Rian made his way to CoCo, wearing his confidence like an expensive suit. Women like CoCo responded to that alpha vibe even if they tried to pretend otherwise, at least that’s what experience told him so that’s what he was going with.
Walking straight up to her, ignoring the curious stares and the murmurs, he snagged CoCo’s attention with a mesmerizing look that never failed to catch the ladies. Kane liked to call it Rian’s “C’mere, girl” look and never missed an opportunity to razz him about it, but so far it’d served him well, and who was he to argue with success?
If Rian were a different kind of man and CoCo wasn’t part of the job, he might be all over that sizzling Italian number. She was enough to make a man change his religion but Rian knew that beyond that model face and body was a headache and a half, and he didn’t deal in drama.
CoCo’s almond-shaped eyes narrowed with interest as she boldly appraised his body, the corners of her lush mouth tilting in an intrigued smile as he went straight to her. “Some party,” he said by way of hello.
“And you are?” she asked, lifting one perfectly groomed eyebrow.
He leaned in, catching a whiff of her delicate perfume, and answered, “The man you’re going home with,” and her amused laughter tickled his insides.
“It’s my house, so I’m not going home with anyone,” she said, moving away with a sly grin that bordered on flirtatious, glancing over her shoulder as she added, “But maybe if you’re lucky, you can stay, country boy.”
And then she was gone, melting into the crowd, leaving him and his girl-gettin’ smile behind. Well, hot damn. That hadn’t worked as well as he’d hoped. Time for plan B, though admittedly, plan B...was a lot less fun.
He was also willing to bet CoCo wouldn’t like plan B at all.
* * *
AS FAR AS hosting parties went, CoCo held the distinction for holding the best, and this one was no exception, but for some reason she was bored out of her mind and wished everyone would just go home already. However, that wasn’t likely to happen. It was only midnight and it was just getting rowdier. She surveyed the writhing masses grinding to the beat and she wondered if there was anything left to excite her. Poor rich-girl problems. She wanted to get away from the noise, and considered leaving altogether, but then she didn’t trust all these people in her mother’s home without some sort of supervision and opted instead to retreat to a less crowded area of the house.
As she pushed past the people clogging the entryways, she thought of the stranger who’d managed to gain entrance into the party. It was possible he was a friend of someone she’d invited but his was a face she wouldn’t have forgotten.
It wasn’t often that a guy managed to catch CoCo’s attention like that and it’d taken every ounce of self-control she had not to take the bait. Talk about a killer smile, and those eyes! He was the hottest thing she’d seen in LA thus far and that was saying a lot. CoCo ran in elite circles where handsome and rich were the norm.
But there’d been something rugged about the man, even though he wore a tailored suit and flashed a designer watch. Her father had always told her that you could tell a lot about a man by his watch and his shoes. Considering her father was a world-renowned Italian shoe designer, she took his word to heart. She wound her way past the throng of people, making her way to the kitchen to grab a bottled water and to escape the craziness for just a minute.
“CoCo, baby, there you are, I’ve been looking for that sweet ass of yours all night.”
CoCo turned in time for Drake Pennington to drape himself over her as if she were his own personal coatrack, and she rolled her eyes in irritation at the man’s drunken pawing. Sleep with a man once and he thinks he has the right to a booty call anytime he’s horny. She removed Drake’s arm with a scowl. “Go somewhere and sober up,” she said, trying to extricate herself from his grip as he pulled her to him. “It was a onetime thing and not likely to be offered again,” she told him with distaste.
“Don’t be like that, CoCo,” he chastised her as he tried to nuzzle her neck, abrading her tender skin with his chin stubble. “You and I are like two mirroring souls, destiny and all that. It’s a shame to let all that hot tail go to waste, baby. I got what you need right here.”
“Poetic and total shit. You’re drunk. Let me go,” she said. “Don’t make me toss you out. I’m in no mood for your crap tonight.”
Drake ignored her threat and squeezed her ass, eliciting a squeak of alarm as he pressed her against the stainless-steel refrigerator. “Here’s how I see this going down... You and I are going to go to your room for a little privacy and we’re going to relive some good times. Sound like a plan?”
“Sounds like a nightmare. You’re a selfish lover and you slobber like a dog,” she said coolly, trying to remain calm even though Drake was freaking her out. Maybe she’d underestimated Drake’s feelings for her. Wouldn’t be the first time a man fell in love with her after sex.
She pushed at him but he stuck like glue, the alcohol dulling his good sense. “You’re embarrassing yourself,” she said, mildly alarmed that Drake seemed deaf to her blatant answer of hell no. “Drake, stop it.” But he continued to nuzzle her neck and slobber all over her as if she were an ice cream cone, which only brought back the unfortunate memory of sleeping with him. What had she been thinking? If she could go back in time... She shoved at him again, trying to put some space between them. “What are you doing, you idiot! I swear I’ll scream and bring this whole party rushing in if you don’t stop.”
“Now you’re talking. Let’s do it in front of everyone. Kinky!”
Ugh! What a pervert! Was she going to have to scream to get him off her? Why’d she let Stella invite him? CoCo kicked up her struggle but just as she opened her mouth to yell for help, Drake was suddenly ripped away from her and tossed to the floor like a rag doll, and CoCo found herself staring at the hot stranger she’d talked to earlier.
“You really should pick better friends,” he said, picking Drake up from the floor and manhandling him straight to the door before tossing him out. “Let him sleep it off on the front lawn.”
Oh, thank God. That could’ve been embarrassing. CoCo’s relief was short-lived as she realized he’d just vaguely insulted her. “Excuse me?” she bristled. “Do I even know you? How’d you get into my party?”
“You have a funny way of showing gratitude,” he said. “A simple thank-you would be just fine.”
“I don’t recall asking for your help. I can handle Drake on my own. He’s basically harmless.”
“Yeah, it looked like you were doing a bang-up job of handling things. Tell me, at what point were you going to admit that you were in over your head? About the point when he started ripping your clothes off?”
“Don’t be such an alarmist. That wouldn’t have happened. Drake isn’t a rapey kind of guy.”
“Could’ve fooled me. In my world, when a woman says no, it means exactly that. Didn’t seem that your friend was getting the message.”
Her cheeks burned at the mere possibility that Drake might’ve taken things too far. Drake was pretty drunk. He probably wouldn’t even remember getting tossed outside.
“Still choking on that thank-you?”
Smart-ass. “If I had something to be thankful for, I wouldn’t have a problem saying it. But as I said, I had things under control,” she maintained stubbornly, even if there was a niggling doubt that maybe Drake might’ve been a little too jacked up to listen to reason. “However, since you seem stuck on the need to hear it...thanks for handling a mildly embarrassing situation,” she said stiffly. “Now answer my question... Just who are you?”
He sighed as if she’d just responded exactly as expected and found it disappointing, then said, “Glad you asked.” He produced credentials and a business card, which she accepted with open confusion. Elite Protection Services, Rian Dalton. She r
egarded him with a faint frown as he continued. “Your father has hired me to watch over you for the next couple of days while the FBI figures out who’s been threatening him.”
She returned the card with an irritated exhale. “Chill out on the panic button. Your services aren’t required. I don’t need a babysitter. My father is just being overly protective.”
“Your father started receiving death threats about a week ago. In the interest of your safety, your father has hired me to make sure that no one gets any bright ideas about kidnapping his only heir for ransom.”
“As if that would happen,” CoCo said, bored. “People don’t get kidnapped. That happens on television and in the movies but not in real life.”
“And here I thought you were smarter than that but apparently, you’re pretty comfortable with the blonde stereotype.”
She stared. Okay, that was definitely an insult. What a jerk. When her father had told her about the threats, she’d tried to reassure him that it was nothing but he’d been so freaked out. Now it seemed she should’ve worked harder to talk some sense into him. But first, she needed to send this prick packing. “As I said, your services aren’t required. Thank you for your assistance earlier but I think we’re done here.”
“I don’t work for you, sassy pants. I work for your father.”
“Well, I’ll call my father tomorrow and let him know that I can take care of myself.”
“Fine by me, but until then, I’m your shadow.”
She narrowed her gaze. “And just what does that mean?”
“Exactly what you think it means.”
CoCo shook her head. There was no way she was going to be trailed by this man for the next few days. He was already stomping on her nerves. “That’s not going to happen. I refuse. What then?”
“Then the next few days will be awkward and uncomfortable for us both. The fact is, your daddy paid me a shit-ton of money to watch over your spoiled ass and, pardon me, frankly I’m not sure you’re worth the money, but it’s his dime so here I stay.”
“How dare you!” She’d never been so boldly dissed in her life and she didn’t like it. “You don’t have the right to talk to me like that.”
Rian smirked. “Yeah, I call ’em as I see ’em and that’s a fact. I know all about you, CoCo Abelli. For that matter, who doesn’t? You’re a spoiled heiress with daddy issues and you’re always in the spotlight for doing something dumb. Usually getting drunk and falling all over yourself or something like that. Made quite a reputation for yourself and, to be honest, I didn’t want this job. In fact, I tried to refuse, but your daddy seems to think that his daughter deserves the best so here I am. Far be it from me to refuse good money even if I think it’s a fool’s errand. So do us both a favor and march your butt into your room and stay there for the rest of the night, because this party is a security nightmare. You don’t really think all these people are your friends, right?”
CoCo could only stare. No one spoke to her like that. No one! And it hurt. She was more than just a paparazzi payday. “Are you finished?” she asked. When Rian simply folded his arms across his chest and waited, she stared him down with all the European disdain she had flowing through her veins and said, “Not only are you finished with this job... I’m going to see to it that you never work in this town again.”
“Good luck, honey. Better people than you have tried—and failed. But don’t do me no favors. Being let go from this detail would be the biggest blessing of the year.”
What could she say to that? He wasn’t pulling any punches and she had no doubt that he was being truthful. He truly didn’t want the job, which only made her feel like a boil on someone’s butt. She wasn’t going to win any arguments with him at the moment and she wasn’t going to waste her time trying, especially when she was a bit dulled from all the alcohol. “I won’t lower myself to your level, Mr. Dalton,” she said icily. “Stay if you choose but I am not going to my room like some child. I have people to entertain.”
“Ah, yes, the nip-slip hasn’t quite occurred yet, right? Don’t want to miss out on that.”
She glared. “Screw you.”
“No, thanks. I don’t mix business with pleasure.”
Her blood boiled but she wasn’t about to make a scene. Lifting her chin, she turned on her heel and deliberately left him behind. She had to get away from that man. What was her father thinking hiring a thug like him?
She went straight to the bar and ordered a whiskey sour. She’d just managed to down it when Stella sidled up to her, nearly falling down drunk. “Who was that hottie you were talking to in the kitchen?” she slurred. “He’s the freshest meat in this place. I call dibs!”
“You can have him,” CoCo muttered even though she knew Stella wouldn’t remember a thing they were saying. She was nearly at puke level.
“Have you seen Drake? He was looking for you. You two are so cute together...”
“Drake is a slime,” she said, her thoughts still centered on Rian and how she’d like to wipe that smirk off his smug face. Stella giggled and CoCo wished her friend were at least halfway sober so she could tell her what’d happened, but she knew it was pointless to try to get Stella to focus right now. “Are you staying here tonight?” she asked.
“Only if I don’t get lucky,” Stella answered with a drunken giggle, swiveling around to survey the crowd with bleary eyes. “Now, where did Mr. Hottie run off to?”
She ought to sic Stella on Rian. That ought to keep him busy for a bit. But even as the uncharitable thought raced through her mind, she discarded it. The last thing she needed was Stella hooking up with the man her father had hired to protect her. It was bad enough he was here at all, no sense in making things worse.
Besides, if CoCo wasn’t getting lucky—neither was her jerk of a bodyguard.
3
HE PROBABLY SHOULDN’T have come down so hard on her—she was the client’s daughter after all. If Kane were here, he’d knock him in the head for running his mouth when he ought to keep it shut, but there was something about the woman that unhinged his jaw.
He wasn’t a stranger to spoiled heiresses but CoCo Abelli took the ever-loving cake. The girl wouldn’t know how to be grateful if someone had saved her life, which is exactly what her father was trying to do. Personally, Rian thought Enzo ought to cut his losses with this one, because she was clearly ruined beyond repair. The only thing CoCo cared about was herself or the next party. Maybe it would do her some good to have a little scare. But that wasn’t his place. Maybe with some luck CoCo would convince her father that his services weren’t needed and he could go on with his life. One could hope.
Throughout the night he kept an eye on CoCo as she partied until the wee hours of the morning, as if purposefully thumbing her nose at him, and by the time the sun rose and everyone had left Rian felt as wrung out as he had during a night watch in Afghanistan. Watching over this girl would be no picnic.
CoCo, her eyes red from a night of hard alcohol and who knew what else, ignored Rian and stumbled to her bed. He rounded up the rest of the stragglers and booted them from the house, finally able to breathe a little easier. The Malibu beach house wasn’t the most secure location. Too many points of entry to defend. If someone were looking to kidnap CoCo, they could practically waltz in and snatch her without breaking a sweat. So that meant they weren’t staying here for the next few days. He figured that news was going to go over like a turd in a punch bowl. He kind of relished the idea of giving her that news. He got the impression not many people told CoCo what to do and when. That was her problem. She’d been indulged way too much in her life. Time for a reality check. The fact that she didn’t believe she was in any danger went to show just how naive she was.
He did another perimeter check and secured all the doors and then decided to take a catnap. He was a light sleeper by nature but his years in combat
had trained him to sleep with one eye open. If anyone tried to get past him, he would know it.
He rarely dreamed or if he did he didn’t remember the details. Sometimes when he woke he was left with a hazy idea that he’d dreamed of something but most times it was just a blank canvas. So why did he have the most vivid dream of CoCo? Sun-bronzed skin, a tiny bikini and that achingly beautiful body—correction, it wasn’t a dream, it was a nightmare. He didn’t want to be dreaming of CoCo like that. He didn’t want to think of her in any way except as an annoying client. It was bad business to mess around with the clients.
After about two hours Rian’s cell phone jerked him awake and he saw that it was Kane.
“Yeah, what’s up?” he asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
“I wanted to check and see how things are going with our newest client. I figured you were on the job last night. Everything cool?”
“I guess you could say that. She’s a nightmare just as I expected. I chased off some guy mauling her in the kitchen and did I get an ounce of thanks? No. She’s an ungrateful bitch and frankly, I’m thinking that giant payday wasn’t nearly enough. Maybe I can tack on a handling fee for my pain and suffering.”
“I thought you said that you tried to refuse the job.”
“I did. I’m just cranky from getting two hours of sleep.”
“You always were grouchy if you didn’t get your full eight hours. You’re such a prima donna. Do you have a plan for the next couple of days?”
“Try not to kill the woman myself?”
“Come on now, I’m serious. The Abelli account is a pretty big payday. Just treat it like any other.”
Rian didn’t need his big brother lecturing him. “This isn’t my first rodeo. I know what I’m doing. If I need your help, I’ll ask for it.”
“Well, aren’t you a bowl of cherries this morning? Get yourself together. Act professional. So what if she’s not the kind of person you want to go have lunch with. That’s probably a good thing—I’ve seen pictures of her. She’s not hard on the eyes. The last thing I need is you messing around with a client because she’s pretty.”
Sex, Lies and Designer Shoes Page 2
