Holding Out For A Hero: SEALs, Soldiers, Spies, Cops, FBI Agents and Rangers (113 page)

“Please stop. I’m going to start bleeding from my ears.”

Ric couldn’t help but tease Jack a little more. “Did you know—”

“Ric,” Shelley said sharply. “Stop.”

His lips quirked. He had no grace to be embarrassed. “Come on, babe. You’ve got to admit, it’s a little funny.”

Jack turned on the only mother he remembered. “And you.”

“There’s no Ric on the guest list.” Shelley raised her eyebrow. “How was I supposed to know he was your friend?”

“Enrique Santana.” Ric extended his hand as if they were just being introduced. “It’s a pleasure,” he practically purred.

“Cut it out.” Shelley flushed and batted his hand away. “Jack, why are you in such a tizzy?”

Suddenly Jack’s former animosity fell away. “We couldn’t find you and you weren’t answering your phone.”

There was a solemnness to his face that had Ric sobering up but he couldn’t help but defend her. “She’s hardly a teenager.”

Although she looked like one, swimming in his grey sweats and swallowed up by the large white t-shirt. He couldn’t help the primitive satisfaction that he got from seeing her in his clothes with her hair rumpled and her neck reddened from their festivities.

“I told Jess that I’d see her this morning,” Shelley replied. “We’re not supposed to meet until ten.”

“Yeah, but when Jess went to check on you this morning, your door was open.”

Shelley frowned. “That’s not right. I locked up before I went down to the restaurant.”

“That’s not all.” Jack suddenly looked really reluctant. “Your room had been ransacked. Clothes thrown all over. Your cosmetics were dumped all over the bathroom. Basically your stuff is destroyed.”

“What?”

Ric stepped closer to Shelley, his protective urge instinctive.

Jack stared out the window, avoiding his stepmother’s regard. “I may have downplayed your threat level.”

Ric noticed the shadows underneath his pal’s eyes. Something more was going on here than an outraged son. “What threat level?”

“Um, Jack, maybe we should move this discussion to your room.” Shelley started backing away from the window, from them. “I’m sure Ric has things to do.”

“Not until he answers.” A primal urge to protect and defend roared through him. No one messed with his woman.

Wait, his woman? What the hell? One night of spectacular sex aside, he didn’t have a woman.

“Really Ric.” Oh, the awkwardness here was off the charts. “Thanks for a…lovely evening.”

Lovely. Ric wanted to beat his fists on his chest and howl. Lovely didn’t come close to describing their explosive encounter.

“We’ll get out of your hair.”

“No, actually. This is good,” Jack said.

“Good?” Shelley had stopped backing away.

Shelley looked like she wanted to bolt again. This time for a different reason. With an inexplicable resolve, he didn’t want her to leave.

“What threat level?” Ric asked again.

Jack was glancing between them in pure assessment.

“I’m, ah, fairly well off.” Shelley waved away her fortune.

Ric wondered how she’d gotten it. As far as he knew she’d never married Jack’s father. Maybe she was independently wealthy.

“When my dad decided to bail on us when I was fourteen, I made some stipulations. Shelley got the house, a small percentage of the business, and full legal adoption of all of us. Dad’s only provision was she had to take the Stone name. I think he thought if people believed they were married, women would quit assuming they were going to be the next Mrs. Stone.”

Shelley’s whole face softened. “Such a fierce protector.” Her smile was a little melancholy. “Always looking out for everyone. He was…my champion.”

Ric couldn’t believe the stab of jealousy that pricked his heart. He didn’t want Jack to be her champion, Ric wanted to be the one who put that sweet smile on her lips and that soft look in her eyes.

It was as if her magic pussy had cast some weird emotional spell over him. That random thought had him wanting to take a step back, and usher them out of his room so he could clear his head and go back to enjoying Vegas, all the perks of Vegas, and his friend’s wedding.

“Turns out Shelley is a hell of an investor.” Jack smiled proudly. Then he bluntly cut to the heart of the problem. “She’s loaded.”

Coming from Jack that was pretty impressive because although they never discussed it, Ric knew Jack’s father was the sole owner of Stone Aeronautic Engineering and that he’d developed and patented some part of a plane that every commercial manufacturer and military contractor used. The guy wasn’t just rich, he was mega-rich.

“But how did they find me?” Shelley asked with bewilderment. “I registered under an alias.”

Jack paced the living area of the suite, completely ignoring the opulent luxury. “But no one else in the family did. My wedding isn’t exactly a state secret.”

Shelley snorted. “I was actively involved in the planning. I know exactly how many people know about your wedding.” She teased him.

“Even so.” Jack said softly, “Somehow they figured out your alias. I really don’t like the escalation of this, Shel.”

Ric wondered how serious the threat was. “So what’s the threat?”

“Really, Ric, there’s no need to bother you with this.” She made it sound like it was a trivial issue, like having to ration toilet paper in the latrine. But Ric wasn’t buying it.

When Jack had been banging on the door he’d been panicked. Now that Ric’s head was clearer, he recognized the fear in his friend.

“Shel. BP is in the security business.”

“Why do you keep calling him BP?”

“Bulletproof.” Jack shook his head. “Damndest thing. He never got shot. Ever.”

Shelley made a little ‘oh’ of distress.

He had plenty of other wounds, but in all his years in the Navy he’d never taken a bullet. Of course, that wasn’t relevant right now.

He’d done protection detail on some high level principals. If they needed analysis, he’d make this a working vacation. “I’m happy to help.”

“Great. Then it’s settled.”

“Oh, really, not necessary.” Shelley was backing away again.

Rick shook his head. “What’s settled?”

“You can be Shelley’s protection detail until we figure out where the threat is coming from.”

Ric’s first instinct was to protest.

“Wait, what?” Shelley beat him to it. “No way.”

Perversely, that pissed him off. Wow. “I’m damn good at what I do.” He felt compelled to add in a clear, calm voice.

But something in his face must have given him away because she was suddenly contrite. “This has nothing to do with your skills. I imagine you are hyper-efficient, detail-oriented, and highly effective.”

Suddenly they were both thinking about his skill and attention to detail in the sack. He could see it in the heat of her gaze.

Shelley closed her eyes, and blew out a breath as her head tilted back on her neck. The angle and clean lines reminded him of a moment last night when she’d been on top of him, riding his cock like a cowgirl, with a look of complete ecstasy on her face and sensual abandon in every line of her body.

His cock responded to the memory like Pavlov’s dogs to the damn bell. And he hoped no one was paying attention to his pants otherwise they were going to see the memory response in his morning wood.

“I’m messing this up.” Shelley crossed her arms over her chest and rubbed her bare biceps.

She propped her fists on her hips and focused on the extravagant Las Vegas skyline view from his window. It was unseasonably warm this April. Heat shimmered off the pavement, and waiters scurried around the opulent pool delivering food and fruity drinks to the sunbathing guests.

“Only I could have a one night stand who’s going to follow me around for the next four days,” she muttered.

Suddenly Ric’s stomach dropped as he realized he hadn’t really taken that into account. Spend the next few days basically glued to her side? That wasn’t quite how he’d planned to enjoy his vacation either. Of course, he hadn’t planned to have a one night stand that turned into four days of awkward. But he would do it for Jack. And for Shelley.

“And still no one has told me the threat.”

“It’s pretty nebulous.” Shelley blew out a frustrated breath. “You have what belongs to me. I want it back.”

Ric touched on obvious points of contention.

“Sounds personal. So did you beat out anyone for a promotion? Or close a deal that forced someone out?”

“I…own the farm outright now. We did have a bit of a dust up last February, but the man involved confessed, it was all hushed up. He received a commuted sentence. Frankly, he’s lucky his penalty wasn’t worse. I bought him out and the farm is not for profit anyway. I don’t have anything of his.”

“She’s right on that count.” Jack nodded. So he was clearly aware of the farm situation.

Ric slipped into work mode. “Are you dating anyone who recently broke off with another woman?” He was thinking out loud. Then he realized what he’d just asked. Obviously they just reached another level of awkward.

“No,” Shelley bit out.

He knew it was embarrassing, but really she needed to come clean. “Are you sure? Since this sounds personal. Could they have been dating someone and you didn’t realize it?”

“For that scenario to be considered, I would have to have been dating someone.”

“Okay well, let’s go back a few months. Sometimes these things fester.” Ric was thinking about how engaging she was, how funny, how hot, and how sweet. How she could lure away a guy without even trying.

“No one.” She ducked her head, and an embarrassed flush covered her cheekbones. Ric smiled at the tumble of her hair.

“Come on, Shel.” He cajoled. “I know this is a little awkward but we need to start somewhere.”

“Right. Well, my last date was three years ago. I went out to dinner with an older gentleman who was on the Food for Life food bank board with me. He subsequently died a week later. They figured out he had a weak heart.” She snapped, “I really doubt his fifty-year-old daughter has hatched some evil plan to come after me.”

Ric wanted to laugh at her snarky comeback. But he was stuck on the first part of her confession. “Three
years
?”

She flushed again and crossed her arms protectively over her chest. Ric looked to Jack for confirmation because really, that couldn’t be true. No way had the amazingly sexy, hot woman who’d smoked up the sheets with him last night not had a date in three years.

But Jack just nodded.

Three years.

Queen of Hearts: Chapter Five

Shelley wanted a giant sinkhole to appear in the hotel room suite and swallow her up. The humiliation was almost more than she could take.

She knew she should be upset about the fact that her hotel suite was trashed but seriously it was just stuff. She was more dismayed that her one night stand was now quizzing her about her sex life.

Ric was still standing there, unmoving.

Well, wasn’t this special? She’d struck him dumb over her serious lack of sex life.

Now he knew how sexually deprived she was and how much of a total novice she’d been at the whole hook up process. Which would have been fine, if she didn’t have to spend the next four days with him shadowing her every move. And explaining her life in excruciating detail.

“That’s a great idea,” Jack gushed.

Shelley had no idea what idea Jack meant. “What are you talking about?”

“Since I think it’s wise not to advertise that you’ve got a bodyguard, the cover can be that you’re dating.”

Dating? Oh, hell. That was even worse.

Shelley and Ric winced at the same time. Neither one of them had had any intention of seeing each other again after last night. It was supposed to be a one night hook up and stress free encounter.

Oh my God
.

For the first time, ever, she had a one night stand and now Jack wanted him to become her bodyguard. By their nature, one night stands should be anonymous, and over in
one night
.

She shouldn’t have to share the embarrassing and scant details of her dating and sex life.

When she was younger and moved into the Stone Mansion, she didn’t date. At all. The kids had enough upheaval in their life with a father who was a total man-whore. She’d believed that they needed stability and kept the focus just on them. So, she didn’t date when the kids were in the house. By the time she was ready for a date, she’d been thirty-five and had more money than she could ever spend in her lifetime which meant that any interest was slightly suspect. She’d also been unsure about how to go about finding a date.

Now Jack wanted her to ‘pretend date’ her one night stand.

She wanted to mouth the word, sorry, to Ric. His dark brows were lowered over his deep, secretive eyes while he seemed to be assessing facts.

“It’s best if Shelley stays here,” Ric said. “I don’t think it’s safe for her to return to her room.”

Jack was nodding complacently as if he hadn’t just been chewing her out for spending the night with his friend.

“What?” Stay here. As in stay with him? This just kept getting better and better. “No.”

But Ric and Jack didn’t acknowledge her growing distress.

Ric shot a guarded look at Jack. His face set in serious lines. “Did you check the room for bugs and cameras?”

Jack said, “Waiting until the cops are gone.”

Bugs? Cameras? “You think someone was spying on me?”

“Not necessarily. Maybe they wanted to see your reaction to the destruction.” Ric was thinking out loud.

It occurred to Shelley at the same time she saw Ric and Jack exchanged a weighted glance. “It’s possible that not going back to your room last night was a good thing.”

They’d been waiting for her?

Shelley’s heart beat in an uneven rhythm. “So someone could have been watching me? Or waiting for me?”

That tidbit caused her more anxiety than the destruction of her clothes and stuff. The grim looks on both their faces told the story. Her stomach rolled, pitching like she were on a sailboat in the Monterey Bay.

“I have some pics I took before security got to the room.” Jack thumbed through pictures taken with his phone to show Ric.