The Bodyguard's Bed (Seduction Series Book 2), page 1
The Bodyguard’s bed
Emily Vincent
Copyright © 2018 by Emily Vincent
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Contents
Elite Members Club
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Epilogue
Thank you
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Prologue
The aroma of coffee filled the air of the small café. I took a sip from my mug as I picked up the magazine from the table. Right on the front page was Elisha and Chris gracing the front of the magazine. They were all smiles, celebrating the newly engaged couple. I could stare at the picture and smile with ease, now, as the pain wasn’t quite as prevalent.
I cared about Elisha greatly, but it was Chris she belonged with. By the pictures, that was obvious. I pushed the magazine away and took a drink of my coffee, then heaved a sigh and glanced at my watch. I only had fifteen minutes to get to my job interview. The Magnolia Hotel was right across the street, so I didn’t have to race.
When thinking about my life and where it was headed, I didn’t think I would work somewhere that was called, The Magnolia, but it was one of the hottest hotels in the city, and the job was going to be something that could propel my career to the next level. I would be head security officer, managing one of the new and upcoming stars of the next generation. So, the name of the hotel didn’t really matter much.
After finishing off my coffee, I tossed down a tip and got up. “Thanks, Bessie!” I called out, tossing a wave over my shoulder.
“Good luck, Xander!” she called out.
One could say that I went to this café often, maybe a little too much, but I liked the service and enjoyed the atmosphere. I left the café, while on a mission. I looked both ways and crossed the street to get to the hotel. The hotel had the name, The Magnolia, lit up in lights and there was a picture of a magnolia right next to it. I snickered and shrugged. “Doesn’t matter, Xander… just focus on the interview.”
I entered the hotel and made my way to the desk. I pulled on my suit jacket so that I looked professional and didn’t look like I just woke up and threw it on. The man behind the counter looked up and smiled. “How may I help you today, Sir?” he asked.
“Yes… my name is Xander Wolfe, and I have a nine o’clock interview.”
The guy’s eyes lit up. “Sure thing, Mr Wolfe. Have a seat, and they’ll be with you shortly.”
I nodded and took a seat in the lobby. I don’t know if it was just a false sense of security or what, but I wasn’t even nervous. I waited for them to come and it was only a few minutes before I spotted a man heading my way. He smiled and nodded and held out his name.
“Good morning, Mr Wolfe. The name’s Jacob Connors.” He shook my hand.
“Good morning. Please call me Xander,” I said.
He motioned for me to follow him to an office and when we got inside, I grabbed a seat across from him. “I’m the head manager and take care of all the hiring, and I promise this will be pretty painless,” he said. “For starters, I’ve looked over your resume, and I’m impressed. I see that you did a stint with Class Enterprises. Tell me about it.”
I took a deep breath and went into talking about my past and then why I left there. Then I went over what I was expecting to gain out of a job there. Throughout the hour-long interview, I felt at ease, filled with confidence, and ready to get the job. When I was done talking, and he had no more questions for me, I expected for him to tell me that I would hear back from him in a few days.
However, that wasn’t what was to come. “Everything sounds good and looks great. So, if you have no questions, then I would like to officially offer you the position as head security.”
My mouth hung down for a bit. That was a lot easier than I could have hoped for. I shook my head. “No questions. Wow. Thank you!” I shook his hand, and he nodded.
“I’ll get you to HR, and they’ll have you fill out some preliminary background work. Cammy Jaymes doesn’t officially start her gig until next month, so you’ll get acclimated here before then.
My head was spinning. “I’m sorry… who’s Cammy Jaymes?” I asked.
His eyes widened. “Um… well, you might know her best as C Jay.” I shook my head, and he chuckled. “Perhaps you should do some research. That’s the star that is going to be at the hotel. She’s up and coming, but she’s also been around the block a few times.” He chuckled. “The name doesn’t even ring a bell?” he asked.
I shrugged. “Guess, I don’t really follow the latest stars, but I’m sure I can do the research on it. Thanks again for this opportunity.” I stood up, feeling a bit over my head, but still anxious to get started.
“Welcome aboard at The Magnolia,” Jacob said. He stood up and motioned me back through his door, where he took me to HR. I thanked him and watched him walk away before I opened the door and walked into the office. As I was walking in though, a woman was walking out. She wasn’t paying much attention as she was engrossed in her phone, so she bumped right into me. She looked up, startled to find someone standing there.
“Oh… I’m sorry,” she said. Her face lit up, and she looked me over like she was surveying a brand new car that needed all its features checked out. I blushed, feeling a bit awkward in that situation.
“No worries!” I said. “Have a good day, ma’am.” I nodded and walked past her.
“Uh yeah… you do the same.” I could sense that her eyes were still on me and I smiled. If I was in the mindset of looking, then perhaps I would have stared a little longer myself, but I didn’t have time to get my head out of the game.
I walked up to the desk, and the woman looked up at me. “Good morning. And how may I help you?”
“The name is Xander Wolfe, and I was told to come in here and fill out some paperwork.”
“Yes, Mr Wolfe, I’ve been waiting for you.” She smiled and pulled out a folder, where she removed several papers from it. I was excited for the next phase in my life and looking forward to what that had to offer.
Chapter 1
One Month Later
The first month on the job went rather smoothly for me, but then again it was more about getting to know the job than anything else. There was a lot of prep with everyone getting things in order for Cammy Jaymes to take the city and the hotel by storm, but I didn’t have to focus too much attention on that. I would meet her soon enough, and so I just worried about getting trained on the policies and procedures of the hotel.
The night before I was to meet her, a group of the guys decided that we needed to go out and just have a guy’s night at one of the local clubs. I was in desperate need for that, as it had been months since I had been out with the guys, so I agreed to meet up with them.
What started out as a typical night out with the boys, turned into so much more, because after an hour of being there, drinking and having a good time, I spotted her. At first glance, I recognized her. I had seen her coming out of the HR office on the day of my interview. She turned her head slightly and our eyes connected. I smiled and nodded, and she held a big grin on her face, and while I thought she was beautiful on that day, I remembered thinking how I wasn’t ready for anything to happen. And tonight, I had a feeling that maybe I was readier than I thought.
I went about doing my best, just trying to ignore her, but my eyes kept going back to hers. She was dancing with some girlfriends of her own, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t tend to sway her eyes my way. “What’s got your attention?” Michael one of the guys from the security staff asked me. When he saw where my eyes were, he laughed. “And never mind…got my answer.”
I snickered and shrugged, taking a drink of my beer like I didn’t even know what he was talking about, but the truth was, the way she looked at me…had me all sorts of flustered.
“Go ask her to dance,” he said, egging me on.
Thinking he was full of it, I was about to tell him so, when I noticed she was heading our way. My first thought was…damn, she’s sexy when she walks. However, then I had to remind myself that she had to be a worker at The Magnolia because I saw her first in the HR office and if that was the case, then should I really be trying to pursue a fellow employee. I didn’t really have time to answer that inner question in my mind because she was at our table.
“Hey there!” she said.
“I smiled and nodded. “Hey!”
“Couldn’t really
“Well, maybe I was, and maybe I wasn’t.” I took a drink, and she chuckled. “I couldn’t help but notice that you were checking me out,” I pointed out.
She laughed loudly. “Maybe I was, and maybe I wasn’t.” She winked at me and then grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. Just like that, she was dragging me to the dance floor, leaving me breathless and confused.
She turned to me and started swaying her hips in front of me, and I couldn’t help but stare. Forget not being ready - if she was offering, then I was ready. I no longer cared if she was an employee there or not.
“You have some hot moves!” I said, hollering over the loud music.
She moved in closer. “Baby, you ain’t seen nothing yet.” She turned around, so her ass was against my body and she moved in front of me. I instinctively reached out and held her hips as she shimmied in front of me. There was no doubt that this woman could bring out the bad boy in me and that’s something I would never expect to hear myself say. While usually a more laid back and timid guy, I didn’t usually press the boundaries, but there was something about this nameless woman that had me saying yes, please.
After one song ended and another began, we took it down a notch. She turned around and wrapped her arms around my neck, and we slowly moved to the music. “What’s your name?” she asked.
“Xander…” I said. “Xander Wolfe. And yours?”
Her eyes twinkled under the disco lights. “Chakira Johnson,” she said.
I smiled. “Chakira… you don’t look like a Chakira.”
She frowned. “What does that mean?” she snapped. I was a bit taken aback by her rough tone, but I pushed the thought to the side.
“Nothing really…just an observation. It’s nice to meet you.”
She then calmed down and smiled. “Likewise, Xander.”
Then I mentally made a note not to bring up the fact of her name again that night, because this evening was likely to go very well for me. The thought that maybe we could wind back up at my room in the hotel quickly entered my mind.
Chakira seemed like she would be into that, too. Yet, as the night went on, every time I went to suggest it, something stopped us in our tracks. When I thought I better make my move or miss out totally, I leaned into her ear, and she tilted her head up to hear me.
“Wanna get out of here? We can grab a bottle of bubbly and toast to new beginnings,” I said.
The one thing I did learn from past failed relationships was that I couldn’t lag behind. If I wanted something, I needed to go for it. Her face lit up as if the thought intrigued her. She tilted her head and looked at me. “Who knew a big macho man like yourself could be so romantic,” she said.
I grinned, and that’s when she let me down easily.
“Unfortunately… I do think we should hold off on that.” She reached up and ran her fingers down my chest. “I’m sure we’ll see each other around though. Maybe a rain check?” she winked at me and turned away.
She had no idea how my body was reacting to a simple wink, so I definitely thought a rain check would be nice. “See you around, Chakira,” I said.
She tossed a look over her shoulder, followed by a wave and then was gone. I shook my head and headed back to my table, where only a couple of the guys remained.
“Wow!” Dustin said.
I snickered and shot him a look, then tossed a punch to his shoulder. “Don’t be jealous, Man. It’s not a good quality on you.” I took a drink of my beer, and it was no longer cold.
“How’d you do it?” he asked.
“How’d I do what? Get a hot girl to dance with me? Easy as taking candy from a baby.”
Dustin snickered. “I was actually referring to the fact that you just got Cammy Jaymes to dance with you and literally hang all over you. Do tell me your secrets.”
I looked at him. “You’re sadly mistaken,” I said. “That’s not Cammy Jaymes. That’s Chakira Johnson.” The minute I said that, my mouth hung down. Was it possible I was duped?
Dustin and Rodger were both having a hay day laughing on my account. “You’re kidding, right? You don’t even know who you’re going to be working for?” Dustin asked.
“I looked her up a month ago, and she has red hair,” I argued.
Rodger shook his head. “Don’t you keep up with the internet gossip?” he asked. “She had red hair, but that’s old news. She went blonde.” He worked his fingers on his phone and then thrust his phone out to me. I looked at the picture on his screen, and my mouth hung open. The woman that I knew as Chakira appeared before me. It also made sense why Chakira didn’t seem to fit. She was just using an alias name, clearly surprised to know that I didn’t even know who she was. I felt like a fool. And as far as reading up an internet gossip, I had stopped that the minute things ended with Elisha. It was easier that way.
“Wow!” I mumbled.
“You made a clear impression man because she was loving you on that dance floor.” Dustin laughed and stood up. “I gotta head. I have a busy day tomorrow. See ya boys!” He waved, but I barely acknowledged that he was going.
“I should be heading too,” Rodger said. “Are you going?” he asked me.
“Uh yeah… I guess I am.” I stood up, my mind racing to decide what I could possibly do about it now. I just danced with the woman that I was there to protect, and nothing could ever come of that. It was a little disappointing, but I had to make a vow not to let it get to that point, no matter how difficult it might be.
The meet and greet were upon us. I couldn’t wait to get to the hotel club to talk to her and start off by scolding her that she lied to me about who she was. When I got there, the only things there were the band equipment and some groupies. I held back, just waiting for her to show up. After a moment, a few other women arrived. They went to the stage and started practicing with the microphone, doing a sound check for them, I assumed that they were either stand-ins or backup singers.
I kept checking my watch, and after fifteen minutes had passed and then thirty, I decided that instead of standing there looking like an idiot, I should make my introductions with the rest of the band and maybe in the process find out when I should expect the star to arrive.
I approached the stage, and one of the women looked my way. “Hey!” she said, nodding.
“Hey! Just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Xander, and I’ll be head of security for Ms. Jaymes,” I started.
The woman stared at me long and hard, before clearing her throat. “Listen up team!” she called. “This is Xander. You’ll be seeing him a lot. He’s heading up security for Ms. Jaymes.” She laughed, and I wondered if I said something wrong. She turned back to me and explained. “Most people know her by C Jay or Cammy if you’re one of her closest peeps,” she said. “Hearing you say Ms. Jaymes, makes us think you’re referring to her mother or something.”
I laughed. “Got it! I’ll remember that.” I hesitated, before asking. “And you are…”
A hint of red hit her cheeks. “Oh right… the name’s Desiree. You can call me Des... or… Desiree.” She laughed as she held out her hand. I took it and shook it.
“It’s a pleasure.”
She smiled. “I’m one of the backup singers.” She then tossed a motion in the direction of the other two women. “That’s Joy and Sadie. They, too, are backup singers.”
“Well, Sadie likes to think she can sing,” Joy said, which got them bickering back and forth, but Desiree just laughed and rolled her eyes.
“The excitement never ends in a group full of women,” she said.
I snickered. “It’s nice to meet you Des,” I said. She smiled and then things got a bit awkward before I looked at her and inquired about the lead singer. “Any idea where Ms., I mean, C Jay might be?” I asked.
