I could sign a few papers.Lots of the rich and famous didn’t want their secrets getting out, and Iwasat leastprofessional enough not to be even slightly tempted to tell them. I didn’t mind promisingthat I wouldn’t on pain of being sued until my nose bled.
The chair creaked ominouslyas I stood, and I was glad not to be sitting in it anymore. It just wasn’t built for aguy my size.
His handshake was firmerthan I expected from a man who was built more or less like a department storemannequin on a diet. Probably because he was, after all, an Emerson. Medicinewas business for them, and this wasn’t a nervous little nerd in a lab coat.
Explained why he’d been soforceful on Saturday night. Miles knew what he wanted, and he was accustomed togetting it. That kind of confidence washot.
I definitely needed to stopthinking about Saturday night, though. Whether he’d hired me because he thoughtI was hot or not, I still needed to do my job. The Emersons were the kind ofpeople who’d bring in word-of-mouth business for years to come if I did whatthey wanted me to.
“Call me when you need me,”I said as I headed for the door.
The tiniest smile—more of asmirk—turned up one corner of his lips. “I will,” Miles promised,nodding to me.
On the other side of the door,his PA’sgaze was boring a hole into the back of my skull before I even got the chanceto turn around and smile at her. I was used to coasting on having a nice smileand not being too hard on the eyes, but I could see she wasn’t about to befooled by my stunning good looksormy charming personality.
“Mil-uh, Mr. Emerson saidyou’d have some papers I need to sign?” I asked, smiling anyway, since Ifigured it couldn’thurt.
She passed me a stack ofpapers and a pen without a word.
I skimmed them to look foranything that stood out as weird, but I’d seen papers like thisbefore. Boilerplate that covered their ass and put mine on the hook. The armyhadn’t been any different, that way.
Once I’d signed my lifeaway—or at least, my right to sue the Emersons if I got hurt or killed doingthis job—I passed the papers and pen back over the desk.
I still hadn’t retrieved theone I’d lost the night before. Fox would probably have stolen it by now, but ifhe’d managed to wrestle it away from my cursed desk, he could keep it. That wasa feat worthy of a reward.
“You can’t accompany Mr.Emerson like that,” Amanda said as I passed the papers back. She pushed a sleekblack business card with white text on it toward me. “Drop by here. Picksomething in black. It’ll go on the company account.”
I picked up the card andreadJamison & Sons, Tailors.
I opened my mouth to saythat Ihada perfectly fine suit, thanks, but… if the company was paying,the company was paying. This felt more like an order than a request, anyway.
Plus, I’d never been toa real tailor. Maybe I’d manage to get something that wasn’t huge in the waistor too tight across the shoulders this way.
It wasn’t impossiblethat Miles was dressing me up for his own personal amusement, but who was I toargue? I’d already had clients make weirder requests thanwear a nice suit.
“Thank you,” I said. “Youdon’t like me, huh?”
“It’s notyouI don’t like,” Amandaconfessed. “I don’t know you, I haven’t formed an opinion. What I don’t like isthat yourexistencemeans that Mr.Emerson isn’ttaking his personal safety seriously. He’s hiring you because he had your cardinstead of hiring a professional with a long track record. Which I will admitisn’t entirely your fault.”
“Uh…” I paused to figure outwhether or not I was being insulted. Ultimately, I decided it didn’t reallymatter. I’d seen a glimpse of real concern for Miles’ safety, and I got it. Hedidn’tthink this wasserious enough to bother with someone like me, but I still planned on beingthere in case it turned out to be.
“I’ll keep him safe,” Ipromised eventually. That was my job, after all.
“We’ll see.” Amanda tappedmy stack of papers on the desk to neaten them up, then turned to put them in afiling cabinet. “Good morning, Mr. Ward.”
I knew that she meantgoaway, and short of any urgent need for my presence, I didn’t like hangingout where I was clearly surplus to requirements.
The thought made meuncomfortable as I headed to the elevator, but it was too late to back out now.Besides, a job was a job. I knew better than to think I’d love every single one Idid, even though this kind of work really felt right for me.
I winked at the receptioniston the way past and got a grin in return, but my mind went straight back toMiles Emerson upstairs and I couldn’t even enjoy it.
FIVE
MILES
WAKING IN THE middle of a really good sexdream was like being tossed into a cold lake in the middle of winter, thismorning especially so. Seeing Gray again yesterday had reminded me not only ofhow hot our night together had been, but also of how hot itcouldhavebeen.
Dream-me had been just aboutto get some action from my gorgeous new bodyguard.
