“Islept with Emberlast night.” I blurt the words out once we are out of Mr. Marino’s office and he and his wife are out of earshot.
When I woke up this morning, and she was gone, I was pissed. I’d planned to search for her until I received the call from my boss, Cass. I’d wanted to tell him no to the assignment, but no one ever tells Cass no. So instead, like the good soldier that I am, I read through the file he sent me, labeled "Ice Princess," her code name for the assignment.
I read through the file, cursing the spoiled little rich girl who was interrupting my search for Ember. The name Elsa Marino stared back at me in the digitally encrypted files, making me clench my teeth.
My plan was to pick up my assignment, take her to Cupid City, and lock her away while I used everything at my disposal to search for Ember. Imagine my surprise when I met with Mr. and Mrs. Marino, only to find the object of my desire sitting in front of me. I barely noticed the woman sitting next to her until that woman called Ember Elsa.
I’d schooled my features earlier so as not to give too much away, forcing myself to look past Ember rather than directly at her. But the surprise of hearing that her name was really Elsa and not Ember had me shifting my gaze slightly to compare the two women.
They might be identical twins, as the file mentioned, but I’d know the woman I made love to anywhere, and that woman’s real name is Elsa.
“What the fuck do you mean you slept with Ember last night?” The anger in Trace’s voice surprises me. So does the way he’s clenching and unclenching his hands like he wants to punch me.
“Wait,” I raise my hands in front of me, needing to diffuse the tense situation. My eyes shift between his face and his clenching and unclenching hands. “What I meant to say is that I slept with Elsa last night, but she told me her name was Ember.”
“Why would she do that?” Trace’s shoulders seem to relax as I clarify which twin I slept with.
“I don’t know why she did it. When I left the reception to get a drink from the bar, she was sitting there alone, looking beautiful. When she glanced my way and met my gaze with those soft, innocent blue eyes, I was a goner. Ten minutes later, she was in my hotel room, in my bed for the rest of the night, until she slipped out sometime before sunrise.” I’m not even embarrassed that I let Elsa slip away without disturbing my sleep. As Navy SEALs, we often had missions where we got only a few hours of sleep but still woke at the slightest sound. Even as bodyguards, we are always alert to the slightest noise.
Maybe it was the adrenaline rush of finally finding the woman I plan to spend the rest of my life with, making love to her, and then holding her while we both slept, that finally put me into a deep sleep and kept me from hearing her when she left.
“Are you sure it was Elsa you were with and not the real Ember?”
“Yeah, I know for sure I was with Elsa, not Ember, last night. Even if I wouldn’t have been sure when I first saw her today, theway Elsa was fidgeting in her seat and nervously looking at me was a dead giveaway.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
“Nothing. I have a job to do.” I clench my jaw, not ready to tell one of my best friends that for the first time in my life, I’m going to break the bodyguard’s oath. “Besides, you know the bodyguard’s oath: never let her out of your sight, never let your guard down, and never fall in love.”
The door to the study flies open, revealing a pissed-off-looking Ember—my woman, Elsa, trailing after her, stealing quick little glances at me. If she only knew what punishment I have planned for her for running out on me this morning, she wouldn’t be giving me those sexy little half-smiles.
“You have fifty minutes to pack your bags and come back down here, darlin’,” Trace says as they rush by.
Darlin’?
Trace might be from Texas, but I’ve never heard him call anyone darlin'. Maybe I’m not the only one obsessed with his assignment.
***
Exactly fifty minutes later, both Ember and Elsa come strolling down the stairs, with a pair of butlers lagging behind, balancing what looks like ten suitcases between them. Elsa nervouslyglances our way as she follows Ember to the front door. I almost swallow my tongue now that I’ve gotten a good look at her outfit.
The short dress barely skims the tops of her thighs, leaving a lot of bare skin and long legs that I remember all too well wrapped around my waist as I thrust into her tight body. And the way her breasts are popping out of the top of her dress, almost daring me to pull them out and suck on them as I did for hours last night.
Elsa and I are caught in the moment, our eyes staying trained on each other as Trace and Ember argue about the suitcase situation.
“One suitcase, darlin'.”
“You can’t be serious. I need everything in all of those suitcases.”
Their words are background noise as I take in Elsa’s beauty. She was beautiful last night, but today, in the light of day, with just a hint of makeup, she’s gorgeous, and her sexy curves are on display in that sinful dress. Another reason I need to punish her—showing off what’s mine.
“I only have one suitcase,” Elsa volunteers quietly, picking up a medium-sized pink suitcase from the pile on the floor that the butlers set down before fleeing the scene. Her eyes shift to mine, her blue eyes fixed on me again.
Elsa’s glances are shy and innocent, making me question everything I read about her in her file. The file claims she’s an ice-cold bitch who doesn’t have time for anyone she deems beneath her. But that’s not the woman I made love to last night,or the shy woman standing in front of me, unless she’s one hell of an actress and I’ve been caught in her web of lies. One thing I know for sure is that she was a virgin before I made love to her. The feeling of pushing through that barrier is still fresh in my mind.
“Okay, then I guess we’re out of here.” I take the suitcase from Elsa’s hand, then place a hand on the middle of her back and lead her past Ember and Trace toward the front door. “We’ll be in touch. Take care.” I pat Trace’s shoulder as I pass, then return it to Elsa’s back within seconds, like some love-struck fool.
six
