He knew he hadn’t won the war with her but he had won the battle. For now. “You’ll be getting twenty-four hour protection from two of my agents.”
She shook her head. “Before I sign on the dotted line, I have one request, if you don’t mind, Mr. Bodyguard.”
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Kyle grin again, which kept him from walking out the door at her insolence
.
A million thoughts rolled through his head. The news that he’d learned at the appointment with his doctor this morning. Kyle’s face at their mother’s funeral years ago. The promise he’d made to Maude after her hotel burned down. His brother’s future hung in the balance of what he did next.
So instead of leaving, Aaron turned to the sexy celebrity. “I’ll give you one request, Miss Gaynor. That’s all.”
She sighed and the anger in her eyes softened. “Thank you.” Even her tone mellowed. “Let’s see. How can I phrase this so I actually get two requests in one.”
Resisting the urge to smile, he looked directly at her. “I’m waiting.”
“Okay. Here it goes. Please call me Gya, and I want you and your brother to be the ones guarding me. You said it yourself. This is serious. Who better than the owner of SCSS and his brother to protect me?”
Kyle laughed. “We have to sleep sometimes, Gya. We’re not superhuman.”
“That’s fine, but I want you with me.” Gya’s face got even redder. “I mean…I think Stephanie would feel better if you were close at all times.”
Aaron held up his hand. “Sit down.”
Gya planted her pretty ass back in the chair. God, she would make the perfect little sub with the right training.
A plan formulated in his mind. Playing matchmaker wasn’t something he’d considered before, but his brother deserved happiness, a future, a family of his own.
His gut clenched, realizing the dream of sharing a woman with Aaron was likely to never be. One week until he knew for certain.
“Agreed. Kyle and I will be with you at all times. There will be other SCSS agents around when I deem necessary, particularly at your concerts, though we may need to cancel some or all of them on this tour.”
“What? But there weren’t any problems at tonight’s show. After the incident in Dallas, we talked to the venue here and made sure the security was extra tight.” Gya stood again, but just as quickly landed back down in the chair. “I’m not trying to make waves, but there’s a lot to consider before canceling dates, Mr. Strait, or should I call you Aaron?”
He thought about pushing her buttons and keeping things formal, but decided against it. “Aaron is fine. I need to make sure I can protect you, Gya. I’ll have to analyze each venue to make sure I can. Those that I can’t will have to be nixed. No arguments. No questions. Remember?”
She sighed and nodded. “You’re the boss, Aaron. You and Kyle.”
God, he loved the sound of that.
Stephanie stood. “How do we begin?”
“You sent us the tour dates. I’ll get my team checking out the venues.” He pulled out the list. “Right now, you’ve got two days before the next concert in Phoenix.”
“Yes. We’re taking my private jet to my home in Malibu for a couple days of much-needed rest.” Gya addressed Stephanie. “We need to make sure the pilot knows we have two more passengers.”
The woman brought out her cell. “On it.”
“What time do we need to be at the airport?” Kyle asked.
“We’re scheduled to leave at ten thirty in the morning,” Stephanie answered.
Aaron shook his head. “Change that to seven thirty.”
“Seven thirty?” Gya’s eyes narrowed. She was clearly about to ask why but stopped herself.
She’s learning. “We’re not the only ones who know your schedule, Gya. If it leaked to the shooter, he knows, too.”
She sighed. “I hadn’t thought about that.”