Mile High (Up in the Air #2)(84)
“I have a spare room. I don’t mind if you guys want to sleep in there. There’s only a twin bed, but it’s better than sleeping in a car.”
Paterson and Blake shared a look, but not before I saw the surprise in both of their eyes.
“Thank you for the kind offer, Ms. Karlsson,” Blake said.
“I’ll discuss it with Mr. Cavendish,” Paterson said.
Of course control freak Cavendish would have the rule that he had to approve all decisions.
Paterson cleared his throat. “Mr. Cavendish has also asked me to tell you to please answer your phone.” Paterson’s voice was carefully polite, but I’d have been willing to bet that James hadn’t been when he made the request. My phone was buried somewhere in my flight bag and I dreaded seeing how many calls I had missed since I’d left the plane.
“Excuse me, please. I need to go take a nap,” I told the two security guards awkwardly. I wasn’t used to having staff, and my first instinct was to treat them as guests in my home.
They both nodded rather deferentially, as though it had been taught to them amidst all of the other training they must have been through. “As I said, we’ll be just outside. And my number is in your phone, under ‘Security.’”
I thanked them both politely before I went into my room, shutting my door gratefully behind me. I meant to call James, my mind was on him even as I got half undressed and fell facedown on top of my covers.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
A barrage of strange noises woke me up. It took me long disoriented minutes to sort them all out.
The most persistent noise came from my bedside table, in the form of an Ipad I hadn’t even known existed. I recognized the thin object, but I certainly didn’t know what one was doing in my bedroom, or how I hadn’t noticed it before I went to sleep. I had passed out rather quickly, I remembered. It was letting out a loud chiming noise, over and over again.
I decided that wasn’t my biggest problem as someone knocked, rather frantically, at my bedroom door. I felt fear curl in my stomach until I realized that any real threat would hardly be knocking at an unlocked door.
“Yes?” I called, my voice still full of sleep.
The door burst open and Blake stood framed in it. She had apparently taken my yes as an invitation to enter. Her eyes darted around my room, looking for threats. When she deducted that there was none, her eyes shifted to me. She quickly looked away uncomfortably.
I realized that I was basically naked, wearing only a pair of panties and one errant stocking. I had managed to pull a corner of the covers over most of my torso in my sleep, thank god, but it was obvious that I was nearly naked underneath.
A muffled sound from my flight bag drew my attention briefly, and a I realized that my phone had been going off constantly, just like the the mysterious Ipad.
“What’s going on?” I asked Blake. I figured she had to have a better idea than I did.
“Mr. Cavendish has been unable to get ahold of you. He was…concerned. He said you were supposed to contact him when you got to your home, and you did not.” Her voice held a world of condemnation, as though forgetting to make a phone call were the worst sort of offense.
I studied her. She wore only a tight navy T-shirt and athletic shorts, her shoulder holster and gun clearly visible. I realized that instead of being stocky, as I’d originally thought, her figure was solidly covered in stark muscles. I couldn’t remember ever seeing a woman quite so ripped up with muscle. She could have been a female body builder.
“I just sort of passed out. I guess I was more tired than I realized.”
She sighed heavily. “Well, please call Mr. Cavendish now. He’s more than a little upset.”
Before I could respond, a shirtless and disheveled Stephan appeared behind Blake, looking distraught.
“Are you okay, Bee? James just woke me up. He’s frantic, says you were supposed to call him hours ago and he hasn’t been able to get ahold of you. He’s got me feeling guilty for falling asleep before making you call him.” As he spoke, Stephan brushed past Blake to my bed. He climbed in with me wearing only his boxers, stroking a hand over my hair. I thought Blake’s eyes were going to bulge out of her head.
“That is highly inappropriate, Mr. Davis. I would ask that you please remove yourself from Ms. Karlsson’s bed.”
I gave her a baffled look. Stephan’s was downright unfriendly. “Stephan is my adopted brother,” I explained to Blake, even though we didn’t owe her an explanation. Still, I didn’t see the need for her to get the wrong idea. And he really was my adopted brother, if not technically than at least emotionally.
She looked relieved. “That is a relief. Still, I will have to report this to Mr. Cavendish. Just so you know.”
I shrugged. Stephan leaned over and kissed me on the forehead. “I’m going back to bed, Buttercup. Call James before he gets on a plane.”
Stephan left, but Blake still hovered in the doorway.
I began to get annoyed, as much with James as with my stern bodyguard. “I got it. I’ll call James as soon as you give me some privacy.” I felt rude even as the words left my mouth, but she just nodded and left.
I opened the pumpkin orange case of the chiming Ipad, sitting up as I did so. I was startled to see myself topless for an endless moment before an image of James, dressed in the suit I had said goodbye to him in that morning, and with a huge window with a killer view of New York in the background, took over most of the screen. He looked wild, his hair disheveled as though he’d run his through it impatiently. The curl of his pretty mouth gave me a good idea of his dark mood.