CHAPTER FIVE - ABIGAIL
“It’s beautiful here,” I said, gazing out along the balcony of the hotel where the sun slowly dipped below the buildings. The past two days we had spent in the hotel adjusting to the time difference, and now we felt alive for the evening hours.
The hotel balcony we were seated upon overlooked the entire city of Madrid because of its nestled position. A vivid orange hue filled the entire evening sky with a comfortable glow that instantly relaxed all of us— excluding Harley.
I tossed a glance over my shoulder to where he stood vigilantly behind us by a few feet, with his gaze focused on something in the distance over the balcony. His eyes shifted, focusing on me, but his expression stayed tight. I couldn’t help but wonder what his story was. He was beyond hot. Did he have someone waiting for him at home? He damn well should have.
“Yeah, beautiful,” Libby said. She fiddled with the hemline of her short dress while leaning forward in her seat to look at a table of men who sat a few tables away. “Do you see those men there? They keep looking over at us.”
“No,” I said, and looked over in the direction Libby’s head was turned. They were all dressed in expensive looking shirts and pants. Their skin was a dark tanned color while they each supported dark black curls. One of them smiled slyly at me. “Are they guests at the hotel?”
“They would have to be,” Libby said. “You can’t eat up here unless you’re a guest. Let's see if I can get them over here to have some drinks with us.”
I glanced down at my full glass of wine - my second glass of wine. My head already felt fuzzy from the liquor and the evening heat. It was a dangerous combination.
“I can’t have anymore, Libby. Seriously. I feel like if I stood too fast that I’d fall over.”
“This is vacation, Abi. You’re supposed to get drunk. Like sloppy drunk.” Libby waved at them with a pretty smile on her face. “Hola! We’d love to share drinks over here.”
They chattered away in Spanish before rising from the table. They didn’t get far though when Harley stepped between the tables. He uttered something curtly in Spanish that sent them hurrying from the balcony without sparing Libby and I a second glance.
“Hey, asshole!” Libby exclaimed, reaching out to swat Harley on the arm. “What is your problem here? Those are guests at the hotel. It was just a damn drink!”
The indifferent expression on Harley’s face didn’t change. He resumed his post behind us without saying another word.
My Dad certainly would be pleased.
I fingered the rim of my wine glass with a resigned sigh while Libby complained loudly about him ruining all the fun. Nothing she said or did ever seemed to phase him. He was emotionless half the time, or either extremely irritable. There was never an in-between, nor rarely any emotion was shown.
“I’m going to take a shower,” Libby said, fanning her flushed face from alcohol and heat. “After that, maybe we could go explore the city a bit?”
“Yeah. Sure.” I stood and reached for the table as a smile lifted my lips.
“Light weight.” She chuckled and reached for me.
We walked back to our room with Harley walking silently behind us. He took up his post outside the door when I shut the door behind us.
Libby clasped my arm a second later. “Listen Abi. Unless this guy decides to screw one of us, which I’m pretty damn sure he won’t, we need to get rid of him. And that’s a pity because all that pent up frustration he’s carrying around would make him a perfect fuck buddy,” she whispered, shaking her head in annoyance. “To top that off, he keeps acting like we are in the middle of Iraq or something.”
“I can’t tell him to leave,” I said. At least he’s sexy to look. I shook that thought out of my head while Libby retreated to the bathroom to shower. I didn’t want either one of them to know that I had a thing for Harley. I was certain the last thing he would be interested in is some average girl anyway. I waited until I heard the shower turn on before slipping into a pair of cotton shorts and a ripped tank top. Tying my hair up into a messy bun, I sat Indian style in the middle of my bed to call my parents.
My Mom answered the phone cheerfully. “Hello, my darling daughter. How are your adventures in Madrid?”
“Fine for the most part,” I said. “We haven’t seen much yet because we’ve been trying to adjust to the time change.”
“I imagine. It is evening there, right?”
“Right.” I nodded before asking hesitantly, “Is Dad home with you or—”
“He ran into the office to grab a few files,” she said. “Is there something going on? Is everything all right?”
I ignored the concern in my Mom’s voice. It was always there. As if me simply living my life were a huge threat in general. “Everything is fine, Mom. Don’t worry about me.”
“I try not to. Your Dad hired that bodyguard for a reason, you know.”
“What reason is that?” I asked, irritably. “To annoy the shit out of me the entire time?”
“Abigail Carter— watch your language.”
“I’m sorry, Mom, but the guy he hired is just too damn good at his job.” And he’s attractive. That doesn’t help either.
“I hoped he would be, dear. He retired from Special Forces about five months ago.”
“Well then, that makes perfect sense,” I said.
“What does?”
“He’s just—” I struggled to find the right word. “Vigilant is the only thing I can think of to describe it.”
“That’s what he is paid to do, Abi.” Voices chattered on the other end of the line. “I have to get going, dear. Would you like your Dad to call later?”
I thought of Libby’s plan to go out to Madrid tonight. “No, that’s fine. I can call him tomorrow sometime.”
“All right, sweetie. Be safe. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
I stared down at my phone for a Moment. Special Forces. It all made sense why he was so physically fit, graceful, and confident. He had been trained to be a certain way, and he stuck to it even as a bodyguard.
Plugging my phone to charge, I stepped out onto the balcony to enjoy the heat while I waited for Libby to finish up. I stepped around the corner of the balcony to reel back in surprise to see Harley sitting on the other side at a small patio table. He looked away from the fading skyline to focus on me. The hazy glow of the evening brought out the silver specs in his green eyes, but there was something so haunting behind his blank expression. He reclined casually back in his chair, stretching out his muscular torso. I couldn’t help but let my eyes run along the front of him, coveting how good he must look under his clothes.
“What is it?” he asked, his voice deep, soft.
“Nothing,” I said thickly and took a careful step towards him. “Can I sit with you for a few minutes?”
Harley arched an eyebrow at me. “That depends on where this conversation is going.”
“I have no motives. I just wanted to… talk.”
I winced at how stupid I must have sounded.
He didn’t respond for a few seconds but finally motioned a hand to the chair across from him. I gladly took a seat in front of him and glanced down, studying the names tattooed on his forearm.
“My Mom says you were in the Special Forces,” I said, not sure where I wanted to go with the conversation. It was the wine. Fucking alcohol and it’s magical confidence boosters.
“Yes,” he said, nodding. “I was in the Special Forces for a very long time.”
“What brought you back?” I asked, curiously. A dark look clouded his face then, and I instantly realized I had hit a painful button. “I’m sorry. I was just curious to hear what brought you back since Special Forces are elite, the top of the top.”
“Too much death, and I needed to be home for personal reasons,” Harley said, distantly. His eyes flicked down to his forearm briefly. “That’s why I came back.”
Not knowing what he meant by the second part but I didn’t want to pry more and ask about his personal life – not just yet anyway. “And now you get to escort my bitchy friend and me around,” I said in a desperate attempt of humor to get the dark, intense look off his handsome face. “Aren’t you lucky?”
To my relief, it worked. The shadow lifted from Harley’s face instantly. The edges of his lips twitched in a ghost of a smile.
“You said it. Not me,” he responded, wryly.
An awkward silence stretched between us. Maybe it was just the wine, but damn Harley looked sinful sitting in front of me. My fingers itched to run along the broadness of his chest and shoulders. I would have given just about anything to feel his muscles twitch beneath my fingertips.
I blinked at the heat searing through me, an entirely different type of heat I never experienced before. This heat was the type that would consume me whole if I wasn’t careful. A soft pulsing started between my thighs, and it suddenly felt so damn hard to breathe.
“I’m sorry for Libby,” I blurted out then. “She’s a lot to handle, I know. I guess it’s why my Dad didn’t want her coming in the first place, but she means well.”
“I really don’t care about Libby,” Harley said, shrugging. He didn’t seem to be affected by me being near at all. Maybe I was the only one experiencing anything. Liquor. It had to be the liquor.
“I’m not being paid to babysit her. If she gets kidnapped, good luck to her.”
I shrunk back at the curtness of his words. I had a hard time believing that someone trained in the Special Forces would let something like that happen.
“You’d honestly—”
“There you are.” Libby appeared around the corner dressed in a very tight, short black romper that revealed the valley of her perky breasts. I instantly felt sloppy seeing how well put together she was. She flicked a gaze between us curiously.
“I found a nightclub down the street,” she said. “We should go. It’s just a short walk from here.”
I fiddled with the hemline of my shorts nervously. I hated nightclubs, but I was getting restless staying in our hotel room. We were in Madrid, and I wasn’t going to get another chance to have fun. I glanced over at Harley who didn’t even bother hiding his disapproval of the idea.
“I don’t think that is a good idea,” he said.
“Oh, lighten up,” Libby said, rolling her eyes. She grabbed ahold of my elbow to tug me out of the chair. “You aren’t in charge here. You don’t get to tell us what to do. You just get to tag along, like a little lost puppy.”
Harley stood to catch my eyes as Libby tugged me in the direction of our room. “I don’t recommend this, Abi. It’s not a good idea.”
Abi. I shivered at the way he said my nickname. This wasn’t going to be good. Not the club… him being in my life for the next month. It had been a few days, and already I found myself undressing him in my mind and wondering just how big he was underneath that shiny silver zipper.
“It’ll be fine,” I said, panting a little. “I want to go.”