Free An Honorable Surprise by Sally Graham Page B

grabbed Tamara and hugged her. “Are you OK, darling? No scratches or anything?”

    His concern melted any final reservations, and she snuggled against his dark blue cotton shirt, drawing strength from him.  

    “I don’t know what I would have done if anything had happened to you,” he went on, stroking her hair. “I was stupid not to have gone with you.”

    She pulled away and looked up at those smoky eyes. “Don’t be silly, Simon. You knew it would have been far worse if you had come with me. Photographers were everywhere. And, please, don’t be hard on Gina. Please.”

    “I’ll have to see,” he said shortly. “She admitted it was unprofessional.”

    “But not as stupid as I’ve been,” she said, still holding him.

    “What do you mean?”

    “I thought you were having an affair with her?”

    Simon let go of her and stepped back. “Having an affair? With her?” He paused for a moment. “What on earth?” He looked at her questioningly. “You mean, when you saw me with her in the gym?”

    Tamara nodded unhappily. “That’s right. I had no idea she was your personal trainer. It never occurred to me that she might be working in a security capacity either. You never explained.”

    “Come over her. Sit and let’s talk,” Simon answered. “Up to this point we’ve been strangers on a plane, strangers in the palazzo, and strangers on this boat. It’s time to move on, don’t you think?”

    She nodded, and they walked to the lounge platform under the sun awning.  

    He sat and stretched out, drawing her to him so she could snuggle close. “There’s much of my life that I try to keep private. Maybe it’s good, maybe not. But I don’t want friends and people I like getting messed about because I happen to be tracked by journalists. It’s not entirely my choice, but these days it’s part of the game you have to play if you’ve got a high profile in business. And bad guys are around too. They see business leaders as legitimate targets. At first I thought it was vanity when I went to conferences and saw people I regarded as less successful than me surrounded by goons in dark glasses. But then I had a nasty experience in Mexico when my car was nearly ambushed. It was then I decided to I’d have to play along. But I don’t go in for obvious heavies. I prefer to have a far more discreet security profile. And Gina is a good example.”

    “You mean you have a team of Charlie’s Angels?” Tamara teased, amazed that, at last, they were talking naturally with one another, and melting at the intensity of his eyes as he looked at her when he talked. My God, I’m falling for him.

    He laughed. “Christ, wouldn’t that be amazing? But they’d stand out a mile. No, to be good in that business you need to be discreet. But several of the women who look like crew members or were around the villa are on the payroll. And - just to set the record straight – a few of the girls that have been on my arm that the gutter press have made such a fuss about - “

    “Don’t tell me they were spooks as well,” interrupted Tamara, sitting up.

    “Listen, if you’re doing business in a developing country which has, shall we say, slightly different commercial ethics to the ones we’re used to, you need your protection very close to you. Especially when you’re partying.”  

    “So a lot of the time, all those girls I was so disapproving of, were protecting you?”

    “That sounds a bit melodramatic, putting it like that. I think it’s called close protection. But, yes, Ms Tremaine - you don’t want to read everything you read in the papers or watch on the TV.”

    He smiled mischievously at her. “But I do have the final say, of course! That is, I feel safer if my security detail is extremely attractive!”

    Tamara couldn’t help laughing. “You’re crazy, Mr Henty. Talk about combining business with pleasure! But… I’m confused. I thought bodyguards were - “

    “Out of work cage