Seducing the Bodyguard (7 page)

“No, to the husbands question; more than one wouldn’t be legal anyway.” She laughed again. “But I’m not married at all, never have been. My parents are both still alive. They live in Hawaii. And I have a brother. His name is Percileo. Everybody calls him Lucky Leo.”

“Yeah?” His eyebrow arched upwards. She laughed again and shook her head.

“Leo’s on the bomb squad. They call him Lucky Leo because he’s one of the best when it comes to diffusing bombs. He’s gone in on some very tough calls and he manages to walk out with all his body parts in tact when nobody thought it would be possible. So, they call him Lucky Leo. I just call him Leo.”

He could tell she was proud of her brother. The adoration in her voice assured him of that. “I have family,” he said. “I guess you know about what my mother and sister did.” He looked at her, studying her face. He was sure she knew. There was no need to elaborate on the details. “I guess with Geneva being my father’s child from an extramarital affair my mother had no issue trying to kill her—ordering the hit herself, just for money. But I’m her son and you would think she would know that killing Geneva would have destroyed me too. But how could she know that?” He shook his head. “My mother was too wrapped up in herself to realize that I cared about Geneva. She’s more of a sister to me as a half sister than my whole blood sister.”

Valencia nodded. “It’s hard to make sense of things sometimes—the bad that happens can never really be explained. We try; but we can’t—not really.”

“Yeah,” he mumbled. “But some good came out of it. Geneva and Drake got closer. They got married. She found happiness after all. I never thought I would want what they have—until now.” He looked at her trying to study her reaction.

“Harrison—”

“I’m early,” Latricia’s voice interrupted whatever Valencia was getting ready to say. Perhaps he didn’t really want to know. Perhaps she would have once again told him that they needed to keep things business only. But if she had he would have been sure to tell her, in no uncertain terms, that he had no intention of doing that—no intention at all.

Harrison stood as Latricia approached them. “I can see that,” he said without any hint of fondness in his voice. He thought he had at least another hour alone with Valencia.

“I thought I could get here and see what you’ve done so far,” she smiled as she wrapped her arms around Harrison’s neck and pulled him in for a hug. He patted one hand between her shoulder blades before managing to wiggle his body out of her grip.

“Maybe we can do lunch, Harrison.” He didn’t miss the implication in her tone and her words that she didn’t want Valencia to accompany them. He had news for her; Valencia had been serious about not letting him out of her sight. While she had exited the bathroom so he could go in peace she had been sure to go in and check the vents and the stalls before leaving him alone. And she had told him if he wasn’t out in a minute she was coming in. He had laughed, but when he wasn’t out in a minute she had come in. Fortunately for him he was in the process of washing his hands so he hadn’t been caught exposed handling his business. The woman took her job too seriously. Normally he would say that was a good thing, but this wasn’t a normal situation. He was not in any real danger. She needed to relax and let her hair down—literally. She had long, beautiful, silky hair and she always had it up in a bun with two decorative hair pins situated on either side. It was beautiful, but she really should wear her hair down more.

“Actually,” he said. “Valencia and I are going to pull out of here at the noon lunch break and go do a little grocery shopping. I need to put some food in that refrigerator, and get something for dinner tonight.”

“We could do dinner,” she hummed in a seductive tone.

“I have plans,” he sat down and took Valencia’s hand in his, tightening his fingers around hers.

“I see,” she mumbled as she positioned herself in the seat next to him. “Maybe some other time. We do still have business to discuss.”

“Not today,” he stated. He couldn’t imagine what business they still needed to discusses. As far as he knew, he had signed all the papers that needed to be signed, and last night was supposed to be the final business meeting they needed to have.

“Okay. Tell me about what’s going on here.” She waved her hand at the stage setup crew. Was she serious? What did it look like they were doing? He refrained from shaking his head and saying the first thing that came to mind.

“They’re getting everything ready for the background structure. Preproduction is a big process, but everything will be finished in time for next week’s opening.”

“Seems like a lot of work for a show that’s only going to be here for a short time.”

“We like things done right.”

“You should extend your stay here. We wouldn’t mind having this opera in our town for a year or more,” she let the last part of her sentence leave a hint of suggestion that told Harrison she was trying to make it known to him, and to Valencia, that she planned to capture his attention in whatever way necessary.

“No can do,” he stated as he pulled Valencia’s hand up to his lips and kissed the back of her smooth skin. “We have other states to grace with our presence. It’s already set.”

“Unset it,” she said simply.

“I don’t go back on my promises and commitments. I wouldn’t be much of a man if I did that.” And he meant those words in every sense possible. He might not truly be dating Valencia, but he wanted to be. Even though he wasn’t, Latricia didn’t know that he wasn’t and as such she should know that he was a man of honor and integrity. He wouldn’t cheat on his woman, not now, not ever. He was not going to be a younger version of his father.

He looked over to Valencia and the smile on her lips touched his heart. That smile was in her eyes; it was genuine. She was pleased with him, and the knowledge of that did something to him that he hadn’t ever in his life expected to feel because of a woman. He felt proud to be the man sitting next to her; the man holding her hand, and the man who would, if he had his way, one day hold her heart.

A woman like Valencia wouldn’t give up her last name if she got married. Her name was a part of her family honor and he could tell family was important to her. Clearly her mother hadn’t given up her last name either. She had hyphenated her name and by extension theirs too. So if he married into the family would Valencia become Valencia Dugan-Mishoto Sinclair? Probably not. It would be more likely that he would become Harrison Mishoto. Or maybe Harrison Sinclair Mishoto. He kicked the name around in his mind for a while until he realized what he was doing. Why was he thinking of marrying this woman? Why was he playing the last name game trying to figure out how their married name would work? They were not getting married…but the thought of actually claiming her as his wife and having her claim him as her husband, as if they belonged to each other…now that was a heady thought that had a smile tugging at his lips. He had just met the woman and already he was mapping out forever with her. He told himself to pull the horses back inside and be sure to put them before the cart the next time he was ready to take them out. Clearly, he and Valencia weren’t there—yet. They could be.

“What are you smiling about?” Latricia leaned closer to him, resting her arm against his body.

Honesty was the best policy. “I was just thinking when Valencia and I get married how the name thing will work,” he smiled again at the look of slight shock Valencia gave him before she reeled in her emotion. “Would you hyphenate?” He asked, looking into her eyes.

“I’m already hyphenated enough,” she laughed. “But it is my family name so I won’t give it up.”

“I wouldn’t ask you to. Maybe I’ll hyphenate mine. I rather like Sinclair, but I like the sound of your name with mine too.”

“Well, if we were to marry it would be better for you if you did take my last name. At least the last part of it, not the full hyphenated name.”

He understood what she meant. Her family name had honor, history, respect, and probably a heck of a lot of clout in their corner of the world. Being a Mishoto was probably like being a Kennedy—only the connotation behind the name probably invoked fear more than celebrity worship.

“Shouldn’t you be concentrating on the task at hand?” Latricia snapped.

“I should,” he agreed. “By tomorrow most of this should be in place. The actors will be arriving and our vocals will be here. We’ll start rehearsals day after that.” Normally he liked to start rehearsals earlier, but since the cast wouldn’t be getting in until mid-day he decided to give them the evening off. Mostly he decided the last minute change because he wanted the evening to himself—well, more like he wanted the evening with Valencia to himself. Once rehearsals got underway and the show actually opened he wouldn’t have much time for seduction. He needed to use every second he could get now. When the scheduled tightened he wanted to be sure he was already on his way to scaling that stone wall Valencia had erected around her fortress and at least being close to finding a place in her world—in her heart. He knew he was in trouble now because Harrison Sinclair had never once thought about making any relationship permanent the way he was thinking about making one with Valencia permanent. He never lost. He would have to fight hard for her, but this was one fight he was determined to win. He vowed to himself that Valencia Dugan-Mishoto was going to be his woman before they left Arizona.

Chapter Six

“
Y
ou can’t tell me you have never had a boyfriend.” Harrison wanted to know more about this woman and now was just as good of time as any to find out. In fact, when he decided to make pasta for dinner he had already planned to use their time eating dinner to learn more about her. What he learned was that she wasn’t seeing anybody romantically. From what he could tell, she hadn’t been seeing anybody romantically in a long time. Of course she hadn’t been very willing to talk to him about her past dating history and he wanted to know why. He couldn’t imagine no man had been brave enough to at least try to court her.

“You wanted to practice some techniques tonight,” she said. “Dinner’s done. The dishes are done. Let’s get to it.”

She evaded the conversation as always. He decided he would let her; for now. Later, he was going to broach the subject again. And later, he intended to get an answer.

“All right,” he said. “Teach me something.”

He should have heeded the advice to be careful what he asked for because she gave him a lesson he wasn’t soon to forget. Valencia was tough, skilled, and he couldn’t win with her—at least not on her terms. Every move he made she pinned him. He would admit it was fun to be between her legs, but that wasn’t exactly the circumstances he had in mind when he envisioned being there.

“This isn’t exactly what I had in mind when I pictured you on top of me with my body between your legs.”

She rolled her eyes. “Be serious, Harrison,” she admonished him. “Tell me how you’d get out of this.”

He tried to show her, but the more he moved, the more she kept him pinned beneath her weight. “Good Lord woman! How do you do that?”

She laughed and then proceeded to show him how he could get himself out of a few precarious positions. Of course the moment he got out of one she had him in another.

Two hours later she agreed to give him a break. They could pick up tomorrow night, she had said. Sure, that would be best given how sore his body was now. This wasn’t exactly how he envisioned the evening going. “Shower,” he said. “And when I’m done we can discuss tomorrow’s schedule.”

“Okay,” she agreed before going to take her own shower. He had no intention of focusing on the schedule. He still wanted an answer to his question.

“So, have you ever seriously dated? You clammed up earlier and it’s making me wonder. I mean, you’re amazing. You’re smart and strong, and beautiful. You can’t tell me you’ve never had a serious boyfriend.”

“I didn’t say that,” she tried to keep the emotion out of her tone, but just thinking about Darryl had her emotions ready to run amuck. He had been her first real boyfriend. She had been training practically since the day she was born and that dedication didn’t leave room for boys. When she met Darryl she knew there was an attraction, but they had been paired together. She was the assassin and he was her go-to guy if she got into trouble. She liked him—loved him even. She wouldn’t make that mistake again. It had been ten years since she allowed herself to be with a man. If she had it her way it would be one hundred more.

“I killed him,” she stated flatly. He stopped laughing so abruptly that it caused her to finally look up from her perusal of the schedule and meet his suspiciously shocked gaze.

“You…you killed him for cheating on you?”

“He didn’t cheat on me,” she said somberly. “There are things you don’t know about me, Harrison. Things I can’t tell you in detail, but…” she took a slow inhale before exhaling just as slowly. “I was an assassin for the government. My on again, off again partner became my lover, my heart.” She thought back to the relationship they had. They didn’t work together at every turn. For the most part she was on her own, but there were times when the cover of husband and wife was needed, or when she needed a silent partner to be her eyes when she was in a spot with limited visibility. Darryl had been that partner.

He hadn’t done anything to hurt her other than lying to her, betraying their country and finding his name on the government hit list. She didn’t want to take the hit, but she knew if she didn’t somebody else would. She knew she couldn’t protect him from that. “I tried,” she said. “I tried to save him. He was so stupid,” she shook her head. “He could have just taken what I was arranging for him. The new identity, the new face, the new life, and he could have lived in the Cayman Islands without anybody knowing he wasn’t dead. But he didn’t want that. Dropping his lifestyle wasn’t what he wanted to do, not even to spare me the pain of having to destroy what was left of what we had.” She felt the recollection of memory stabbing her from within. He was the first hit, the only hit, that she was ready to ignore. She planned to fake his death and give him a fresh start even though that meant they couldn’t be together. But instead of taking it, taking what she was offering, he decided he wanted to keep walking the line between good and evil, between dedication to America and dedication to his role as a double agent. What he was doing had killed hundreds of innocent people in that train bombing in Spain, and he didn’t even care. He knew she was going to kill him. He knew about the hit before she even walked into the room.