He beat her to the door and opened it to let her in. “It was also more than worth it to meet you.”
Her dark eyes fastened on him, her gaze coldly neutral. “Seriously?”
Absolutely.
Her hair wasn’t drawn back in the tight bun at the back of her head today, but it was still caught up in a serviceable ponytail. It gave her a severe look, accentuating her sculpted features. Hers was an elegant beauty, though it wasn’t delicate. She held herself with perfect posture and everything about her spoke of strength and assurance.
Trite as it might seem, once he’d encountered her he’d been driven to see her again. Meet her formally. There were few truly interesting people in this world and in less than a minute, she’d proven incredibly fascinating. He’d have spent at least as much as her signing fee just to find her. Had spent as much on the occasional discreet escort.
This woman though, she was a different type of dangerous and he’d decided it was in his best interest to combine his fascination with the expediency of his need for augmented protection. He also figured it’d be prudent not to suggest services other than those specifically outlined in the Safeguard contract for personal security.
He had a strong sense of self-preservation.
The possibilities though, they were crossing his mind at speed now that he was face-to-face with her again. She possessed exceedingly kissable lips.
“I haven’t thanked you yet.” He did his best to keep his gaze locked with hers. No wandering. She’d already proven she reacted rather violently to rude behavior. “Miss?”
She considered him for another moment and he honestly wondered if she’d walk right back out of the room. Instead though, she glanced at his escort and gave each a nod. “Isabelle Scott. I was heading up the security detail last evening for a prior client.”
Yes, an up-and-coming socialite in the area. The man had hired Safeguard because private security added to his image. It hadn’t taken long to find information about him and find out who he’d hired. Hotel staff loved to chatter about the higher profile customers. Apparently, the man’s only complaint was that the head of his security team was unfriendly and unnecessarily abrupt.
From where Kyle was standing, he could understand where the man’s commentary was coming from but if Kyle made an educated guess, he’d bet the man had tried to blur the line between business and pleasure and Miss Isabelle Scott made no time for idiots.
“I was fortunate you were there.” He gave a sincere smile, not something he did often. “Your timing was excellent.”
She grunted.
Not a sound he heard from a woman often but somehow, coming from her, it wasn’t harsh. It...reminded him of his mother. He grinned.
Her gaze sharpened. “Something funny?”
Where Officer Weaver’s toughness translated to a coarse outward personality, Isabelle Scott’s strength had a predatory edge to it. Pinned by her current ire, he did experience some trepidation.
But he only smiled wider. “Not funny. No. I’m just impressed.”
She blinked. There was no commentary to acknowledge his compliment but he thought he saw a hint of a dusky rose blush to her cheeks through her bronze complexion.
“Normally, Centurions don’t work solo.” She glanced at Diaz and then at the marshal and officers. “But this contract doesn’t seem to need more than one operator to augment the current protection in place and we’re not in the practice of charging a client for redundancy.”
Confidence. Maybe a defensive edge to her tone. More and more interesting with every moment.
“Centurions? I thought this company was called Safeguard.” Austin probably tried to sound critical but he only succeeded in grumbling.
It was Diaz who answered. “We’re all still a part of the Centurion Corporation, Officer. Safeguard, as a specialized division, may have resources rotate in and out from other postings within the Centurion Corporation. Besides, what would you call us, Safeguard-ians? None of us uses a warhammer.”
“Okay, we got it. Centurions.” Weaver cut off whatever retort Austin was going to give and the two glared at each other.
That was part of the tedium of having the two of them assigned to Kyle’s witness protection. The only time they weren’t taking shots at each other was when they were mutually annoyed at him. The fun of it wore off after the first few hours. Their commentary got repetitive.
After weeks of following their directions, sitting in substandard hotel rooms and eating horrible fast food, Kyle had reached the end of his tolerance. It’d taken everything he’d had left to convince them to allow him to stay in a decent hotel for the past few nights and after last night’s incident, he was likely doomed to return to awful accommodations if he left it to them. No. He couldn’t, wouldn’t, go on with so little control over his situation.