Alpha Male Incorporated Under Your Protection (6 page)

Her best friend sighed on the other end of the phone. “Sweetie, I know that you try but sometimes you don’t do it. Sure, I can tell Coco from you; however, this stalker can’t do it and maybe you’re having a hard time realizing that there’s a part of Coco in you. If there wasn’t you wouldn’t be able to perform on stage the amazing way you do.”

Sahara had loved being a singer from the second that she realized she had the talent to make a living out of it. Uncle Frank pushed her by making her work long hours until she had everything down perfectly and she
loved
it. Singing was a part of her soul and she wanted to do it for the rest of her life; however, she still got a little embarrassed when people close to her gave her compliments about her talent.

“Thank you Raya, but you know that I don’t need you to tell me any of those things. We’re friends because you’re the only person who doesn’t want to be around me because of my fame or have me get them something expensive.”

Over the years, she’d had to drop a lot of her so-called friends because they wanted her to take them to events and then brag about it to their friends or even the tabloids. She couldn’t afford to have people like that in her life. She worked each and every day to keep untrue people out of her life.

“I know but I was being honest. So, what are you going to do about Jax? I’m telling you not to ask for another guard. I think Jax will be good for you. You need someone like him around you.”

Sahara could only guess what Raya meant by her off the wall comment. She knew that she shouldn’t ask, but she was going to anyway. “What do you mean by someone like him?”

“Jax is the kind of guy who would throw a woman against the wall and have his way with her. I mean if Jax looked at me like half the way he was staring at you I wouldn’t be on the phone talking to you,” Raya teased.

“How about you try to find yourself a man instead of tossing Jax at me?” Sahara suggested trying to ignore the hint of jealousy she felt towards Raya for noticing Jax in the first place.

“Sahara, you know that I don’t have time for a relationship,” Raya complained. “Not with the way work has been going lately. If I find a man he might have to drop at my feet and then I might have to walk over him to get more done at work. I stay so busy now. I don’t have much free time for anything else.”

Sahara loved how dramatic her best friend could be sometimes. It provided a lot of entertainment. Raya always had men asking her out on dates, but she constantly found reasons not to go out with them.

Raya had a comment or opinion about everything and that could be the main reason none of her past relationships worked out.

“Don’t worry,” Sahara said. “Your man is probably just around the corner so you better be ready.”

“Well, he’ll have to come after I’ve handled this problem at work. I won’t be able to deal with a guy until after that, but don’t let my man problems keep you from going after Jax.”

“I don’t want Jax,” Sahara denied.

“Sure, you don’t. I would love to talk to you more about this, but I have to finish getting my PowerPoint presentation ready for my meeting tomorrow. I probably won’t be able to come out to the house for several days.”

“That’s okay. I need to finish up a couple of songs and then work on a new dance routine with Tomas. You know how much of a perfectionist he is when it comes to my dance moves.”

Raya chuckled in her ear. “I would love to be there to see Jax’s first meeting with Tomas. I know it’s going to be funny. Have fun. Maybe you can get Jax to help you with some of your sexier moves,” her best friend teased.

“Raya,” Sahara warned, softly.

“Okay, I’m done teasing you.” Raya laughed again. “Have a good night and I’ll talk to you later.” The phone clicked off before she could tell her friend anything else.

Sahara pushed the end button on her phone before tossing it on the bed. She picked up her writing journal and flipped through it until she got to the newest song she was working on called ‘
Vanished
’. She was scheduled to perform it in a couple of weeks and she was still putting the finishing touches to it.

She had been working on this for about two weeks now, but it wasn’t going in the direction she had hoped for. She was sure that she was pushing too hard to get it done. Sahara was positive that once she calmed down and relaxed that the words would come to her...at least she hoped they would.

Maybe
Vanished
would be big enough of a hit that she could finally get that ugly birthmark removed off her chest. She hated the thing and wanted it gone as soon as possible.

Getting up from the bed, Sahara made her way over to the floor length mirror in her bedroom and pulled her t-shirt over her head tossing it to the ground. Taking the tips of her fingers, she ran them over the birthmark that covered about half an inch of the top of her left breast.

The birthmark wasn’t even pretty enough to call a ‘beauty mark’. Truthfully, it resembled an ink blotch that a psychiatric doctor would have a patient looking at in their office.

Yeah, when her schedule cleared up she was going to have it removed. Because even a man as super hot as Jax wouldn’t be able to make her think this thing was worth keeping on her body.

Chapter Eight

“Are you ready for me to go over the rules of protection with you now?” a voice asked from the open doorway of her bedroom the next morning.

Sahara glanced up from the writing pad and found Jax standing in the entranceway to her room. He was wearing a dark green t-shirt, tight jeans pulled down over a pair of black boots. With a gun holster on his shoulders he looked more gorgeous than a man had the right to look.

Staring at Jax almost made her forget her life might be in danger from an overzealous fan. “I know that I’m not going to like them, but I’m ready to hear them,” Sahara said getting up from her desk. “Let’s take a walk outside. I usually do it every day about this time. It helps me clear my head so I can write.”

“Frank told me that’s what you like to do, so that’s why I’m here,” Jax informed her. “I can talk to you while I check the grounds of the house again. Frank’s house isn’t safe enough and I have to see where I want Zander to set up the security cameras.”

“Who’s Zander? Are you sure that Uncle Frank is okay with you invading his privacy like this?”

“Frank is all about doing what needs to be done to keep you safe. He won’t fight me on adding extra security around this place because right now it isn’t near safe enough. Anyone could get in here without even breaking a sweat. So, that’s why my brother Zander is coming over to install cameras and other devices that I requested.”

Sahara brushed past Jax trying not to notice how her heart skipped a beat when her bare arm rubbed against his. Darn Raya and her stupid comments about how attractive Jax was. It was already hard enough for her to block out her attraction to him without Raya’s unwanted opinions in her mind.

“I think we should start with the back of the house near your bedroom and then make our way around the front,” Jax suggested as he followed her out of her bedroom into the hallway and then down the stairs.

“Are you sure all of this can be done by tonight?” Sahara asked as she walked towards the kitchen.

“I talked to Frank this morning before he left for work and he pointed out to me you have a press tour coming up for a new single coming out.”

“Yes, I do,” Sahara said glancing over her shoulder at Jax. She noticed how his well-worn jeans cupped him in all the right places. She quickly looked back in front of her before her wayward thoughts made her run into something.

“I’m going to perform at a local club pretty soon before I do a small promotional tour for my song ‘
Vanished
’. I’m working on finishing up the last of the lyrics now.”

Sahara was almost to the kitchen when Jax wrapped his hand around her upper arm stopping her. “What?” she asked looking down at his hand then back up at his face.

“When were you planning to tell me this?” Jax demanded. “I need to know about these things ahead of time so I can plan for them. Short notice isn’t good enough, Sahara. You can’t play around with me like this. I have to check out the club several times before you can make an appearance there.”

“Calm down. It isn’t that big of a deal.” Sahara stared up into Jax’s gorgeous eyes watching as they darkened with anger and something else she couldn’t put her finger on.

“It isn’t that big of a deal?” Jax backed her up against the nearest wall pressing his hard body into hers. He yanked her arms above her head holding them in place with one of his larger ones.

Desire like she had never known before raced through her as she got lost gazing into Jax’s face. He had her dying to know what it felt like to have his firm lips pressed against hers. She knew that Jax was probably trying to teach her a lesson, but all she was paying attention to was how
good
his muscular body felt brushing against hers.

“Now, if you get caught by your stalker like this how would you defend yourself?” Jax demanded.

She wasn’t thinking about getting away from Jax. Honestly, she was trying to think about a way to get even closer to him. Jax had to know he had this pull about him that was hard to resist.

“Sahara, are you paying attention to anything that I’m telling you?” Jax questioned as his hold on her wrists grew tighter. “The advice I’m giving you is very important,”

“Yes, I’m listening to you,” she answered struggling against the weight of Jax’s hard perfect body. Sahara tried to get her hands free, but Jax’s grip was too unyielding. She couldn’t get loose no matter how hard she fought.

“Let go of me!”

“No,” Jax growled back as he pressed his body completely against her until they were chest to chest and thigh to thigh.

Anger started to set in as Sahara got pissed that her body was burning up for Jax while her mind was trying to fight her growing desire for him. She struggled some more hoping that he would let her go. She desperately needed some space away from him. He had to move back and she meant now!

“Jax, I’m done playing around with you. Step away from me and I’m not going to tell you again.”

Jax watched her closely as seconds turned into minutes and then he slowly stepped back until their bodies were no longer touching. Sahara was relieved Jax finally moved away, but she did miss how
wonderful
it felt to have him against her.

“The only reason I moved away from you was because I could see how much I was upsetting you. But whoever is stalking won’t be so accommodating. So, you should understand that this is rule number one. Try hard as you can to never let your stalker get within touching distance of your body.

“I know that you don’t have a clue what he looks like but any stranger could be a danger to you. You have to be very careful about allowing people to run up on you. I’ll be there to keep you safe, but you need to have a feel for a fan who seems just a little too involved in you.”

Jax turned away from her and went towards the kitchen patio. He paused halfway there and glanced back at her. “Come on. There are some areas around the house that I want to point out to you outside. Especially the places I’m planning to hook up the cameras if Zander can find a way to do it. In, addition, you need to show me the other sections where you spend most of your time.”

****

Walking around the huge backyard next to Sahara, Jax only half listened to her as she pointed out certain places on the property where she spent the majority of her day. He couldn’t rid his memory of how wonderful her body felt pressed against his in the kitchen.

The reason he forced her against the wall was to make a point, but his plan backed-fired on him big time. He was the one walking around with a massive hardon the size of Texas while Sahara was acting like she didn’t have a damn care in the world.

Every time he was in Sahara’s presence all he wanted to do was find out more about her and he sensed her attraction to him too. He wasn’t supposed to be thinking about how to seduce his new client into his bed, but that was what he wanted.

God, even the smell of her perfume was driving him up the walls. The warm vanilla scent was wreaking havoc on his body. Could he hold onto his willpower and not let it slip? Because if it did he would find a place to drag her, so he could sample her full luscious lips.

No! He wasn’t going down that road again. Jax shoved the thought from his mind hoping to get his head straight. He was here for one reason and one reason only. It was best for him to remember he was her bodyguard and nothing else.

He couldn’t lose his focus and end up making love to her all day and night if he was given the chance.

When Zander came by later, he would bring up his wild attraction to the woman walking beside him and maybe get his brother’s opinion about how to fix it. Sahara was showing him around her property totally clueless to his inner thoughts and it would work out for the best if it stayed that way.

Sure, he’d had
sizzling
relationships with women in the past, but it was more than that when it came to Sahara. She captivated him and it was making him act unlike himself. Something wasn’t right and he had to find out what it was before it obstructed his job performance.

Chapter Nine

Stopping underneath Sahara’s window, Jax noticed the white ivy trellis that could be used as a perfect tool to get into Sahara’s bedroom. The trees around the yard provided perfect coverage for a stalker to use to climb up without anyone ever noticing he was on the property until it was too late.

“The trellis is the first thing that will come down along with some of the trees around the front and back of the house.”

“Have you lost your mind?” Sahara asked. “I love my ivy trellis. The fence has been here ever since I was a teenager. You need to find a way to keep it. If I’m going to follow your rules then you can do something for me. I don’t think that I’m asking too much.”