The Bodyguard And The Bridesmaid

“Davidson. And it’s Andrew. No one calls him Andy.”

“Figures,” Ryan muttered as he jotted the name down. “When was the last time you saw Andrew?”

Clea paused. “It’s been a while.”

“Define ‘a while’ for me.”

“Two years,” she said, the words little more than a whisper.

“Two years?” he repeated, lifting his eyes up to meet hers. “You expect me to believe you haven’t been involved with anyone for the past two years?”

“I don’t care what you believe. You asked me a question and I’ve answered it. If you don’t like the answer, then that’s your problem.”

“I didn’t say I didn’t like the answer. But we’re being honest here. You’ve got a mirror. You don’t need me to tell you that you’re a beautiful, sexy and desirable woman because you already know it. Which means you’re either lying, or the men in this town are all blind.”

“Gee. You really have a way with compliments, Fitzpatrick. It’s enough to turn a woman’s head.”

Ryan let her sarcasm roll right off him. “I call them like I see them. So which is it? Are you a liar, or are the men around here blind?”

“Neither. I haven’t been interested and neither have they.”

Ryan paused, curious about her reply. “How come?”

“How come what?”

“How come you haven’t been in a romantic relationship for more than two years?”

“Because I haven’t wanted to be in one. All right?” She made an exasperated sound. “Look—Destinations and its success is a high priority in my life. The bookings have more than doubled in the past six months. That means my workload has doubled, too.”

At the arch of his eyebrow, she continued. “Listen, I’m not saying I’m the only one who’s been putting in a lot of hours. Everyone’s been working hard. But the corporate travel program is my baby. I intend to make it a success.”

“And success means spending all of your time planning overpriced travel packages.”

“I spend a lot of my time creating profitable sales packages. I’m also responsible for managing the agency and its operations. Which means researching and selecting a new computer system to handle the increased client base created by those expensive travel packages I design. I also hire all the new agents and make sure everyone is trained on the new equipment. So, yes, I guess I’ve allowed Destinations to take up a lot of my time lately, which means I haven’t had much time to worry about whether or not I’m dating enough.”

“Trust me, you’re not. Haven’t you ever heard that saying about ‘all work and no play’?” he asked, pleased and at the same time disturbed at the workaholic life-style she had just described.

“I didn’t say I haven’t gone out with anyone for the past two years. I said I haven’t been involved in a serious relationship for two years.”

“Want to explain the difference to me?”

“The difference is that I can go out to dinner, the ballet or a charity event with a man without being emotionally involved with him.”

“What about physically involved?”

He could practically see the steam rising from her on that one. “I’m not even going to answer that.”

But she already had. No lovers, he concluded, more than a little pleased. “So who are these men you go to dinner, the ballet and charity things with?”

“Friends.”

Ryan sighed. Getting answers from her was like pulling teeth. “Names, Duchess. I need names. No matter how remote they may seem to you, anyone you’ve gone out with or come into contact with could be the man we’re looking for.”

Her hands curled into fists and she looked at him scornfully as she said, “Patrick Evans, Donald Markson, Harry Peters. And stop calling me Duchess!”

“Anyone else?”

“Your uncle. I believe he escorted me to a black-tie fund-raiser where the agency was donating a cruise when your aunt was out of town about two months ago.”

He added his uncle’s name to the list.

“You’re putting James’s name down on that list?”

“He’s a man.”

“He’s your uncle.” Furious, she shot to her feet. “This is crazy. You’re crazy. None of those men are even capable of doing anything like this.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I know.” She reached for the brandy he’d poured her earlier, swirled it around in her glass.

“You’d be surprised what a man will do when he finds himself obsessed with a woman.” What disturbed him was that after kissing her and sampling that sweet heat of hers himself, he could almost understand a man being driven mad with the need for more of her.

“Not them. I told you, those men are my friends.”

“How about defining friend for me.”

“Just what the word implies—a friend, a companion, a pal.”

“Any of those pals ever graduate to being your lover?”

She slammed the glass down onto the table. “No,” she said, her voice like chipped ice.

“Any of them want to be?”

“That’s it! I’m not listening to any more of this. You’re just trying to embarrass me.”

Ryan caught her by the arm before she could storm off. “What I’m trying to do is find out if the guy who’s after you could be a former lover, or someone who wanted to be your lover, that might have gone nutso when you rejected him.”

“I haven’t rejected anyone.”

“You rejected me,” he reminded her.

Clea blinked. “I—That was different.”

“How? I haven’t made any secret of the fact that I’m attracted to you. I’ve asked you out several times. I’ve kissed you, and I’ve even asked you to marry me.”

“You weren’t serious.”