Fearless: (McIntyre Security Bodyguard Series - Book 2) Read online

  “Yes, I’d mind.”

  “Sam – ”

  He shakes his head. “My job is to shadow you. I can’t do that from out in the hallway.”

  “But I’m just going to have a brief talk with Vanessa.”

  “Save your breath, boss.”

  I sigh. I don’t want to do this in front of Sam, but it looks like he’s not going to give me a choice. “Fine. Suit yourself.”

  “I plan to,” he says.

  Vanessa turns to look at the three of us and scowls, and I can’t wait to hear what she’s going to say next.

  “What?” I say to her, because my patience is wearing thin. Vanessa needs to get over herself and start acting like a decent human being instead of the manager from hell.

  She crosses her arms over her chest and taps a long, manicured fingernail on her sleeve. “What can I do for you, Miss Jamison?”

  “For starters, you can call me Beth.”

  “If you insist.”

  “I do. And secondly, you need to stop harassing Sam. He’s just doing his job. I’m sure there are other things he’d rather be doing than shadowing me, but this is his assignment right now, so just leave him alone.”

  Vanessa’s lips thin. “Is that it?”

  “No.” Actually, I’m just getting warmed up. “I want you to relax the dress code for the assistant managers. Erin shouldn’t be wearing three-inch heels if she doesn’t feel comfortable in them. She’s going to fall and break her neck.”

  Vanessa bristles at my request. “We have standards to uphold here, Beth. I expect my assistant managers to act like professionals, and they should dress like them too.”

  “Shoes don’t define the person, Vanessa. All I’m asking is that Erin be able to wear whatever shoe she feels comfortable in. She can be professional in a different style of shoe.”

  Vanessa glares at Erin as if this is all Erin’s fault.

  “Don’t blame Erin,” I say. “This is my idea, not hers. And honestly, it’s not a request.”

  Vanessa’s jaw tightens and she swallows hard. “Very well. Anything else?”

  “No, that’s all.” Actually there is more, but I don’t dare press Vanessa more than I have right now.

  “Then if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.” And with that, Vanessa turns on her stylish, four-inch pointy-toed heels and disappears into her private office.

  My shoulders slump and I frown. “That woman’s never going to like me.”

  “Thanks, Beth,” Erin says, putting her arm around my shoulders and giving me a little squeeze.

  Erin’s staring at Vanessa’s closed office door and looking a little pale.

  “Are you worried?” I say.

  “About Vanessa?” Erin laughs half-heartedly. “Well, maybe a little.”

  “If she retaliates against you, let me know.”

  Erin nods, but she doesn’t look very reassured.

  “I mean it. You tell me if she does. It’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”

  But I’m not as confident as I’d like to be. I’m afraid one of these days Vanessa’s going to go too far, and when she does, I’ll have no choice but to fire her.

  * * *

  When I go back downstairs, I find Lia waiting for me at the front entrance to the store. “Where to, Princess?”

  Where to? There are so many things I want to do. Self-defense training, gun training. But first things first. I find Liam in the contact list on my phone and hit the call button.

  He answers right away. “Hey, Beth. What’s up?”

  “Do you have any free time this afternoon? I want to start self-defense training.”

  “Did Shane okay this?”

  Not exactly, but I’m not about to tell Liam that. “I got my cast off, yeah, so I’m cleared for action.”

  “I’ve got some free time this afternoon. Can you be here at three?”

  That gives me nearly an hour to pick up some proper workout clothes and shoes and head over to Shane’s building. “Sure. I’ll see you then.” I end the call and look at Lia. “I need workout clothes.”

  She narrows her eyes at me. “Shane didn’t okay this.”

  I shrug. “I’m doing it.”

  She shakes her head. “It’s your funeral. You’ll need proper outfitting, then. I know the place. Let’s go.”

  Fortunately, Clancy’s is located right in the middle of shopping central. Lia and I head out from the bookstore on foot, and she takes me to the Nike store just down the street, which is the holy grail of athletic wear – three full glorious floors of it. I quickly pick out what I need – a few sets of workout shorts and tanks, a couple of sports bras, an awesome pair of sneakers, and a gym bag to carry it all in.

  We take a cab to the McIntyre Security building. When we arrive, Lia walks me up to the third floor where the martial arts studio is located, then heads off to God knows where, leaving me in Liam’s more than capable hands.

  The studio is impressive by any standard. Glossy wooden floors are covered with numerous black workout mats. There’s a boxing ring, a half-dozen black punching bags suspended from the ceiling by chains, kick bags, and dummy torsos hanging from the ceiling just waiting to be kicked and pummeled and otherwise abused.

  The interior walls are all mirrored and the external wall is mostly windows, so it’s a bright, airy space. The studio is empty at the moment and eerily quiet. I can hear a radio coming from somewhere off in the distance, perhaps from the locker room?

  I walk inside, looking around, feeling my heart rate pick up with excitement. I’m finally going to do this. I don’t want to get Liam in trouble with Shane, but I’m tired of putting off my training. I need this.

  Liam walks out of the locker room dressed in a martial arts uniform – black trousers with a black jacket and a matching black belt. His hair is damp, but whether from sweat or a recent shower, I’m not sure. When he draws near, I detect a hint of soap, so I’m guessing it was a shower.

  He glances at the shopping bags in my hand. “I see you’ve got your gear. Good. Go through those doors there to the locker room and change. Then meet me back here.”

  When I come back out, he’s waiting for me, his arms crossed. He has a skeptical look on his face. “Shane okayed this?”

  My smile falters. “My cast is off, Liam.” I flex my left arm. “So I’m good to go.” I didn’t actually lie to him, but I omitted a key fact, such as the fact that Shane didn’t okay this. He wants me to wait at least a month. But I don’t want to wait.

  Liam mouth curves in a knowing smile, and for a moment, I’m afraid he’s going to change his mind. But then he shrugs and heads over to one of the mats muttering, “It’s your funeral.”

  We warm up with some basic calisthenics, and then he has me following along with him as he does some very basic, repetitive movements that seem pretty pointless to me, but I’m not about to question him. He’s the expert here. I know he’s competed and won several MMA championships, so I have no doubt he knows what he’s doing. As a mixed martial arts teacher, he’s mastered many forms of fighting.

  He teaches me a little routine with steps and lunges and turns that I’m supposed to practice until I can do it without thinking. He gives me some explanation about muscle memory and the importance of repetition so that the movements become second nature.

  Before I know it, nearly an hour has passed, and he still hasn’t taught me anything useful, like how to fight off an assailant, which is what I really want to learn. Or better yet, how to gouge out someone’s eyes or stab someone in their carotid artery – those would be useful skills to have.

  “That’s it for today,” Liam says, walking off the mat. He grabs a white hand towel from a cart and tosses it to me.

  He’s not even breathing hard and I, on the other hand, am panting and sweating like a pig. I definitely need to start exercising more.

  “That’s it?” I say, unable to mask my disappointment.

  “You have to learn to walk before you can run, Beth.”

/>   “Can’t we do a little more?”

  He shakes his head, looking at the clock on the wall. “I’m sorry, but I teach a self-defense class for employees in ten minutes.”

  Just as he says that, two women carrying gym bags walk into the studio and wave to Liam before heading to the locker rooms.

  “Can I join the class?” A real class with real students – that sounds like exactly what I need.

  “It’s fine with me, if Shane okays it. We meet Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from four to five. Now you’d better go out into the hallway and placate my big brother, because he looks like he’s about to have an aneurism.”

  I glance out the viewing window, but I don’t see anyone.

  “Oh, he’s out there, trust me,” Liam says, grinning. “He’s been pacing out there like a tiger with a thorn in his paw the entire time. He didn’t clear you for working out, did he?”

  “Well, not in so many words, no. But I did get the cast off. That was his main concern.”

  After a quick trip back to the locker room to change into my own clothes, I walk out into the hallway and find Shane leaning against the far wall, his arms crossed over his chest. Liam was right – he doesn’t look happy. My stomach gives a little lurch, but I’m determined not to let him intimidate me. I know he’s just trying to protect me, but sometimes he goes too far.

  “Don’t even start!” I tell him, trying to head off the inevitable lecture. “My cast is off, and my arm feels fine. I’m fine. I’m joining Liam’s self-defense class, so just deal with it.”

  I can see the muscles in his jaw flexing as he mulls over what I said. Then his expression eases up and he smiles at me and takes my hand without a word. He leads me to the bank of elevators down the hall and steers me inside one of the cars when the doors open.

  “Where are we going?”

  Inside the elevator car, Shane pushes the button for his floor. Then he pushes me gently up against the wall and closes in on me, his hands braced on both sides of my head, caging me in.

  “You might not want to get too close,” I tell him. “I’m sweaty, and I’m pretty sure I need a shower.”

  He ignores my warning as he leans in and bends down to whisper in my ear. His warm breath ruffles my hair, which makes me shiver. “What happened to taking it easy for four weeks? You didn’t even make it one week.”

  I flex my left arm and look up into his impassive gaze. I can’t tell if he’s really mad or just playing with me. “My arm’s fine, Shane.”

  “I swear to God, Beth, if you get hurt – ”

  “I’m not going to get hurt. All we did was warm up and do repetitious little lunges. A five-year-old could have done it.”

  Shane’s hands come up to frame my face. “What’s going on, sweetheart? Why are you pushing yourself like this? Why are you pushing me? You have nothing to prove.”

  But he’s wrong. I have everything to prove.

  When we arrive at his floor, Shane leads me into the executive suite. We pass through the glass doors into the inner sanctum, and he marches me right past Diane’s desk.

  Diane glances up at the two of us with a surprised expression. “Oh, hello, dear,” she says, smiling kindly at me. “Shane, honey, Jack Elliot’s on the phone for you – ”

  Shane shakes his head. “I’ll call him back later.”

  Once we’re inside his office, Shane shuts the door, then turns me to face him, holding me by my upper arms. “Listen, Beth – ”

  I pull out of his hold. “No. You listen. I’m perfectly capable of having self-defense training. And gun training, for that matter.”

  He frowns and crosses his arms, contemplating me for several long moments. “Self-defense, fine. Gun training, no. I don’t want you anywhere near a gun.”

  I’m getting tired of his paternal attitude. “You have no right –”

  “Why are you so dead set on all this training?”

  “Because I’m tired of being afraid! Howard Kline’s been a shadow hanging over me for my entire life. I want it to stop!”

  “It will stop! But you’ve got to let me handle it. ”

  My eyes prickle with unshed tears, which only aggravates me more. “I can’t even sleep through the night because of him! I want him gone. He never should have been released – that monster has no right to be loose on the streets.”

  There’s a quiet knock on the door, and I flinch.

  “Not now!” Shane growls.

  The door opens anyway, just far enough for Diane to poke her head through the opening. “You might want to keep it down in here, kids. We can hear you out here.”

  Hearing Diane refer to Shane as a kid makes me laugh. Shane scowls at me as he walks to the door and eases Diane back through the doorway. “Thank you,” he says to her. “We’ll try to keep it down.” Then he closes the door and locks it.

  When he stalks to me, I retreat a few steps. Without warning, he leans down and hauls me over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold.

  I squirm in his arms. “Put me down!”

  “No.”

  Shane carries me into the attached apartment and kicks the door closed. He heads straight for the bedroom, where he dumps me on the bed. As he loosens his tie and whips it off, I sit up.

  “Um, Shane, what are you doing?”

  Then he starts to unbutton his white shirt. “Isn’t it kind of obvious?”

  I’m mesmerized by the fact that he’s undressing during work hours. “You want to have sex? Right now?”

  “That’s the idea, yes. You come into my office, half-dressed, and yeah, it’s going to occur to me.”

  “I thought we were arguing about Kline.”

  “No, you’re arguing, Beth. I’m stating facts. If you insist on taking self-defense training, fine. But I draw the line at guns and Howard Kline. I don’t want you anywhere near either of them, and that’s not up for debate.”

  Whatever I was going to say next flies right out of my head when he shrugs off his shirt and drops it on the floor. As always, the sight of his naked torso robs me of speech. I’ve never seen a more beautiful sight than Shane’s chest, with his broad shoulders and well-defined musculature. My mouth goes dry and the blood in my body begins to pool between my legs. The effect he has on me isn’t fair.

  He unbuckles his belt, then pauses to look at me. “Well? What are you waiting for? Get undressed.”

  He’s still mad, and he expects me to strip for him? Just like that? “No.”

  Shane crawls on the bed toward me, half undressed, looming over me like a grouchy, sexed-up bear, and I fall back on the bed trying not to laugh. He leans down to nuzzle the side of my neck and behind my ear where he knows damn well I’m incredibly sensitive and ticklish.

  My violent shiver is followed by giggles. “You don’t fight fair.”

  He grins. “I know. Now take off your clothes.” His voice is little more than a low growl. “Please.”

  My entire body responds to his deep, raspy voice, and I realize how much I like this side of Shane. How he can be sexy and playful at the same time, I don’t know. Not only am I throbbing between my legs, but my nipples are tingling, tightening almost to the point of pain. He’s distracting me with sex, and I’m okay with that. I want this Shane, this aggressive, overbearing, growling Shane.

  My face heats up as I grin back at him, wanting to taunt the bear a little. “You want me to take my clothes off? Then make me.”

  His blue eyes glitter in the face of my challenge, the corners crinkling. I could get lost in those eyes.

  His hands go to the waistband of my skirt and he pulls it right down my legs, taking my panties along with it. I can’t help squealing when my body is suddenly bare from the waist down. He pulls my sandals off next and tosses them unceremoniously to the floor. Then he sits me up and pulls off my top, leaving me in just a white satin and lace bra.

  He gazes down at me, his eyes burning, and brushes his thumb against my nipple through the lacey fabric, making the tip tighten into a hard, tiny
nub. My breasts are tingling, and I shiver.

  “Are you cold?” he says.

  “Yes.”

  “I can fix that,” he says, reaching around my back to unfasten my bra and pull it off me.

  He bends down, his mouth warm on my breast as he sucks on one of my nipples. His tongue dances over the sensitized little tip, and I go from cold to hot in an instant.

  He pulls back, a little more serious now as he studies me. “Are you okay?”

  I nod. Leave it to him to take a time-out in the midst of seduction to make sure I’m okay with this before he proceeds to ravish me. But as much as I appreciate the care he takes with me, I want the growling bear back. I reach out to cup his erection through his slacks, rubbing him firmly with my palm. I’m rewarded with a deep grunt, and then he lunges back on his feet so he can strip out of the rest of his clothing.

  Finally naked, he crawls back onto the bed, looming over me. I lie back and reach up to cup his head, threading my fingers through his hair. I bring his mouth down to mine, and we devour each other until we’re both breathing hard.

  My breath catches on a hitch. “I thought you were mad at me.”

  He shakes his head. “Not mad. Just frustrated, and a little jealous.”

  “Jealous? Why?”

  “Watching you with Liam. Watching you with any man makes me jealous.”

  “But he’s your brother!”

  He shrugs. “He’s still a guy.”

  I shake my head, perplexed. “And why frustrated?”

  “Because you keep wanting to do things I consider risky. That frustrates the hell out of me. Trying to keep you safe is turning into a full-time job.”

  His kisses me hungrily, his mouth swallowing my reply. His lips nudge mine open, and when his tongue slips between my lips to caress mine, he moans.

  He slips his hands between my legs and pushes them open. One finger sinks into my wet opening, while his thumb rubs tiny circles on my clitoris. Already I’m achy and desperate to come.

  He rolls over onto his back and pulls me over him so that I’m straddling his lap. His hands go to my hips and he positions me over his cock. “Ride me. Put me inside you and ride me. I want to watch you come on me.”