Chapter 2

The room was fair-sized when one took the number of things scattered here and there into consideration. A few couches lined the wall to the right,anda slanting table to the left piled with sketchbooks and pencils and every other drawing equipment possible to mankind. That must be where Sia jotted down her ideas, Julian guessed.

The room itself was painted in a soothing green color mixed with light accents of purple and blue polygonal designs placed at odd points in the wall rather than in a straight line. Julian didn’t know much about fashion, but even he had to approve of the clever designs.

There were small potted plants here and there as well—all natural—which seemed to be the theme of the office. The plants had tiny white flowers that kept the room naturally fragrant. Julian took a moment to take in his surroundings before finally looking straight ahead in the direction of the woman who had hired him. And felt his eyes widen in surprise at the sight.

In the far corner of the room was the main attraction: a wedding dress made of pure white silk and a lace train. The dress was studded with several pearls of different sizes and shapes. It looked like a dress fit for a queen. He didn’t know why, but standing right there, he had a vision of him standing at the altar and a woman with a warm smile standing beside him wearing that dress.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Julian’s attention snapped back to the present,and he shook his head in disbelief. How much lower could he get? Being tagged a “manwhore” was already a massive blow to his reputation and now he was having dreams of marriage? He was only 28, for God’s sake,and he was nowhere near ready to settle down! But thanks to the voice, he was finally able to focus on the woman who had spoken to him,and for the second time, in a span of a few minutes, he felt his eyes widen in disbelief.

Julian’s breath caught in his throat as he looked at the only other human inhabitant of the room. The woman who sat behind the desk looked somewhat tired and messy, but that did not subdue her natural beauty: the piercing gaze of those bright emerald eyes, the dark shade of brown hair that framed her heart-shaped face with its delicate curls, the rest of her hair pinned to the back of her head in a ponytail. She wore simple clothes; he could see as much from his current position right next to the closed door. But she had a certain intensity to her soft, delicate features, something that made his heart hammer against his chest and his body to send a fresh wave of lust rise to the surface.

No! He gritted his teeth to stop his mind from wandering into dangerous territories. He’d promised his brother he wouldn’t let him down. For his own sake, he couldn’t. She is just like every other woman, he reminded himself. Like them, she would soon lust after him,and when it was over, he’d have another bunch of rumors that will  the final nail in his coffin. He’d lose both his job and the company.

He had no idea how long he stood there staring at her, but it must have been quite some time, since she had already arched a perfect eyebrow in his direction, one side of her lips tugging up in a smirk. And he realized, for the first time, how young she really was. Fifties? Sia Milton looked like she was in her early thirties, if not even less. How can she be the mother of a thirteen-year-old boy?

“Please, have a seat,Mr. Turner,” said the beautifully melodic voice of Sia Milton. It sent shivers down his spine.

Oh, what had he gotten himself into?

Julian strode over to the desk with all the dignity he had left after being caught staring at his soon-to-be-employer and sat himself down easily on one of the chairs in front of the desk.

He’d never before been taken by surprise in his life. Women fell at his feet as soon as they saw him. They worshiped his aura of raw masculinity and the very ground he walked on. But this woman seemed to be mocking him with her half smile and arched eyebrows. She was definitely immune to his charms. That was supposed to be a plus to his goal, wasn’t it? This would make it easy for him to keep it in his pants since he never went after unwilling women.

But why did Sia Milton make him feel like he couldn’t rest until he’d win her over?

Focus, Julian! he thought to himself. You are here for a job, not to ruin your already ruined reputation further!

If there was anything left to ruin, his conscience butted in.

Wrenching his wandering mind back into focus, he focused on the task he was here for. Julian never mixed work with pleasure, and Sia needed him to do his job.

*           *           *

Sia looked at the man sitting on the other side of the desk. On the outside, she appeared perfectly calm, but on the inside, she was far from it; she was scared out of her skin. Someone was after her life and out to get her son. Sia couldn’t care less about what might happen to her. But she just couldn’t stand the thought of her little boy getting hurt.

That was why she was forced to contact Turner Agency and hire their best, no matter how much everyone had warned her about his reputation. Julian Turner had rightfully earned the title of Lucifer, firstly, because of his unerring abilities displayed in his missions and, secondly, because of his maddening skills in bed. The latter she didn’t have to worry about; she had written men off from her life ten years ago. Now the only man in her life was her own flesh and blood. It was her son’s life she was concerned about, so she needed nothing but the best for the job.

Julian was the perfect bodyguard as most of her friends and acquaintances had told her. For this job, she was willing to overlook his scandalous behavior. If she weren’t so desperate, she would’ve chosen someone else. But there was no one who could compare to Julian in his line of work.

So, let’s get the show started, Sia thought to herself as she held her head high and began her interview.

This was going to be an interesting day.