Ellie opened the suitcase, hoping Destiny had selected her nice bras rather than the ratty gym bras. To her relief, Destiny had thoughtfully packed several of each. Shoving the gym bras under a pair of jeans, Ellie took out a black lace bra and matching panties. The appreciation in Hal’s expression as she put them on almost made up for having to prepare to get shot at. Then she put on a lightweight cotton tank top.
“It straps on like this.” Hal settled the vest over her shoulders and showed her how to adjust it. It wasn’t as heavy as she’d expected. “Now put something on top of it. Dress warm, it’s a cold day.”
The vest was invisible beneath the long-sleeved blouse she buttoned over it. Ellie put on black jeans and a red sweater, then asked, “Are you going to wear one, too?”
Hal opened his overcoat and pulled down the collar of the shirt beneath it, revealing his own armored vest. But before she could get too caught up in thoughts of people shooting at them, he said, “Let’s have breakfast. I’ll make cappuccino.”
They went into the kitchen. The cappuccino was as good as promised, with a shaving of chocolate atop the foam, vaguely in the shape of a heart. Hal made scrambled eggs. Ellie, discovering that Hal owned a pleasing array of jams, managed to make toast without burning it. Much.
After breakfast, she said, “I need to call Catalina and tell her I’m ok
ay. I’m sure she’s wondering what’s up.”
“Wait.” Hal walked across the room and fetched a disposable phone, which he gave to her. “Make your calls and texts from this. It’s untraceable. And don’t tell her or anyone where you are.”
“Thanks.” But her belly clenched at yet another reminder of how much danger she was in. It had even invaded something as normal as calling her partner and best friend.
She went to the guest bedroom and called Catalina, filling her in on as much as she felt was safe. Ellie didn’t intend to tell her she’d had sex with Hal, and tried not to say anything at all about him other than that she was now protected by a bodyguard.
Catalina immediately said, “He’s hot, right? Hunky hot bodyguard... and I mean BODYguard. If you know what I mean!”
“Nooooo,” Ellie said unconvincingly.
Catalina pounced, certain via some sort of BFF telepathy. “He’s already ‘guarded’ your body with his body, hasn’t he? Ooh-la-la! You move fast! I hope it was good.”
Ellie surrendered. “Yes, we did. Twice.”
“Twice!” Catalina wasn’t satisfied until Ellie gave her all the details. At the end, she asked hopefully, “Does he have hot friends? A hot brother? Hot bodyguard buddies?”
“No idea. But I could find out. And on a less sexy topic... Have you heard anything from our boss?”
“Oh, yeah, sorry,” Catalina replied. “I meant to tell you right away. They’re giving you a week’s stress leave. So don’t worry about that.”
Ellie thanked her and returned to the living room, catching Hal while he was still on the phone.
“Yeah,” he was saying. “So can you rustle up the rest of them? Thanks.”
He shot her a slightly guilty glance as he hung up, and she knew he’d been talking about her.
“What now?” Ellie asked. “I can’t go back to my apartment, and I’m not due back at work yet...”
“I’d like to take you to meet my team.” Hal looked at her hopefully. He was obviously dying for her to agree.
“Is this like ‘Come meet my family?’” She was touched that he’d want her to meet them.
“A bit. I’m closer to my team, in some ways. They’re like me—” He stopped suddenly, making her wonder what he’d been about to say. Probably something involving classified jobs assisting the military.
She teasingly filled in his awkward pause. “Really great at oral sex?”
To her amusement and delight, the adorable pink flush again tinged Hal’s cheeks. “God, don’t put pictures like that in my mind. They’re like my brothers and sisters. I was going to say, they’re a bunch of adrenaline junkies.”
“You know, I’ve never taken a boyfriend to meet my family. But I’d like to take you. My parents... Well, I told you how that is. But my brother’s great. You should meet him. I think you’d really get along.”
“I’d love to meet him when he comes home.” Hal kissed her. “Come on. Let’s go meet the family.”
He took her down to the parking lot, as alert for trouble as he’d been when he’d brought her to his apartment, and drove her to a big office building. Then he escorted her through another series of touchpad-operated elevators and doors— she was definitely getting the sense that he knew what he was doing when it came to security— and into the headquarters of Protection, Inc.
It was a bit like she’d expected Hal’s apartment to be: sleek and modern, full of high-tech gadgets and security cameras and furniture made of black leather and chrome. But it wasn’t sterile or lifeless. There were human touches, like bowls of old-fashioned movie candy like junior mints and Jordan almonds, and pots of gorgeous purple orchids.