Against the Sun

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“Thanks, Jake. Ms. Dumont.” The kid closed the door and ran to where his mother stood. Tanya waved, and the two of them headed into the house.

Jake turned to Sage. “Thanks for letting me pick him up. Like I said, Felix is a really good kid.”

She smiled as Linc pulled away from the curb. “The Big Brother program is extremely worthwhile. Our company’s a big supporter. I’m really glad you’re helping him.”

He nodded, realizing the kid was another tie he would have to cut when he took off on another job. This was the second time he’d lived in Houston. The first was after he’d left the service and returned from the Middle East. He’d gotten his P.I.’s license and taken a job freelancing for Trace.

Though he’d enjoyed the work, eventually he’d grown restless and taken a corporate protection job in South America. He’d traveled and worked there for a while, and had just finished a job in Mexico when he got a call from Dev Raines and met up with him, Trace and Johnnie Riggs, old military buddies.

When the job was over, he’d returned to Texas, which had begun to feel more like home than any other place he’d been.

He flicked a glance at Sage, his current, far more intriguing assignment, and looked back out the window. Nothing but traffic, no one on their tail, and aside from the occasional bad driver, nothing that posed any sort of danger.

He was doing his best to keep his eyes off her, trying not to think how pretty she looked even after the long, grueling day. Trying to keep his thoughts in check and his blood from flowing south.

Once the SUV reached the high-rise where she lived, Jake escorted her upstairs, went in and checked her apartment. Finding everything in order, he made himself head for the door—though every ounce of testosterone in his body wanted him to stay.

He reminded himself the lady belonged to another man, that he had a job to do and there was no place in it for his attraction to Sage.

He reached for the doorknob. “I’ll pick you up in the morning.” He stopped and turned. “Unless you have plans to go out tonight.” So far the threat posed by the demonstrators had stayed confined to the downtown area around the office, but until this was over, he didn’t want her going out by herself.

Sage hesitated, then smiled. “I’ve been sticking pretty close to home. I figured it would be safer that way.”

“Good girl.”

She walked him to the door. Knowing he shouldn’t, he lingered. “You did really well today. You said all the right things, made the right moves. I think the Saudis were impressed.”

Her smile reappeared. “Thanks. Coming from you, that means a lot.” She didn’t move away, and he wanted to reach for her, haul her into his arms. He wanted to kiss her until he had her begging him to take her to bed.

He couldn’t. Wouldn’t.

Jake turned and walked out the door.

It wasn’t until later that night that he found himself thinking about her brief moment of hesitation. It didn’t mean anything, he told himself. Sage wouldn’t risk going out alone.

But it bothered him.

After he finished the rest of the leftover spaghetti he’d picked up at Mama’s Take-Out a couple nights ago, he found himself dialing Sage’s home number. The answering machine picked up and his nerves kicked in. When he phoned her cell and his call went directly to her messaging center, he tamped down the worry beginning to knot his stomach, damned her for the little witch she was, and headed for the door.

* * *

“Are you sure we should be doing this?” Dressed in a sapphire-blue mini that set off her eyes, Rina sat across from Sage at the Post Oak Grill, one of Sage’s favorite restaurants.

Dressed more conservatively in a short, black silk dress and platform heels, Sage took a sip of wine. “I’m sure, all right. Absolutely sure we shouldn’t be doing it. But I’m really glad we are.”

Rina laughed, making her long silver earrings jangle.

Sage released a slow breath. “I’ve had one heckuva day. I had to get out of the house, just for a while.” I had to stop thinking of Jake.

The episode this afternoon with Felix had shown her a completely different side of him, one that was far too appealing. The hero worship she’d seen in the boy’s dark eyes told her how good Jake was with the kid. She wished she hadn’t noticed. She didn’t want to like Jake as well as lust for him.

“Well, we aren’t that far from your apartment,” Rina said, taking a sip of the rich Stag’s Leap cabernet they had ordered, “and this place should certainly be safe enough.”

Sage took a bite of perfectly cooked, medium rare filet mignon, savoring the delicious port reduction sauce. “God, I love the food here. Since all this started, I’ve barely had time to eat. Believe it or not, I’ve actually lost a couple of pounds.”

Rina rolled her eyes. “That should happen to me.”

Sage scoffed. “You don’t need to lose weight. You’re perfect.”

“I don’t need to lose weight because I constantly watch what I eat. If I didn’t, I’d be as big as a house.”

Sage just smiled. Rina ate healthy food, and both of them went to the gym at least three times a week. That is, until she had gotten involved with the Saudi deal. Fortunately, there was a fitness center in the apartment building where she lived.

“So tell me about today,” Rina said. “How did it go with his high-and-mightiness, the sheik?”

“Actually, I think it went pretty well. But, Lord, it wasn’t easy. And this is just getting started.” She sipped her wine, set the glass back down on the table. “You’re still on for the shopping trip, right?”

Rina grinned. “You couldn’t keep me away.”

“A’lia will probably be bringing her cousin Zahra, so there’ll be four of us women altogether. I think that’ll make things a little easier. Or at least with you there, it’ll be easier for me.”

“What’s she like?”

“Beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous. But kind of sad, I think. It has to be a hard to have your entire life completely laid out for you and be totally dominated by men.”

“And some of them will be coming with us to the mall, I gather.”

“That’s right. A male relative and probably at least one bodyguard. Along with Jake and Alex.”

“Alex?”

“Alex Justice. He’s the guy who’s helping Jake with security. Apparently, they work out of the same office.” She took a bite of scalloped potatoes and decided she had never tasted anything so delicious. Then again, everything tasted good when you forgot to eat.

“I think you’ll like this guy,” Sage said.

“I’m involved, remember?”

“So am I, remember? He seems interesting. That’s all I’m saying.”

“Interesting how?”

“Six-two, a hundred eighty pounds. Dark blond hair and blue eyes. He’s got the cutest pair of dimples.”

Rina eyed her across the top of her wineglass. “But he’s not Jake, right? So you’re passing him on to me.”

“I’m not passing him on to anyone. I just mentioned him.”

“That’s good, because I’m not interested.”

“I thought you and Ryan were having trouble.”

“Everyone has trouble. We’ll work things out eventually.”

She thought of Phillip. Since he left, they’d spoken several times on the phone, but their conversations were brief and unfulfilling. There were never any arguments, not even any serious disagreements. Maybe that was the problem. Both of them always kept their emotions carefully controlled. No outbursts, no fighting. Never saying what was really on her mind. Maybe that bothered her more than she’d realized.

Sage glanced up. There was something going on in the restaurant. People were beginning to whisper and shift in their chairs. She gazed around the room, caught something pressed against one of the plate-glass windows, a big white square with words written on it. When she saw what it said, the delicious filet mignon nearly came back up.

Dumont Drilling Traitors. Keep U.S. Money in the U.S.

“Oh, my God.” Rina stared out the window, and the noise in the restaurant grew louder. Sage turned to see a man storming toward her, his face beet-red, his brown hair standing on end, his lips thinned in anger.

“It’s people like you!” he shouted. “People like you who are ruining our country!”

Her mind went blank. Opening another drilling platform would mean dozens of new jobs for the area. It would be helping the country end its dependence on foreign oil. The environment had to be protected—she adamantly agreed with that—but Marine Drilling did everything in its power to keep people and the ocean safe.

All those arguments and half a dozen others rushed into her head. She wanted to explain, but as she stared into the man’s furious face, not a single syllable came out of her mouth.

His fist slammed down on the table, making the silverware jump and water slop over the rim of their glasses. “You hear what I said? It’s people like you!”

“You don’t…don’t understand.” It was all she could manage to say as she spotted the valets pushing through the door and starting toward her, caught a slice of the commotion outside, more signs, more people who wanted her to fail.

“Send them back where they belong! You hear me?”

She heard the words, but they were muffled by the ringing in her ears. Then Jake was there, striding toward the table, his face set in hard, determined lines. He grabbed the red-faced man by the back of the neck and hauled him away from her, putting himself between her and the danger. The man looked at Jake and his lips curled back, ready for another damning tirade. Jake’s hand settled on his shoulder, and an instant later the man went limp.

Sage watched in awe as Jake propped him against his side and hauled him out of there as if he weighed nothing, as if maybe he was just a friend who had drunk a little too much. The maître d’ stepped out of the way, letting them pass, and the pair disappeared through the door.

“Oh, my God,” Rina said again, staring at the place where Jake had been.

Sage just sat there trembling. She could still see the fury etched on the man’s ruddy features. And the matching fury in Jake’s. She had never seen him angry before, at least not like that. And part of it was clearly directed at her.

On top of that, she had never seen him in action. The scene was over before it had truly begun. Jake had taken the man down with unbelievable ease, put an end to the threat in seconds. Sage felt certain the guy wasn’t really hurt, just immobilized and then neatly dispensed with.

Though she could be wrong.

She fought to compose herself as she looked at Rina, whose blue eyes looked as big as saucers. Then Sage spotted Jake striding back toward her, and wished she could slide under the table.

“Time to leave,” he said, hauling her to her feet, her napkin falling to the floor. “You, too, sweetheart.”

Rina shot up from her chair. Numbly, Sage let Jake pull her toward the door, herding Rina along in front of them.

“What…what about the bill?” Sage asked, her voice high-pitched and shaky.

“They’re sending it to your office.”

She swallowed, realizing for the first time that he was guiding them though a side door that led into the alley.

“I’ll drop you off on the way,” Jake said to Rina, apparently planning to drive Sage home.

“I drove us here tonight. I can get home by myself.”

“You sure?”

“It wasn’t me they were after.”

Jake’s scowl deepened. Sage stood there trembling as he surveyed the outside of the restaurant, searching for any remaining sign of danger. But the people who had been at the window were gone. So was the man who had barged up to her table. Jake took her arm as he walked Rina over to her little red Mercedes SLK, waited until she buckled herself inside, then watched as she drove out of the parking lot.

Sage didn’t resist as he pulled her toward his Jeep, lifted her up and dropped her into the seat.

“Buckle up,” he said darkly, then slammed her door and strode around to the driver’s side. With her hands shaking, she couldn’t get the clasp fastened. Fumbled, tried again. Jake reached across her lap and shoved the buckle into the catch. Without a word, he started the engine and roared out of the parking lot.

Sage just sat there, her mind going over and over the scene in the restaurant. All the way back to the apartment, Jake didn’t speak. When they reached the tenth floor and walked out of the elevator, he took the key from her hand and started to unlock the door.

Sage swallowed. “I shouldn’t have done it. I—I know that now. I just…” She shook her head. “After everything that’s happened, I just… I wanted a couple of hours to myself. I just wanted to pretend for a little while that everything was normal.” She looked up at him and her eyes filled. “Please, Jake, don’t be angry.”

The stiffness in those wide shoulders melted. Jake reached out and simply folded her into his arms. She knew she should resist, but all she wanted was to burrow into him more deeply, let him make her feel safe.

“It’s all right, baby, this is new to you. You scared me, that’s all.”

She didn’t let men call her baby or honey or any of those ridiculous terms. She should have told him that, put him in his place. Instead, she just hung on.