyndley
After my cryptic call with my fake husband, I was a bit on edge. I found myself going through the motions of closing up the store with Kristy without even listening. By the time I had finished straightening the last rack of clothes, it was time to close up and shut everything down. As I made my way over to Kristy, I happened to glance outside and nearly lost my footing.
There, standing against a newly acquired BMW stood Ky. His tie hung loose around his neck and the first two buttons of his dress shirt were undone, showing just the smallest amount of skin. I licked my bottom lip as my eyes roamed down the rest of his perfectly toned body that I had seen this morning.
“Sarah, you ready?”
My head shot up in the direction of Kristy’s voic
e. “Sorry, what?”
She let out a small laugh. “I asked if you were ready to go?”
“Oh. I guess so, yeah. Don’t we have to close the register?”
“I already did. It’s super easy. I left a small list of how to do so, on the side of the register so you’ll know how to do it tomorrow.”
“Wait, you won’t be working with me tomorrow?” I reached out for my purse that she was handing me and we started making our way out the door.
“Nope. I was to just show you the ropes. This place is all yours now. I will come in on occasion to check in on ya, but other than that. Don’t worry, I’ll be back to check in with you in two days, and if there are any problems what so ever, just call and someone will be here.”
I stood staring at her in disbelief. Was this really how they did things? One day of training and then they just let me go, no questions. What happened to my twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week detail? I shook my head as Kristy hugged me good-bye.
“I’ll see ya in a couple of days. Good luck.”
“Yeah, thanks.” I muttered as she took off walking in the opposite direction of where Ky stood waiting for me. I was completely and utterly baffled at what had just happened, but before my mind could get too far away from me, I heard Ky calling my name. I instantly rolled my eyes and cursed his very presence.
I tucked my purse into my side and made my way over to the black sedan parked next to the curb. “Nice car. Perk of your job?” I sneered.
“Wow, someone’s in a fantastic mood.” He laughed as he closed the door behind me. When he got in next to me, he glanced over before even starting the car.
“Can we go now?”
“Lyndley, what’s going on?” I could tell he was genuinely concerned, but I was beyond being a pawn.
“Like you really give a shit. Just take me home please. I’m hungry and exhausted and I would love to just go to sleep.”
Without another word, Ky pulled out into traffic heading in the direction of our house. I let out an exasperated sigh as I thought about my life, the life that I had before all of this, and I was suddenly extremely sad and homesick. My thoughts quickly floated back to thoughts of Reese and our friendship.
Protecting Lyndley Page 5
