Chapter 2
- The room was fair-sized when one took the number of
- things scattered here and there into consideration. A few couches lined the
- wall to the right, and a slanting table to the left piled with sketchbooks and
- pencils and every other drawing equipment possible to mankind. That must be where
- Sia jotted down her ideas, Julian guessed.
- The room itself was painted in a soothing green color
- mixed with light accents of purple and blue polygonal designs placed at odd points
- in the wall rather than in a straight line. Julian didn’t know much about
- fashion, but even he had to approve of the clever designs.
- There were small potted plants here and there as well—all
- natural—which seemed to be the theme of the office. The plants had tiny white
- flowers that kept the room naturally fragrant. Julian took a moment to take in
- his surroundings before finally looking straight ahead in the direction of the woman
- who had hired him. And felt his eyes widen in surprise at the sight.
- In the far corner of the room was the main attraction: a
- wedding dress made of pure white silk and a lace train. The dress was studded
- with several pearls of different sizes and shapes. It looked like a dress fit
- for a queen. He didn’t know why, but standing right there, he had a vision of
- him standing at the altar and a woman with a warm smile standing beside him
- wearing that dress.
- “Beautiful, isn’t it?”
- Julian’s attention snapped back to the present, and he
- shook his head in disbelief. How much
- lower could he get? Being tagged a “manwhore” was already a massive blow to his
- reputation and now he was having dreams of marriage? He was only 28, for
- God’s sake, and he was nowhere near ready to settle down! But thanks to the
- voice, he was finally able to focus on the woman who had spoken to him, and for
- the second time, in a span of a few minutes, he felt his eyes widen in
- disbelief.
- Julian’s breath caught in his throat as he looked at the
- only other human inhabitant of the room. The woman who sat behind the desk
- looked somewhat tired and messy, but that did not subdue her natural beauty:
- the piercing gaze of those bright emerald eyes, the dark shade of brown hair
- that framed her heart-shaped face with its delicate curls, the rest of her hair
- pinned to the back of her head in a ponytail. She wore simple clothes; he could
- see as much from his current position right next to the closed door. But she
- had a certain intensity to her soft, delicate features, something that made his
- heart hammer against his chest and his body to send a fresh wave of lust rise
- to the surface.
- No! He gritted
- his teeth to stop his mind from wandering into dangerous territories. He’d
- promised his brother he wouldn’t let him down. For his own sake, he couldn’t. She is just like every other woman, he
- reminded himself. Like them, she would soon lust after him, and when it was
- over, he’d have another bunch of rumors that will the final nail in his coffin. He’d lose both
- his job and the company.
- He had no idea how long he stood there staring at her,
- but it must have been quite some time, since she had already arched a perfect
- eyebrow in his direction, one side of her lips tugging up in a smirk. And he
- realized, for the first time, how young she really was. Fifties? Sia Milton looked like she was in her early thirties, if
- not even less. How can she be the mother of a thirteen-year-old boy?
- “Please, have a seat, Mr. Turner,” said the beautifully
- melodic voice of Sia Milton. It sent shivers down his spine.
- Oh, what had he
- gotten himself into?
- Julian strode over to the desk with all the dignity he
- had left after being caught staring at his soon-to-be-employer and sat himself
- down easily on one of the chairs in front of the desk.
- He’d never before been taken by surprise in his life.
- Women fell at his feet as soon as they saw him. They worshiped his aura of raw masculinity
- and the very ground he walked on. But this woman seemed to be mocking him with
- her half smile and arched eyebrows. She was definitely immune to his charms.
- That was supposed to be a plus to his goal, wasn’t it? This would make it easy
- for him to keep it in his pants since he never went after unwilling women.
- But why did Sia Milton make him feel like he couldn’t
- rest until he’d win her over?
- Focus, Julian! he
- thought to himself. You are here for a
- job, not to ruin your already ruined reputation further!
- If there was
- anything left to ruin, his conscience butted in.
- Wrenching his wandering mind back into focus, he focused
- on the task he was here for. Julian never mixed work with pleasure, and Sia
- needed him to do his job.
- * * *
- Sia looked at the man sitting on the other side of the
- desk. On the outside, she appeared perfectly calm, but on the inside, she was
- far from it; she was scared out of her skin. Someone was after her life and out
- to get her son. Sia couldn’t care less about what might happen to her. But she
- just couldn’t stand the thought of her little boy getting hurt.
- That was why she was forced to contact Turner Agency and
- hire their best, no matter how much everyone had warned her about his reputation. Julian Turner had
- rightfully earned the title of Lucifer, firstly, because of his unerring
- abilities displayed in his missions and, secondly, because of his maddening skills
- in bed. The latter she didn’t have to worry about; she had written men off from
- her life ten years ago. Now the only man in her life was her own flesh and
- blood. It was her son’s life she was concerned about, so she needed nothing but
- the best for the job.
- Julian was the perfect bodyguard as most of her friends
- and acquaintances had told her. For this job, she was willing to overlook his
- scandalous behavior. If she weren’t so desperate, she would’ve chosen someone
- else. But there was no one who could compare to Julian in his line of work.
- So, let’s get the
- show started, Sia thought to herself as she held her head high and began
- her interview.
- This was going to be an interesting day.