[4 Seasons 01] Seducing Summer (23 page)

She rested her elbow on the back of the
seat and leaned her head on a hand. “I would.”

The last dregs of tension left him in a
rush, and he let out a long, shaky breath. “Okay. Right. Good.”

She wrinkled her nose. “So, where from
here?”

“We’ve only got a couple of days left on
your tour, and as I said, I’m flying up a team to increase your protection. So
for the next few days, I’d like to concentrate on your safety. I want to get
you back to Wellington in one piece.”

She nodded. “Okay,” she whispered.

He felt a sweep of relief that she was
happy to comply. He’d miss her at nights, and would long for the touch of her
body against his, but for now it would make things easier for him
professionally to concentrate on her protection. “I’m still hopeful the STG will
catch Kirk soon, and then it will all be over. You’ll be able to hire a new PA,
and then… well… we can concentrate on our personal lives.”

“I can’t wait.” Her eyes glowed. “I’m crazy
about you, Gene. I hope you know that. I think about you all the time.” Her
expression turned sultry. “I want you. I miss your hands on me, your mouth on
mine. But I’ll wait for you. And I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather have
protecting me.”

“Okay. I think we should get you back to
the hotel now.”

“Come on, then.”

They stood and began walking back. Callie
chatted on about the journey to Whangarei and then the Bay of Islands the next
day, and Gene half listened, relieved and happy that he hadn’t lost her, and
excited to think of the future they might have once all this was over.

But first he had to eliminate the threat on
her life. A seed of unease lodged in his stomach. Kirk and his henchmen were
still out there. Someone was still watching Callie. Someone who wanted to do
very unpleasant things to her, and who wanted to end her life. This was the
most important job he’d ever done. And he just wanted it to be over so he could
get on with his life.

The next two days were both exciting and
borderline scary for Callie.

When she’d read Gene’s notepad on the first
day he’d come to her office and had realized he was actually an undercover
bodyguard, she’d been angry at first, then curious to see how he would carry
out the role when he thought she didn’t know. So she’d observed him discreetly
over the past few weeks almost as much as he’d been watching her, she was sure.

She was well aware how he always scanned a
room before he walked into it. How, even after they started sleeping together,
his gaze wouldn’t be on her for more than ten seconds before it left her to
glance around the room, observing anyone who might have walked in, checking
exits, constantly assessing the risks. She was aware how whenever they were out
walking, he would cross to the roadside to protect her from anyone in a car.
How he always placed his body between her and anyone who came up to speak to
her. She’d watched him react to incidents on the road and knew he had
lightning-fast reactions. And she’d known that when he left her room at night,
it was to work, even though he desperately wanted to stay by her side.

The fact that they’d become intimate hadn’t
stopped his professionalism, whatever he thought. Part of her was still a
little resentful at having him there, because it implied she couldn’t take care
of herself, and she refused to be intimidated and scared by the bully who was
stalking her mother. But equally, she wasn’t stupid. Gene did this for a
living, and if he thought the threat was real enough that she needed
protection, she wasn’t going to argue with him.

The morning they left Auckland, Gene
introduced her to the four other agents who, with Ian, would be with her at all
times from now on in shifts. Julia, the female PPO, was to work with Gene and
stay close to Callie at all times, while the other four would work at a
distance, two of them travelling ahead to carry out threat assessment prior to
their arrival, the other two following behind to provide at-a-distance
protection.

When they stopped at the small city of
Whangarei and she visited two stores there, Julia stood outside the manager’s
office while she had her appointment, while Gene came in with her each time.

Now Gene didn’t have to carry out the pretense
of being her PA, and Callie could only watch and admire him as he directed his
team. He was still warm and a little flirty with her when they were alone, but
as soon as Julia was with them he turned strictly professional. No longer did
he let Callie get away with anything. He refused to let her go out without
either him or Julia glued to her side. His firm gaze brooked no argument when
he demanded someone go with her to a shop or even to the bathroom in a
restaurant. She’d thought him impressive when he’d acted secretly, but as an
overt protection officer he was amazing, and she couldn’t fault him.

“Is he looking after you?” Phoebe asked the
question at lunchtime, not long after they’d arrived at Kerikeri in the Bay of
Islands. They’d dropped their stuff off at a motel on the outskirts of town,
and they were now in the town center catching some lunch before her final
appointment at the large lingerie shop just along the street from the café. The
town was busy, and felt very subtropical with the palms lining the streets, the
bright sunshine, and the extremely humid weather.

Callie had answered her phone and walked a
short distance to the nearby fence surrounding the café’s garden, intending to
keep the call private. Julia sat at a nearby table, but Gene had followed her,
and now leaned on the fence next to her. She flicked her fingers at him,
telling him to give her some space. He just raised an eyebrow above his
sunglasses. She stuck her tongue out at him. His lips curved up at the corners
in a sexy little smile. Her cheeks grew warm as she remembered the pouch with
the two lubes and what they’d gotten up to, and his smile turned into a grin.

“Callie?”

She snapped back to the phone call and
looked away. “Oh. Sorry. Actually, he’s being a pain in the arse right now. He
won’t leave me alone.”

Phoebe laughed. “Good. That’s what I’m
paying him for.”

Callie had told her that Gene had confessed
who he was. “I have one question,” she asked curiously. “Why did you ask him to
be my bodyguard? I mean, why him in particular? He’s the director of the
company—surely one of his men would have sufficed?”

To her surprise, her mother fell silent for
a long moment. It was rare that Phoebe couldn’t think what to say, and Callie’s
brow furrowed. She glanced up at Gene, who was looking away across the street.

“Mum?” she prompted.

“I… I can’t tell you. But… you… you should
know.”

“What do you mean? What’s this about?”

“Put me on to Gene.”

Callie hesitated, then passed the phone to
the man at her side. He took it and pressed it to his ear.

“Hello?” He watched the shoppers strolling
along the pavements as he listened. Callie slid her gaze down him, admiring the
way his shirt sleeves clung to his impressive biceps, and the fit of his
superbly cut suit. He’d revealed to her that the reason he wore a three-piece
was because the waistcoat was a bulletproof one. For some reason that turned
her on. She had no idea why.

“Are you sure?” He was frowning now, and he
glanced at Callie. Then he said, “Of course. I will. Yes. Speak to you later.”
He handed the phone back to her.

“Okay, darling, I’ve got to go,” Phoebe
said breezily.

“What’s going on?”

“Gene’s going to tell you, because I can’t.
Darling, I’m so very sorry.”

“Mum…”

But Phoebe had hung up.

Callie slid the phone into her pocket and
frowned at Gene. “What the hell’s going on?”

“Hold on.” He collected their two mugs of
coffee from the table and brought them back to the fence. “Here.” He gave hers
to her, and they both leaned on the fence.

“Why won’t Mum tell me what this is about?”
she demanded.

“She’s embarrassed and ashamed,” he said.
“And it’s hard for her, because she knows you adore your dad.”

“My dad? What’s this got to do with him?”

“It’s about something that happened in the
Army, a long time ago. You told me about the time your mum came home early, and
she’d had an accident?”

“Yes. That was when she said they were
getting a divorce.”

To her surprise, he took off his sunglasses
and tucked them in his trouser pocket. His eyes were gentle, concerned. Her
heart began to race.

He sipped his coffee. “I was a lieutenant
then. I was stationed in the same place as your father. Normally, he would have
rented a private place, but he’d only arrived the week before with your mother
and they’d been given temporary married quarters on the base. That night, I
happened to be walking past the officer’s block when I heard a woman scream. I
ran into the block, and found Phoebe… She was lying at the bottom of the
stairs. She was conscious, but badly injured. The worst thing, though, was that
she told me she’d been arguing with your father. He was drunk, and she’d told
him she was leaving him. He’d hit her, and that was what had caused her to
fall.”

Callie stared at him. “What?” Her head
spun. “Dad hit her?”

“I helped her up and took her to the first-aid
tent, and they patched her up, but she refused to go back to your dad, and she
left the next day.”

“Oh my God.”

“You should know that I don’t think he
meant to push her down the stairs. They were arguing—I think maybe she’d said
she was going to leave him and had been making her way from their quarters, and
he struck out in a fit of temper, and she lost her footing and fell. She didn’t
press charges against him, but she did use it in her divorce application. The
thing is, I gave evidence in court to back up her application. We kept in
touch, and she knew when I started up my own security company. She trusts me,
and that was why she wanted me to protect you.”

Callie felt nauseated. “Jesus. Why didn’t
she tell me?” She couldn’t believe her mother had kept it quiet all these
years.

“Because she knows you love your father,
and she didn’t want to spoil that relationship.”

“For fuck’s sake.” She banged her hand on
the fence. “When will she stop making decisions for me?”

Gene looked pained. “I’m sorry. I would
have told you, but I didn’t feel it was my secret to tell.”

She wasn’t angry with him—in fact, the thought
of him being there for her mother was strangely comforting. It was the whole
situation, and the thought of her father doing something so awful.

“I…” The sentence she’d been about to say
trailed off. Walking toward her, through the garden of the café, were two men.
Normally, she wouldn’t have thought twice about it, but there was something
about them that made her catch her breath. Maybe it was the look of
determination in their eyes, or the hard, mean look on their faces. Or maybe it
was the fact that Ian was running at full pelt along the road toward them.

The next few seconds passed in a blur. Ian
yelled, causing Gene’s head to snap around. Julia leapt to her feet. The two
men separated, moving fast to either side of her, the one on the left slightly
in front.

Gene acted immediately, intercepting him
before Callie could blink. She wasn’t sure how he did it—an elbow to the
stomach, the heel of his hand to the man’s chin, maybe—but in seconds the guy
was on the ground with Julia on top of him, yelling in his ear as she pinned
him to the floor.

The other man dodged around some startled
customers, and then he came for her. Ian leapt over a table, scattering cups
and plates everywhere, but he wasn’t fast enough. Leaving the man on the ground
to Julia, Gene spun and turned to step in front of Callie just as she saw the
approaching man’s arm come up, something glinting in his hand.

She knew Gene was wearing a bulletproof
vest. And she knew he was there to protect her. But all Callie could think was
that the man had a gun, and Gene was standing in the way of the bullet.

She shoved him, hard. Taken by surprise, he
stumbled, just one step, but it was enough.

There was a flash of light. An incredibly
loud noise. Something thumped into her shoulder with enough force to spin her
around and send her tumbling to the floor.

Someone screamed. She saw the guy who’d
shot her fighting with another man. Hands were on her, pressing something
against her shoulder, moving her, talking to her. She heard Gene’s voice, calm,
urgent, directing, instructing, and then his face loomed into view.

“Hold on, Callie,” he said. His gray eyes
bored into hers, hot and fierce. “You crazy girl. Hold on.”

She wanted to tell him she loved him, but
she couldn’t get her mouth to form the words.

Then everything went black.

Callie’s eyes fluttered slowly open.

At first, nobody noticed. A couple of
nurses were talking quietly opposite her, discussing something on a chart. She
was in a large room with several beds, although those on either side of her
were empty.

She felt tired, and her shoulder throbbed
with a deep ache so intense it made her feel nauseated. Her throat was dry, and
she swallowed with difficulty.

At that moment, one of the nurses looked
around and smiled, and they both walked over to her.

“Hello, Callie?” The first nurse bent over
her. “How are you feeling?”

“It hurts,” she whispered.

“We’ll give you something for that.” The
other nurse was already doing something to the side, and within seconds, Callie
felt a rush of something through her veins and everything went hazy. Morphine,
she thought.

She licked her lips. “Can I have a drink?”

“Of course. Just a few sips.” The nurse
held a straw to her lips and she took a few sucks of icy cool water. It was the
most beautiful drink she’d ever had.

She laid her head back on the pillow,
conscious that she was moving slowly, as if she were drunk. “What happened?”

“You’ve had an operation,” the nurse said.
“To repair your shoulder. You were shot.”

“Shot?”

“Yes. Luckily, the bullet missed anything
major. The operation went well and you’re going to be fine.”

She’d been shot. In New Zealand! For some
reason, she found that extraordinarily funny, but when she tried to giggle, it
came out as a groan.

“Nice and quiet, now.” The nurse checked
her drip and adjusted something. “We’ll take you up to the ward in a little
while.”

She wanted to ask what had happened at the café,
but was aware that the nurses probably wouldn’t know.

“Just rest,” the nurse said, so she closed
her eyes and went back to sleep.

*

When she woke again, she was somewhere
else, in a room on her own. It was dark outside the window, and in the corridor
the lights had been dimmed to reflect the late time of day.

“Callie?”

She rolled her head on the pillow to see
her mother sitting beside her. Phoebe stood as she saw her daughter was awake
and leaned over her.

“Sweetheart.” Phoebe cupped her face, her eyes
filled with concern. “How are you?”

“Sore,” Callie whispered. Her shoulder
throbbed again, a terrible, dragging pain that made her want to moan.

“Here.” Phoebe pressed something into her
hand, a little tube with a button. “Press this and it will give you a shot of
morphine.”

Callie did so, and within seconds she felt
the now-familiar rush, the lightening of her head, the release of the pain.
“Oh. That’s better.”

“Do you want me to fetch a nurse?”

“No, I’m okay.” She gestured to the water
on the table, and Phoebe brought her a cup to sip.

“There.” Phoebe replaced the cup and
perched on the edge of the bed. “I’m so glad you’re awake. I was terribly
worried.”

Callie looked up at the ceiling, trying to
get her thoughts in order. She remembered the man striding toward her, Ian
yelling, the flash of the gun, the thud in her shoulder. But the rest was a
jumble of sights and sounds, the smell of spilled coffee, the taste of
something bitter in her mouth. Adrenaline, she thought. “What happened?”

“One of Kirk’s men shot you. You pushed
Gene out of the way and took the bullet yourself. He’s furious with you.”

“I bet he is.” Had she really done that? No
wonder he was mad. It had been instinct—she’d just wanted to keep him safe.
“Did the men get away?”

“No, darling. Gene’s agents took them down.
They’re in custody now, telling the STG all about Darren Kirk.”

“Will they catch him?”

“Hopefully very soon, and then we can put
this horrid business behind us.”

“Where is he?”

“Kirk?”

“No.” Callie’s brain was muddled. “Mr.
Bond.”

“Gene?”

“Is he at the office?”

“No, darling, he’s standing outside, ready
to rugby tackle anyone not in a white coat. He hasn’t left your side since you
were shot. He feels terribly guilty, I think. Do you want to see him?”

“I don’t know. How do I look?”

Phoebe eyed her shrewdly. “Why should that
matter?”

Callie gave a sulky shrug.

Phoebe’s lips curved up. “I see.”

“No you don’t.”

“It’s all right. He’s a great guy, and I
think he’s in love with you.”

Callie stared at her, the words sinking
into her morphine-addled brain like a stone sinking into treacle. “What?”

“It’s written all over him, darling. He’s
out of his mind with worry about you.”

“Oh my God.” How could she face him when
she was in this condition?

Phoebe squeezed her hand. “I’ll go and get
him.”

“No, wait.” She swallowed painfully. “He
told me about you and Dad.”

“Oh.” Regret crossed her mother’s features.
“I’m sorry you had to hear that.”

“You should have told me.” For years,
Callie had blamed her mother for her parents’ breakup. She felt terrible
knowing the real reason for it.

“I didn’t want to come between you and
Dad.”

Callie knew there was an awful conversation
coming with her father, but she wasn’t going to worry about that now. “I just
wanted to say sorry for what you had to go through.”

“Don’t talk about that now. You need to
concentrate on getting better. I’ll go and get Gene. I know he’d like to see
you.”

“No, I…” But it was too late. Phoebe had
opened the door and slipped outside.

Callie attempted to feel if her hair was in
order, and gave in when she found it spread all over the pillow. It wouldn’t be
so bad if she could get her mouth working in conjunction with her brain.

The door opened again, and Gene came in. He
paused, then walked up to the bed, his hands in the pockets of his trousers. He
obviously hadn’t shaved for a day or two, and stubble darkened his usually
clean-shaven jaw, while dark patches lay under his eyes.

“My God,” she said sleepily, “you look
awful.”

He gave her an exasperated look. His eyes
blazed with anger. “You can talk. Look at you! Getting shot in the shoulder.
Seriously. What a stupid thing to do.”

“I saved your life,” she said, a little sulkily.

“Do you expect me to feel pleased that you
acted so foolishly?”

“No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to laugh.” She
stifled a giggle.

He glared at her. “Is that supposed to be
funny?”

“Kind of. I’m high as a kite.”

He glared at her. “It’s my job to keep you
safe. What on earth made you push me out of the way?”

“I thought the man was going to shoot you.”

“He was!” His voice rose. “I was wearing a
bulletproof vest!”

“It might have missed it.” Against her
will, her eyes filled with tears. “Don’t yell at me. I just wanted to keep you
safe.”

He blew out a breath as she became upset,
and he took his hands out of his pockets and came up to the bed to hold her
hand. “Callie… I didn’t mean to yell. I am angry that you didn’t let me do my
job, but what you did was wonderful and brave, and I’m touched beyond belief
that you would risk your life for me. You crazy, crazy girl.”

She sniffed. Her shoulder pounded, and she
clicked the morphine button again. Her eyelids drooped. “I’d do anything for
you.”

“And I’d do anything for you. You mean more
to me than anything else in the whole world.” He leaned over her and pressed
his lips to hers.

“I love you,” she said, and fell asleep.

*

“Morning.”

Gene looked up from his iPad to see Callie
awake, her head turned on the pillow toward him.

“If it is morning,” she said, looking at
the window. “I’ve lost all track of time.”

“It’s morning.” He put down the tablet,
rose, and went over to the bed. “How are you feeling?”

“Better.”

“Does your shoulder hurt? Do you want the
button?” He lifted the device and held it out to her.

She pushed it away. “God, no. Never again.
I was all over the place. I can hardly remember last night at all.” She brushed
a strand of hair from her face and gave him a wary look. “Did I say anything
stupid?”

His lips curved up. “Not at all.”

“Oh.” She sighed. “Good.” She tried to push
herself up the bed, and failed. “Can you help me sit up?”

“Of course.” He slipped an arm around her
and lifted her carefully, raising the end of the bed to support her. “Is that
better?”

“Thank you, yes.” She rearranged the covers
and then patted the side to encourage him to sit. “You look better today.”

He sat beside her. “I went back to the
hotel room, had a shower and a shave.” Phoebe had also convinced him to catch a
few hours’ sleep, and he’d agreed once he’d been able to see for himself that
Callie was okay.

“I seem to recall you telling me off last
night.” Her face was pale, but her blue eyes weren’t glassy the way they had
been the night before, and now they danced with laughter.

“Sorry,” he said. “I’m sure that was the
last thing you needed.” He hadn’t been able to stop himself. He’d been out of
his mind with worry for hours, from the moment he’d realized she’d been shot
until they’d told him she’d come around.

“It’s okay. I understand. I didn’t mean to
do it. What I mean is, it was instinct. I didn’t think of myself. I just wanted
to make sure you weren’t hurt.”

“You’d make a good protection officer,” he
said.

She smiled.

He picked up her hand and held it between
both of his. “I’m so glad you’re going to be all right.”

“Me too.”

“I mean it. I don’t know what I would have
done if something had happened to you.” He lifted her hand to his lips and held
it there for a moment, fighting with his emotion.

“Aw.” She squeezed her fingers. “I’m going
to be okay.”

“I know. But I should have protected you
better. I should have forced you to stay inside, or to—”

“Hey,” she said sharply, “nobody forces me
to do anything. You knew I didn’t want to live as if I was in a cell, and you
did the best you could while taking account of your client’s wishes. You
mustn’t be too harsh on yourself.”

“But if we hadn’t gotten involved…” He
looked out of the window, across the tops of the trees and buildings of
Whangarei. “If I’d had more self-control, maybe I would have noticed that guy
before he got so close to us.”

“If ifs and ands were pots and pans…” she
said. “It’s done, Gene. Besides, we both know I’m irresistible. You didn’t
stand a chance.”

He had to laugh at that. She gave him an
impish smile.

“I’m not proud of myself,” he whispered.
“But equally, I don’t regret what happened between us.”

“I’m glad. Because meeting you is the best
thing that’s ever happened to me.”

He met her gaze. Her last words to him from
the night before rang in his head,
I love you.
She hadn’t meant it, of
course. Maybe one day, in the future, they’d be able to say it properly to each
other, but last night she’d been high on morphine, and he couldn’t take
anything she’d said as the truth.

But even so, clearly she had feelings for
him, and that warmed him more than the rays of the early morning sun pouring
through the window.

“As soon as you’re able, we’ll fly you back
to Wellington,” he said. “Now we have one of Kirk’s henchmen, I’m sure it won’t
be long before he’s caught, and then we’ll be free to date properly. If you
want to.”

“I want to,” she said, eyes shining.

“Good.” He checked over his shoulder, then
leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers.

She lifted her good arm and slipped her
hand into his hair, holding him there, and the peck turned into a long, slow
smooch that had his heart hammering by the time she eventually released him.

“Mmm,” she said dreamily, pressing her lips
together.

“You’re supposed to be an invalid,” he
scolded. “Excitement like that might put you into cardiac arrest.”

“I don’t care.” She slid down the pillows
with a happy sigh. “I’ve never felt so happy.”

And she looked it, her cheeks now bearing a
healthy flush, her eyes filled with affection. She was going to be okay. Gene
wished he could burst into tears like a five-year-old girl, but he satisfied
himself with gritting his teeth and squeezing her hand tightly.

“Get well,” he said. “Get well soon.”