An Opportunity Seized (3 page)

You really should tell her the truth before this gets out of hand
, said a voice of reason inside his head and he would, as soon as the right time presented itself. Maybe after sharing lunch, this infatuation—or whatever it was boiling his insides to molten lava—would be resolved and he could explain that he had been hired by her family to keep an eye on her, keep her safe. Of course that was not part of his job description—he was supposed to keep a low profile, not let the target know of his existence. That was a curly one. Jason wasn’t sure how he would get around it, but he did understand that keeping it a secret, usually his forte, was not going to work in this instance.

He reached the top floor and checked that Antoinette was not in the corridor before hurrying to his door and using the swipe key to gain entry, breathing a sigh of relief when the green light appeared on the first go. He’d already had to get the swipe card replaced owing to a malfunction and now would not have been a good time for a repeat problem. He needed to get in and out of his room then back to the first floor to meet Antoinette, without her discovering his secret before he had the chance to explain.

Any control he’d regained over his rampant sexual desires with the stair climb and corridor dash quickly returned when Jason realized he could hear the water running in the shower next door and with that thought, his mind filled with erotic images of Antoinette—or more precisely, a naked Antoinette in the shower. He could almost feel the texture of her skin under his fingertips, could see the water cascading over her rounded tits and down her body like a heavenly waterfall, tempting him to explore its exotic path.

For God’s sake, man, pull yourself together
, he chastised his overstimulated mind, but it was of little use. He was rock-hard, his cock already leaking pre-cum thanks to his vivid imagination and the memory of those lush breasts confined by that modest bra he’d glimpsed as he’d cut the T-shirt from her body. Reminiscing over the sound of the ripping fabric was also not helping soothe his current state of arousal. There was only one thing he could do and as Jason stripped his clothes from his body and headed for his own shower, he had his hand firmly grasped around his erection, pumping vigorously.

“I need to take the edge off,” he said loudly, as if the empty room would be of interest to his thoughts or actions. Leaning forward with one hand against the bathroom tiles for stability and still pumping his cock with the other as the cool water rained down on his back, Jason let go—gave his imagination free rule.

He pictured them both together under the running water. Imagined Antoinette’s hands wrapped around his aching shaft, stroking him up and down until his balls were drawn tight and ready to explode. He gently pushed her to her knees and encouraged her to take him with her mouth.

The fantasy of her kneeling before him, lips parted, ready to take him into her mouth was enough stimulation to have him spurting cum onto the shower wall and spilling over the fingers he had gripped around his cock. Three more pumping strokes and he was spent.

Jason’s legs gave way and he let himself sink to the shower floor for a moment while he regained composure. It had been a while since he’d had sex, maybe a month or two, but he didn’t remember anything real or imagined that had resulted in him losing his load quite so quickly—or forcefully.

Finally sure that he would be able to use his legs again, Jason stood and turned off the stream of water. He grabbed a towel from the rack on the wall next to him and quickly dried himself off. Wrapping the smallish square of cloth around his hips, he gathered up the dirty clothes and tossed them out toward the chair in the next room singing out, “He shoots, he scores,” as the clothes hit the target.

It was only a few steps to get to the drawers beside his bed to find clean underwear. Jason grabbed a collared shirt from the wardrobe and a pair of jeans that lay strewn over his bag, as he tried to make sense of what he was about to do.

He was an experienced soldier, one of the select few who had made it through the demands of commando training. He’d had more than enough tours of duty in extremely high risk areas under his belt before he’d resigned his commission and joined Haven Security. He was not new to this kind of assignment—it should have been a piece of cake—and yet he had broken protocol.

Spending time with Antoinette Grimaldi was going to cause him problems—exciting and enjoyable complications, he was sure—but he understood that a whole heap of trouble was headed his way if he wasn’t very careful. The Grimaldi contract was an important one for the newly established Haven Security and he really should not have been doing anything that could risk it. But what was even more disturbing was that Jason had already decided that he couldn’t care less. He needed to meet Antoinette and share a meal with her at the very least. There was something about this woman that intrigued him, enticed him—and that was a situation Jason had not encountered for a very long time.

Chapter Three

Deciding on the floral A-line dress, Toni gave herself one last look over in the mirror. Even though she felt that the flare over her hips made her look a little bigger than she really was in that area, she loved the bright pattern and the fabric was cool to wear. She’d only just managed to get everything done in the tiny amount of time she had given herself. Her hair was nearly dry and hopefully would not frizz, her makeup was minimal, as usual, and her one concession to vanity and excess—the beautiful strappy, red Manolo Blahnik sandals—were comfortable on her feet.

It’s just lunch, no big deal.
She had tried to convince herself more than once. But there was no hiding the feel of the thousand butterflies that had taken up lodgings in her stomach as she made her way back down the lift and headed for the restaurant.

Jason was standing by the entranceway and as Toni’s eyes met his, the butterflies stopped. A sense of peace descended over her. There was no explaining why this happened. It just did. Toni was not one to ignore a sign from the universe and with a smile now firmly planted on her face, she walked confidently toward him. “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting? I’m not sure what I was thinking giving myself only twenty minutes to shower and change.”

“No, perfect timing. I just arrived myself,” Jason replied. “And from where I’m standing, I’d say the timing was just right. You look gorgeous, Toni. Let’s get a table. Shall we?”

Toni took up the offer Jason had extended her, placing her arm through the crook of his, allowing him to escort them in.

“I did have just enough time before you arrived to get the waiter to save this table for us. I hope that’s okay,” Jason said, as he pulled out a chair and indicated for her to sit down.

The table was tucked away at the back of the restaurant, quite intimate and very private. Toni was pleased with the choice. She hated to be the center of attention and sitting with someone as handsome as Jason, she figured plenty of eyes would have been on them.

“This is fine, thank you, but I warn you, I’m paying for this lunch. Don’t you dare try and break our deal,” Toni replied as she sat down.

“I promise I will be a good boy, at least on this occasion.”

The waiter arrived before Toni could reply, but Jason’s comment about being a good boy did not correspond with the devilish look on his face. It had given Toni goosebumps thinking about him acting like a bad boy. Toni tried to control her emotions by taking a sip of the water the waiter had just poured.

“Are you ready to order?” the waiter asked.

“Give us a few minutes, would you, mate? We haven’t had a chance to look at the menu yet,” Jason answered. “That is, unless you’d like to order a drink first, Toni. I’m going to have something soft at this time of the day, but if you want something alcoholic, go right ahead. With the morning you’ve just had, I certainly couldn’t fault you for wanting something a little stronger, maybe, a nice green cocktail?” Jason gave a chuckle, and Toni’s tummy did a flip-flop at the sexy sound.

“No, I went off that color just recently. I think I will just get a Diet Coke for now,” she replied then could have kicked herself for ordering the diet variety in front of Jason.

“Goodo, then make that two Diet Cokes. We’ll order when you bring back the drinks,” Jason told the waiter.

Toni picked up the menu to give herself something to do other than stare at Jason. She couldn’t decide what to order. She really wanted to try the roast of the day with Yorkshire pudding and gravy but her subconscious was pointing to the salad offerings.

“Hmmm, I’m not sure what to try…” she said.

“I’m going for the roast with all the extras,” Jason replied quickly, putting the menu face down on the table. “Have you tried Yorkshire pudding yet?”

“Not in London, but I have had it in Australia. What I should be eating is a salad. Maybe a roast is a bit heavy for lunch. I should really be watching my weight.” Toni felt the heat on her cheeks the moment the words had left her mouth. What had possessed her to make such a comment in front of Jason?
Seriously, the guy does not need to be reminded you’re fat, stupid. Way to go.
She always managed to put her foot in it when she was out socially. It had been the bane of her life, her awkwardness. She couldn’t even bear to look Jason’s way. She was so embarrassed.

“Rubbish, luv. Take it from me…there is nothing worse than watching a woman push rabbit food around her plate when a bloke’s getting stuck into some good grub. Have the roast if that’s what takes your fancy. Maybe after lunch we can go and see some sights, walk off the food together, if it makes you feel better.”

He was so charming and such an Aussie, the way he spoke. Toni couldn’t help grinning at Jason’s comment about rabbit food. She really was not a fan of salad—give her a good meat dish and potatoes any day. She also really liked the idea of playing tourist with him. Yes it was fun being away from under her family’s influence, but it was a little lonely. So when the waiter returned, Toni did order the roast and was happy to see the smile and conspiring wink Jason gave her as she did.

“So what brings you to London, Jason? Are you holidaying or on business?”

It was crunch time. Jason had to make the decision to reveal his true reason for being in London or lie to Toni.

He’d been hoping this question would come up a little further into their lunch date or maybe even later—after he’d had the chance to figure out what it was about her that had him so tied up in knots. It was like his body recognized her, his mind already knew that she was meant for him, and this line of thinking currently rolling around his head had Jason stumped. He wasn’t a romantic man, did not believe in love at first sight. That was just something women read about in romance books to make them happy. But here he was, a grown man, a man with quite an extensive sexual history, and he was having happy-ever-after thoughts like some ditzy teenage girl, for a woman he hardly knew and who was way out of his league.

“A bit of both really,” he finally answered.

“Oh that sounds intriguing. What business are you in?”

“Security.” He wasn’t trying to sound mysterious but just couldn’t think of the best way to come clean.

“So how did you get into that line of work?”

Toni’s question gave him a bit of respite and Jason jumped on it immediately. If he could sidetrack her with stories from his past, maybe he could keep his secret for just a bit longer.

“I joined the Army straight out of school, spent ten years ‘serving our country’, as others like to put it. After a few stints in Afghanistan I decided it was time to bail. My mate Nathan had just started up Haven Security, and he offered me a job. It was a no-brainer really. Doing the sort of stuff I’d been trained for, thanks to the Australian Army. I’ve spent the last two years helping him build up his company.”

Jason saw it—the minute he mentioned the name of the company, Toni reacted. She sat up a little straighter, her eyes opened wider and she started biting at her bottom lip. She had heard of the security firm her father had on retainer to look out for his company and family interests.
Of course she has, idiot. All the alarms installed in Toni’s family home have ‘Haven Security’ written on them.

He’d fucked up big time without even realizing it. She really had him operating off his game to have made that kind of rookie slip-up. Where was all that bloody training he’d just mentioned?

“Did you say Haven Security?”

Jason could hear the note of disbelief in her voice and wondered how long it would be until the penny dropped and she put two and two together. The fact that he’d just happened to be in the park at the same time as her, had come to her rescue, and the humdinger that they were both staying in the same hotel.

“Yes, Toni, I did.”

Toni had started tapping her finger on the table, a nervous kind of habit someone might unconsciously do when they were upset. At least his training still had him noticing things like that. Studying human nature and how a person reacts when dealing with stress could be helpful in figuring out truth from lies—something Jason had been very adept at doing, which had helped him stay ahead of trouble more than once. Jason reached out and gently placed his hand over Toni’s for two reasons—he hoped it would still her fingers and stop the tapping, and also prevent her from doing a runner on him.

“Please hear me out before you take aim at me… Before you jump to the wrong conclusion. You being here with me at this table is something I want for me. There is no ulterior motive in this lunch. I just want to get the chance to spend some time with a woman I’m finding hard to resist. The woman who has my stomach tied up in knots and my mind thinking things no respectable man should be thinking.”

“My father hired you…” Tears had started to escape from Toni’s eyes, and Jason wanted to punch himself in the head for being responsible for her sadness. Had she heard anything he’d just said?

“Please don’t cry, luv. I never meant to hurt you. Yes, I was hired to protect you—but from a distance. I was never supposed to make contact with you unless there was a good reason—if you were in imminent danger. But I couldn’t keep that charter. The more I followed you around, the more I wanted to get to know you, speak to you… My God, that sounds awful, like I’m some kind of stalker…”