Falling for the ice quee.., p.2
Falling For the Ice Queen, page 2
Under the circumstances, it wasn’t a whole lot of grace…and she feared it was with even less dignity.
And, for the record, she would have to remember to tell Bethany that she’d been wrong. No way, no day had that felt even remotely like an orgasm.
Chapter Two
“So, um, do you want another beer? Or maybe…a towel or something?”
Memphis Camden dragged his gaze off Eliza Robinson’s ever-so-gorgeous ass and forced himself to respond to the waitress who hovered near his table. “Nah.” He yanked some cash out of his wallet and ignored the trickle of beer that dripped from his hand. “But thanks.” Memphis rose.
Eliza was storming out with all the elegance of a true queen, but he wasn’t about to let her just make a dramatic exit and vanish on him. He had too many plans in place.
Plans that wouldn’t, couldn’t be altered. Not when he was this close.
Whistling, he headed out the door, too, and when he hit the busy Houston street, he immediately saw his prey. She stood near the edge of the sidewalk, and she clutched her phone tightly in her hand. He was rather pleased to see that she kept her head up, and she swept the area with her gaze. Good situational awareness but…
She was still too close to the road. She should move back a few feet.
Her searching gaze found him. Locked on him.
He smiled. Sauntered toward her even as she stiffened.
“What part of fired did you not understand?” Eliza demanded. Light from a streetlamp fell on her. Another point in her favor. She’d picked a well-lit spot. The light illuminated her dark, gleaming hair. Thick and long, she’d styled it to curl loosely around her face. Her eyes were dark, too—inside, they’d seemed to be almost black. She had warm honey skin, something he suspected she’d inherited from her Spanish mother. Her full, gorgeous, kiss-me lips were currently pressed into a stony, unhappy line. And her cheeks—already sharp—had hollowed even more with her anger.
He pulled at his wet shirt. Hell. He probably smelled like a freaking brewery. Their first meeting had not gone as planned. That was okay, though, because he’d always enjoyed the unexpected. He didn’t have time to waste being bored. “To be honest with you,” he finally responded as her glare just became even cuter to him, “I pretty much didn’t understand any part of the firing.” How could she fire him when he didn’t work for her?
“Ohhh!” More a frustrated growl than anything else. “You can’t be serious!”
He was.
She stalked closer to him. Her delicate nostrils flared.
He was pleased to note that she’d moved away from the busy road. “I was worried you might slip and get hit.”
“What?” The bracelets on her wrist jingled. She frowned.
He pointed to her. Then to the street. “You were too close to the edge of the sidewalk. Don’t worry, if you’d started to slip, I would have jumped in to save you.”
“I just bet you would. All part of the job, am I right? Protecting me from any and every threat.” She kept coming forward. Stopped only when she was right in front of him. Her heels gave her a few extra inches, but she was still way shorter than he was. He figured that without the heels, she’d probably clock in around five-foot-seven or eight.
He was an easy six-foot-three.
She was also far too delicate.
Memphis shifted his attention to her small, black bag. “Tell me you have a gun in there.”
“What?”
“You’ve got a gun in your bag, don’t you?”
“What I have in my bag is none of your business.”
He took that answer as a no. “Crap. You don’t have a gun. A knife? You got one of those?” He peered hopefully at her bag. Memphis noticed that the hand near her bag—the hand Eliza still had holding her phone—tightened around the device. If she wasn’t careful, she just might shatter the phone.
Eliza made no response to his query.
“I’ll take that as a no,” Memphis murmured in disappointment. “What about pepper spray? A taser? Tell me that you’ve got something—”
Her other hand shoved into her purse and came back up with a rather gorgeous-looking taser. He knew the make and model instantly. Nice choice. “I approve.”
“I don’t care. If you don’t get the hell away from me, I will be using this thing on you.” But her grip shook just a bit around the weapon.
“Now why would you want to do that?” Once more, he pulled on his wet shirt. It just kept wanting to stick to his skin. “I’m not a threat to you.”
Her gaze darted down to his chest. Then a little lower to his abs. She licked her lower lip.
Well, well. He knew interest when he saw it. “Aw, that is so flattering. Thank you.”
Her stare snapped back up.
“You think I’m hot.” A nod. “Fair enough. I think you might just be the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen. Did not expect that. You have this whole don’t-touch-me vibe going on that I thought meant you were cold—”
She stiffened. “Bastard.”
“But that vibe is so wrong. I get it. “
“You don’t get anything.” Low and angry. “I have a taser in my hand. I just told you to back away.”
He didn’t back away. He did notice some bozo in an overpriced suit who decided to scuttle closer. A suit. In this humidity?
“Everything all right?” A Texas accent thickened the suit’s voice. His dark hair had been carefully styled away from his high forehead. “This guy giving you trouble?”
Seriously? Memphis sighed. “This is so not your—”
The man moved his suit coat to the side in order to reveal the badge clipped to his hip. “I’m Detective Daniel Jones, and before you say anything else, yes, this is most definitely my business.”
Fabulous. He was making friends with the local law enforcement team on day one. Memphis was just checking off all the boxes. Contact with Eliza. New police resource. This night was full of wins. As long as a person looked at things the right way…
It was all a matter of perspective.
The detective leaned toward Memphis and took a long inhale. “You been drinking?”
Well, he was standing outside of a bar, but… “No.” The beer bottle had never had the chance to so much as touch his lips.
“No?” Doubt coated the detective’s response. “You smell like you’ve been drinking for hours.”
“That’s because I’m wearing beer,” Memphis returned easily.
“You’re what?” The detective’s voice rose about two octaves.
Eliza put the taser back in her bag. Glanced down at her phone. “My ride is here.” She turned her head toward the detective. “Thank you for your assistance.”
“No problem, Eliza.”
Wait, he knew her?
“I see your driver is here,” Daniel continued with a warm smile for her. “You have a good night. I’ll take care of this guy.”
Her driver. Yep, because a limo had just rolled to the corner. The driver had already gotten out and opened the back door for Eliza.
“Don’t suppose I could get a ride?” Memphis asked hopefully.
Her mouth dropped open.
“Next time,” he said. “Got it. We’ll make that a date.”
Daniel swore. “Who is this joker, Eliza?”
“Well, see, I never got to introduce myself to the lovely lady before she poured beer on me and then pulled out her taser.” He considered the situation. “Honestly, maybe you should have asked me if I needed assistance. But no matter.” He waved the issue away. For now. Obviously, the cop had a personal deal going on with Eliza. The guy looked like he might be a few years older than her, and his whole body posture was way too tuned to Eliza. He leaned toward her. Moved when she did. Kept his hand close to her.
Oh, you had better not be a problem.
“Who the hell are you?” Daniel blasted.
“He’s a new bodyguard,” Eliza blurted.
“I’m Memphis Camden.” He looked expectantly at them both. Waited.
They stared back at him.
“The name means nothing? You’ve never heard it?” Surely the cop had.
Daniel scratched his jaw.
“A legend in my own mind,” Memphis decided. “But that’s okay. If you don’t think you’re awesome, who else will?”
Shaking her head, Eliza turned away. She marched for the limo.
“I’ll see you tomorrow!” Memphis called after her.
His shout had her stilling. After a tense beat of time, her head swiveled toward him. “Fired. Look it up in the dictionary. See what it means.”
He knew exactly what it meant. He also knew he wasn’t working for her, so there was no way she could fire him. Obviously, the lovely Eliza had him confused with someone else.
She slipped into the limo. The driver shut the door, and moments later, she was being taken away from him. Unfortunate. But he would be seeing her again. She was a very necessary part of his plan.
“Are you going to be a problem?” the detective asked.
“I was wondering the same thing about you,” he admitted with a smile. Don’t get in my way, Daniel.
The detective’s gaze raked over him.
Eliza was long gone, but, hey, who said the night had to be a total waste? The detective knew Eliza—why not see what he could spill?
“You were heading for the bar, detective,” Memphis said. “Off-duty?”
“Yeah, dammit, I—”
“Then drinks are on me.” He’d always found that when you wanted to get someone talking, booze helped. He very much wanted Daniel Jones to spill every secret he knew about Eliza Robinson.
Once more, Memphis pulled at his beer-soaked shirt. He certainly hoped that his second meeting with Eliza would go better than the first. He made a mental note to keep alcoholic beverages away from her, particularly if she seemed in a throwing mood.
***
“Why is he here?” Eliza almost snapped the stem of her champagne flute in half.
Her brother frowned at her. “Excuse me?”
“Him.” She glared daggers at the man who’d just strolled into the country club and was striding around with a cocky grin on his face. Acting as if he owned the place. “Why is he here?”
“Perhaps because he’s a new member?” Benedict snagged a pastry as the tray drifted past him. “Can’t say that I’ve seen him before, so it stands to reason that the man you’re currently singeing with your stare is either a new member, a guest, or—”
Her singeing stare whipped to him. “You don’t know him?”
He made the pastry vanish. “Should I?” Now he frowned at the approaching male, too.
“Yes! You usually run the clearance checks on all the guards that Dad sends my way.” Her heartrate doubled. He has to be a guard…
Benedict’s shoulders tensed. “I don’t…Eliza, what are you talking about? That guy is not one of your guards.”
“Memphis Camden,” she whispered. “That’s his name.”
“A name that means nothing to me.” Benedict edged closer to her. “As far as I know, we haven’t hired any new guards.” A confused pause. “Why would you think he was employed by the family?”
“Because…because he was there last night…” Her words trailed away as Memphis closed in.
“Where?” Benedict demanded. A worried edge had entered his voice. He took her hand. Squeezed. “Eliza, what is happening?”
She didn’t know. Fear beat through her. This man…
If he isn’t a bodyguard, who is he?
Memphis halted in front of her. The grin that had been curving his lips instantly faded. “What’s wrong?” His body tensed, and a hard, dangerous mask seemed to slide over his face. “Who in the hell has scared you?”
Her elbow hit her brother because she’d instinctively moved ever nearer to him. “You have.” Husky. Breathless.
It was the middle of the day. A luncheon at her father’s country club. A completely safe environment. You are okay. You are okay. But her breathing came too fast, and Eliza feared her heart might leap out of her chest.
“I would never hurt you.” His voice was pitched low. Almost…soothing. Or as soothing as she suspected his voice could get. “You don’t ever need to worry about that. I might not be one of the guards that your family seems so fond of hiring—by the way, most of their work is shit—”
“I beg your pardon,” Benedict began in his most pompous tone. He could do pompous better than anyone else. She’d always believed that.
“Yeah, you should.” Memphis’s gaze finally swept to her brother. “If you have anything to do with the guards who are currently on staff to protect her. There was no sign of any security for her last night when she was at the bar—”
Benedict swung his head toward her. “You went out to a bar? But…but you never go out!”
Memphis made a faint humming sound. “And no one stopped me from strolling right in this fancy place. No one even glanced at me twice, and all I had to do in order to fit in was wear clothes that were too damn expensive. Oh, hey—" He broke off when the pastry tray darted around again. “I want one of those.” But he actually snatched two petit fours and gobbled them right up. “That’s a little slice of heaven.” He licked the crumbs from his lips.
Eliza felt glued to the spot. What is going on?
A tender light seemed to fill Memphis’s eyes. “Want to go somewhere and talk?”
“Who are you?” she demanded.
“Told you last night. I’m Memphis Camden.” He inclined his head toward her. “It’s a pleasure, Eliza. I have to say, I am a big fan.”
Was she dreaming? Having a nightmare? Normally, her nightmares involved her running through the darkness. Screaming and falling and trying desperately to get home. “Why would you be a fan?” She made a point of not making any headlines these days. That was what her family wanted, after all. For her to keep a low profile. To work at Robinson Corporation. To be elegant and poised and say all the right things to all the right people. But she didn’t know what to say in this instance.
“Why?” Memphis blinked, as if surprised.
Benedict motioned toward one of the security guards—staff at the country club—who’d been lounging near the door.
“Why would you be a fan?” she repeated.
“Because I admire survivors. I fucking love fighters. You’re both.”
Her breath caught.
“You escaped from the man who abducted you.”
She could feel all the blood rushing from her head. Her body swayed. Eliza bumped into her brother.
“You got away,” Memphis continued, and his green eyes were lit with what looked like admiration. “You made it back to your family.”
“Get him out of here!” Benedict snapped as the guard joined their group. He pointed to Memphis, then threw his arm around Eliza’s shoulders. “This man is trespassing. Get him out!”
The guard slapped a hand on Memphis’s shoulder. “Mr. Robinson says you need to leave.”
“Yes, I heard him. Would have been hard to miss it. But I don’t particularly care what he says. I’m not here for him.” His gaze—still oddly tender—remained on Eliza. “I’m here for you,” he told her.
“He’s some kind of stalker.” Benedict pulled Eliza closer to him. “Haul him out! Don’t ever let him back in again—”
The guard’s hold tightened on Memphis as he began to haul—
Memphis’s right hand flew up. He curled his fingers around the security guard’s wrist in a seemingly light touch.
But the security guard howled and immediately dropped to his knees.
Memphis let the other man go even as everyone at the luncheon turned to gape at their little group.
“Feeling will come back soon.” Memphis didn’t even glance down at the security guard. “You shouldn’t manhandle guests. I would think that sort of thing would be bad for business. But, hey, what do I know? It’s my first time at a swanky country club like this one.”
More security guards were closing in. So were her father’s associates. People wearing tense and worried expressions.
“You’re making a scene,” Eliza heard herself whisper. Wait, he was there because of her. I can’t do this. “I’m not supposed to make a scene.”
His eyes narrowed. “Who the fuck told you that? Half the fun in life comes from making scenes.” A beat of silence. “You didn’t seem to mind making a scene when you poured that beer over me last night.”
“I—”
Benedict stepped in front of her. “Get away from my sister.”
When Eliza peeked over his shoulder, she saw that the useless security guard had scampered back. He flexed his wrist. Glared at Memphis.
“If your sister wants me to stay away from her, I will.” Memphis seemed completely calm. Way too casual. “But before I take my exit, I thought she might like to know why I wanted to talk with her in the first place. And, no, it’s not because I’m a stalker.”
The other guards were almost on him.
“I’m a hunter,” Memphis announced quietly. “I’m currently on one of the biggest hunts of my life.”
“Good for you,” Benedict fired back. “You are in the wrong place for a hunt.”
“Benny…” She wanted to hear this. There was something about Memphis’s tone…
“I’m hunting for a dangerous predator,” Memphis continued as the security guards swarmed behind him. “A man who has abducted several women. The man I’m after…I suspect he also abducted you, Eliza. But you got away from him. The others didn’t. They never made it home.”
A dull ringing filled her ears.
The guards clamped their hands on him.
“I could have them all crying on the floor,” Memphis said as he raised his brows. “But I won’t. For you, Eliza, I’ll be civilized. Though it’s not something I often am. So I do hope you remember this one special time.”
They pulled him back.
She stared after him with her mouth open in shock. Ice seemed to fill her blood, and chills skated down her spine.
