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Walking out of the elevator across the shiny black granite floor,
Jake Cantrell made his way to the receptionist desk on the tenth
floor of Marine Drilling International. The waiting area was done
in black leather sofas and chairs, the receptionist desk dark walnut
and chrome, nothing but the best for the Dumonts, the family who
owned the company.
A good-looking woman, late twenties, wavy, shoulder-length
mink-brown hair, busily searched the drawers and cabinets behind the
desk, bending over in a tailored pencil shirt, providing him with a
perfect view of a very shapely ass.
He almost smiled. Even the help was first class.
She jerked upright at his approach, noticing him for the first time,
and her face colored, a pretty face, remarkable really, with amazing
golden brown eyes. Those eyes looked him up and down, which took a
while, being six-five, two-hundred thirty-five pounds.
“May I help you?” she asked.
He gave her a smile. “I’m Jake Cantrell. I’ve got an appointment
at ten with Ian Dumont.”
She frowned. “He didn’t mention it. He’s getting ready for a
meeting. You might have to wait a while.”
“Not a problem. In the meantime, I could sure use a cup of coffee.”
Amusement tipped her mouth up, a tiny dimple appearing next to
plump, rose-colored lips. “I’ll see what I can do.” But she didn’t
make a move, just turned to the woman hurrying toward her across the
waiting room.
“I’m so sorry I’m late, Ms. Dumont,” the woman said. “Thank you for
covering for me.”
Sonofabitch, a Dumont, Jake thought. Asking her to fetch him a cup
of coffee was probably not the best idea he’d ever had.
“It’s not a problem, Marie.” She tipped her head toward Jake. “Mr.
Cantrell is here to see Ian. I have to go into the meeting. Could
you get him a cup of coffee while he waits?”
Jake felt the slight rebuke in the glance she cast his way.
Clearly, she wasn’t used to fetching a man much of anything.
“Of course,” Marie said. The Dumont woman headed for the tall
walnut door leading into Ian Dumont’s imperial domain, her strides
long and purposeful, as if she had someplace important to go. He
liked a woman who didn’t dawdle. And besides the great ass, she had
a pair of legs that wouldn’t quit.
He watched her disappear behind the door, wondering what role she
played in the Dumont empire, then turned his attention to the
receptionist.
Marie was smiling. “Mr. Cantrell, Mr. Dumont mentioned that you
would be coming in. I believe he wants to see you as soon as you
arrive.”
“Thank you, Marie.”
I’ll bring coffee into the meeting.” The woman blushed as he walked
away. It was his size mostly, he figured, that made women take a
second look. He was used to it by now.
He shoved open the office door and stepped inside, found only two
people in the room--the woman he had subtly insulted and a
silver-haired gentleman in his late seventies, slightly stooped but
still impressive, undoubtedly Ian Dumont, CEO of the company.
“Mr. Cantrell, I assume,” the man said. “Our mutual friend, Trace
Rawlins, had nothing but good things to say when he recommended you
for this job. Please do join us.”
The Dumont woman was staring, one of her dark eyebrows elevated in
question. He noticed she was wearing a flashy diamond engagement
ring. Since he felt a jolt of heat whenever he looked at her, it
was probably good she was out of his reach.
Ian Dumont reached out to shake his hand. A strong, solid handshake
that set the tone for the discussion ahead. “Why don’t we all sit
down?” Ian suggested.
They spaced themselves at the near end of the conference table,
which sat in the middle of a room done in the same walnut and chrome
as the waiting area.
Ian fixed his attention on Jake. “I asked you here to discuss
providing security for one of our people during an upcoming business
negotiation.”
“S.E. Dumont, you said when we spoke on the phone.”
“That is correct.”
“Wait a minute,” the dark-haired woman interrupted, her gaze sliding
toward Jake. “Ian, you aren’t thinking--”
“Mr. Cantrell, I’d like you to meet my granddaughter, Sage Elizabeth
Dumont.”
The room fell silent. Sonofabitch. She was his assignment?
“I don’t need a bodyguard, Ian.”
The old man turned toward her, a determined glint in a pair of eyes
that looked strikingly similar to the flashing gold-ringed brown
ones belonging to his granddaughter.
“Mr. Cantrell has experience in Middle Eastern protocol as well as a
background in personal security. Isn’t that correct, Mr.
Cantrell?”
“Over the years, I’ve done a lot of corporate protection work, both
in South America and the Middle East. I worked in Saudi for three
years after I got out of the Marines. So yes, I know the
protocols.”
“This is simply not necessary,” Sage said.
Both men ignored her. “I understand you were in Special Forces.
You served in Iraq, I believe.”
“That’s right.”
“Sage is Vice President of Acquisitions and Distribution for Marine
Drilling. Currently she is involved in a transaction that may reach
the three hundred million mark. A deal being negotiated with Sheik
Khalid Al Kahzaz of Saudi Arabia. The sheik and his family are due
to arrive in just a few days.”
“I see,” Jake said noncommittally. Protecting a corporate exec was
one thing. Protecting a spoiled young socialite who got her job
because she was a member of the Dumont family was something
altogether different.
“With your experience,” Ian continued, “I’m hoping you will be able
to guide my granddaughter through this visit with our Saudi friends,
and should trouble arise in the city, also keep her safe.”
“That’s what I get paid for.”
Sage shifted in her chair, irritation clear in her face. “We need
to discuss this in private, Ian.”
The old man smiled indulgently. “We can do that, of course, but the
result will be the same. You’re representing Marine Drilling
International. You will be prominently engaged in entertaining the
sheik, his daughter and son, and the rest of his party. Currently,
there is a great deal of unrest in the Middle East. Last night
there was an incident right here in the city. Mr. Cantrell can
handle whatever problem might come up.” He rose from his chair, and
Jake and Sage stood up, too.
Ian turned to Jake. “When can you start?”
Part of him wanted to refuse the assignment. He didn’t want to deal
with a bossy, cantankerous female. The other part was looking for
something interesting to do after weeks of mostly sitting behind a
desk. “If we only have a short time until they arrive,” he found
himself saying, “we had start today.”
Sage’s spine went a little straighter. She fixed her gaze on Jake.
Even with her ultra high heels she had to look up at him, which he
could tell she didn’t like.
“Fine,” she said. “I’ll see you in my office in half an hour. Does
that work for you?”
“I’ll be there.”
As soon as the door swooshed closed behind her, Jake heard Ian
chuckle. “I knew she was going to pitch an all-out fit about this,
but I want her safe. She means everything to me, Mr. Cantrell.”
“It’s just Jake. And you can count on me to take care of
her--whether she likes it or not.”
Ian Dumont just smiled.
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