The One Who Got Away (Wilde Ways #12) - Cynthia Eden Page 0,12

she needed to get the heck out of there.

Antony’s lips curled.

Dammit. Did he think something about this situation was amusing? She was not amused. Her eyes narrowed on him. “Why are you here?”

He looked back at Eric, then Antony’s attention returned to her. After a long exhale, Antony told her, “I’m in danger, and I need you.”

She bounded toward him. An instinctual response as adrenaline and worry pounded through her. But she caught herself. Stopped when she was about two feet away. “What?”

“I am here at Wilde because I need to hire a personal bodyguard. Someone who can stay with me twenty-four, seven.” Antony nodded. “I want that person to be you.”

Silence. Silence except for the extremely hard and fierce drumming of her heart. The drumming was so loud she almost wondered if Antony and Eric could hear it. She looked into Antony’s eyes. Those dark and deep eyes that she had always found so oddly beautiful. She thought about the night they’d had together. She’d wanted him for so long, and it had seemed safe enough to take that one, reckless night with him before she walked away.

She just hadn’t counted on the impact that night would have on her.

“Well?” He smiled at her. A confident, charming smile. “Will you take my case? Will you be my bodyguard?”

Her gaze swept toward Eric. “Is this some kind of joke?”

A shrug of his shoulders. “He seems quite serious.”

Her temples were throbbing. “I already have a case. I was just about to head down to the recording studio and check in with the client.” An up-and-coming singer who wanted additional security at her next gig. Ella let her stare dart back to Antony. Squaring her shoulders, she informed him, “I have a case and a new partner waiting.”

His smile dimmed. “I need you,” he said.

Her spine stiffened. His voice had deepened. Gotten all hard and rumbling. As he stared at her, she could swear she saw desire filling his eyes.

She didn’t want to have this conversation in front of her new boss. She really, really didn’t. But Ella closed the remaining distance between her and Antony. She tipped back her head as she stared up at him. “There are plenty of agents here at Wilde—”

“There is only one you.” His voice roughened even more. “Take the job, Ella.”

The night they’d shared was between them. The memory. The passion. The unbelievable, body-melting pleasure. It shouldn’t have been so good. If the sex had been bad, walking away would have been easier. But the sex hadn’t been bad. It had been fantastic. So fantastic that… “No.”

He blinked.

“I told you before, I don’t work for you any longer.” A clipped nod. “Now, if that’s all, I have a client waiting on me.” She did a quick about-face and marched for the door. She yanked it open.

“Yeah, buddy, sorry, but I think you lost that bet,” Eric drawled.

Antony had bet on her? Seriously? Ella fired a quick, angry glare over her shoulder, then she got the hell out of there. As fast as her shaking knees would let her go.

Chapter Four

The door clicked closed behind Ella. Antony didn’t move.

“I believe you now owe me a thousand dollars.” Eric sounded both casual and cocky. An exceedingly annoying combination. “That was the amount we agreed upon, wasn’t it? If it’s all the same to you, Antony, I would prefer cash and—”

“Fuck off.”

“Yes, I believe that’s what Ella told you to do. Only she used nicer words because I suspect she is a nicer person than you are.”

Antony ignored him. He was too busy hurrying after Ella. He yanked open the door. “Ella!” he shouted.

Eric’s assistant jumped to his feet. His wide eyes studied Antony. Then he pointed down the hallway. “That way.”

Antony was already giving chase. Ella’s heels were click-click-clicking pretty damn fast, but he was faster. He closed the distance between them, reached out his hand to curl around her shoulder and—

Ella spun to face him. “Do not even think about touching me.”

Unfortunately, touching her was the main thing he did think about. Touching her. Getting her back. Not losing the one person who meant far more than she’d realized to him.

She took a quick, angry step toward him. “What the hell kind of game are you playing?”

He had to handle this part carefully. Antony knew this might just be the most important deal of his life. “It’s not a game. I need you.” He’d told her those words before. He’d meant them. Still did. “I’m in