Читать книгу Against the Sun - Kat Martin - Страница 12

Six

On Monday morning, Jake pulled up in front of Sage’s apartment in one of the big black SUVs that belonged to Freedom Limousines, the fleet owned by Abraham Lincoln Jones.

Linc was a longtime friend and a man Jake trusted. As a kid, Linc had boosted cars for a living, until he got busted and tossed into juvenile hall. Unlike other kids his age, he had realized the error of his ways, straightened up his life and become a successful Houston businessman.

He still knew cars, knew how to handle a vehicle better than any Hollywood stuntman. Linc had agreed to be Jake’s personal driver during the Saudis’ visit.

The Cadillac Escalade rolled to a stop beneath the overhanging portal of the high-rise apartment building where Sage lived.

Jake opened the door and climbed out. “I won’t be long.”

It was six in the morning. Damn the woman. Ian was right—Sage worked too hard. But the early departure was partly Jake’s fault. If he hadn’t goaded her last night—if he hadn’t given in to that single moment of weakness—she would have agreed to the later hour and gotten at least a little more sleep.

He should have left her alone. But he hadn’t expected the hunger to be so intense, hadn’t known for sure until last night that she wanted him, too.

It didn’t matter. The attraction between them wasn’t going anywhere, and he had a job to do.

With a nod to the security guard, he took the elevator up to Sage’s apartment and knocked on the door. An instant later, she pulled the door open.

“I see you’re on time,” she said sharply. “Let’s go.”

He’d meant to ignore what had happened last night, go on as if it didn’t matter. Maybe he would have, if it weren’t for the faint purple smudges beneath her eyes, the stiffness in her posture that told him he had hurt her.

She tried to brush past him, but he caught her arm, stopping her. She was wearing her high heels, putting her back in her confidence zone, and he was glad.

“About what happened last night…”

Her chin went up. “Nothing happened. Don’t pretend it did.” She tried to walk past him, but he wouldn’t let her go.

“Nothing happened. But don’t think I didn’t want it to. I wanted it too much, Sage.”

Her eyes found his. They were golden and full of fire. Disbelieving.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I was out of line. Nothing like that will happen again.”

For a moment she just stared, her eyes fixed on his. Then she relaxed. “We’re both under a lot of pressure. Things happen. It’s better if we just forget it.”

But he wouldn’t forget. Every time he looked at her he would curse himself for not tasting her, not seeing where that single kiss might lead. His gaze remained on hers. “Are you sure that’s the way you want it?”

She didn’t even blink. “That’s the way it has to be.”

Jake stepped back and let her pass. “There’s a car waiting downstairs. Let’s get you to the office.”

Sage just nodded.

Walking out of the lobby moments later, she stopped when she spotted the big black SUV with the dark tinted windows. “And here I was expecting a stretch. Should have known that wouldn’t be manly enough for a marine.”

He grinned. “Just a little too conspicuous.” He opened the rear passenger door, waited till Sage slid across the butter-soft, black leather seat, then followed her inside.

“Sage Dumont, meet Lincoln Jones. Linc owns the limo company. He’s a friend of mine and the best wheelman around.”

Linc, a tall, slim African-American man with short kinky hair and a very white smile, was a good-looking guy. Never married but hopeful, he always said.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Jones,” Sage said with a smile.

“It’s just Linc, and same here, Ms. Dumont.”

“Since you’re a friend of Jake’s, let’s just make it Sage.”

He grinned and turned back to the wheel, started moving the heavy vehicle forward. Jake glanced at Sage, a little surprised at how accessible she seemed to be. She might be a Dumont, but she treated people as her equal. Another point in her favor.

They reached the office in record time. As they had planned, Linc pulled the Escalade into the executive lot. Jake made a call to the security guard at the back door, and they entered the building that way.

It wasn’t until Sage’s friend, the little redhead he had seen in her office before, arrived at noon that the problems began.

* * *

Sage was sitting behind her desk, the phone pressed against her ear, when the door swung open and Rina walked in. They were planning to go to lunch. Since there hadn’t been any problems over the weekend, and no trouble when she’d come to work that morning, Sage figured she’d be able to get away for a couple hours—without her overbearing bodyguard.

He’d surprised her with an apology for his behavior last night—which had been her fault as much as his.

She wished she could have stayed mad at him, convinced herself he was just another arrogant male. But he had spoiled that by actually behaving like a human being.

She blocked him from her mind as Rina rushed toward her across the office, her face flushed, her blue eyes wide.

“Oh, my God, Sage, have you seen what’s going on outside?”

Sage stood up behind her desk. “No. What is?” Her door swung open just then, at the same instant her intercom buzzed.

“We’ve got a problem,” Jake said, striding in as if he owned the place.

Will raced in behind him. “Sage, the police are downstairs.”

Sage shot Jake a glance. “What’s going on, Jake?”

He tipped his head toward the big floor-to-ceiling windows on one wall of her spacious office. “Take a look.”

Will backed out of the room and closed the door.

“Jake, this is my friend Rina Eckhart,” she said. “Rina, meet Jake Cantrell.”

Rina gave Jake a head-to-toe once-over, which took a while, since she was so petite and he was so big. “Nice to meet you, Jake.”

He smiled. “You, too, Rina.”

Sage went over to the window and looked out past the wide steps at the front. A familiar sight greeted her—only now the protest was three times bigger.

“I guess the students are back.”

“They’re back, all right,” Jake said, walking up beside her. “Along with two other factions. Besides the students, there’s a pro-American bunch thanking God for keeping our troops safe in the Middle East, protesting sharia law, advocating for women’s rights and anything else that comes to mind. Another group is demonstrating against Israel and pushing for a Palestinian state.”

Sage turned to look at him, felt that same little kick she always experienced when he was near. “I can’t believe this. All we’re doing is trying to buy a used drilling platform and a shipment of pipe.”

“Believe it. There’s plenty of friction out there. The cops have arrived to try to keep things under control. It remains to be seen how much good it will do.”

“Don’t these people have to get permits for this kind of thing?”

“I talked to the police. The main group has done the necessary paperwork. Aside from that, there’s a thing called freedom of speech.”

Worry knotted her stomach. “The Saudis are due at the airport tomorrow afternoon. What are we going to do?”

“We’re going to handle it,” Jake said firmly. “Linc’s got a fleet lined up to meet the plane and take them to the hotel. They’ll have their own security while they’re there, and we’ll put a couple of people on it, too. The sheik and his family will be at the hotel the rest of that day and Wednesday. The ranch won’t be ready till the weekend. That leaves only Thursday and Friday to worry about.”

“On Friday they’d like to attend prayers at the local mosque. That’s the Da’wah Center. It’s right downtown.”

“Good. We’ll have them taken them there and picked up, return them to the hotel. That leaves only Thursday.”

Sage worried her bottom lip. She looked up at him. “I wonder if they’ve ever been to an IMAX.”

Jake flashed her one of his devastating grins. “Probably ten of them in Saudi Arabia, but it’s still a good idea. Anything that’ll keep them away from the office.”

“The daughter wants to go shopping,” she said, her mind beginning to work.

“I imagine you can handle that.”

“Are you kidding?” Sage smiled, Jake’s confidence easing her nerves. “The Galleria is my home away from home.”

“She’ll have to be accompanied by a male family member. There may be more than one, and they’re sure to have bodyguards. I’ll get one of the other guys at my office to go along. Alex Justice is an ex-navy pilot. He’s capable and he knows the drill.”

Sage turned to Rina. “Maybe you could come with us. With two other women in the group, A’lia won’t stand out so much.”

Jake’s gaze flicked to the redhead. “Good idea. Can you make it?”

Rina grinned. She was always up for an adventure. “I’d love to come along. I’m a shop-till-you-drop kinda’ gal, and I’ve never met a Saudi princess.”

“All right, then. We keep them busy and away from the office. With nothing going on here, there’s a good chance things will start cooling down. By Monday of the following week, you’ll have done enough small talk to satisfy their customs and earn their trust. If the protests are over, you can bring them into the office and start negotiations.”

Sage shoved back her hair, lifting it away from her face. “You make it sound easy.”

“It could be. With any luck, it’ll all work out the way we plan.” But his smile couldn’t hide the unease in those sexy blue eyes. She knew it was the same worry she was feeling.

She looked over at her friend, determined to carry on as normally as possible. “You ready, Rina?”

“Sounds like Jake has everything under control, so yeah, let’s go.”

Sage turned to him. “We’re going to Gravitas for lunch. Rina’s car is in the lot. We’ll go out the back way so no one will see us. You and I can talk some more when I get back.”

Jake just smiled. “I’ll tell Linc we’ll be needing the limo.”

She didn’t argue. She didn’t care who drove them; she just wanted out of there. “All right.” Sage started for the door, but Jake’s long strides got him there before she did. He pulled it open, stepped back for them to walk out, then followed on their heels.

Sage stopped and turned. “Please don’t tell me you’re going with us.”

“All right, I won’t.”

But deep down, she had known he would demand to accompany them. With the protests going on out front, it was his job.

He pushed the button on the elevator, and when it arrived, followed them inside.

She gave it one last try. “Jake, please…”

“I won’t sit at your table. In fact, you’ll hardly know I’m there. That’s the way it works, Sage. This won’t be for long. In the meantime, you might as well get used to it.”

“I could sure get used to it,” Rina teased with a grin.

Sage bit back a smile and shook her head. They headed for the back entrance out of the lobby, which led to the executive parking lot. When the guard pushed open the door, Sage jerked to a halt.

“Son of a bitch,” Jake muttered beneath his breath. The group out front had morphed into a mass of people at the back door, slightly smaller, but no less disturbing. He let the door swing closed, but not before Sage got a look at the media trucks parked at the curb, the cameras aimed at the crowd, as well as the back door of the building. It was turning into a circus.

Jake was on his iPhone, in contact with Lincoln Jones. He ended the call and slipped the phone back into his pocket.

“Linc’s pulling up as close as he can get. He’ll have the passenger door open. When I say go, walk as quickly as you can to the car and get in.”

Sage glanced at Rina, who didn’t look nearly as perky as she had before. “Are you ready for this?” she asked.

Her friend’s slim shoulders straightened. “I guess if I want to eat, I don’t have any choice.”

“Go!” Jake said, and they hurried toward the car. He was blocking the way like a pro football tackle, herding them into the car, then jumping inside himself. Linc gunned the engine and they shot out of the parking lot, the tires squealing, the crowd surging toward them, waving their signs.

If she closed her eyes, Sage could still see the one that read Keep American Money in America. And right beside it, Dumont Millions Earned at the Price of Betrayal.

* * *

“We got company,” Linc said, his black eyes fixed on the mirror above the windshield.

Jake turned in his seat, saw the white media van cutting in and out of traffic behind them. “Get rid of them.” He checked to make sure the women had their seat belts fastened as Linc gunned the powerful engine.

A couple of screeching turns, roaring through a few yellow lights, blazing down a straightaway, careening around another corner, and the van was no longer in sight.

“Everybody okay?” Jake asked.

Sage smiled. “When you said Linc could drive, you really meant it.”

Rina grinned and leaned back in her seat with a theatrical sigh. “Reminds me of my high school days.”

Jake’s eyebrows went up. “You drove like that in high school?”

“I had a boyfriend whose dad was into drag racing. Jimmy had a hot Camaro. We did a little drag racing at night.”

“That’s illegal, you know,” Linc said from the driver’s seat.

Rina laughed. “Fun, though.”

Jake almost smiled. He was beginning to like the saucy little redhead. And she seemed like a good friend to Sage. There was no heat in the flirty looks she cast his way. It was just to tease her friend.

They reached the restaurant and Linc drove theEscalade up in front. Jake helped the women out, then escorted them both inside the brick building.

Gravitas was hip and modern, the food upscale and interesting. The maître d’ approached Sage smiling, a short guy in his thirties with brown hair thinning on top.

“We have your table ready, Ms. Dumont.”

“Thank you, Ned.”

He flicked a glance at Jake. “Will there be three in your party?”

“No,” Jake answered.

The man seated the ladies, then returned. “One for lunch, sir?”

“I’m Ms. Dumont’s personal security. I need to make a sweep of the restaurant, make sure it’s safe. Then seat me someplace where I can watch her table, and bring me a sandwich—it doesn’t matter what kind.”

“Of course, sir. Over the weekend, I read something in the newspaper about the protests at Marine Drilling. I hope there isn’t any trouble.”

“Just a lot of noise so far. Let’s hope it stays that way.”

But Jake didn’t like the different factions milling around together. It was like putting them in a pressure cooker and turning up the heat.

The maître d’ seated him at a discrete table not too close to Sage. She deserved some privacy. And since she wasn’t having lunch with Phillip…

The evil demon was back, making him inwardly smile. For whatever reason, his dislike for Stanton hadn’t lessened. Jake was damned glad the guy had left the country.

Which returned his thoughts to Sage and how much he wanted her. What would it take, he wondered, to get her into his bed?

He took a long swallow of the iced tea the waiter delivered. What happened Sunday night had been accidental. He knew women. Sage wasn’t the kind who slept with men other than the one she was pledged to.

Still, the attraction between them hadn’t diminished. He felt it every time he looked at her. Every time she looked at him. Just sitting next to her in the car had left him hard and wanting. He wondered how it had affected Sage.

He had a feeling the desire that sparked between them was new to her, not something she felt with Phillip.

It didn’t matter. Jake didn’t date married women because he didn’t want to think of them in another man’s bed. He felt the same way about Sage. She was available or she wasn’t.

And clearly, she wasn’t.

He made another slow, sweeping perusal of the restaurant, saw that everything was as it should be, picked up his sandwich and dug in.

The delicious pastrami on rye tasted like sawdust in his mouth.

* * *

“Your neck isn’t getting stiff, is it?”

Sage kept her eyes straight ahead. “What are you talking about?”

“It’s okay if you look at him once in a while,” Rina said. “He’s very easy on the eyes.”

“I don’t want to look at him. I don’t want to think about him. I just want this whole thing to be over.”

Rina ate a few bites of her salad. Sage mostly pushed the lettuce around on her plate.

“You know, I’ve known you for years,” her friend said. “I’ve never seen you this way.”

“What way is that?”

“Fascinated by a man.”

The bite of tomato stuck in Sage’s throat. “I’m not fascinated with Jake. He’s smarter than I thought and maybe not so much of a jerk. He’s good at what he does and I admire that. But he’s just a man. More virile that most, I’ll admit, but still only a man.”

“He’s not just virile, the guy is the ultimate stud. Your female anatomy recognizes that, responds to it. You want him, Sage. I’ve never seen you in lust before, until now. It’s as simple as that.”

Her insides tightened. “You think that’s simple? I’m engaged, Rina. I’m getting married to Phillip. Surely you don’t think I should cheat on him.”

“I think maybe you should consider talking to Phillip, telling him you need some time to think things over. Tell him you want to postpone your engagement for a while.”

“For God’s sake, Rina, just because I’m attracted to my bodyguard doesn’t mean I want to give up the future Phillip and I have planned.”

“It isn’t just that. From the start, you’ve been hesitant—and don’t tell me I’m wrong. I know you. I know Phillip embodies all the things you think you want out of life, the things you think you need to accomplish your goals. But maybe that isn’t so. Maybe you deserve more than an arranged marriage—because that’s exactly what it is.”

Sage set her fork down on the table. “My grandfather has nothing to do with this.”

“Pleasing him does.”

Her mouth felt dry. Rina was her best friend. If anyone else dared to talk to her this way, she would walk away and never look back. “If you really believe that, why did you wait so long to say it?”

“I said all this before, Sage. You just weren’t listening. That you’re listening to me now ought to tell you something. Even if you don’t give in to your attraction to Jake, give what I said some thought. Give yourself a chance to find out what you really want out of life. Maybe you’ll find out it isn’t Phillip Stanton.”

Sage took a long drink of her tea and realized her hand was trembling. She respected Sabrina Eckhart, and she trusted her. Rina would never do anything to hurt her.

And yet hearing those things did hurt. And they made her wonder… .

“I’ll think about it—when all this Saudi business is over. Right now, I just don’t have the time.”

“Fair enough.” Rina reached out and caught her hand. “I didn’t intend to bring any of this up. It’s just that when you look at Jake, there’s something in your eyes I’ve never seen there before.”

Sage pulled her hand away. “It’s exactly what you said it was. It’s lust, Rina. I may not have felt anything quite like it before, but I’m smart enough to recognize it now. And I’m not going to let it ruin my life.”