Protect Me (13 page)

The closer they got to the yacht the bigger it got. Abbi had no depth perception and was horrible at guessing length and distance, but this ship had to be at least one hundred feet long and she assumed it was ultimately even larger than that. It had three levels, windows lined half the sides of the first two levels and the top portion of the yacht was open with railings along the sides. The same railings lined the open front portion, which now had people dancing around to the music being played from the DJ booth. If one thing was for sure, the people of LA knew how to throw a good party.

Jeff took Abbi by the hand and they went up to the entrance of the party.

“Yes, I am Jeffrey Rawlings, I am an employee. I have a party of four.”

There were two men at the entrance to the party, both in dark suits with matching ear pieces. Abbi wondered for a moment if they worked for Ryan’s company, they didn’t look like bouncers but more like FBI agents. While they scanned the list on their clipboard, she let her mind wonder back to the Sunday she had ran into him at the grocery store. She just needed to get over him, she knew he was too good for her, even with her gain in confidence she knew it were absurd to think that two people that came from two completely different social structures could ever stand a shot. And here she had a man who was willing to dote on her and eagerly take her out and show her off, she may not be immediately attracted to him but that can always come in time right? She didn’t want to be with someone who would punk out at the opportunity served to them on a silver platter, like Ryan did. No tonight, she wouldn’t think about him, she would have fun and be carefree. As the gentleman motioned for them to go into the party a tall man with short brown hair came walking down the plank from the boat. Abbi turned to make sure that Ashley and Judy were close by and then realized that Judy’s eyes were locked onto the man coming down from the boat. Hell, she was practically drooling as he made his way towards them.

“Hey Jeff, I am glad you made it man. Who do you have here?” the guy said as he shook Jeff’s hand looking at each of the women until his eyes locked on Judy’s.

“Jace, this is Abbi my date, and her friends Judy and Ashley.” Jeff motioned to the girls as he said their names. “Ladies, this is one of my bosses, Jace.”

Abbi noticed that Jace was now looking at Judy with the same look that she had been giving him as he walked off the ship. He stepped forward and broke eye contact long enough to shake Abbi’s hand, before taking Ashley’s and then Judy’s. His hand lingered in hers a bit longer than it did anyone else’s.

“Well, How about we get you ladies into the party.” He said looking at Judy with a beaming smile. “Allow me.” He said sweeping his arm into Judy’s and ushering Ashley to his other side as they made their way back onto the ship. Judy took a look back at Abbi with a huge smile.

“Well looks like they hit the jackpot tonight.” Jeff laughed as he watched Jace escort the two ladies into the party.

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, he and Ryan are the owners of the company. They make the big bucks.” He laughed.

“Ryan? Um, what exactly do you do Jeff? For a living that is.” She asked nervously, she prayed inside that he would say plumber, tow truck driver, actor, anything other than a body guard. Ryan was a common name. She bet there were plenty of plumbers named that.

“I am a personal protection agent A.K.A a bodyguard.” He said with a tone of confidence.

Shit, well there goes the night. The butterflies were back now and with full force. Suddenly her knees got weak underneath her and she faltered a bit. Jeff put his arm around her and caught her before she went down.

“Easy there, you ok?” He looked at her with concern.

“Yeah, I’m ok. I think I just need to eat something.” She lied.

“Ok, let’s get inside and get you some food.” Jeff pulled her closer as they made their way up the ramp towards the gangway of the ship.

She glanced back behind her taking in the sight of freedom.
I could run like hell and I bet they’d never catch me,
the thought flittered through her mind. As they entered the semi full room, she glanced around to see if Ryan was anywhere in sight. This was a huge ship, it wasn’t completely ridiculous to think that she may not even see him the whole night. Not seeing anyone who remotely looked like Ryan, she began to take in the interior of the ship. It was a large dining room with tables lining the walls full of trays of foods. To her left was a large bar that was fully stocked. Blue lights lined the back of the wall behind it shimmering against the hanging glasses. The walls were made of a polished mahogany, and the windows lining the sides of the room now showed the lights of LA. It was beautiful and elegant, everything she could imagine a lavish party would be in this city.

Jeff escorted her over to the tables of food. She picked up a small plate and filled it with a few finger foods. She honestly wasn’t even hungry, but if she was going to have to choke down something to keep from blowing her cover, she figured some fruit and a few cheese cubes would be a good choice. Making her way back over to a table near the corner she politely grabbed a glass of champagne off of a tray carried by a server dressed in all white.

“You didn’t get much. Do you want me to go get you something else? I can elbow my way over to the turkey if you’d like.” Jeff eyed her almost bare plate.

“No, thank you. I don’t want too much on my stomach until I get my sea legs.” She gave him a weak smile.

“Ok, I am going to go and get a drink from the bar would you like anything?”

“Nope, I grabbed a glass on my way over. I’ll be right here.”

With that Jeff turned and walked in the direction of the bar. She picked at her food and took a few large sips of her champagne. Ok, what on earth was up with this? First the bakery, then the grocery store, now she was sitting on his rather large and gaudy yacht.
If you find this funny God, you and I have two different types of humor
, she eyed up at the ceiling as if it weren’t even there letting out the silent prayer. She let out a deep sigh and scanned the crowd. Everyone looked to be having the time of their life. She wondered where Ashley and Judy had ended up, she was sure they were eating it up that they were the arm candy of one of the head honchos. Just as she thought it, the two girls came through the crowd smiling as they met Abbi’s gaze. They walked up to the table and took two of the seats across from Abbi.

“Ok, so can I please tell you that man is beautiful! Like so beautiful it shouldn’t all be put into one man.” Judy fanned herself as if she were having heat stroke.

“You two sure looked like you had some sparks, do you know who he is?” Abbi glanced sideways at Judy trying to gauge if she had known that they were coming to Ryan’s party.

“No, he said his name was Jace and that he is one of the boss men. I could care less; I just want to lick whip cream off his nipples.” Judy laughed.

“I do not want to know about his nipples!” Abbi said choking on a cheese cube.

“Yeah, me either. I have to admit I am a bit jealous of little bit over here. I don’t think he has any interest in me at all.” Ashley stared off into the crowd as if in search of her own Mr. Right.

“It’s ok girl, we will find you someone to use and abuse I promise.” Judy patted Ashley on the leg as she took a sip out of her glass.

“So did you two know this was Ryan’s party?” Abbi stared blankly at the two girls as Judy nearly spit her drink out on the table.

“Holy shit, you have got to be joking. This is his party, like this is his yacht?” Judy glanced around as if just seeing it for the first time. “I am impressed, I knew the bastard had money but damn.”

“Yeah, Jace apparently is the other boss. You swear you didn’t know?” She looked at Judy and then to Ashley.

‘No, I promise we had no idea. If I had, we would have chosen you a more cleavage enhancing dress.” Ashley laughed. “I will be right back. I think I see some unsuspecting prey at ten o clock.” She leaped from her seat and made her way to the other side of the room where a tall dark skinned man stood.

“Judy, what the hell am I going to do? I honestly just want to hide now. I told you how he shot me down the other day.” Abbi gave Judy a mortified look.

“You know for such a country girl, you sure are a drama queen. I am going to change your nickname to backwoods Barbie.” Judy smiled at her. “Listen, Ryan didn’t shoot you down, hell he gave you his number. But some guys just get… nervous, like they can’t go in for the kill. That’s where you need to make the first move.”

“But I am here with Jeff.”

“Do you like Jeff, like want to potentially date him, ever see him again, have sex with him? I have seen the way you have been reacting to him and if you did want any of those things with him, you wouldn’t even be thinking about Ryan. But the fact that you are tells me who you
should
be going after.”

“It just seems crazy to me, here I have this guy who is what every girl dreams of, but yet I really don’t have any attraction to him.”

“Girl, no one said the game was easy. You just have to know who’s a King and who’s a rook. Do you want to leave here tonight with Jeff?”

“No.”

“Ok, then you get yourself a drink, fix your lipstick, perk up that rack, and let’s go find Ryan.” Judy’s eyes beamed as she smiled.

“Where on earth is Jeff anyway?” Abbi glanced back towards the bar and noticed him talking to another guy with a drink in one hand and a shot glass in the other. Oh well, she would leave him to mingle for a few minutes, what could it hurt.

She grabbed her glass from the table and slammed it back. If she was expected to have any nerve to go and find Ryan she was going to need some liquid courage. She made her way towards the end of the dining room and out onto the bow of the boat, a large wooden deck was filled with people dancing to the music pumping out from the DJ booth. She glanced over at the deck hands that were now un-tying the large ropes that had been strung out, holding the ship to the dock. Within seconds she felt a slight rumble beneath her feet as the sight of land began to drift away. This was it. She had passed the point of no return. She turned and found Judy just to her right side.

“I need a drink.”

“Ok, there’s a bar over in the corner.” Judy said pointing across the deck.

The two made their way over to the bar, Abbi ordered a Jack Daniels and Coke with a wedge of lime and Judy ordered a gin and tonic. They took their drinks and made their way onto the dance floor. Abbi wasn’t much of a dancer but the music wasn’t half bad. Maybe she would make her way out here later, after a few more drinks. She could only accomplish one mission at a time. The two girls pretended to mingle as they made their way around the deck of the boat, Abbi taking big sips of her small glass. The smell of the salty crisp air made its way to Abbi’s nose. This was why people had boats. Between the sounds of the waves splashing against the sides and the salt air, stress just began to melt away.

They made their way to a stair well on the right side of the deck that lead them to the upper deck and parlor. As they reached the top she scanned again to see if she could see him. No Ryan. They walked out onto the back deck and took seats on two small white square stools.

“Well, this was a bust.” Abbi said sipping at her drink until the ice cubes clinked against the sides. “I think I am going to go get another drink.” She frowned into her empty glass. “You wanna shot or anything?”

“Don’t get down, the night has just begun. And yes as a matter of fact I think I will join you on that shot. Will you get me a lemon drop please?” Judy smiled as Abbi made her way into the second floor parlor.

It was made of the same rustic mahogany as the first floor, the bar was a bit smaller than the one downstairs and this room held a number of lounging chairs. She made her way into the door, not quite as many people up here, she noted as she made her way towards the bar. She scanned the crowd as she walked, until she felt a pull from the back of the room. She wasn’t sure what it was, but her gut told her to keep walking forward. Looking up she saw him. Standing just to the left of the bar, he looked so handsome her heart leapt into her throat. His dark hair cropped short, his tanned arms set off against his white collared shirt. He looked every bit the wealthy boat owner. She couldn’t help but smile, this was it, she was going to make her move and damnit if she crashed and burned at least she could say she tried.

As she began to make her way towards Ryan she immediately stopped in her tracks, seeing a beautiful blonde make her way up to him. She watched as the blonde, whose dress was a little too tight, run her hand down his arm. She couldn’t compete with that, fake blonde hair, fake tits, and every aspect of a woman that a man screamed for. Jealousy began to take over as she watched the woman fondle Ryan. She didn’t want some other woman with her hands all over him. She fought against her conscious that told her to walk away before it got worse and her gut that told her to take that bitch outside and settle it woman to woman. But it was too late to walk away, her eyes were glued to them like she was staring at a train on the verge of wrecking and she couldn’t kick her ass because her body protested moving another inch. And then it happened, the blonde leaned in, looking as though she were whispering something in his ear and kissed him, their lips molding together as the blonde reached up and placed her hand on the back of Ryan’s head. And he just stood there, he didn’t stop it, didn’t react as if he didn’t like it.

Her body began to react then. She could feel the knot tightening in her throat. Tears threatened to fall if she continued to watch the scene in front of her. With the small ounce of dignity she still had left, she wouldn’t give that woman the satisfaction of seeing her cry. Neither would she give Ryan the slightest inkling that she had been in search of him. But just as she turned, she saw Ryan turn his gaze towards her. She caught his glance for seconds before turning back into the crowd and heading back towards Judy. This was a terrible idea. She should have just stayed with her date. She bounced off of people trying to make her way back out of the door.