Protect Me (13 page)

But
she’d been more tired than this before, and she had things to do (people to
see, her traitor mind taunted her), so Hope rolled out of bed with a suppressed
groan and set about making herself halfway presentable.

These
were the kinds of mornings where having slept in your clothes almost seemed
like a brilliant idea. It would be so easy just to walk out in these, Hope
thought mournfully, even as she dragged herself to the closet and pulled out an
identical set of black clothes.

She
moved around the room silently on pure habit; the only noise to be heard was
the hiss of water from the tap and the rustle of clothes sliding against her
skin. Hope was tying off her usual braid when she yanked open the door and
found Rick standing outside staring at her with a startled expression.

He
didn’t look half as disheveled as she felt, the bastard. Somehow Rick actually
looked good after the four hours of sleep he’d gotten. He was dressed casually
in a fitted black shirt and dark jeans, and though his hair was still
sleep-tousled, his eyes were sharp and awake.

“Uh.”
Rick said, uncharacteristically at a loss for words. Hope cocked an eyebrow at
him. The two of them stared at each other for a second, each on one side of the
door.

Then
suddenly Rick gave her a smile like daybreak; wide and bright.

“I was
coming to get you for breakfast,” he said. Hope wondered how long it would have
taken him to knock, and let herself smile back.

Eggs
were flying in the kitchen.

“I
cannot believe that this sort of thing is going on,” Trinity said, punctuating
her frustration with the crack of one egg after another. Hope wasn’t actually
sure that the woman was making anything. Perhaps she’d figure it out as she
went along. “There you were, Mr. Stone, having a nice party, and some ruffian
interrupts it. In this day and age! The incivility! It’s horrible!”

“Quite,”
Rick agreed, hiding a smile badly. Hope hid her own in a gulp of fantastic black
coffee.

“Thank
goodness Hope was there to set things straight. It’s a comfort having you
around, honey, and you should know it.”

“Well,”
Hope said, startled, “er… thanks very much. That’s kind of you.”

Trinity
waved a spoon covered in batter, chiding Hope for something or other while Rick
stared across the table with soft eyes that were darker than her coffee.

This
felt like home, Hope realized, and though she reached for it, horror and dismay
wouldn’t quite come.

While
Trinity whirled around the kitchen like a dervish, Hope fixed Rick with a
matched set of raised eyebrows and a glare. It took him a moment to look up
from his notes and notice.

“Yes?”
Hope didn’t want to feel pleased about the way he immediately flipped his
folder of notes closed to focus on her, but she did.

“Do you
really think this party is a good idea?” she asked, just as blunt as Rick in
her own way. Her voice was quiet and she kept one eye on Trinity, not wanting
to worry the woman further. “You’ve just had a security breach, and this is
asking for all different kinds of trouble.”

Rick
gave her a tired grin and rubbed a hand over his face; blew out a sigh that
ruffled the papers in front of him. “I was wondering when you’d ask that,” he
admitted.

“I take
it that’s a no.” There was really nothing that Hope could do. Just because
something was a terrible idea didn’t mean it was illegal, and she was a
bodyguard, not a nanny. She had no real authority over Rick’s actions.
Technically her contract specified that she could leave if Rick did anything
she deemed reckless, but…

Rick’s
dark eyes met hers across the table. She wasn’t leaving and she knew it.

“If I
thought I could get away with it I would, honestly. But there are… reasons that
it would be unwise to move the date.” He shot a furtive look at Trinity. Hope
furrowed her brow in confusion, halfway to disapproval. But when Rick jerked
his head toward the door and said, “Let’s take a walk,” she followed him.

As soon
as they were a soundproof distance from the kitchen Hope turned an accusing
look on Rick.

“I
thought you said you trusted Trinity,” she said.

Oddly
enough, Rick smiled at her.

“I do,”
he said. “But this isn’t anything she really needs to know, and it will worry her.
If I’ve learned anything from your tenure here, it’s that sometimes it’s worth
making an effort to protect other people, if you can.”

For the
first time in so long that she couldn’t even remember the last time, Hope
stumbled. She caught herself immediately and shot the ground an accusing glare.

“Oh,”
she said softly. Rick pulled back his outstretched arm.

He
coughed. “Yes, well.”

Hope
felt like she should say something - thank him, or maybe kiss him. No, wait,
that would be unprofessional. But he looked awfully tempting, standing there
with sunlight from one of the high windows falling softly over him, his hair
still ruffled and his dark eyes focused wholly on her.

Maybe
if she’d known where to start, she would’ve. But she didn’t, so she ducked her
head and instead mumbled, “You said there were reasons you couldn’t cancel the
party?”

“What?
Uh - oh. Yeah.” When she dared to look up, Rick glanced away and pulled an arm
up behind his head. He ran a hand through his hair, making it even more
tousled. Hope suppressed a smile. “The FDA is really close to approving work on
my… project. You know, experimenting on humans that aren’t me, that kind of
thing. But they’re twitchy about this stuff. I’ve got a reputation for fooling
around and they don’t really trust me. And if they get the idea that criminals
want my formula, for whatever reason…” Rick shrugged like he didn’t care, but
Hope could see by the way his body tensed up that he did.

She
thought about pointing out that his devil-may-care playboy reputation was his
own fault, but it wouldn’t be helpful.

Instead
she asked gently, “Would it really be so bad if this had to wait a few years?”

At her
words Rick’s head snapped up and he looked so fierce that she almost stepped
back. His eyes blazed and his face was set in absolute determination. She knew
even before he spoke that there was no way anyone could make him waver.

“Yes,”
he said decisively. “That can’t happen. Do you have any idea how many people
die of infection on battlefields, or isolated places?” He shook his head. “I
know that my invention can save people. I want to – I just want this one thing
for myself, okay? I know I can do something over than going to meetings and
signing papers. I can save people. I’ll do whatever it takes to get it into
their hands as quickly as possible.”

Hope
was completely out of words and oddly breathless. She nodded, not trusting her
voice.

As if
to counter the vehemence of his words Rick quirked a half-smile at her before
turning and heading toward his office. Hope watched him go, staring at the firm
line of his shoulders and his broad back.

“Hey!”
she called out just before he turned the corner. Rick glanced over his shoulder
questioningly. “Could - um, would you mind if I invited someone else to the
party?”

Rick
raised his eyebrows in surprise. Hope chose not to be offended by that. He
smiled.

“Sure.
You can have whatever you want,” he said easily, and she nodded her thanks.

Before
she had time to even glance away, Rick gave her a full-on grin and said, “By
the way, you know you’re my date for the party tomorrow, right?”

Then he
disappeared around the corner and left Hope’s head full of curses against
unexpectedly brilliant billionaires and their damned presumptions.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Hope
wasn’t given to whining, but there were limits.

“I
don’t want to be your date. And I don’t wear makeup. And these shoes are
ridiculous.” She crossed her arms over her chest, the shoes dangling by their
straps off of one finger.

It was
lucky that Rick was so laid back. Most employers probably wouldn’t be cool with
their bodyguards barging into their room in a huff after being informed of the
dress expectations for the night.

But
then again, most people didn’t ask their bodyguards to be their dates to
parties.

Rick
rolled his eyes extravagantly and deftly hooked a cufflink through his sleeves.

“You do
too want to be my date. Just think how convenient it’ll be. You can stop me
from getting plastered and glower at everyone to your heart’s content with the
perfect excuse. And you’re not even wearing the shoes yet,” he pointed out.
“They might be comfortable.”

Hope
looked down at the shoes Trinity had handed her in the hall. They were covered
in black satin and arched up like Barbie feet. The heels were five inches tall.

She
looked at Rick.

“Okay,
yeah, those probably aren’t going to be very comfortable,” Rick admitted. “But
Trinity picked them out, not me. Apparently you need them.” He shrugged.

Hope
gritted her teeth and didn’t allow herself to look too closely at Rick. He was
wearing a dark gray tuxedo as comfortably as his skin, his hair in some kind of
order for once and a carefree smile quick on his lips.

“No, I
don’t. I do not need these. What I need is some decent pants and flat shoes
with rubber soles.” She had the horrible feeling that her words were falling on
deaf ears; Rick turned away halfway through her speech and pulled something off
a dark wood counter.

“Here.
Take this.”

With
her mouth still open to take a breath and continue ranting, Hope held out her
hands obediently. Something soft fell across her palms and immediately snagged
on her callouses.

She
grasped the black fabric gingerly and held it up to the light.

“What…
what is this?”

Rick
grinned. “It’s a dress.”

She
could see that. It was a long black dress that would just about sweep the floor
even if she wore the skyscraper heels. The fact that it was a dress was not the
problem.

“It’s…
see-through,” Hope said, trying to hold it as far away from her body as
possible.

Rick
rolled his eyes and stepped in close. He tugged at the front of the dress,
handling it without hesitation. “Don’t be ridiculous,” he said. “Only part of
the back is see-through, and that’s just an illusion anyway, there’s a slip
underneath. The front is just plain black satin. Don’t worry, nobody’s going to
pin an ‘A’ to your chest for wearing this.”

There
was something to what he said, but Hope remained unconvinced.

“I’ll
tear it,” she said. Rick made a
you’re being ridiculous
face, but Hope
didn’t feel like she was being ridiculous.

She
just couldn’t bring herself to say
this is too delicate for me
. Even
thinking the words made her feel like a troll. It was very rare for Hope to
think of her hard-earned muscles and steel reflexes as something that made her
less of a woman. She kind of loathed the dress for making her feel that way,
the same as she’d hated any men who made her feel that way in the past.

She’d
dumped the men. Hope wasn’t sure she could get away with dumping the dress.

While
she stood there staring at it, Rick slid a foot between her and her
outstretched hand and suddenly it was his handsome face filling her field of
vision. Hope blinked, feeling that same absurd jolt she felt every time she was
forced to look, really look, at his angular jaw, bright eyes, and perfectly
crooked smile.

“Please?”
Rick said softly. “Trinity picked it out. You’ll hurt her feelings if you tell
her you don’t like it. And… I really want to see you wear it. Even if it’s just
this once.”

Hope
was obviously getting soft in her old age, because she found herself glaring at
Rick and stomping out of the room with the dress and heels still firmly in
hand.

She got
herself into the dress and heels with a minimum of struggle and took an
experimental walk to the mirror. Well, she probably wasn’t going to be running
any races in them, but since she had good balance already, they weren’t a huge
issue. Worst-case scenario Hope figured she could yank them off her feet and
run - and that would really be worst-case scenario. Her job was supposed to be
to anticipate the bad things so they wouldn’t happen.

Cautiously
Hope peered at the mirror.

She’d
been lying when she told Rick she never wore makeup; she did, a bit, just not
the heavy kind she expected most of the well-heeled women at this party would
be wearing. Pure obstinacy had made her go even lighter on it tonight.