Minding Amy (5 page)

"The woman I met yesterday not only
needed
a minder but was glad to have one, if I recall correctly." The look in his eyes was so teasing it was downright rude.

He was enjoying this, damn him. She narrowed her eyes. "That's low."

He shrugged one shoulder. "It's the truth. You can't deny it."

She pressed her lips together tightly, her heart pounding.

"The woman I met yesterday was also much more agreeable," he added.

She shook her head in disbelief. Everything was a challenge to him. "You really have no shame."

"Neither did you, yesterday."

Oh, boy. He really was going to torture her with that. It was getting increasingly hard to maintain eye contact. "This is now a business arrangement."

He ran his finger down the lapel on her jacket, moving dangerously close to her aching breasts. "Then give me our 'business arrangement' meeting point, and we're done….for now."

"Seven o'clock, at the pickup point outside Euston station."

"I'll be there." He stepped away, freeing her.

He was by far the most attractive, sexiest man she'd ever met, and for the next couple of days she had to put up with him stalking her every move. The thought made her lightheaded. She straightened her jacket and walked away, her heart still racing.
Focus on the job
, she told herself, but all she could think about was her companion.

Chapter Three

Janine noticed the office felt unusually quiet after Amy finally left that evening. Janine was working late, having spent the best part of the afternoon helping Amy get organized. She'd armed Amy for dealing with Fiona, the queen bitch who reigned on the second floor. She'd also helped her timetable both sides of her job for the next ten days—and she'd calmed her down after what had transpired during her meeting with her father.

It didn't surprise Janine that Amy's dad had pinned a bodyguard on her. He was concerned, and it was his daughter. Amy was in an absolute tizzy about it though. The fact that the dreamy hunk from the night before had turned out to be part of the setup took the biscuit.

Janine smiled to herself as she jotted down her schedule for the following week. She was going to have to run a tight ship. It was about time Amy had some fun, though. She was a good journalist and she deserved it. Janine didn't envy her a little detached duty time, but it made her think. A change might do her some good too. She'd been in this office for nigh on five years. She shut the open documents on the pc and was about to head home when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." She glanced at her watch, wondering who it could be at this late hour.

The door opened and a man popped his head around the corner. "Hi, am I in the right place to find Amy Norton?"

Janine recognized the voice immediately, it was Roger Green. She beckoned him in. Taking the invitation, he stepped inside and she finally got a look at the man who had given them so much entertainment over the past couple of days. He was tall and lean, attractive in an understated way. She couldn't believe it—the guy had only gone and hunted Amy down. And now Amy was off on her travels with some other guy in tow, which presumably left Mr. Green here in the lurch. What an absolute waste of male talent, she decided. Or maybe not.

"You are indeed in the right place." She strolled up to him with a speculative smile on her face.

He grinned and shut the door behind him, then held out his hand. "Then you must be Amy."

"Alas, no." She took his hand. "But, if you're the one who's looking for her, I sure as hell wish I were." She pursed her lips as she eyed him up and down. "You're Roger aren’t you?"

He nodded.

"We've spoken on the phone."

"Ah, I see, yes"

"Amy is…well, she's been called away on business. However, as she's not around, perhaps I can be of some assistance?"

"It was a personal matter," he replied, but he was looking at her with interest.

"I knew that when I offered," she stated, offering him her best flirtatious smile.

He grinned, quickly taking the bait. "In that case, perhaps you can."

"Why don't we grab a drink and we can discuss it?"

"Sounds good to me."

Very smoothly done
, Janine congratulated herself as she led him out of the office. She hadn't lost her old touch after all.

* * * *

Sebastian stood outside Euston Station, the agreed meeting point, watching the evening traffic crawl by, a leather overnight bag thrown casually over one shoulder. It looked like rain. The humid summer sky was rumbling as the day edged toward evening.

Amy hadn't even told him where they were headed, just to be there and ready to leave at seven. As he waited for her he reflected on his good fortune. He'd picked up Richard Norton's call the day before by sheer chance, while his secretary had been out of the office on her lunch break. This kind of minor security contract normally went to Gary, but Gary was happily on paternal leave. The City News organization was a good client though and Sebastian didn't want to let them down. As a result he'd responded to the rather mundane sounding job himself, an uncanny bit of luck given that he was now looking forward to the job with anticipation. Sebastian's usual caseload consisted of heavy-duty investigative work, alongside overseeing his staff—the staff of the premier investigation and security group in London. Security was only a small part of what they did.

He was overdue a break anyway and a lighter case was certainly one way to go about getting it. Besides, what better way to spend a Friday evening? Escorting the headstrong daughter of The City News editor on her adventuring was an inviting prospect.

A high-pitched tinny horn beeped at him. Sebastian looked at the mud-splattered Ford Fiesta pulling into the pick-up bay with a dubious expression. It certainly wasn't built for the off-road driving that someone had been doing in it and the engine sounded far from healthy. He opened the passenger door and threw his bag over the seat into the back.

"Hey, Trixie. Wild car."

She gave a wry smile. "I'm afraid it was the only available pool car. Please get in, Mr. Armitage."

Sebastian looked at the dash as he dropped into the seat. The car had been round the block a few times and the temperature gauge was already riding a little too high for his liking, the last thing you needed in crawling traffic.

"And please, don't call me Trixie. It makes me feel about five years old."

"Okay, Amy it is then…and drop the Mister will you, it's Sebastian."

She nodded, and without further comment began to maneuver the car back into the stream of traffic. She had the radio on and tapped the steering wheel in time to the music as she watched the traffic. He wanted to start chatting and lead the conversation toward the subject of the attraction between them, but he told himself there would be time for that when they arrived at their destination. He wanted to have that sexy, feminine body of hers in his arms again. He was pretty sure she was thinking the same. The intensity of the attraction left him in no doubt as to its mutual reciprocation, even if she was a tad tetchy about having him as her minder. The chemistry had hummed back and forth between them like live wires crackling across the floor of her father's office. Even now, with her calm, self-assured poise at the wheel of the car and the fact she was focused on the road, there was something magnetic in the atmosphere between them. Sebastian savored the anticipation and took the chance to admire her.

Gone was the elegant trouser suit from earlier, which had lodged in his memory because of the way it softly molded over her figure—a figure any full-blooded male would want to get acquainted with. She was the epitome of womanhood to a man like Sebastian, with curves in all the right places and a graceful fluidity in her movements. It made him want to experience that movement at much closer proximity. She looked just as good wearing casual gear, if not even sexier in khaki combat trousers and a tight black tank top. If he wasn't mistaken, she didn't seem to be wearing a bra, but he decided not to consider the issue for too long, lest he get fixated with it.

Her long hair was clipped up, showing off her elegant neck and the soft skin of her collarbone. A black denim jacket was lying on the back seat. She was dressed for action. He couldn't resist smiling to himself. She glanced over and, catching his smile, returned it, then quickly glanced away.

He sensed she was a bit tense. It wasn't surprising. Norton had warned him she wouldn't be keen on the company. Their encounter at The Frock and Jacket the evening before—whilst entirely delicious—only served to complicate the situation for her. It was tempting to tease her about it, but if he wanted to get her into bed—and that was his intention—he'd better not push her buttons too much. Not yet, at any rate.

"Where are we headed?"

"Arundel."

"South coast seaside town?"

"Yes, do you know it?"

"Only by reputation, I've not visited. I've been in London for four years but I'm a northerner myself. Yorkshire man, born and bred."

"It's an old, historic town west of Brighton," she explained. "Popular with tourists because of the castle and the antiques shops. You know the sort of place."

"And you have a lead there?"

"Yes. An edition of Ghost Hunter was filmed there. I want to interview anyone who remembers Quentin's visit and I also want to check out a venue the show was filmed at. It's a house that's supposed to be haunted. They did a shoot there about six months ago and when I did some research I found the house is available to rent as a self-catering holiday home. A local caretaker maintains it and it happened to be free this weekend. There weren't any vacancies at the local hotel, so I've…" she glanced over at him then away, "…rented the house for us to stay at."

The way she said it left him in no doubt that she was thinking along the same lines as he was. But her face was flushed. She was embarrassed.

"Right," he replied, stifling a more cheeky response. A weekend away with a sexy woman. What more could a man want?

They gradually edged through the south side of the city, and as they did he encouraged her to fill him in on all she knew about the missing person story and the Ghost Hunter show. Norton had told him everything the day before, but he wanted her take on it. It all sounded a bit dubious to Sebastian. Why was this soundman giving her information, in the first place? He reminded himself it was her case. He wasn't there to investigate. He was there to keep her out of trouble and away from harm. The conversation seemed to relax her somewhat. They'd almost made it out of the thicket and onto the motorway that linked London to the South Coast, when the temperature gauge began to dip into the red.

"Oh, damn." She glared at the needle on the gauge, signaled and pulled over into the next lay-by.

"Leave it to me," he said, wishing he'd insisted they go in his trusty Land Rover. He reached into the back seat, pulled a shirt out of his overnight bag and got out of the car.

"Stand back," he instructed as she joined him. With his hands wrapped in the shirt, he lifted the bonnet then quickly hauled her back with him as a huge cloud of steam escaped.

The car wasn't the only thing overheating. Admiring her from a distance made him keen and warm, closer proximity and his body heat reached levels that endangered the local vegetation. She let out a gasp and looked up at him. Her eyes were like dark chocolate melting and her upturned mouth looked inviting, her lips slightly parted in surprise. A raindrop hit her cheek, making her gently flinch. He wanted to lick it away. With one careful finger, he gently smoothed the drop of rain from her cheek. Her lips parted, exposing the plump inner curve of her lower lip and the tip of her tongue. The look of her was making him hard.

"The car," she breathed, when the engine sizzled and popped behind them.

Sebastian hovered on the precipice, trying to get a grip. The way she was staring at him right then had his blood rushing south. As a result his brain was suffering severe deficit.

"Yes," he murmured, setting her to one side as he turned back to the engine. He carefully removed the radiator cap. "We’re going to need water."

"I've got some Evian in the boot, will that do?"

"That will do just fine." He smiled. She was a city girl, through and through. "We'll have to leave it for a few minutes until it cools down first."