Protecting the Heiress

by Martha Kennerson

  “Good, let’s talk more about this beginning of ours over dinner tonight. Oh, wait, I forgot it’s the annual turnaround for the chemical plants—ten days of maintenance activities and quality checks. Thankfully, they only need us for a day and a half. Robert and I are taking off for Beaumont after lunch. We’ll be back Thursday night, but I’m not sure how late I’ll be. How about Friday night, my place at seven?”

  “That works better for me, actually,” she said. “I need to work on the quarterly financial reports, as well as a preliminary status report for the celebrity personal protection division for this quarter’s board meeting.”

  A tight smile crawled across his face. “I’ll be looking forward to reading it, too.”

  “I’m sure you will,” she said, shaking her head.

  “Well, with all that paperwork, I won’t have to worry about you in the field.” Meeks smirked as he checked the time on his watch.

  “Don’t start, and I will be checking in on Tiffany. I need to keep her apprised of things and make sure she understands we won’t have anything on all that evidence we collected last night for a few days.”

  “That’s a phone call. She has her new best friend as her personal bodyguard to hold her hand, remember?” he reminded.

  “And she’s my client, remember that? That status hasn’t changed,” she countered with her hands on her hips.

  Meeks sighed. “As for our new status, until we figure out what this thing is between us...how serious it really is, maybe we should keep it to ourselves. You okay with that?”

  “I’m okay with that,” Francine said, nodding. She was still unable to believe everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours.

  “I got to go,” he said as he pulled her to her feet. “The guys are waiting, and I don’t want to be late. Walk me to the door.”

  Francine complied and kissed him as he leaned his back against the door and kept her in his arms.

  “If we don’t stop this, I’ll never get out of here,” he said, pulling open the door only to find Farrah standing with her hand frozen in midair, ready to knock.

  “So much for not telling anyone,” Meeks said, looking over his shoulder at Francine who was shaking her head. “Good morning, Farrah.”

  “Good morning, you two.” Farrah sauntered past Meeks and her sister and into the apartment, a slow, knowing smile spreading across her face. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun, and she was holding a box of doughnuts and a file folder, which meant she’d planned to stay a while.

  “I’m so not ready for this,” Francine murmured.

  “See you later,” Meeks said before leaning down to give Francine a kiss that had her toes curling and body craving more.

  Francine stood in the hallway and watched as Meeks disappeared into the elevator. She took a deep breath before moving into her apartment to deal with her sister.

  Chapter 14

  After pouring herself a cup of coffee, Farrah made her way into the living room and perched on the stool at the bar, giving her sister a quick once-over. Farrah was wearing a light blue Calvin Klein suit with blue stilettos, which meant that at some point during the day she would be seeing a judge. Farrah thought of blue as a power color that should be worn whenever she was in court or in front of a judge, regardless of the circumstances.

  “So... I see you two have worked out your issues...finally. How was last night?” Farrah asked.

  “Fine...nothing happened,” Francine said, swiping her sister’s cup and taking a sip.

  “What! What do you mean nothing happened? Come on, sis. Spill,” she urged as she went back into the kitchen to replace her stolen cup with another.

  Francine pushed out a slow breath and dropped her shoulders, surrendering. She took the stool next to her sister, smiled and said, “Things started to heat up between us until we had to join you back at the theater, and it was so late when we left the office last night, we went to our separate apartments. He just dropped by this morning so we could talk. That’s it. End of story.”

  Farrah sighed, opened the box she’d brought, extracted a chocolate cake doughnut and took a bite. “I’m so sorry, Cine,” she said, chewing around the treat.

  “No biggie...”

  “We both know that’s not true. So...how hot did it get?” Farrah asked, making her eyebrows dance.

  Francine laughed, shaking her head and index finger.

  “Seriously, Cine, what’s going on with you two?”

  “I don’t know, but we’re both finally ready to find out in spite of our business differences.” Francine covered her face with both hands and released a low, excited scream like a kid receiving a gift he had been wanting.

  Farrah laughed. “Good, you both deserve to be happy.”

  “Thanks, Farrah,” she said as she reached and pulled her sister into a hug.

  Farrah released Francine and leaned back into her chair. “So, is it safe to assume that you’ll be addressing his ‘Me Tarzan, You Jane’ attitude?” she asked, laughing.

  Francine giggled with her sister before finally saying, “We’re having dinner Friday night, and that will definitely be a topic up for discussion—especially since he told me to go hold Tiffany’s hand while he found out what was going on last night when we got back to the theater.”

  “Oh, no, he didn’t?” Farrah said, placing her hand on her hip.

  “Yes, he did.”

  “Tarzan!” Farrah threw her head back and laughed so hard she nearly fell off the stool. “He just can’t seem to help himself.”

  “I know. Ever since I got shot, he and Dad have been hovering. Then they wonder why I feel the need to prove to everyone that I’m fine.” Francine released an exasperated sigh.

  “You are fine, aren’t you?” Farrah said, offering her sister a supportive smile.

  “Yes, I am. I’ll admit at first it was difficult adjusting...getting back to normal, but I have, and I really wish Meeks would recognize that already.”

  “Oh, sweetie.” Farrah took her sister’s hand and squeezed it. “It just doesn’t matter. He’s been watching over and pining after you for years. Meeks doesn’t care that you’re a double black belt and can shoot damn near any weapon known to man. He lets his fear get the best of him at times, but I’m sure you’ll work it out. Even if you can’t admit it yet, you two love each other too much for it not to.”

  Francine’s emotions prevented her from speaking. She smiled and nodded as she wiped away tears she couldn’t hold back. After a couple of moments, she pushed out a deep breath. “Enough about me and Meeks,” Francine said as she reached for a glazed doughnut. “Why are you going to court?”

  Farrah’s forehead creased. “I’m not going to court today. What makes you ask that?”

  “Really? Let’s see. Blue power suit, sky high heels and your hair pulled back so tight my head hurts,” she said as she washed down her doughnut with coffee.

  “Yeah, well, Miss Smarty Pants, I’m not in court today. I have a meeting with Judge Cutter,” she said with a smug expression.

  Francine frowned and shuddered slightly at the memory of the man who, after meeting her for the first time, eyed her up and down at a party and actually licked his lips and winked at her. He’d followed all that up with a sloppy pass. “Roger Cutter...why are you meeting with him?”

  “He was the presiding judge on a couple of cases brought against Tiffany’s former security agency, and I’m hoping there’s something he can share without crossing any lines.”

  “Roger Cutter not crossing ethical lines? That would be a first,” Francine said, not even trying to hide her dislike for the man.

  Judge Cutter was new to the bench. While he was ten years older than the sisters, his movie-star good looks and shoulder-length blond hair made him look like he was much younger. He’
d been appointed after his predecessor died unexpectedly last year from a mysterious virus. He had also been one of Farrah’s law professors, and he’d flirted with her throughout her senior year. While Farrah didn’t think the attention he paid her was that big of a deal since he’d never crossed any lines, it amounted to sexual harassment in Francine’s eyes.

  “I’m hoping he’ll be able to shed some light on a few things that have come to my attention.”

  Francine perked up. “Like what...what did you find out? Anything about Tiffany’s boyfriends?” Francine reached for the hair clip that Meeks had removed the night before and put her hair back up. A smile she couldn’t have stopped if she wanted to spread across her face as she remembered what happened after he removed the clip. Focus, girl.

  While they had a crack research team at their disposal, and Robert and Meeks were very good at what they did, no one could dig up dirt like Farrah, and no one had her contacts. She always went beyond the surface of any investigation, especially one that piqued her interest like this one had.

  Farrah pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear and picked up the manila folder she’d brought with her. “Well, it seems that the lovely Tiffany failed to mention that bodyguard boyfriend number one, a Mr. Lee Jergens, whom she dated off and on for two years, was freelance, but had been her exclusive bodyguard for six months before they started dating. When Tiffany’s first movie blew up, they moved her security to the Bluebonnet Agency, which Mr. Morgan owns a pretty big portion of, too—something he failed to mention,” she said, shaking her head and rolling her eyes.

  “Seriously?” Francine coughed and nearly choked on her coffee. “How did the guys miss this?”

  “It was a connection he tried his damnedest to keep covered up,” she explained, flipping through her files. “Believe me, it was buried deep under several shell corporations. I’m sure they would have found it eventually, but I reached out to a couple of forensic accountants I know in the banking industry that owed me a few favors and had them take a closer look into Tiffany’s and Mr. Morgan’s financials. They found several discrepancies with Mr. Morgan, so I had them track the money, and it gets worse. He’s been pilfering Tiffany’s accounts for years, too.”

  Francine got up and walked into her kitchen. She pulled out eggs, cheese and a prepackaged veggie bowl from her refrigerator.

  “Wow. Wait, if Bill Morgan owns a portion of Bluebonnet, why did he want to change security companies and give us the business? I mean, losing that contract means he lost millions,” Francine said as she reached for a couple of plates and grabbed a small pan out of the cabinet. She started tapping eggs against the countertop. “I’m going to make an omelet. Want one?”

  “No, thanks,” Farrah said, waving off her sister. “That’s just it, he didn’t—Tiffany did. She may be young, but she’s still the boss. Besides, I’m willing to bet she didn’t even know about Mr. Morgan’s stake in Bluebonnet. She probably just wanted to get away from all her ex-boyfriends.”

  “So was Tiffany still dating Jergens once they moved to Bluebonnet?” Francine asked as she cracked open two eggs into her heated pan, broke the yokes and added the cheese and veggie mixture.

  “Well, Jergens got a job with Bluebonnet to try to stay close to her. However, Bluebonnet had something else in mind,” Farrah said.

  “Let me guess the rest,” Francine said as she flipped her omelet closed. “Jergens wasn’t put on Tiffany’s security detail, and she moved on but he didn’t.” Francine slid her omelet onto a plate. She let her food cool while she put her ingredients away and dirty dishes in the dishwasher.

  “Basically, that’s what happened. He tried to get both Bill and Tiffany to hire him back as her personal security freelancer so he could stay close to Tiffany, but Tiffany had already moved into an intimate relationship with bodyguard Sam Mitch, and she didn’t want Jergens around complicating things.”

  Francine shook her head. “I should say not. Do we know where Mr. Jergens is now?” she asked, retaking the seat next to her sister and biting into her eggs.

  “Not yet. I put a team on it first thing this morning,” Farrah said, reaching over, picking up the fork and taking a bite of her sister’s omelet.

  “You know I hate it when you do that,” Francine said.

  Farrah laughed. “I know.”

  “Did I not ask you if you wanted me to make you one?” Francine snatched back her fork.

  “Dang, Cine, I just wanted a bite,” Farrah complained.

  “A big bite!” Francine said.

  “All right... I’m sorry. It’s really good,” Farrah said, giving her a cheeky smile.

  Francine returned her smile and said, “Thanks. So, has Robert been brought up to speed on any of this?” Francine asked.

  “Yeah, I talked to him about it this morning,” she said.

  Francine’s eyes narrowed at her sister. “Farrah...did you spend the night with Robert?” she asked.

  Francine knew that Robert and Farrah had a pretty obvious and intense flirtation going on, but that’s all she thought it was. After all, her sister had been pretty vocal about not dating playboys, and everyone knew Robert was one of the biggest on the planet. The man was rich and gorgeous, tall, had a perfect athletic body, fair skin that was always tanned and crystal blue eyes. He could and did have just about any woman that he wanted. And it was pretty clear that he wanted Farrah.

  “Calm down, Cine,” Farrah said with a chuckle. “And no, I didn’t. We were both in the gym working out this morning, so I told him then. He plans to tell Meeks everything after they meet with the team, before they leave for Beaumont to handle the chemical plant’s annual security reviews.”

  “That should make our dinner Friday night even more interesting,” Francine said.

  “Yep, and you know he’s going to try to get you to walk away from this case again. And this time...he’ll use his secret weapon on you,” Farrah said, wiggling her eyebrows. “A weapon that won’t be a secret long, and one I don’t think you’ll be immune to.”

  Francine tried to ignore her sister, but she knew she was right. Now that she and Meeks had acknowledged that there was something pretty significant between them in spite of their business differences, Francine was afraid he would try to use it to his advantage. “You know, the best defense is a good offense,” she said with a wicked smile.

  Farrah returned her smile and winked. “That’s my girl.”

  Chapter 15

  Meeks had been having a difficult time concentrating on work since he’d left Francine’s place that morning. All he could think about was how beautiful she was. How she tasted, what it felt like to have her lips wrapped around his throbbing manhood. His wayward thoughts had him fidgeting in his chair. Thank goodness Robert was wrapping up the meeting for him; otherwise, he’d have to do it from a seated position.

  Robert had just dismissed the team when he pulled Meeks aside and brought him up to speed on Tiffany’s case.

  “Damn it. I knew we should have walked away from this one. It’s bad enough that this girl is being stalked. Now we find out that her manager—former guardian—has been stealing money from her, too. This is going to be messy,” Meeks said as he walked into his office and made his way around to his desk. He sat in the large leather chair behind his father’s antique cherry wood desk. Meeks had kept his father’s old office basically the same since the day he’d moved into it.

  “Why the hell didn’t you pick up on any of this during your initial search? Are you losing your touch?”

  Robert’s forehead creased. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just ask me that. We both know how deep Farrah’s connections go in the financial and legal worlds, not to mention they’re mostly women that she works with. And you know how good females are at getting the dirt on people.”

  Both men laughed.

  �
��True. Sorry.” Meeks sighed. “Man, I’m getting a bad feeling about this case, and I want Francine as far away from this as possible.”

  “Well, you know that’s not going to happen,” Robert said before he took a drink from his water bottle.

  Meeks got up from his desk and gazed out his window. “We’ll see. Ever since Francine got shot, she seems more determined than ever to prove something.”

  “Prove what?” Robert asked.

  “I wish I knew,” Meeks said, turning back to face his friend.

  “I know you two are having some issues right now...”

  A wide smile crept across Meeks’s face. He couldn’t help but remember how he and Francine had started their night. Meeks let his mind wander to how it felt to kiss those beautiful full lips, to run his tongue up her inner thigh and how she screamed his name—

  “Meeks...”

  Meeks snapped out of his trance before his thoughts continued down a path that would have had his body responding in a way that would embarrass both men.

  “What?” Meeks asked, returning to his chair where he started checking his email.

  Distraction...distraction is the key.

  Robert stared at Meeks for a moment and tilted his head to one side. “You didn’t....did you?” After a few moments his mouth dropped. “You did!”

  “So who did you assign to find this Jergens?” Meeks asked.

  “Jasper. And nice try on changing the subject,” Robert said as he got up and headed for the door. “I hope you know what you’re doing. Francine is not one to be played with, my friend.”

  “Don’t I know it,” Meeks murmured, flicking his pen against the desk.

  Meeks spent a few moments trying to figure out how to convince Francine to bow out of this case. It might have been months since she’d been shot, but to Meeks, the pain and fear of that day were still very fresh. Just the thought of her getting hurt again stopped him in his tracks. While he knew it wouldn’t be easy, he figured now that they were finally willing to explore their feelings for each other, he had a lot more say in what she did. Meeks hadn’t told Francine how he felt about her yet, but he certainly intended to. Surprisingly, he was actually looking forward to it.