Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

brUNO

"What the fuck is wrong with me?" I hissed as I slammed the conference room door.

I walked over to the table, pressed my palms to the wooden surface and braced myself as I sucked in several deep breaths. My usual nerves of steel were completely rattled . I'd spent years on a battlefield without so much as a twitch in the middle of combat, but the idea of Holly parading around in lingerie in a room full of strangers like some sex kitten set me off.

Why?

Holly was my charge, not my girlfriend.

I huffed at the thought of her being my girlfriend. I hadn't had a girlfriend in longer than I could remember. Maybe I just needed to get laid. It had been a few weeks since my last hookup. That's all it was. I needed to wet the whistle, clean out the pipes, and take the edge off. I'm sure that's all it was…right?

My phone buzzed in my pocket. The display said it was Jonas, my second, calling.

"Yeah," I grunted into the phone, still thinking about Holly and the fool I'd made of myself not only in front of her, but a fucking client.

"You asked me to check out a guy named Colin Omstead," Jonas reminded.

"What've you got?" I turned around and sat on the edge of the table, content to disappear into work versus my muddled thoughts of a blonde I had no business imagining in her lingerie.

"Omstead is an American actor. Beloved by his fans, most specifically of the female variety."

"Yeah, I'll just bet he is." Fucker. "And?"

"Worth about two hundred million. Thirty-five. No police record. Received a few awards in acting over the years. Has a BA from UCLA. Donates ten percent of his income to charity each year…"

"For fuck sake. Is the man a saint?"

Jonas chuckled. "Seems like it, man. I haven't found a single skeleton in his closet. He not only looks good on paper, he's on People magazine's list of most eligible bachelors and often referred to by the media as, ‘the man with the gilded chest,' because he looks like an Adonis. He's clean."

I rubbed at my temples with my thumb and forefinger. "So he's perfect," I grumbled.

"For bidding on a wife in Ms. Toussaint's auction, yeah. Why did you have me run him a second time?" Jonah pushed. I knew he would ask. I never had him run things twice. If he did the job, I knew straight to my bones he'd do it right the first time, every time. Because in our line of work, people died if mistakes were made, and we'd learned that lesson the hard way.

Jonas was like a brother to me. Not by blood, but through sacrifice. We'd survived some serious shit together in special ops and when we finally got out alive, he was one of two people in the world I trusted.

"Honestly?"

"Always man, you know you can unload on me."

I let out a long breath. "I don't know, Jonas. There's something about Holly being a part of this charade that's getting under my skin."

"Do you think it's the fact that you saved her life, so you feel protective over her?" His tone was exploratory.

"Maybe."

"Are you attracted to her?"

"You've seen her picture, Jonas."

He laughed out loud, the sound easing the tension in my chest a bit. There was a time Jonas didn't laugh. Years of time, in fact. To hear it now proved how far we'd come.

"Maybe you just want to fuck her and you're feeling territorial. It's not your normal MO, brother, but that woman is your type, man."

"I don't have a type," I snapped.

"Bullshit! The last five women you had me do background checks on before you fucked were blonde, tall, with a banging body. You can't lie to me. I know you better than you know yourself, you broody bastard."

I growled under my breath. "Then what should I do about it?"

"Ignore it. She's off limits, Bruno. She's spoken for. When she's settled in for the evening, put one of our men at the door and hit the casino. Find yourself another blonde that strikes your fancy and have a night of good old-fashioned, consensual fun with a lady that wants the same."

That made me chuckle. "Consensual fun. Put down the self-help books, brother." I went over to the window and watched the sun slip behind the horizon. One thing about Las Vegas, the desert was beautiful.

"You know the new saying, right? Consent is sexy."

"I have never, and will never, have sex with an unwilling woman. Of course consent is necessary," I blurted.

A throat cleared from behind me.

Alana and Holly stood staring, one with eyes widened in surprise, the other having clamped her hand over mouth to staunch her laughter.

I let my head drop back and glared at the ceiling. "Thank you for the enlightening conversation, Jonas. I'll touch base tomorrow," I sighed and abruptly ended the call and the sound of his laughter.

"Holly is ready to settle in for the night," Alana stated, her hands clasped together in front of her, the model of cool, calm, and collected.

"Perfect. Let's go." I said, gesturing to the door and the elevators down the hall.

Alana broke off at the hallway leading to her office. "Mr. Castellanos, Holly will need to be back here at ten a.m. Mr. Omstead's private jet leaves at two and we'll want plenty of time with her glam team to prepare for her date. You will escort her everywhere but keep your distance as to not intrude on their affair."

"I know how to do my job, Alana. And feel free to call me Bruno. We've known one another for quite some time now."

She dipped her chin primly. " Fais de beaux rêves, ma chérie ."

The door to the elevator opened and I urged Holly inside with my hand on her lower back.

"Bye! Thank you!" She waved then pouted. "I don't know what she said."

"She said, ‘sweet dreams, dear.'" I explained.

"You speak French?" Her big brown eyes widened in awe, the colors swirling like heated caramel.

"I speak many languages."

"Wow. That's cool. How do you say, thank you so much, in French?" she asked.

" Merci beaucoup ," I translated.

" Merci beaucoup ," she repeated. "And in Spanish?"

" Muchas gracias ." I clenched my teeth in order not to smile. The woman was not only gorgeous, but adorable.

"How about German?" her expression shifted to one of wonder.

" Danke sehr ."

"Awesome. How's about…umm, Italian!" she blurted as though she'd stump me.

" Grazie mille ," I smirked and cocked an eyebrow, wondering what she'd come up with next.

"Ohhhh I know! I'm gonna get you on this one," she pressed. "Japanese!"

" Dōmo arigatō gozaimasu ." I put my hands together and bowed forward.

She started to bounce on her feet, enjoying this game. The doors opened to one of the upper floors that held the luxury suites.

"What about…Norwegian!" she said happily as we passed by one of my guards. I nodded in greeting, and he did the same.

My men were dotted throughout the floor, strategically placed, and perfectly poised, as expected from a member of my team. I paid my men very well. They trained for boredom, torture, high stress environments and everything in between. If you wanted a job done right, you hired my company. My men were an extension of what Jonas and I built from the ground up. All former military special operators. There was no better security service in the world.

" Tusen takk ," I murmured as we made it to our suite.

I opened the door and watched as Holly's mouth dropped open at the sheer opulence of the suite. Alana did not scrimp, that's for sure.

"Holy shit! Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?" She spun around, her arms open wide, her booted feet clicking on the tile as she did so. Her golden hair fanned out around her shoulders when she stopped. Her cheeks were pink, and her eyes glittered with excitement.

"No, I haven't," I whispered, not looking anywhere but at her.

She swallowed as our gazes met, her chest rising and falling with her labored breaths. Her nipples peaked against the fabric as she licked her plump lips so sensually, I could almost taste her sweet berry flavor on the very air between us. I wanted to rip her sweater down the center and put my hands all over rounded curves.

Instead, I fisted my hands and offered a fake smile. "I need a drink."

Her eyes lit up. "Ohhh, me too! Do you think they'll charge an arm and a leg for it?"

I closed my eyes, allowing a renewed sense of patience and control to take over. "It doesn't matter, Holly. Everything from the second you arrived to the moment you sign the marriage contract is free of charge. Live it up."

"Very nice. I'm gonna order room service too. But first, I'm going to change. Will you make me a drink?" she asked as she located the room where her luggage could be clearly seen in one of the two king-sized bedrooms. I knew this because my men had already done recon prior to our arrival. Usually, I would check every nook and cranny prior to allowing my charge to enter to be certain it was safe, but it wasn't necessary when my guys were on the job.

"What do you want?" I called out and headed to the bar.

"Anything with whiskey in it," she hollered.

I pulled out a bottle of Glenlivet and poured us both a glass with two fingers. I slammed the first, appreciating the heat as it raced down my throat and filled my gut, then poured myself another. I'd need the liquid courage to get through a night of forced proximity.

Within what felt like mere minutes Holly was sauntering through the room bare footed wearing Christmas pajamas.

I scoffed at the sight. "What the fuck are you wearing?"

She frowned and looked down at the satin shorts and matching button-up, short-sleeved top that had a bunch of leaping cartoon deer with round red noses imprinted all over them. It was hard to focus on any one of them since the pattern was complete chaos.

Holly shimmied from one side to the other as though showing them off. "Aren't they cute! It's Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. They're hilarious and comfy." She beamed.

I shook my head and handed her the drink.

"What? Does Mr. Grumpy Pants not like Rudolph?" She waggled her brows and sipped at her drink. "Needs soda," she murmured and went over to the bar, found a can of Coke and poured it to the top.

"If you wanted a whiskey and Coke, you should've just asked for one."

She shrugged. "I didn't know I wanted it until I got the drink and tasted it. Sometimes one doesn't realize what they want until they've already had the same ole thing. Kinda like this auction."

"How so?" I tilted my head and leaned against the back of the couch.

She went around me and plopped on the seat and pulled her long, tanned legs, up and to the side, resting most of her weight on her hip.

"Well, I never thought much about getting married before. Ever since I was a little girl, I dreamed of owning my own business and making a ton of money. Traveling the world, taking lavish vacations. Marriage and kids never really factored into it. Now that I'm entering the auction, I'm going to be married and well off. And at the end of that three-year period, I'll be opening my own bar."

This was fascinating information. "What if you fall in love with your husband?"

She shrugged. "Like I said before. If my husband and I end up falling in love, then he'll have to understand that I'm going to make my dreams a reality. I don't plan to arrange my life or cater to his needs alone. That's not a marriage."

"And if he travels constantly for work? What then?"

"Lots of couples are happy in relationships where they don't see their partner every day. If he was living his dream while I was living mine, I'm sure we could find a happy medium so that we could make time for one another."

"Interesting." I said and then went around the couch and took a seat, shucking off my shoes and putting my socked feet up onto the table. "So you're saying, if your husband worked say, two weeks out of every month, you'd be okay with that?"

She nodded. "Of course. I'm not the type of girl that would sit around and pine after my man. If he was my man, I'd miss him, but there are things called phones and video calls." She drank a large portion of her drink. "And just think, the phone sex would be off the chain, not to mention the fun it would be when he came home. Honestly, I couldn't imagine a better scenario." She leaned back, closed her eyes, probably imagining it right now. "My prince charming, surprising me at my very own bar, whisking me away to the back room for a hot shag on my office desk… yummy ," she hummed seductively.

My cock heard that low hum and paid close attention, hardening behind my slacks while my mind gave that salacious vision a whirl.

"Can you imagine it?" She opened her eyes, her pupils dilated, her mouth slightly open.

Lust filled the air between us. It took everything in me not to groan and kneel before her and take her mouth in a searing kiss. I would be willing to bet she tasted like ripened fruit. Succulent and dripping with sweetness.

I cleared my throat and downed another gulp of my whiskey, needing the burn to wash away my insanity. "Yeah, you set the scene perfectly," I grated and stood, hiding my erection by turning away from her. "I'm going to order dinner and then take a shower." A fucking cold one. "What do you want?"

"What are you getting?"

"Steak, potato, veg," I grumbled.

"Make that dinner for two and add a slice of chocolate cake! I'll unpack while you do your thing."

Oh, I'll be doing my thing all right, with my hand wrapped around my cock, imagining her bent over the back of that couch while Rudolph stares me down with every thrust.

Fucking hell, I did need to get laid.

After ordering the food, I rubbed my hand down my face and disappeared into my bedroom. I left the door open a crack, the same as the bathroom door, to ensure I could hear her in case she needed me.

I turned on the shower as I shucked off my clothes and stepped under the spray.

Visions of her wiggling out of her reindeer pajamas and presenting me with her juicy ass had me circling my cock with my hand.

"Fucking Rudolph," I groaned as I stroked, tipping my head back and enjoying the moment.