Logan
I laughed when Maya kept calling me Dr. Logan when I tended to her scrape and twisted ankle—that thankfully was not sprained—and asked her if she was alright a few times when I caught her wincing. Besides worrying about her and enjoying the way she patted my arm each time in an assuring fashion, she put the thought of playing doctor with her in my head.
I’m not really sure what playing doctor involved but I knew it had naughty undertones. Maybe it was that the patient undressed and you thoroughly examined their nakedness. I was all for that type of game. Just having her on my back earlier in the day had been a perk to taking care of her. Tearing her pants and having my hands on her soft skin had my mind in the gutter.
“I’m ready, Doctor.” Maya spoke softly and leaned in close to me. “Can you sneak me off to the bar? I want greasy bad food and maybe even a beer.” She reminded me of a child trying to get away with something they knew they were not allowed to do.
“Where’s your assistant? Do we need to get her approval?” I was partially serious after her assistant’s outburst that morning, but mostly being sarcastic.
“I sent her back to the hotel in a shuttle to get my clothes ready for tonight—my last theatre commitment.” She smiled and clapped her hands together. “Today was the end of press stuff…” She stopped as if she missed something or was thinking about something. I didn’t like the hint of sadness and was happy to see it quickly fade away. “I may get to have fun tomorrow.” The new look on her face was one of pure joy. “Wanna have fun with me?”
How did I answer that, truthfully or professionally?
I was saved by my phone buzzing. “I need to make a call,” I said, looking at the number and ones I had missed earlier. “Let’s go find you food and see if my guys learned anything new.”
“Point the way.”
I liked the way she turned into my body with her back to my front, allowing me to place my hand on her back and steer her into the nearest bar with a private booth toward the back. I seated her so her back was to most people and I had a clear view of everything going on around us.
I hadn’t been out on a date with a woman in such a long time with my schedule that included traveling around with high-profile clients for business meetings and taking part in a few political events. Not that our late lunch was anything more than work but I enjoyed the act of sharing a meal and conversation. It didn’t matter that we were talking about our schedule for the rest of the day and what had happened since the delivery.
My guys had decided to rethink their views on whether or not the hotel staff member who had delivered the box to Maya’s room was important. Watching other video feeds, it appeared that the guy most likely knew nothing of the contents but he was captured pocketing a healthy stack of dollar bills. Granted it was during the film festival and there were many celebrities and film bigwigs staying at the hotel asking for various services. We just couldn’t afford to overlook anyone.
The notes and box contents were nothing to ignore either. I couldn’t believe that Maya’s people weren’t more concerned and trying to get to the bottom of things. The person was threatening her and brushing it off by saying that every actor had a certain amount of crazies to deal with seemed wrong. Whether that was how it was or not, it needed to be addressed before something bad happened to her.
I would hate to read about any harm being done to Maya. I liked seeing her smile and laugh as she indulged in a greasy cheeseburger and stole fries from my plate.
“You should’ve ordered fries with yours, instead of fruit.”
“I have to be good,” she answered right before a fry touched her lips.
“Because you eat mine you’re being good?” I raised an eyebrow, willing her to make me understand the logic behind her ordering method. Not that I really cared. She could have every one of my fries. It was fun to flirt with her.
“If I ordered them, I’d be tempted to eat them all. With them on your plate, I have to work for them by reaching—”
“A form of exercise?”
She shook her pretty head and her green eyes twinkled catching the overhead lighting. “Not what I meant but I might add that method to my madness.” She laughed. “It’s more of a limit thing. How many you will allow me and knowing that I can’t take all of them.”
She was so wrong because I would’ve given her anything she wanted. Her happiness was what mattered most to me… I didn’t know how I was going to function once our time together was up. If we didn’t locate the sicko tormenting her in the next couple of days or at least get a handle on how to track him and keep tabs on him, I was going to be a mess. I would be worrying about her safety. Wondering if her people were right that the sick-fuck just wanted to be acknowledged in the media. I wasn’t so sure that was the case and I wanted to make sure she remained safe and unharmed.
That wasn’t my mission. That wasn’t why I was hired. My assignment outlined a schedule of events and places to attend with Maya Bexley. I was to stay in the hotel room next to her suite and be at her disposal in case she wished to go places that were not on the set schedule. If she wanted to shop, go out nightclubbing, dinner…whatever, I was there for her protection. Basic bodyguard duties.
Maya was making me break so many rules.
Some missions, unfortunately, didn’t always have happy endings and sometimes we walked away without clear cut solutions or outcomes. We gave our all without thoughts of the future. We lived in the moment and served our country. Our feelings weren’t part of the equation. Our emotions needed to be suppressed. We did what we were told to do and when they told us to stand down and move on, we did.
How was I going to do that? How could I ever let her go?