Minding Amy (15 page)

Was Amy aware of whether Quentin had a girlfriend, or had recently begun a relationship of any sort? From what she'd said, it sounded as if she thought Quentin was single, with no immediate family in the country. She'd mentioned he had a retired older brother in New Zealand and, otherwise, the Ghost Hunter show represented both his livelihood and his social life. The next stop would have to be the Ghost Hunter television studios, Sebastian decided, as he left the building.

His phone crackled into life as he climbed back into the Land Rover.

"Sebastian, can you talk?" It was Amy and she sounded excited.

"I'm always ready to talk to you, Trixiegirl."

She tutted, then gave a delighted laugh. It warmed him, just before he noticed the traffic warden looming in his rear-view mirror.

"Don't tell me off, but I've just got out of the Ghost Hunter studios." Sebastian dropped his keys on the floor. She paused. "I got a message and shot down there."

He had to quash down the urge to chastise her. "Your dad would be appalled. You're making me fail in my duties."

"I'm sorry. Please don’t make me feel bad."

He shook his head. "It's too late now, but I'm warning you, I will stick to you like glue when I get you back in my sights." Why did that sound so good?

The fact she gave a sexy chuckle made it sound even better.

"Did you get anything useful?"

"Yes, I managed to track down Jake. He was the only one around. You know, the sound guy?"

"I remember." He fumbled on the floor for the keys.

"Well, he mentioned another location I think might be important."

Sebastian bit back the automatic response he felt rising, which was to suggest she didn't trust someone whose previous 'clue' had turned up the grand total of nil information. He gave an encouraging grunt instead.

"I'll explain later. It's a hotel in Yorkshire called Tall Gables."

That caught his attention back again, because Tall Gables was one of the hotel brochures he'd been looking at in Quentin's locations basket. Interesting, he mused. He'd been thinking the holiday complex might be a more likely destination for someone wishing to escape the scene, for whatever reason, but it was in the right general direction. Perhaps he wouldn't have to tell her what he'd done and what he'd found and instead use the information to guide her without her knowledge. If so, it was a lucky break.

"Another ghost haunt, huh?" He had one eye in the wing mirror. The traffic warden had stopped and started to chat with a woman walking her dog, which gave him a bit of a reprieve.

"Hey, how did you know that?"

Damn it
. Concentrate man. She had spotted his slip. She was sharp.

"It's in Yorkshire, I'm a Yorkshire man, remember."
Close one
.

"Yes, right Well, don't worry I'm not going to be spooked, especially not if you're there by my side." Her tone was playful.

Sebastian had forgotten all about the warden.
By her side
. His body had begun to signal its approval. "Excellent. When are we off?"

She laughed again. "You're enjoying the perks of this job, aren't you?

"I'm enjoying all my time with you, I won't deny that. Shall I pack an overnight bag?"

"I have to check whether the budget will stretch to it, and I can't leave just yet, but all being well I'll book us a double room for Wednesday and I'll confirm with you when we meet up tonight."

A double room. That was sweet music to his ears.

"I can hardly wait."

As he pocketed the phone there was a loud rap on his window and the leering face of the warden swooped into his field of vision. Yet another parking fine. If there was one thing he hated about living in London, it was this. He shrugged and gave the man a big cheesy grin. What the hell. It had been worth it.

Chapter Nine

Sebastian stood in the foyer of the Fitzroy Street Community Center in Camden Town and looked at the activities listed in chalk on a blackboard. It had been propped up in front of the reception desk, which was closed, and it stated the Tae Kwon Do youth club session was being held in the small gym, but gave newcomers no clue as to where the small gym was. Amy had said she would meet him in the reception but he was early, so he was tempted to search her out. He didn't want to end up in the big gym with the salsa class, or in seminar room number six for conversational French, but he'd give it a go.

Glancing around, he realized the place reminded him vaguely of his old high school, smaller, but with a similar layout. At the school everything had cleverly networked together and he sauntered off along the corridors following his instincts, until eventually he saw glazed double doors with what looked like a gym beyond. As he got closer he could make out a number of young people in a line, doing what looked like a choreographed martial arts sequence.

He stepped closer and peered through the glass doors. Yup, there was Amy, leading the group of a dozen or so young people through the moves. The kids looked to be between fourteen and eighteen years old, and a lively looking bunch they were. The lad nearest him had a Mohawk and multiple piercings in his eyebrows. Beyond him he could see a girl with multi-colored dreads. However, despite the colorful attendees, Sebastian's attention was soon focused entirely on their teacher.

A tourniquet of need knotted inside him as he observed Amy moving at the head of the group. How sexy she looked, in that Tae Kwon Do outfit. Perhaps it was the manga-esque quality it gave her. Perhaps it was because of the ease of undressing it suggested to his roaming hands. Just one belt to be undone and he would be touching her soft, warm skin. Her hair was tied into a high ponytail and the look flattered her lovely features.

Amy caught sight of him and gestured him in, smiling in welcome. Sebastian stepped inside the door and hovered, feeling somewhat obtrusive. The kids all stopped what they were doing and stared at him.

"Hey, you're early." Amy ran over to him. She was bright-eyed and her cheeks were glowing.

"Oh look, Miss has got a boyfriend," one of the teenage girls called out in a singsong voice, a comment that reduced most of the group to giggles or whispers.

"Jackie, concentrate," Amy called. "Get into pairs and practice your sparring." The group gradually sectioned off into pairs, as instructed. She watched them until they were organized then clapped her hands over her head. "Matsoki!"

The kids immediately started practicing their moves, although one or two of the girls kept an eye on her movements with the stranger in their midst.

"Very nicely done," Sebastian commented.

She shrugged off the compliment. "They're a good bunch of kids."

"And you've obviously got their respect."

"I don't know about that. Do you mind waiting a few more minutes? I can't let them go too early otherwise they'll think I'm a pushover." She winked.

"Of course I don't mind." He couldn't help wishing he could take her into his arms right then. Her face was flushed from her exertions and her eyes sparkled. He knew he was staring, and it was probably obvious he wanted her. Her lips parted and her lower lip trembled slightly.

"You better get back over there now," he whispered under his breath.

She fiddled with her belt and straightened her outfit over her cleavage. "Yes, you're right. Give me two minutes and I'll wind this up."

Sebastian took a seat on a bench at the side of the hall and watched as she put the teenagers through their last few paces. She walked round the pairs in turn, demonstrating a technique here and there. Her feet were bare and his gaze idled on her slender ankles. She was all feminine grace and beauty but sure and strong too. He marveled at her talents. She was every bit as fascinating as he thought when he'd sat at the bar in The Frock and Jacket wishing she hadn't taken off. He'd never met anyone quite like Amy Norton before.

When she had shooed all the young people away for the evening, he helped her tidy the mats and equipment away.

"What?" she asked, when he smiled at her, shaking his head.

"I was thinking how fetching that outfit is on you."

"Concentrate. We've got a busy evening ahead of us."

"We certainly have," he murmured. "I hope you're not planning on getting much sleep tonight."

"An early night, maybe, sleep—well, we'll see."

Desire simmered away inside him, then a door slammed far away and he noticed the place was quiet and deserted without the kids, and he felt his concern levels rising. "Is there any security in this place?"

"Ah, ever on the look out for fellow security people, ay?" She gave him a teasing glance.

Sebastian tried to ignore the growing sense of unease he felt about the double-edged nature of his job. The consequent apprehension about what her reaction might be, if she happened to find out he was really a whole lot more than a bodyguard, was niggling at him too. He was starting to feel really bad about keeping her in the dark. He didn't normally have a problem with keeping information to himself though, so why was this different?

"No, actually I was concerned for you." Once he'd said it, he realized he was in danger of sounding like her old man, doting and over-protective. "It is my job after all, isn't it?" he quickly added, and grinned at her.

"There's a caretaker on the site during the evening sessions, but his wife teaches the salsa class so he is generally down there, poking fun." They lifted the last mat onto the stack and she stood looking at him, with her hands on her hips. "I'll shoot off and get changed, give me two minutes."

"Are you sure I can't help you out with that as well?"

She tutted and headed off.

He held his hands up in surrender and watched as she disappeared into the ladies changing room. Her absence gave him time to mull over his concerns. It was his job to protect her, he reassured himself, when he found himself questioning his motives. But this wasn't about work, was it? This was about everyday life, the things that everybody had to face. He didn't blame her father for being concerned. She was a treasure and Sebastian was fast becoming preoccupied with her general well being and happiness. It was an odd thing, he mused to himself. It had to be because the lines between their work and personal life had blurred, because of their add-on no-strings relationship.

He shrugged the thoughts off, unwilling to consider it any further. Even so, he kept glancing toward the doorway of the women's changing room. When he heard the distant sound of her singing in the shower and pictured her in there, naked, he strolled in that direction. There was no one else around, and he couldn't stop himself following her.

* * * *

Amy grabbed her towel, hurried past the lockers and into the changing area, moving as quickly as possible in order to be on her way out with Sebastian. As she rounded the corner into the changing area she ground to a halt and clutched the towel against the chest. "Sebastian."

He was sitting on one of the wooden benches that lined the room, close to where she'd left her sports bag. Her dress was hanging on one of the nearby hooks, ready to pull on. For a moment she stood there, contemplating him. He made a rather incongruous sight sitting in the basic surroundings of the municipal changing room, suavely dressed as he was in a fitted black leather jacket over a classic white shirt and smart jeans.

He stared over at her with a hungry gaze.

That made her legs go weak under her and she had to put one hand on the tiled wall. She shivered slightly, more because of the way he was looking at her than the temperature difference between the shower rooms and this area. The evening was warm—it was the affect he had on her. "Don't you think you're taking this minder role a bit too far," she teased, "following me in here?"

He shrugged. "I got restless."

"Restless? So you countered that by hanging out in the women's changing rooms?" He had something on his mind, she could tell, and it was something sexy.

"Okay," he added, "I missed you. There, I said it."

She tried not to react, even though her nipples had peaked and the surface of the towel made her increasingly aware of her nakedness. Dense heat gathered between her thighs and she felt strangely unsteady on her feet. The look in his eyes was blatantly suggestive, and she closed the gap knowing what this would lead to—knowing he was going to tease and torture her somehow. It was a public space. Her class had gone, but someone else could come in, the caretaker or anybody. "You shouldn't be in here. What if someone else comes in?"