The Player - By Rhonda Nelson Page 0,14

to protect Audrey.”

“Ah, Audrey, is it?”

Jamie felt his fingers tighten around the cordless phone. “That’s her name. You didn’t expect me to call her Ms. Kincaid, did you?”

“No, and I don’t want anyone calling her Mrs. Derrick Willis either, which is the real reason you are there. Take notes. You’re about to receive orders.”

Jamie blinked, stunned. “What? I thought you said you wanted me to protect her from a personal enemy.”

“I do—that enemy is Derrick Willis.”

Jamie leaned forward in his chair. Derrick? How could Derrick be his personal enemy? What the fu—

“I have it on good authority that he’s asked my granddaughter to marry him and has given her until the end of the week to make up her mind,” Garrett said.

Jamie stilled. So that was the question Derrick-the-ass had been referring to, Jamie realized, suddenly sickened. Though he’d barely had time to rub two thoughts together since he’d gotten here, he had to admit that Audrey choosing a boyfriend like that sonofabitch was a little disheartening. Quite frankly, he would have thought she’d had better taste.

What was the draw? he wondered. It damned sure wasn’t personality or sex appeal. The guy was provokingly abrasive at best and Jamie had personally seen her cringe when Derrick had tried to hug her. That certainly wouldn’t make a happy marriage. It didn’t make any sense.

And he sure as hell didn’t see how he was supposed to “protect” her from Derrick.

“I don’t understand,” Jamie told him, thoroughly confused. “Derrick’s not even here.”

“I know. He’s on a business trip.”

What? Jamie wondered. Did he have the place bugged? “How did you know th—”

“Suffice it to say I have an excellent source in place who also has my granddaughter’s best interests at heart.”

Ah. Tewanda.

He was beginning to get the picture—albeit a vastly different one to what had originally been painted—but he still didn’t see how he figured in it. “Sir, with all due respect, I fail to see how I can—”

Garrett chuckled. “For someone with a genius-level IQ, you certainly aren’t doing a bang-up job of putting things together, Flanagan.”

He supposed not, Jamie thought, completely baffled. He couldn’t hit a target that wasn’t here. What the hell did Garrett want him to do? Follow Derrick? If so, then why had he arranged for Jamie to be in place here? It didn’t make any sense. Exactly what did the Colonel have in mind—

“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Garrett finally snapped. “You’re bait.”

If Jamie hadn’t had a death grip on the phone he would have dropped it. He felt his eyes widen and his jaw drop. “I’m what?”

“Bait,” Garrett repeated calmly. “Your reputation with the ladies makes you the perfect man for this mission, Flanagan. Oh, I suppose McCann or Payne would have done okay as well, but in order to make absolutely sure that Audrey doesn’t permanently attach herself to that pompous moron, I thought I’d err on the side of caution and send you in.”

Silence stretched across the line while Jamie tried to process what the Colonel had just told him.

“You see,” Garrett continued, “if my granddaughter is even remotely attracted to you, she wouldn’t dream of saying ‘I do’ to that gelled-up windbag. She has too much class. And it’s no secret that you have a certain talent with women…So here are your orders and you’d better heed them to the letter,” Garrett warned. “Otherwise, I assure you that you’ll be very, very sorry.” He paused, letting the threat sink in. “For the next five days I want you to shadow my granddaughter. Spend time with her, flirt with her, compliment her. Do whatever it is that you do to get women to fall all over you. But that is all. I’m not pimping you out to my granddaughter, Flanagan,” he said gruffly, some of that legendary piss and gravel in his voice. “Baseball’s an all-American game, so I’ll put it into terms I’m sure you’ll understand. You are ondeck, but you will never get to bat, do you understand?”

Still in a state of shock, Jamie cleared his throat. “Yes, sir.”

“First base is forbidden. Second base is forbidden. Third base is forbidden. If you get anywhere near home plate, you’ll need that book on erectile dysfunction. You’ll also need a surgeon to remove my foot from your ass. Is there any part of this that’s unclear?”

“No, sir.”

“This is a pseudo-seduction, for lack of a better description. I don’t want her to want you, per se. I just want her to want anyone but Derrick. You’re there