by Zoey Parker
Instantly, I was relieved and disappointed when the door opened to reveal a very pretty and petite brunette with wholesome brown eyes. I did my best not to immediately frown at her. She wasn’t what I’d been expecting. The image of that startling blonde from the other night had taken strong roots in my mind, but I was at least partially grateful to see that it wasn’t her.
If this was my starlet, Caleb’s niece, then I was in the clear. Though she was definitely pretty, I didn’t feel the immediate need to jump her bones right this second.
“Come on in, you must be Mr. Johnson,” she greeted in a sweet, high voice that was not unpleasant, but I would never describe as sultry.
I nodded. “Yes, I’m the new bodyguard.” I tried not to be mocking as I said the word, but if the tiny frown that found her thin lips was any indication, I hadn’t quite succeeded.
“Well, I’m very grateful that you’re here,” she told me happily, despite her frown. She was not what I’d been expecting. “We’ve all been so worried lately.”
We? What was this we business? I’d been sent to protect Abby Woodard, no one else. I had opened my mouth to say as much to her, but before I got the chance, the young woman opened up two glass paneled doors that led to the biggest back yard I’d ever seen. The lawn went on for miles and miles it seemed, and there were bushes and sculpted trees, most of them blooming with pleasantly fragrant blossoms. But before all that greenery, there was a carefully carved and designed patio that surrounded what must have been an Olympic-sized pool.
And sitting on the side of that pool in a bikini that artfully and barely covered hardened nipples, the rounds of her perky, large tits, and a smooth core between miles of long legs, was none other than the blonde bombshell from last night.
She wore huge glasses that covered her bright blue eyes and her blonde hair was perfectly curled and left to hang languidly across her shoulders and over the side of the lounge chair she was occupying.
I swallowed and tried to ignore the instant hard-on that was straining against my jeans. Oh shit.
“Mr. Johnson, let me introduce my employer, Miss Abby Woodard.”
She slid her glasses down just enough to see me without them, her eyes piercing and bluer than the water in her pool. She raised one perfectly manicured eyebrow at me. “You?”
Yep, me. And instantly I knew this was going to be a rough couple of days.
Chapter Three
Abby – Ten Hours Earlier
I hadn’t called Uncle Caleb when I got home last night. There was too much going on and I wasn’t ready to deal with all of it. I’d gotten home alright after all, hadn’t I? After scolding my driver—whose name I would most definitely not bother to know—I’d had him drive me directly home and told him that he was dismissed for the night. I’d send someone else to officially fire him later.
Then I’d gotten into the shower, scrubbed until I no longer felt as though there were lingering fingerprints on my body from where that asshole had grabbed me, and crawled into bed. I’d even pulled the covers up over my head and tucked them in all around me, letting the warmth and false safety of the blanket soothe me until I finally fell asleep.
Now, it was morning and I was up. The events of last night were simultaneously dim enough to push away and terrifying enough that I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to go out at night again.
I was pacing the length of my kitchen as coffee brewed in the industrial-sized pot on the counter. I was all about coffee. Sitting on the counter was my cell phone, the newest model with all the gadgets and games and whatever else that I could possibly ask for, most of which I would never use.
When I’d gotten up, it had been the first thing I’d reached for. Though I couldn’t recall it, I knew I had a nightmare. I was covered in salty sweat, my nightgown drenched, and my bedding damp from it. My hair had been plastered across my face and neck, leaving me feeling gross and thoroughly freaked out. My heart was going a mile a minute. I didn’t have to be told what the dream was about.
It had been about that man, my attacker, of course. What else could it have been?
For about the fifth time, I reached for my phone. This time, I didn’t lose my nerve and I actually called my uncle. The phone rang only twice—for a moment, I had worried I was calling too early—then I heard his deep voice come through the speaker.
“Abby? Good morning. To what do I owe this early morning treat?”
Something eased inside of me purely by the familiar sound of his voice. He had been my rock throughout my life and to this day I trusted him implicitly. I didn’t need proof to know that he always had my best interests at heart, which was saying a lot when you dealt with a bunch of backstabbing money grubbers. Which I did. Such was show business.
“Good morning, Uncle Caleb. Sorry to call so early. Did I wake you up?” I twirled a piece of my blonde hair around my fingers nervously. It was good to hear his voice and I was glad that I’d finally called, but I was really nervous about telling him about last night.
I felt sick just thinking about it.
“No, I’ve been up for a while,” he told me, maybe telling the truth, maybe not. “I had some early morning business. I saw your awards show, though. Congratulations.”
I let out a shaky laugh. I had all but forgotten that stupid award in the midst of everything else. Had that been only last night? “Thanks. It really isn’t a big deal.”
“The hell it isn’t! That’s my little girl up there.”
A warm smile melted onto my face. Although I was most definitely not a little girl anymore, it felt nice to know he looked at me in that way. It was silly, but I knew that as long as he thought of me like that he would be there to protect and defend me until the very end. Which was why I was calling. “Um, Uncle Caleb?” I began hesitantly, not even sure how to go about this.
“What is it, princess?” Maybe he picked up on the hesitation in my voice, because his tone was suddenly alert, laced with what I was pretty sure was worry. “What’s wrong?”
I sucked in a steadying breath, then just went for it. “Last night, something happened. Something bad.”
“Are you okay? Do you need me to come get you? What happened? Why didn’t you call me last night?” His questions spilled like water as he asked one after the other, each one rapid fire and angrier than the last. I knew that I’d fucked up by not calling him last night—now he’d just be pissed that I’d waited so long. Call right after it happened or don’t call at all, that had always been the rule.
I winced, and waited for him to be done. When it seemed like he had no more questions for me, I finally started to explain. “First, I’m alright, really. It shook me up a bit, but I’m not hurt. Second, I’m already home, so don’t worry about it. The gates are locked and I made sure that anyone who wants in has to get buzzed in. And April’s here for the whole day, so I’m not alone.”
I said all of this as quickly as possible so that he would calm down. I needed his help, I had decided, but that help would be so much more useful when he was calm and thinking clearly.
There was a moment where I only heard heavy breathing. I could tell that this meant that Caleb was trying to get himself calmed down and under control. Finally, he spoke again. “Alright, what happened, then?”
I told him the story, starting with the awards ceremony only because I needed to work up to what actually happened. I didn’t think I was really ready to talk about it, but he needed to know at this point, so I had to get to the bad stuff. I continued on, explaining that the after party was important to go to, even though I didn’t care much for the hostess.
“Bad stuff happens at those kinds of parties. You hear about it all of the time,” he grunted, clearly not thrilled with the thought of me attending. Even though I was most definitely a legal adult.
I rolled my eyes only because he couldn’t see me. “I know you don’t really like them, but they’re as much a part of my job as the acting is. I get work because of publicity. People want to see me. I
f I don’t show up to these things, they’re going to start saying I’m snooty or too good for them. And Riley is a terror, Uncle Caleb. You have no idea!” I sounded like I was whining and felt childish for doing it.
“Alright, alright. I get it. It’s part of the job—but be more careful next time.”
I promptly promised that I would be incredibly cautious from here on out. It was impossible to say whether or not I truly meant that promise, but I was going to try anyway. I continued on with my story, skipping over the part where I’d forgotten my cell phone, because I knew that was going to cause problems. Instead, I told him that I had been jumped before I could get to it. Which really wasn’t that far off the mark.
Caleb was furious. “Who was he? What did you look like? Damnit, Abby, I need answers!”
“I’m sorry, I never got a look at his face,” I told him, feeling a sudden fresh spark of tears behind my eyes. I was trying to be clinical and detached, to keep myself from getting freaked out all over again by this asshole, but I couldn’t help it. He had jumped me, tried to drag me out of there.
I shuddered at what he might have done to me if that man hadn’t rescued me last night.
“It’s okay, princess,” Caleb told me soothingly, having evidently noticed my shift in mood. He was perceptive like that and I couldn’t help but love him all the more for it. “We’ll figure out who it is. Did you notice anything about him?”
I shook my head, which of course he couldn’t see, and sniffled. “No, I didn’t. I’m really sorry. But his car was black,” I offered. I knew it wasn’t going to do a damn bit of good, but it was all I had.
“Black?” Caleb asked keenly, immediately snapping up this lone, sad, and pathetic piece of information. “Did you notice anything else about it?”
“No, not really. It was a four door and the—” I swallowed heavily, “—the backseat was leather.” I cringed and suddenly felt dirty all over again. How lucky had I been to get away? To be rescued?
I heard Caleb sucking in a harsh breath and knew he was on the verge of killing something. Quickly, I continued. “The rims were silver and stock, I think. Other than that, I really don’t know.” As I was telling him all I could remember about the completely unremarkable car, something finally occurred to me. “And you know what? He didn’t get in it.”
“What?”
I explained about how the man had come and saved me, then explained that he’d chased the guy off. My attacker had fled not to his car, but instead to the fence, hopping it and disappearing into the night. “Maybe the car’s still parked at Riley’s!” I said, both hopeful and excited.
“What’s her address?”
I rattled it off for him and said that I’d call her as soon as I hung up to get the details.
“Don’t bother, princess. Let me handle this.”
I was on the verge of telling him that I didn’t need to be babied when I realized that I kind of did, at least when it came to all of this. It was nice to have his help and it made me feel better already to know that he was here and on my side.
It was almost enough to get me to come clean about everything else that had been going on. Almost. The weight of those terrible letters—and the phone calls—was pressing in on me daily. It made my smile strained, my shoulders tense. It meant that I was paranoid about things I had never been paranoid about before.
How many letters had I gotten from this psycho now? And sure, there was no proof that they were from the same guy who attacked me, but who else could they have been from?
I shuddered at the thought of him so close.
Your eyes are like bright stars hanging in the sky. They make me want to reach out and grab them, fold them up in my pocket, and carry them around with me forever.
The letters were all like that. They were worded almost as though they were love letters, just on the verge of being pretty enough to be sweet, but then he would always add something in that completely freaked me out. Stealing my eyes and keeping them in his pockets? How was that romantic?
I’d thought about going to the police, but…I just couldn’t do it. I thought I was overreacting. Now, I wasn’t so sure. But I knew that I couldn’t call the police if I was getting Caleb involved in all of this. He ran a mostly legitimate business, but though I never asked, I knew that he was also involved in drug dealing and other things that were most definitely not legal. I couldn’t risk him getting in trouble with the law because the police were digging around.
“Thank you, Uncle Caleb,” I finally said, chickening out before admitting that there were more incidents than just last night.
Maybe it was stupid of me, but I knew my uncle. If he caught wind of what was really going on, things would blow up. He’d go ballistic. And I would freak out over the phone. Just thinking of the letters and the awful phone calls made me want to throw up. How was I supposed to keep it together long enough to explain to him what was going on?
No, I couldn’t do it.
“You don’t need to thank me,” he told me fiercely. “I protect my own, and you are the best of what’s mine.”
I smiled a little at that. “I’m what you made me to be.”
He laughed at that. “Don’t be stupid, princess. You made yourself. Probably despite me.”
“You say tomato…”
After that, I told him I had better go, that I had things I needed to take care of today, but before I could hang up, he stopped me.
“Wait a minute, there’s one more thing we need to discuss.”
“What’s that?”
“Your bodyguard.”
# # #
That afternoon found me lounging out in the sun wearing the bikini that would allow for me to get the most evenly spread and wide covering tan. It meant that I was about three triangles shy of naked, but I didn’t care. In the safety and comfort of my own home, I’d wear what I wanted.
Despite arguing with Uncle Caleb for the better part of twenty minutes about why I did not need a bodyguard, he assured me that one would be stopping by later today.
I was not thrilled.
The man was going to be staying with me! Although my uncle was a good-looking man, I knew that he was not the posterchild for all bikers. Most of them were dirty and kind of disgusting. They had no manners to speak of and I could only imagine what they smelled like. Caleb took care of himself, but I didn’t have a lot of faith in the rest of his crew to do the same.
Unfortunately, once Caleb put his foot down, that was it. There was no way he’d renege on his promise to send me a bodyguard, one of his own, whether I liked it or not. And obviously I did not.
So now I was left to wait for whatever troll-like miscreant he decided to send me and hope that this all got resolved as quickly as possible.
A frown tugged at my full lips. Maybe I should have told Caleb the whole story. About the phone calls and the letters.
But it still made me sick to my stomach to even think about them. And if Caleb was freaking out now, I could only imagine what he would do if he discovered that I’d been receiving some very freaky correspondences from a “secret admirer.”
I was lost in my thoughts when April pushed open the large glass double doors that led from the back of the house to the pool where I was lounging. She was a pretty, petite thing and I always told her that she had movie star looks, but she insisted that she didn’t want to be an actress. Her parents had both been in the business—her father a philandering director and her mother a fly by night actress—and she had told me that they tried to get her into it as a child. Though she showed some mediocre talent that could have potentially been developed, she didn’t want the stress and the constant scrutiny that came with living her life constantly under a magnifying glass.
Most of the time I thought she was crazy, but lately I was beginning to think she had a point.
April worked for me as a “maid” but mostly I kept her around for a friend to gossip with, one who wasn’t going to turn around and run straight for the report
ers the first chance she got. April was my closest friend and I loved her dearly. To me, she was family and the closest thing I’d ever gotten to a sister.
That didn’t stop me from shooting her a murderous glance as soon as I noticed that she wasn’t alone. There was a hulking shadow of a man following behind her and I knew without being told that he was the bodyguard that my uncle had sent to protect me.
It made me instantly dislike him.
“Mr. Johnson, let me introduce my employer, Miss Abby Woodard.”
Steeling myself for the worst, I schooled my face into one of cool impassiveness. I wouldn’t let this man get under my skin, because I already knew his type. He’d be one of those men who thought he was god’s gift to women, like I couldn’t resist his charms by some twist of fate or the pheromones his unwashed body gave off. But I was around gorgeous men on a regular basis. My last boyfriend, Roberto, had been gorgeous. He was a Latin American male model and he was sculpted from that chiseled chin down to those perfectly shaped calves. His muscles made women around the world drool.
