Chapter 4

Natalie strolled into the air-conditioned restaurant near Madison Square Park, two blocks away from her apartment. She was meeting Makayla and Aniyah. After a crazy night out, it was their ritual to meet again the day after to dissect the night and spill any juicy gossip. Unfortunately, Natalie had her juicy gossip following two feet behind her. The day had also gotten worse when Nathan came to confront her in her office.

Nathan stomped into her office. His face red with anger. With his blond hair and icy-blue eyes, Nathan would have been extremely handsome if it weren’t for his slimy aura. 

“I can’t believe Lopes took me out of the Angola account and gave it to you. Such nepotism!” he sneered.

Leaning back in her chair, her eyes narrowed as she looked at him. “Nathan that account was mine to start with. You were helping me when I was otherwise occupied.”

He scoffed. “You mean when you were gallivanting with the Arab playboy?”

She stood up from the chair and braced herself against the mahogany desk. “Watch yourself. Don’t speak to me like that.”

Nathan’s hands formed into fists at his sides. His body vibrated with the anger he was trying to contain. His icy-blue eyes protruded against his professional shaped eyebrows. “Am I wrong Natalie? You haven’t been around while I worked with the Angolans for years on this deal.”

Natalie blew out a breath as she settled back into her chair. “And I appreciate it, Nathan, but I’m back now and have caught up on all the negotiations’ details. My father has entrusted this account to me and I won’t let this company down. I’ll close the deal. You don’t have to worry about that.” 

Nathan took a step toward her desk in a menacing manner. “It’s mine to close. Not yours.”

“Do we have trouble here?”  Palmer’s voice halted Nathan’s advance. 

“No. We don’t. Nathan was just leaving.”  She glanced at Palmer. His presence bringing relief to her tightly wounded muscles. Nathan had looked like he was about to punch her. 

Palmer stood by the door, his hands clasped in front of him as he waited for Nathan to leave. 

“Next time, call me when he comes into your office,” Palmer said as he watched Nathan’s retreating back. 

She nodded, giving her thanks before Palmer closed the door behind him.

          Palmer had assessed the office’s security measures. He spoke to the office security team, situated the office security cameras, and jotted down weak areas that needed tightening. Natalie observed him from her office, biting down on her pen, when she saw him joking and laughing with Jolene, her secretary.

“When you are done kiking with Jolene, I’m ready to go,” Natalie said, her hand on her hip, the other holding her black Fendi bag.

Jolene noticed her boss’s displeasure and footed it back to her desk, leaving behind Palmer. His arms folded across his chest and dark blond eyebrows drawn together.

“After you then, Princess,” he said, gesturing to the elevators. Natalie bristled at the name but held her tongue.

They rode the elevator down in silence. Natalie stared at the back of Palmer’s head. She bit her lower lip. Embarrassment and an emotion she couldn’t quite name made her words come out quite harsh. It wasn’t his fault that they were stuck in this predicament. When they hooked up last night, they didn’t know he’d be her bodyguard the next day, well at least she hoped not. She honestly never thought her father would find another security company. When the weeks went by without another bodyguard being shoved upon her, she thought he had given up on her having protection.

 

They walked past the revolving glass doors toward a black SUV with tinted windows. Palmer opened the backseat door and waited for her to climb inside before slamming the door shut. She jerked on her seat from the force, gently tugging on her hair before settling on the tan, perforated leather seat.

“Hey man, be careful with the doors,” a sandy brown-haired man said in the driver’s seat. He had a surfer-type appearance to him, like he would be more comfortable at the beach with a swimming trunk than wearing a dress shirt and pants adorned with a shoulder harness.

“Hi Mark, good to see you again,” Palmer said.

“Back at ya. So what did the door do to you?” Mark asked.

Palmer glowered in the rear-view mirror at the passenger in the backseat.

“Not the door, but a pesky prima donna,” he mumbled under this breath to Mark.

Natalie was deep into her thoughts, lamenting the fact that she was back to being chauffeured. She had started enjoying having the freedom to use the subway, cab or even walking to her destinations. It had made her feel normal, like any other person in New York. Now she was back behind a bulletproof SUV with a man she would rather not be in proximity with. He’s harsh tone pierced through her thoughts.

“I just wanted to warn you that I won’t be spoken to like that again.”

“I’m late for an appointment and you laughing with Jolene was making me later.”

“You could have worded it in a more polite manner.”

She just shrugged and looked out the window.

“Where’s this important meeting?” Palmer asked.

Natalie gave an address near Madison Square Park. Mark drove the SUV out of the curb into moving traffic.

She could feel Palmer’s heated gaze on her and her jaw tightened, determined that he would not see any weakness in her. They still hadn’t discussed last night and what it meant in their present quandary, and she wanted to keep it that way.

 

A sharp kick to her shin brought Natalie back to the restaurant with large picture windows lined with hickory colored wood. The windows overlooked the Madison Square Park. Reclaimed lumber hung on the ceiling. Pendant lights hanging from the ceiling by a cord. Makayla smirked before taking a sip of her chilled chardonnay.

“Why is the tall drink of blond sitting at the next table? Is your date with him still continuing? Why isn’t he sitting with us?” she said.

“Wait? That’s the guy you left with last night? Makayla told me the deets before you came. He looks even better in the daylight,” Aniyah said, smiling, a mischievous glint in her amber eyes.

Natalie wanted to steer the conversation away from her. “Talking about leaving with a guy, what happened with your guy? What was his name again?” she asked Aniyah.

“David. And you are not changing the conversation that quickly. What’s up with him being here?”

Natalie sighed. “He’s my new bodyguard.”

Makayla nearly spewed her wine on the table. She managed to swallow before croaking out, “your new bodyguard? Are you serious?”

Natalie wanted to say “like a heart attack” but instead took a swig of her Sauvignon Blanc, the acidic citrusy flavour warming her throat.

Aniyah tried unsuccessfully to stifle a chuckle. “Did he know that before he bedded you? You did sleep together last night, right?”

“Yes, we slept together and no, I don’t know if he knew. I don’t think so anyway. He looked surprised to see me this morning.”

 

Palmer rubbed his eyes with the meaty part of his palms before raking his hand through his hair. What a clusterfuck of a day. He sat one table down from Natalie and her friends from last night. A glass of club soda ignored in front of him. He wished it was something stronger, but he was on the clock.

 

He had woken up this morning, elated to have a beautiful woman in his bed. Palmer had left the hotel hoping that she would contact him again and continue the earth-shattering sex they had last night. Isaiah assigning this protection detail had blindsided him and for his client to be Natalie was a mindfuck. It meant that she was off-limits now, and that left a hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach. He didn’t know if he’d be able to restrain the craving that she had ignited last night.

When Natalie had left her father’s office, she had closed herself in her glass paned office. She had her head down, looking at her desktop computer the whole day. He had glanced at her now and then when he was busy assessing the security measures of Lopes Corporation’s office building. It had some minor security issues that could be rectified quickly with Mark’s help.

Mark had been at the Navy SEALs training program with him, but they had ended up in different teams after the vicarious training. He had known that Mark had joined Isaiah when he had left the SEALs. Palmer was glad that he was working this protection detail with him as Mark was a solid guy and Natalie seemed like she was going to be trouble with a capital T. Trouble in the bedroom he loved, but as a client, not so much. As a Navy SEAL, his team had protected many VIPs, and the entitled ones had always been a pain in the arse–and Natalie’s attitude was already grinding. The way she had talked to him and Jolene had been unacceptable. He didn’t need to feel that he was being scolded like a schoolboy when he was a 35-year-old man. No one spoke to him that way–well except his mother.

 

When he had received a medical discharge from the U. S Navy, his parents had hoped that he will come back to Kamas and help with the family ranch, but he wasn’t ready yet to go back to his hometown. Isaiah’s offer had come at the right time, when he had been feeling extremely lost. Being in the military was the only life he knew. He had signed up straight from high school, joining the Navy SEALs, five years after being an officer. The injury to his leg had taken away his team, his family, his home. Joining Global Security with former SEALs felt like find a temporary home that had a similar feel as his former home.

 

He glanced at Natalie’s table and saw her smile before taking a sip of her white wine. A tip of her pink tongue licked the rim of the glass. Flashes of last night came back to him in 3D imaging. Natalie’s lips wrapped around his cock, her tongue sliding around the ridge as she looked up at him, a wicked smirk on her lips. He blinked to repel the erotic image; his cock semi-hard in his jeans. She really was going to be trouble.

 

Natalie tipped up her glass and finished her wine. Palmer saw her reach for her black bag slung on her chair. He took it as a sign that she was about to leave. He called Mark.

“We’re about to leave.”

“Alrighty. I’m outside near the door,” Mark said before hanging up.

Natalie rose from her chair and went around the table to hug her friends. She peeked over her shoulder at Palmer and headed toward the exit. His upper lip curled as he followed her. This was going to be an aggravating assignment.

 

                                                                                ***

Palmer and Natalie rode the elevator to the 23rd floor of her apartment building in silence. The deafening silence had been with them since they left the restaurant. Natalie had slid into the backseat of the SUV and kept herself busy on her phone. She wasn’t surprised that they knew where she lived. Invasion of privacy was part of the whole protection thingy.

 

Palmer exited the elevator first, pausing for a minute for her before taking big strides to her apartment door.

“Keys,” he said in a low, rough voice.

She mentally rolled her eyes before pulling out her apartment keys out of her bag, handing them over to Palmer. Their hands softly touched and their eyes met for a moment. Palmer broke the eye lock first and opened the door. Natalie swallowed, her throat dry and her stomach doing a funny flip-flop.

“Stay behind me at all times. I need to check the apartment,” he stated.

The open floor plan, with all the living spaces, flowed together for an airy feel that complemented the 10-foot-tall floor-to-ceiling windows that ran along two walls. The windows showed a spectacular view of the New York City skyline. The foyer, kitchen and living room had custom stained tiles that led to the two bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms.

After having checked every nook and cranny of the apartment, Palmer stopped in the kitchen. Standing in the kitchen, Natalie placed her bag on the stained granite counter, her keys making a soft clink sound when Palmer set them down on the counter.

“Mark will be working the night shifts when you’re home.” He handed her a small black remote looking gadget with one button. “This is a panic button. If anything happens, press it and Mark will be here in a heartbeat. Carry it with you whenever one of us isn’t with you.”

She nodded; the gadget rough on her fingertips.

Palmer breathed out an audible sigh and raked his fingers through his dark blond hair. “Look, this is extremely awkward. I know I feel very strange about this whole thing and I’m ready to talk about it. If you’d–”

“–I don’t want to talk about it,” she cut him off. “I mean, I’d rather we’d forget the entire night happened.”

His lips pressed tightly; his penetrating eyes focused on her. “If that’s what you would prefer.”

“I would.”

He gave a brief nod. “Goodnight then. I’ll see you in the morning when I pick you up.”

He strolled to the door and shut it behind him. The minute the door closed; Natalie slouched over the kitchen counter. Her elbows touched the cool granite, her face in the palm of her hands. Quick short breaths echoed in the modern state kitchen as she tried to get air into her lungs. His eyes had been a deep, burning blue when he had laser focused on her before saying goodnight. It had taken all her willpower to stop herself from launching into him and wrapping herself in his tall frame like a climbing English ivy clinging to a tree trunk. She wanted to feel his hands, mouth in every inch of her skin and his cock inside her like last night, exactly like last night. My god, what was she going to do? She hadn’t felt this type of sexual attraction to anyone before, not even Aaden, a man she had thought she was going to marry. Blinking rapidly, she tried to clear away the lusty fog that clouded her mind and headed to her bedroom. Her trusty vibrator was getting a workout tonight.