Player

by T. N. King

  “What happened?” His voice was so calm and smooth.

  “A man…tried to grab me.” She shook her head violently. “I can’t…I can’t do it again.”

  “Okay, okay. No one is going to do anything to you now. Whoever it was is gone. Mr. Black is out there guarding you now, and I’m right here.”

  There was something very soothing about being in Jensen’s arms. He stayed with her until she was okay and then ordered Thai for dinner.

  “Come down stairs with me. Dinner will be here soon.”

  She followed him down and sat on the couch, watching Jensen lay a blanket on the rug in front of the fireplace.

  “I called to have your door fixed but it won’t be done until morning. I don’t feel comfortable with you staying up there with no protection.”

  She had a feeling she knew where this was going.

  “If you don’t feel comfortable staying in this part of the house with me, I can get you a hotel room.”

  “Oh.” She smiled. “That would be nice. Thank you.”

  The doorbell rang with their dinner and Mr. Black walked in from the other side of the house. While Jensen paid for the food, Megan saw Mr. Black. She jumped off the couch and ran toward the door with a look of panic on her face. Jensen grabbed a hold of her and put her against the wall, protecting her with his body. When he turned to see her perpetrator, he put his head down.

  “Is this the man who attacked you?”

  She nodded.

  “Damn. I feel like a shit-heel now.”

  “What?”

  “I never introduced you to Mr. Black.”

  “This…is your security guard?”

  “I am so sorry. I completely forgot you never actually met him.”

  “I didn’t attack her,” Mr. Black said. His voice was very monotone, much like it was the day she called for the job offer. “I tried to stop her, to question her on who she was.”

  Jensen looked at the both of them and shrugged. “Thai anyone?”

  Mr. Black declined and let Jensen know he would stay on for the night.

  Jensen and Megan got comfortable on the living room rug, ate Thai and drank wine.

  “You finished out your first week. What do you think? Are you going to stay on?”

  “As long as there are no other surprises waiting for me around the corner.”

  “I’ll make sure of it.” His eyes sparked.

  “I’m sorry about dinner.”

  “It wasn’t your fault. You’ll have plenty of time to make it up to me,” he said smiling. “Can I ask you something personal?”

  “Sure, I guess so.”

  “Why are you afraid?”

  “I’m not,” she said defensively.

  “Megan, something in your life has made you afraid of men.”

  She put her head down for a minute. Maybe it was the wine, or maybe she just knew she could trust him.

  “They seem to like to take advantage of me.”

  “How?”

  “Usually sex.” She bit her lip. “My father, ex-bosses, even an old boyfriend.”

  “Your own father?” His eyes narrowed and his face got dark.

  “He wasn’t my real father. I never knew my real parents. They left me when I was a baby.”

  “What happened?”

  “They dropped me off at an orphanage.”

  “Jesus Megan.”

  “It’s okay. I got adopted out to a really nice family for a while.”

  “For a while? What happened?”

  “Drunk driver took their lives.” She picked at her fingernail. “Another family adopted me soon after that but they weren’t so nice. He would touch me and she would deny it. Accuse me of wanting attention. She would scream at me telling me I was trying to steal him from her. Called me all sorts of things.” She laughed a small laugh as if she thought back on a fond memory. “He said he had the best eighteenth birthday gift ever, but needed to give it to me in private. I wasn’t going to stick around to find out what it was. I took off, never saw them again.”

  Jensen looked away.

  Chapter 6

  “Wake up sleepy head.”

  Megan opened her eyes, a dull ache in the back of her head. Sitting up from the couch, she looked around. Jensen stood next to her already dressed in his perfect trousers and pressed shirt. She wondered if he ever looked bad.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “My head hurts.” Her mouth was dry like cotton.

  Jensen handed her a glass of water and two small pills. “I figured after the four glasses of wine, you might need these.”

  “That’s all I had, and I feel like this?” She took the water and popped the pills into her mouth, washing them down with half the glass.

  “You’re not used to drinking and you don’t eat like you should.”

  “Spare me the lecture.”

  “I’m going to London for a few days. I’d like for you to come with me.”

  Megan looked at him and smiled. “You do?”

  “I have some business to attend to and will be staying at the penthouse. I’d like to introduce you to the place and let you know what your duties will be.”

  “Oh, yes of course.”

  “You have the weekend for yourself, of course. We will be staying until Monday evening so you can work Monday.”

  “I’ll go and get ready.”

  “What would you like for breakfast?”

  “I’m not hungry right now.”

  Jensen didn’t move from where he stood and he didn’t take his eyes off her. “That is not what I asked.”

  Megan wasn’t going to win this one. “A grapefruit and some granola would be fine. Thank you.”

  He nodded, seemingly satisfied with her answer, and disappeared into the kitchen.

  After her shower, she gathered her things for the next few days and met Jensen in the kitchen. On the table, where she sat was a grapefruit, sectioned, a bowl of granola, a bowl of strawberries, a glass of milk and a small bowl of oatmeal. She didn’t want all of it but she would rather pick at what he gave her than try to send it back.

  “I will be leaving within the hour so try to be ready. Everything you need for work will be there.”

  “Then, I’m ready to go.” She stood up from the table.

  “No you’re not. Sit down and eat.” He stood there for a few moments before disappearing to let her know he meant business.

  When she walked out to his car, he was already standing there waiting for her. He took her bag and put it in the back. When she got in, he handed her two books. She looked at them and blushed. They were the next in the series she had already started. “Just in case you want to read.” He walked around and got into the driver’s seat, starting the engine and speeding out of the driveway toward his penthouse.

  It wasn’t long before they were pulling into the driveway. He pulled into a small carport underneath the building and hit a button from inside his car.

  “Why do you own two places so close together?” she asked, watching the sunlight disappear from behind them.

  “I actually have four places here in London, as well as three others in Oxford and one in Brussels. Real estate is good here. I like to diversify my investments.”

  “Wow.” She climbed out of the car and looked around. The whole back of the carport closed down and locked into place. He led her to the side and opened a glass door. They walked onto a lift and within moments were standing in the middle of a very beautiful living room. It was nothing like his mansion. Very structured with windows covering just about every wall in the place.

  Small lights illuminated the rooms, reflecting off the glass just right, causing a very romantic feel. The furniture and décor was very modern. “This is very beautiful.”

  “Thank you. Let me show you around.”

  He took her from room to room, showing her the different aspects of the modernized home.

  “This button,” he pointed to a panel on the wall in the living room,
“pulls out the remote for the entire room.” He pressed the button and a section of the wall eased out. A series of buttons allowed for remote access to dim the lights, regulate the surround sound, operate the television embedded into the other wall, operate the curtains and even summons emergency personnel if needed. “There is also a hand held on the table over there that operates the same way.”

  “This place is just amazing.”

  “You’ll be staying in this room when we are here.” He allowed her to enter before him.

  She gasped. The entire back wall was a window overlooking the city. A very large bed took up the center of the room with a flat screen television at the foot of it. Behind the television was a large porcelain bath tub illuminated in lights from above. The back wall beside the tub consisted of rope lights inside the glass and encased a shelf with beauty supplies. The ceiling twinkled with small white lights and the carpeting was black.

  “Will this do?”

  Megan turned toward him and stared with her mouth open. She merely nodded and walked in further. She was captivated by her new world of beauty and sophistication. The places she slept, the beauty around her, the way Jensen took care of her, the way he looked at her, she wanted to be a part of it all. She wanted to let down her barriers but she didn’t know how. She was always the one who served the rich while being slammed down by the ones she needed to trust. She never dreamed she could be a part of something good. Even though she was working for Jensen Dean, she felt more a part of his life than she had ever felt with anyone else.

  She turned back toward him and smiled. “It’s amazing what you can have with the right bank account.”

  “Money isn’t everything.”

  “I wouldn’t know.”

  He looked at her until she had to turn away.

  “I’ll be in meetings all afternoon so you’ll be on your own. You can take my car into the city if you’d like.”

  “You’re working on Saturday?”

  “I usually do, to a degree.” He turned and walked out of her room. “If you decide to go into the city, just let me know.”

  She watched the landscape go by as Mr. Black drove, keeping him in her peripheral vision. She thought she was going alone. She was not looking forward to spending her day with Jensen’s head security. She was still uneasy about what happened the day before, swearing he tried to grab her. But, all of that aside, he never talked and he acted so straight-laced, she was sure he didn’t know what fun was. She wanted to ditch him as soon as they got parked.

  “I think I am going to do some window shopping when we get there.”

  He didn’t say a word, keeping his head straight as he drove.

  “What are your plans?” She waited for a response, and still nothing. She looked out the window.

  He found a parking lot and pulled in. Megan quickly got out and walked toward Soho. “What time do you want to meet back here?” she asked quickly.

  “I’ve been instructed to escort you around the city.”

  “You don’t have to do that. I know my way around.”

  He locked the doors and walked up to her, waiting for to pick her direction.

  “I won’t tell if you don’t,” she joked.

  He didn’t move.

  “Ugh.” She threw her hands up and started walking. “Your choice.” She got down the street and looked behind her. Mr. Black was about fifteen feet behind her and kept up as he needed to.

  After a few shops and some small purchases with her first paycheck, she figured he would be bored of her. “Are you sure you don’t have something you want to do? You don’t have to babysit me.” She looked at him feeling frustrated that he wouldn’t respond to her. She shook her head and went into a coffee shop. “Would you like anything?”

  Mr. Black shook his head and stood behind her as she ordered a small mocha Frappuccino, a small black coffee and a crepe with blueberries. She sat close to the front window to feel the sun and gave the coffee to him.

  “I don’t drink coffee.”

  “Sit down, please? I’m not going to sit here while you hover over me like some sort of body guard.” She watched him for what seemed like a long time until he sat down across from her. She was shocked when he did. She slid the coffee to him. “Just hold it like you want it.”

  They sat there in awkward silence until she finally couldn’t take it any longer. “Tell me about working for Jensen.”

  He kept his eyes focused outside for a few moments before turning his head slowly toward her. It gave her the creeps but she was determined to at least try to talk to him.

  “There is nothing to tell. I keep things secure and he pays me well.”

  “What do you do outside of work?”

  “It is personal, none of your business.”

  She was getting nowhere. She turned toward the window and sipped on her coffee.

  “I wanted to apologize to you for scaring the shit out of you yesterday.”

  Megan looked back at him, shocked that he actually spoke of something on his own. “It’s…it’s okay. “

  “I wasn’t briefed on who you were.”

  “It’s fine,” she smiled. “You’re just lucky I didn’t know karate or something.” She attempted a laugh. He didn’t respond, leaving her feeling more awkward than she did before he said anything. “I’m getting pretty tired. I’d like to go back to Jensen’s if that’s okay.”

  As if she remotely controlled him, Mr. Black got up and walked out of the coffee shop, standing outside the door until she joined him.

  She was glad to get back to the penthouse. She looked forward to seeing Jensen and having some real conversation. They pulled into the driveway and parked. As she got out of the car she heard a woman screaming profanity. She quickly looked at Mr. Black who was already running toward the carport.

  She ran after him and went inside. He had a blond haired woman in a very quickly maneuvered arm lock, escorting her off the premises. The woman was struggling to get away from him and cursing at him.

  “Why can’t I get upstairs? Let me go! I will have your job you low life son-of-a-bitch! Where is Jensen? Get your disgusting hands off me!”

  Megan stood there staring after the woman, wondering who she was and how she knew Jensen.

  Mr. Black returned and unlocked the lift controls. He pressed a button and it lowered to the ground level. “If you need anything,” he handed her a business card and quickly walked away.

  “Thank you,” she called out. She watched him until he disappeared and was left intrigued by the man.

  She went up into the penthouse and looked around. Jensen wasn’t there. She saw the books he gave her sitting on the table and she settled on the couch with one of them. The words went by quickly as she got into the steamy romance.

  His breath was hot against her neck, his lips grazing her ear. “I want you naked and in my bed.” His voice growling from deep within him. She shivered knowing she could not deny him.

  Megan turned the pages quickly, feeling her body react to the scene as the characters made love. Soon after those same words began to blur and her eyelids grew heavy. She closed her eyes only for a moment.

  “What do you mean she was here?” Jensen spat. Mr. Black met him in the driveway when he pulled in from his meeting.

  “When we arrived back from London she was in the carport. She was furious she couldn’t access the lift. I had to physically escort her off the premises.”

  Jensen rubbed his face with his hands. “I had a feeling it was too easy when I kicked her out and she left without any problems.”

  “Should I call in additional security?”

  “No. Not yet.” He looked up toward the windows. “Where is Megan?”

  “Inside.”

  “Did Kristina see her or talk to her?”

  “No. She was just getting inside as the bitch was kicking the hell out of my shins.”

  Jensen wanted to keep Kristina’s existence from Megan, but he didn’t have to tell Mr. Black this
. The man was the best security Jensen has ever seen, including keeping his mouth shut.

  “What did she do today?”

  “Megan?”

  Jensen nodded, staring at Mr. Black like he was waiting for the answer to a million-dollar question.

  “She did a little shopping, had coffee at Starbucks on Great Marlborough Street then wanted to come back here.”

  “Just coffee?”

  “A crepe with blueberries also. She ate about half.”

  “What did she buy?”

  Mr. Black looked at Jensen curiously. “Small bags, nothing too expensive I’m sure. She used her own money.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Black.” Jensen nodded and Mr. Black turned and walked around the penthouse.

  Jensen went in through the carport and up to the penthouse. As soon as the lift cleared the floor, he saw Megan sleeping on the couch. He quietly set his keys on the coffee table and sat in the chair next to her. He watched her sleep, taking in each curve of her face, each curve of her body, her chest rising and falling so calmly with each breath. Her delicate fingers laying on her arm, her hair flowing across her shoulder. He could fall so easily for someone like her.

  She jerked awake as if from a dream and froze for a moment. She quickly looked up at him and then looked around.

  “How long have I been asleep?”

  “Since I’ve been back. It’s almost five.”

  She sat up and rubbed her face. The book fell from the couch and landed onto the floor. She looked at it then at Jensen, horrified.

  He smiled, amused at the way she got embarrassed so easily. He bent down and picked it up, leaving it open the way it landed.

  “Do you have a bookmark?”

  “Um…no. I wasn’t really…no.”

  He reached into his pocket and fished out a fifty-pound note. He placed it in between the pages and closed the book. Megan’s eyes were glued to the book; Jensen’s were glued to Megan.

  “Hungry for some Chinese? I thought I’d send Mr. Black up to Bayee Village. They have the best in the area.”