CHAPTER TWELEVE - HARLEY
I couldn’t get that look on Abigail’s face out of my head. Not the nervous one that I had seen afterward as she left my room, but the one that had been furrowed in pleasure. The previous night replayed over and over in my mind while I listened to Libby and Abigail chat in the next room. They were talking about visiting a beach today to enjoy some sun rays.
Nothing seemed off about their interaction. I didn’t hear Libby’s exclamations about what had happened the night before.
Rubbing my hands across my face, I felt that familiar urge of overwhelming guilt hit me again. I had let my desires get out of control. I never lost control the way I had the night with Abigail. There was just something about her that drew me in. I couldn’t resist it.
My phone buzzed in my right pocket. Robert Carter. I doubted that Abigail told her Dad what had happened. Still, I felt apprehension fill me as I stared down at that name.
“Shit,” I groaned, and sat up to press the answer button. “Hello, Mr. Carter. What can I do for you?”
“Hello,” Robert said, and no trace of anger filled his voice. I relaxed slightly. “How is my daughter handling Madrid?”
“So far, so good I would say,” I said. “Nothing has happened out of the ordinary. They have been sightseeing mostly.”
“That’s good to hear. Listen, Harley, I need to speak with you about something that has come up here in the office.”
“What about, sir?” I asked.
“There have been some threats circulating my family,” Robert said. “This case I have is going to trial in two weeks, and I’m afraid that my daughter’s life could be possible blackmail.”
I set my jaw. “It won’t be. Not while I’m with her, Sir.”
“Thank you, Mr. Jordan. I hired you for a specific reason. I feel much better knowing you are there. If there are any problems, please don’t hesitate to call me.”
He hung up after that. I rose from my bed to grab my .22 from where it rested on the table next to the bed. The weight of it felt comforting in my hand.
“Harley?”
I looked up when I heard Abigail’s voice on the other side of the door adjacent to our rooms. Slipping my .22 into my holster at my right hip, I covered it with my shirt before opening the door.
My breath caught in my throat at the sight of her standing on the other side dressed in a simple white dress with a black bikini underneath from what I could see. She shifted nervously under my gaze before clearing her throat. “Could we go to the beach today?”
I opened my mouth to reply, but Libby’s voice cut in over mine. “The beach? Let’s go out to that bar I googled earlier.”
“No bars,” I said, sharply. It caught both Abigail's and Libby’s attention. “We shouldn’t be out today anyway. I talked to your Dad this morning and—”
“Let me guess,” Libby interrupted, rolling her eyes. “He wants us to come home because of something going on.”
“You live in a bubble,” I snapped. “You don’t understand that there are things going on in the world that don’t revolve around Madrid or you.”
“What did my Dad say?” Abigail asked, her tone much more respectful.
“There is a case in two weeks that is going to court,” I said. “There are threats going about you because of this case.”
She didn’t look entirely fazed by it. “What sort of threats?”
“He didn’t specify what was being said,” I said.
“I’m not trying to be the brat here,” Libby spoke up then, slipping her pair of feet into some sandals, “but, I can tell you that this isn’t the first time that things like this have come up. She can’t live a sheltered life all the time.”
“No one is trying to shelter her. We are trying to protect her.”
“Whatever,” Libby said. “I’m going shopping with Roco. I’ll see you later Abi.”
She left the room without waiting for a response. Abi let out a tired sigh and leaned against the doorframe. “I’m sorry she’s like that. She has a habit of getting upset when plans get ruined.”
“I don’t care about anything besides what I was hired to do— protect you.”
“I know,” she said, nodding. “This happens more than you think. My Dad makes a big deal out of it every time, and I just want to go out and enjoy the sunshine on the beach. Please?”
Gut instinct told me not to go. Something wasn’t right about the day, but I couldn’t resist the pleading look Abigail sent me.
“Grab your things,” I said. “Let’s go while the sun is up.”
I waited for Abigail to gather her purse before going down to the hotel lobby to hail a cab from the outside. I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching us. The hair on my arms stood up on edge, but when Abigail reached out to grasp my hand, I let those thoughts go as we climbed into a cab to go to the beach.
The tension in Abigail’s facelifted when we arrived at an empty beach with a few tourist lingering about, and an endless stretch of ocean water.
“It’s so beautiful out here,” she said, sighing happily. “If I could live on the beach for the rest of my life, I would.”
“It’s nice,” I agreed, and I couldn’t honestly remember the last time I ever felt even marginally content. “So, I have to know why you don’t take your Dad’s concerns to heat anymore. He does have a dangerous job.”
“He does,” Abigail said. “There’s always been threats surrounding him since I remember. I just get tired of having to be cautious all the time. It’s not a good way to live when you’re terrified of shadows chasing after you.”
“That’s a good point,” I said.
We stopped walking once we reached a private and secluded section of the beach. I scanned the tree lines out of habit but found nothing there that would cause the edge I felt. It was private, but I felt exposed in an odd sense.
Warm hands touched my shoulders. I started in surprise to see Abigail standing in front of me with a concerned frown on her face. Desire shot through me once more, but I couldn’t let it happen again. It had been a mistake the first time no matter how amazing it was.
“Abigail—” I started.
“Don’t worry so much,” she said. “I’m not going to sell you out to my Dad if you are worried about that.”
“I’m not worried about that,” I said. “I worry about other things that could be bad for the both of us here.”
“Like what exactly?”
“Like what your Dad told me this morning,” I said, seriously. “I believe him, Abi. I’ve been over there dealing with the men your Dad puts behind bars. They’ll kill you if they get a chance.”
“I understand that, but not everything in life is a mission. Is it a mission now to be here on the beach with me?”
“Of course not. I just—”
Warm lips pressed up against mine. It rendered me silent just as she knew it would. I tried desperately to fight the fire raging, but I couldn’t even if I tried. She kissed me softly for a long minute before pulling back to smile up at me.
“You need to let things go, and just relax a bit. Enjoy what you have in front of you.”
I shook my head in dismay. “That’s not what I’m here to do, Abi. I’m here to protect you.”
“From the seagulls over there?”
“That’s not what I meant,” I said in exasperation. “Plus, last night was—”
Her fingertips rested on my lips, shushing me. “Don’t say it. Don’t say it wasn’t right, and that it shouldn’t have happened. I’m a grown woman as you’ve put it before. I can make my own decisions and live with them.” She let her fingers trace down my jaw gently. “And I’m okay with what happened. In fact, I think we should do it again.”
“Right here?” I asked, shooting the tree lines another glance. It wouldn’t have been my first time to fuck in the open, but those days were supposedly past me with my tainted-ass youth. “Someone could come walking over here at any moment.”
“We better make it quick then,” Abigail said.
She stood on her tiptoes to kiss me. As much as I should have, I couldn’t find it me to resist. I wound my arms around her tightly and returned the kiss with just as much fervor I could muster. It felt so good to have her wrapped up in my arms, feeling her warm body pressed up against mine, that I was powerless to my desires rising again.
I had to have Abigail, and something told me, I wouldn’t be able to let her go even if I tried.