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Bedded by Her Bodyguard(27)

By:Kristi Avalon


Mindy laughed. “She does come across pretty uptight.”

“Forget pretty. Just uptight.” As he led her to the door, he said, “When I’m with you, all other women pale in comparison.”

She snorted. “Is that your cheesy pickup line?”

He feigned offense. “One of my better ones.” Then he grinned. “Is it working?”

“Isaac, you could stand there silent looking gorgeous. You don’t need pickup lines.”

“My ego appreciates the flattery,” he said, giving the door a hard tug to close it. “But I’m the one who’s supposed to be giving the compliments.”

“It’s not flattery when it’s the truth.” She sounded a little wounded that he didn’t believe her sincerity.

“Hey.” He tugged her to him on the stairs, their eyes level with him standing two steps below her. He gave her a swift kiss. “As long as those beautiful lips are mine, you won’t hear me complaining about anything you say.”

A loud clang startled him, followed by three more deafening rings. Which confirmed her theory that this might’ve been a tower in the past. The bell still worked, a little too well. And with that bell tolling four times, they needed to wrap up this tour.

Cringing and covering her ears, she followed him as they descended the staircase. He took her hand again and raced with her through the ballroom, into a parlor and out a row of glass paneled doors. They stepped onto an elaborate patio where leaves rustled in the brisk wind. They turned the corner and found the others. Their tour group was milling around an expansive gardenscape at the rear of the palace, with more marble statues and trimmed foliage.

“I’ll bet this garden is stunning in the peak of summer,” she said in a wistful tone, her eyes soft and dreamy. He wanted to see that same expression on her face when she was in his bed under him.

“Indeed, it is,” said a brittle voice behind them. They both turned to find themselves face to face with the schoolmarm, a sharply disapproving look on her features. She would’ve made an excellent Catholic nun. “And where have you two been? Hmm?”

Theme music from The Wizard of Oz hummed in his mind and a line of dialogue followed, I’ll get you, my pretty.

“I had to stop and tie my shoe,” he said with a veneer of innocence. Never mind he wasn’t wearing shoes with laces.

The babushka folded her arms. “For twenty minutes?” She gave them the evil eye. “These are sacred grounds that must be respected. From now on, stay with your tour.”

When the woman left, Isaac said, “I think I’m done with this tour.”

Mindy nodded. “Me, too.”

“Our driver’s waiting. Let’s ditch this dog and pony show and go back to the hotel.”

Her eyes lit up temptingly. “Great idea.”

It would’ve been—especially for his super-charged libido—except they got stuck in traffic. When he caught Mindy glancing at his watch nervously, he ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. In more ways than one.

Her fingers twined in her lap. “I guess we won’t have time to—”

“Change,” he said, aware their driver could hear every word. “Not much time, anyway. The concierge better have my suit dry cleaned and waiting for me at the front desk.”

“Our luggage would be nice, too.” Her tone turned fretful. “My suitcase has the only proof of our company’s abilities to make this sale.”

“Not necessarily.”

She did a double take. “Why?”

“When I owned my Harley-Davidson dealership, sometimes the motorcycle I was selling with all the bells and whistles wasn’t even on the lot. I was selling the idea of it. The fantasy. I built an image in a buyer’s mind of what the motorcycle could be. And who he could be when he rode that dream bike. Make a buyer feel special and one-of-a-kind and he’ll buy the motorcycle I just sold to his ego, not his wallet.”

Tilting her head, she seemed to dissect and consider his words. “That’s kind of brilliant.”

He arched an eyebrow. “Kind of?”

“Fine, it’s totally brilliant. It just never thought about sales in that light.”

“Because you’re busy polishing the company’s image, which is also an important aspect of sales, but it’s different than peddling a physical commodity. Your job is all about making people feel good about associating with Soren Security. My job is to sell the concept of security, then the device that will give it to them, so they’ll sign on the dotted line.”

She gave a thoughtful nod. “Technically, I know all that. I have a bachelor’s degree in business marketing. But it’s different seeing the principles of business textbooks in action, applied to a specific situation. You make those ideals come alive.”