Protecting You (The Boston irkpatricks #1) (2 page)

Chapter Three

Joella

I can’t believe what I am seeing. I’ve never had this type of welcome before. If my gun was fully loaded I would have shot the fucker off.

“I think you lost something,” I say to Brendan pointing in the direction of the towel.

I am not bending down to pick up the towel and getting knocked out by that thing staring
at me. That would definitely make for a great emergency room visit.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. This is a really bad first impression,” he says, grabbing the towel off the floor. “I can’t even bring your bags in. Hold on one second. Don’t go anywhere! Promise me.”

“Hurry, you have two seconds.”

He ran up the steps and was back rather quickly with a pair of jeans on.

“Let’s start over. I’m Brendan Kirkpatrick. I just Purelled my hands and I normally
do
wear clothes when answering my front door.

“I’m Joella Soriano.”

This guy is good. I must say I’m a little turned on by the whole incident and can’t help but laugh.

“Oh, you think this is funny,” he teased.

“I think I must have lost my damn mind agreeing to all of this. By the way, you have a cute… accent.”

I believe I made him blush. I wish he would grab my damn bags so we can get over this awkwardness.

“Let me get those for you,” he says grabbing the bags. “I’ll put them in the den for now. We can go into the kitchen. There’s breakfast on the table. My chef apparently prepared it this morning. I had no idea. I was going to cook, if not.”

“Great.”

I follow him into the kitchen. He has a really great ass, the kitchen isn’t bad either. The table is covered with a nice spread. There are scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, which I can’t look at with a straight face now, pancakes and bagels. There are also plenty of spreads and condiments.

Brendan pulls the chair out for me. I can’t tell if he is trying to be a gentleman or he really is one.

“Help yourself to whatever you want. It’s all for you. I’m very thankful to you for accepting this assignment.”

“Thanks. I’m just doing my job. I worked hard to get where I am and I never back down from a challenge.”

“I know this is probably
hard
for you.”

“Another word please,” I said, putting my hand up.

He laughed out loud, “I know this is very
difficult
for you. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable in any way. I’m referring to on stage.”

“Brendan, I want to bust these guys, go back to my apartment and live my life. End of assignment.”

“Are you afraid to stay here with me?”

“No.”

“I want to make sure. It’s for your protection. My assistant will be taking you to the salon downtown. She made an appointment for you at eleven o’clock. We have to get your hair dyed.”

I know this guy didn’t just say I have to dye my hair. He’s crazy if he thinks I’m changing anything about me.

“Um… Hell no.”

“You have to.”

“I don’t have to do anything you tell me to do.”

“We can’t have people recognizing you onstage.”

“Whatever happened to wigs?”

“What if someone sees you changing? We can’t have people questioning anything.”

“This is completely absurd.”

This was turning out to be the day from hell. I get the greeting of a lifetime, I have to live with the
perv for months, and then I’m told I have to dye my hair. I want to throw the sausages at him one by one.

“Look, I think you’re beautiful the way you are, but I promised Jeremy I would take care of you. If you choose not to dye your hair, I’m putting you in jeopardy. Can you please cooperate?” he asked.

“You think I’m beautiful?”

“Yes.”

“I must say, you’re a great manipulator.”

Hmmm… add that to my list… Guy has great manipulative skills.

“If you think your sexy ways are going to work on me, you’re nuts. I’ll dye my hair because it’s necessary, but you have to agree to keep that snake in its cage and stop sweet talking me. I’m here on business and that’s it.”

“I understand.”

I have to be tough on him because I don’t know what I’m walking into. I have to investigate all angles.

“Well, moving on,” he continued. “Jocelyn, my assistant, will take you clothes shopping for some outfits to wear on stage. She will then take you to the pole dancing class that she registered you for.”

When he said pole dancing, it hit me all at once. I was about to humiliate myself in front of everyone and they would see me naked… including Brendan.

“Couldn’t I have washed dishes or something else? Why does it have to be so degrading?”

Men are just sexist pigs. They couldn’t have come up with a better plan. Throw some women in there; it would get done right.

“It’s better this way.”

“Why? So you could get a cheap look at my goods.”

My blood pressure is probably sky high right now. I walk up to him and point my finger at him.

“If you think you’re going to get over on me, it’s not going to happen. If you’re up to something, I will know. If you think I’m here because you called crying for help, you’re not off the hook. I do my job thoroughly. I will stick your ass in jail so fast you won’t be able to get your zipper down. I’m going to my room to get ready to become
hookerized
.”

I walked away confidently, holding my head high. If
Mr. Nympho
thinks he has the upper hand, he just got shot down. I could feel him staring at me from behind.

“It’s the room on the left,” he screamed out.

“Thanks.”

I’m not going to lie. His house is amazing compared to my apartment. A girl could get use to this.

I grabbed the few bags that I could along with my laptop case. I made my way up the steps. When I got to the top of the steps, I looked around. The hallway was huge. There were four rooms: two bedrooms and two bathrooms. Each bathroom connected to the bedroom. The bedrooms were directly across from each other.

“Oh, fuck no,” I said out loud.

“Fuck no? What?” Brendan asked startling me.

“I’m not sleeping in a room directly across from you, so you can watch me sleep.”

“What, do you snore?” he said laughing.

“No,” I responded annoyed. “Is there a third floor bedroom?”

“Yes, but you’re staying in this one. Just in case.”

“You’re taking this whole watching over me bullshit to another level. Remember who the detective is here and who’s protecting who. That’s my job. Go put on a shirt. I’ve seen enough skin today.”

I’m not a prude or anything, but I’m trying to be professional. For the record, his body is amazing.

“Okay, okay, hold on a second,” he huffed.

He ran in to his room and came back out with a green Boston Celtics t-shirt on and a green fitted hat on backwards. I don’t know what it is, but a guy with a fitted hat on backwards looks so hot.

“Better?” he asked.

I just cleared my throat and told him to put the bags on the floor in the bedroom.

He asked me why I was so tense.

“I’m fine,” I said, as I slammed my gun on the bureau.

“Alright, look I just want to apologize for everything that happened until now.”

“Say you’re sorry to me in three months when this is over. I’m sure there will be plenty more for you to apologize about.”

“Dinner’s at six. We can go over everything then. I’ll be in my office, if you have any questions. Jocelyn will be here at ten o’clock to pick you up. Be nice to her. She doesn’t know anything. I made her basically think you’re homeless and on the run.”

“Great. See you at six,” I said, slamming the door in his face.

I’m not normally this rude, but my patience is really being tested today. Can tomorrow really be any better? I doubt it. I’ll be swinging on a pole… naked.

Chapter Four

Brendan

Did this chick just slam the door in my face? I
know
this is a figment of my imagination. I have never been treated like this in my life. It actually turns me on. I’m use to women throwing themselves at me. If this was some other skanky hoe at my door, she would have got down on her knees and went to town. Most women only want my money.

I tried to apologize and kiss her ass, but she doesn’t want any parts of it, so I will treat
her as a business partner. The only problem is that I can’t get her eyes off of my mind among other things, but I won’t go there just yet. It’s only nine thirty in the morning and there has already been so much drama.

I have never really taken a day off before to sit at home, so I don’t know what to do with myself. I have managers and such that run all of my businesses. Normally, on any given day, I hop from business to business. I own the nightclub, two restaurants, a spa, and many different franchises. I also have numerous properties that I purchase and rehabilitate to sell for profit. I started out small. I bought a property when I twenty-
one with money that I saved from waiting tables while I was in college obtaining my degree in Business Management. I have worked really hard to make the kind of money I have, which is why it pisses me off that it has to be jeopardized because of low-life drug dealers. If Billy was hard up for money, he could have asked me. I would have gave it to him. He didn’t have to resort to drug dealing. He could have probably been doing this for a long time for all I know. He was always getting into trouble when we were younger. I thought maybe he would have grown out of that shit by now.

I think I’m going to relax today and play some video games. I have a PlayStation 4 sitting on my entertainment center and I barely play it. I choose MLB 2014 and put the disk in the console. I’m a huge sports fan, of course. Boston all the way.

As I sit back on the sofa to play my game, I hear Joella coming down the steps. My feet are up on the table and I’m feeling nice and comfy. I hit the pause button on the game. She stands in the doorway with her back to me. I know she is super pissed off, so I tread lightly.

“You can come and sit on the sofa and wait for Jocelyn. She won’t be here for another fifteen minutes.”

I get no response. So, she wants to play the silent treatment. I’ll make her talk.

“Suit yourself if you want to be a bitch.”

She turned around and glared at me, which I knew she would. What woman wouldn’t?

“Excuse me. Did you just call me a bitch?” she snapped.

“No, I said if you want to be a bitch.”

“Whatever.”

“I apologized to you. I don’t know what more I can do.”

“Well, I don’t appreciate you telling people I’m a homeless hooker.”

“Those words never came out of my mouth.”

I can’t help but smirk because basically that’s what I portrayed her as.

“I’m glad you think this is funny.”

She is mad, very mad, but she looks so sexy standing there dressed casually in tight jeans and a fitted black t-shirt. I can see the outline of her boobs through her shirt. I want to throw her against the wall, take her nipples in my mouth and suck the living daylights out of them. Maybe that will put a
smile on her face. I doubt it. She would probably arrest me.

On a whim, I decide to get up off the couch, walk up behind her, and whisper in her ear.

“I don’t bite.”

She could feel my breath on her face. I could feel her shifting uncomfortably next to me. She was definitely turned on. I walk away… toward the kitchen.

“You can sit down,” I yelled back. I heard her whisper asshole under her breath as she sat on the edge of the sofa.

I went back to my position on the sofa with another cup of coffee and a
danish. I winked at her and she rolled her eyes at me.

“Do you just play video games all day and eat?” she asked.

“This is my first day off in like six months. I’m relaxing. You should try it. You’re too uptight. I guess that’s the cop in you.”

“Are you the one who will be taking your clothes off tomorrow?”

“Hmm... Do you want me too?”

“Really?!!!”

“I’m messing with you. You asked me.”

Okay, I have to remember to be professional with her.

“We have a dinner meeting tonight in the dining room. We will be having chicken. Hope you have a lovely day with Jocelyn.”

I
unpaused my game and started playing again. I ignored her. Two can play her game.

A few minutes later, Jocelyn came in. I introduced them. I‘m very professional with Jocelyn, so Joella is able to see the business side of me. The un-fun side as I call it. I have to be that way so that I can set an example for all my employees. I’m actually really a cool guy.

Jocelyn gave us a rundown of the schedule and Joella looked like she wanted to punch someone. I kind of felt bad for her.

I walked them to the door. As they made their way to the car, I couldn’t help but stare at her ass. She has me feeling like a teenager at thirty-six years old. I need another shower to finish what I started earlier, this time with a clearer vision in my mind.