She took them on a tour of the penthouse. Which was fucking huge. What did one person need with six bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a jacuzzi, an infinity pool as well as a large study?
Rich people. He’d never fucking understand them.
Okay. Perhaps he had a slight chip on his shoulder when it came to people with money.
Estelle finally led them towards their client’s study. She knocked and waited as someone with a soft voice called out.
“Miss Ari, the two gentlemen from JSI are here.”
The woman, who was standing in front of the huge windows that looked out towards a large park, turned to look at them.
He felt like someone had sucker-punched him. He actually froze for a moment. The photos he’d seen of her hadn’t prepared him for her beauty. Wavy, red, thick hair. She was short but had curves in all the right places. A small waist, wider hips and fucking gorgeous breasts.
Fake? He guessed they probably were, but she hadn’t gone overboard with them. Moss green eyes studied them both. She wore ripped jeans that probably cost more than he made in a week and a tight, blue-green T-shirt. She had to be one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen, hands-down. And there was just something about her that drew him in, that made him want to get close to her, to touch her, to see her smile.
She opened her mouth just as there was a shout from the foyer.
Bain immediately gestured to Dominic. He walked towards Arianna, standing in front of her, while Bain moved out into the corridor. Grabbing hold of his gun, he held it lightly at his side.
“Arianna!” A short, thin man dressed in a suit stormed down the passage. He froze as he spotted Bain.
“Holy fuck, you’re enormous!”
“Who are you?” Bain demanded.
“I’m Larry,” the other man sneered. “Arianna’s agent. And I’m guessing you’re the bodyguard she hired without consulting me? Well, you’re fired. Get your stuff and get out.”
Bain quickly glanced over at Dominic and watched as their client stepped out from behind his friend. He narrowed his gaze at her. Didn’t she know that she was supposed to hide behind the bodyguard? Dominic gently pushed her back behind him.
“Get out of the way, you overgrown ass. Jesus, you need to ease up on the ‘roids.”
“Larry!” Arianna snapped, sounding appalled.
Bain just glared down at the asshole in an expensive suit. Larry sneered and moved past him into the room. Bain took a look down the corridor and went to check that the front door was secured. Larry seemed the type to only care about himself.
When he moved back to the study, he could hear yelling. What the fuck? He strode into the room, to find Larry pacing up and down. Dominic stood next to Arianna, by the dark wood desk. The room surprised him. There were built-in bookshelves on two walls, filled with paperbacks. A fireplace was featured on the far wall with a couple of comfortable looking chairs resting in front of it. The whole room was cozy and welcoming.
Larry’s thin, weasel-like face scrunched up like he was constipated as he flung his hands around as he yelled.
Jesus. Did he have to scream every word?
“You had no right to hire them without consulting me, Arianna! I’m your agent. I should have vetted them first! Fuck, we could have at least got one who has guarded a celebrity before. What about that guy who guarded that actress, Jenna Stone? I think he’s free.”
“He’s free because she was murdered,” Dominic stated. He frowned at Larry. Took a lot to rile Dominic. He was one of the most easy-going guys Bain knew. That’s why Kent usually sent him on these jobs.
Larry ignored him. “Or at least one who isn’t a hundred.” Larry looked Dominic up and down with a sneer. A hundred? Dominic had just hit fifty. This guy was a complete prick. He turned to Bain. “Or one who looks like he shoots up with steroids daily. Mind you, the fact that he’s black isn’t a bad move.”
Arianna made a small gasping noise and Bain turned to see her gaping at Larry, looking ill. As though she felt his eyes on her, she turned her gaze to his. She almost immediately dropped her eyes from his. Something stirred in his gut. Had she dropped them due to shame? Or something else? He didn’t give a fuck what this asshole said about his size or his skin color.
Bain had long since stopped caring about what others thought of him.
He crossed his arms over his chest, aware that the arms of his jacket strained across his biceps. He heard another strangled noise coming from the little singer and looking over at her, saw the way she stared at his body.
Liked the way he looked, did she?
Sorry, sweetheart, you can use my body as protection but nothing else.
Even if sleeping with a client wasn’t against JSI terms of employment, he wouldn’t do it. Not with someone like her. Larry continued on with his tirade. Occasionally she would open her mouth, but then he’d go off on another spiel.