The Protector 2

Chapter One-4

“I’m not worried,” I roll my eyes with irritation, even though a little sigh of relief breaks from my chest.

“Seeing his sexy butt, of course, in those jeans, and that bulging ehm… biceps,” she jabs a finger towards the window, tilting her head, “I wouldn’t kick him out of my bed if he really wanted to pull me over himself, if you know what I mean,” she winks knowingly. s**t! I know all too well what she means. I move my face from the window with flushed cheeks. “I’m only kidding, love, don’t take it to heart. There are rather serious rules at the club regarding relationships. I’m Gunner’s woman, which means, forbidden fruit for anybody else.”

“At the club?”

“Yeah, at the motorbike club where we are members,” she beckons towards the leather jackets hanging near the entrance, which are all decorated with the same vulture head on their backs.

“Oh, of course, the club,” I say uncertainly. “So Rafe is really a member of a club like that?”

“A member?” Rita gives a shrill laugh. “Were you born yesterday, or something? Rafe was a Sergeant-at-Arms,” she continues, stressing the words, but seeing my clueless facial expression, she gets on with the explanation. “It’s like a chief bodyguard. Someone responsible for the members’ safety at events, things like that.”

“You said, he was. Does that mean he’s not a club member anymore?”

Rita shrugs her shoulders and waves to me, indicating that I throw the veg into the saucepan with the meat.

“He resigned from the position, because, since he started running the escort firm, he hasn’t been such an active member as before. Of course, the contacts and friends have remained, but since he became a serious entrepreneur,” at this point she makes two quotation marks in the air, “he hasn’t shown up at the clubhouse very much.”

“I see,” I respond, and deep in thought, keep stirring the food.

“Then you’re really not aware of the updates regarding Rafe, are you?”

“Not in the least,” I shake my head. “We haven’t spoken since…” I swallow nervously, “well, for a long time.”

“You didn’t part ways on friendly terms, if I understand you correctly,” she says, narrowing her eyes.

“Well, not really,” I laugh with embarrassment, then, as we look at one another, the smile freezes on my face. “It was long ago,” I add, shrugging my shoulders, forcing negligence on myself.

She takes the wooden spoon from me, and gives me a reassuring smile.

“Whatever happened between you at the time, it has no relevance here,” she points around the house. “Rafe is the best. As long as he is with you, you’re safe,” she says, looking deep into my eyes, to see if I got her point.

I nod gratefully, although, whether or not I am really safe near Rafe Harlan, I’m not so convinced. At least, as far as my self-control, my sobriety and my heart are concerned. I’m dying to find out if Rafe has a girlfriend, but it would be kind of embarrassing to ask. After all, what’s that to me? For him, I’m just a ‘job’. Nothing personal.

“Have you ever done anything like this before? I mean,” I bite on my lips as Rita turns towards me, “this work is so manly, and all.”

“Oh, dear,” she waves her hand with ease, “I’ve done much bigger things too. Like the Mendez case,” she jabs towards me with the wooden spoon, “well, that really sucked.”

“Sounds exciting,” I say, in an attempt to encourage her to go on, in case she comes up with the information I’m interested in. Rita doesn’t seem to be an introvert; I think she enjoys having a chat with someone who doesn’t posses a Y chromosome. She sprinkles a bit of salt into the food, and continues pensively.

“Although I must admit, this thing has really surprised me. Rafe summoned me at an impossibly short notice to join Gunner.”

“Why?”

“He said the client is a woman, so it would definitely be useful if another female was present at the action,” she bats her eyelids, jokingly.

“Seriously?” I ask with wonder.

“He said it might be easier for you if you weren’t only surrounded by men.”

“I see.”

“He’s f*****g considerate, if you ask me.”

“He is,” I agree musingly. Then I take notice that the men have finished their patrolling outside, and started for the house. This is my last chance. “Then why didn’t he bring his own girlfriend as an escort?”

I can almost feel my cheeks turning scarlet red with shame. I’m fully aware how obvious my attempt is, and I can only hope that Rita won’t mock me. Luckily, she doesn’t disappoint me. Although she’s wearing a very big smile under her nose, she doesn’t get into the topic, which makes me extremely thankful.

“Maybe, because he doesn’t have one?” she glances sideways, raising her eyebrows. “At least, to my knowledge, he hasn’t had a girlfriend since Kiki.”

I don’t have much time to mull over the information, because the door opens, and the men walk inside, one by one. Suddenly, the living room is filled with three large guys, from whom Gunner sniffs into the air with pleasure, and expresses his appreciation for the lovely aromas coming from the kitchen, with the howl of a wolf. Mac sits down to the laptop at once, his fingers glide over the keyboard at an amazing speed as he checks the connection between the signal devices and the screens. Rafe gets out of his jacket, and studies us with a frown. He obviously can’t make much of my presence in the kitchen. As his eyes wander to the slicing knife in my hand, he scratches the back of his neck with concern. You’d better be scared, big guy!

“I really hope Mac has enough sense not to make a move on the little darling.”

“Why would he? Raven’s a client. Forbidden zone.”

I’m not very proud of this, but I slow down and eagerly tune my ears in front of the door left ajar. I’m dead certain Rita and Gunner are talking about me in the room. It’s not nice to eavesdrop on people, but I’m dying with curiosity. I quickly glance around the living room, but I’m alone, so I give in for the temptation and listen, holding my breath.

“Yeah. And I’m Mother Theresa,” Rita snorts, and I can hear Gunner’s throaty laugh. “Do you think I can’t see how both of them are drooling after her?”

“Raven’s a hot chick. But she’s a client.”

“And that should keep you guys from hitting on her? Don’t take me for a fool. You’re unable to keep your d***s in your pants.”

“We rarely end up with such sexy clients,” Gunner says in hysterics, and I cover my mouth with a hand. How embarrassing.

“I swear it’s just a matter of time, and one of them will nail the little girl. I only hope it won’t be Mac, or blood will be shed.”

“Bullshit, sweetie,” Gunner grunts.

“It’s not, believe me. They have a history. There must have been a shitstorm in their past. I’ve always suspected something, and I think Raven is the guy’s weak spot.”

“And I think you are seeing things. Come over here, Sherlock!”

“Seriously though, baby. You should warn Mac to keep himself away from her. Rafe is going to explode with rage if he makes a move on her, and that’s the last thing we need.”

There are some other blurred noises coming from inside, which make me seriously shy, and good manners take the better of me. With a red face, I walk away from the door, and throw myself onto the sofa. I open my book and dumbly stare at the page filled with letters, but I don’t get a word from them. My thoughts are somewhere different. So it’s not just me thinking that Rafe keeps staring at me with hungry eyes. I was convinced he can’t stand me, and that’s why he’s so grumpy with me all the time. Although the way he tries to eat me up with his eyes, talks about something else. He might still hate me, of course, despite the fact that he is sexually aroused by me. It happens. Am I not in exactly the same shoes? This man is so hot that my undies melt off me everytime I forget my eyes on him, and my imagination keeps stubbornly wandering under his clothes. Yet, I could drown him in a tea spoon of water.

Rita brings me back to reality from my musings, as she throws herself next to me on the sofa, and studies me with suspicion.

“Is everything okay?” she asks.

I look up with a start, and force a smile on my face.

“Of course. Everything is okay.”

“Enjoying your book?”

“Yeah. It’s cool,” I nod stupidly. Rita takes the book out of my hands and takes a look into it. It’s open on the title page. Crap. I’m in agony, but when I see that Rita is just smiling at me, I lay back on the sofa, cover my face with the book, and begin to giggle with her. Without a doubt, I’m making a complete i***t of myself. Meanwhile, Gunner also makes an appearance, winks at us, and, settling down beside the laptops, and begins to check something. I start asking Rita about yoga and her tattoos, and she proves to be a great speaking partner, because the words are just pouring from her. I laugh as I listen to the stories of the various tattoos, when all of a sudden Rafe materializes in the kitchen, wearing just a pair of jeans, with a shirt thrown over his shoulder, and his hair still wet after the shower. He opens a tin, and pours its contents into a dish. I don’t want to watch it; I make a serious attempt to get my eyes off him, but I just can’t. He simply captivates my eyes, as the muscles are rippling on his broad shoulders, while he’s stirring his food. He radiates power, manliness, and he is unbelievably gorgeous. Spellbound, I look at the tattoos on his arm, confident that they weren’t on him yet at university. He only casts one look towards the living room, then turns back to his little kitchen project. No matter how hard fight it, my eyes keep wandering back again and again to the half naked chef. Why the hell is he half naked, anyway? Is he doing it on purpose? Is this some trick? What an arrogant d**k; he must think I will drop to his feet if he displays his sexy belly muscles with his jeans hanging off his hips. No way! – I rage inside, but when he puts the wooden spoon in his mouth and licks the sauce off with pleasure, I even leave my mouth open, mesmerized. I keep stirring on the sofa as s****l frustration is mixing with anger inside me, because I’m very sure that Rafe is provoking me on purpose. I just don’t see him posing half naked for each of his clients. I force myself to focus on Rita, while swearing silently to take revenge. By no means should this arrogant prick think that he makes the rules of this game. If he believes that I haven’t learned anything in the past eight years, then I will show him how wrong he is.

Biting on dry lips, I nod to Rita’s question with a flushed face, but when I don’t give an answer, she, all the while with her back to the kitchen, turns around with suspicion. She takes in the view with great pleasure, and then turns back to me with a grin on her face.

“Okay, dear. I get it now.”

“What do you get?” I twist my hair around my fingers, like some i***t.

“You are in deep s**t, sweetheart.”