“Erm, so are you okay?” she asks Carolina before adding loudly enough for me to hear, “Is he with you?”

“This is Samuel,” Carolina says. “He’s my bodyguard.”

“Your what? Why? Have the TV company shelled out for protection? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. There was a threat, mostly against Daddy. No one is really taking it seriously, but it was felt some protection would be the right thing to do.”

“Shit the bed. Well, hi, Samuel.”

She flashes me a grin and then flicks her gaze up and down my body as her grin widens.

This woman is hot. This woman is clearly fun and a lot less work and maintenance I’d imagine than Carolina, but for some reason she doesn’t interest me half as much.

It’s the contrasts within Carolina that I like. The sharp edges where her uptight, upper-class ways meet an earthier, sexier self.

“I’ll take the table behind you,” I tell Carolina. “Let you ladies talk.”

“Okay, thank you.”

She flashes me a smile, and her friend shouts over to the barman.

“Hey, Joe, can we have two beers please?” She glances at me. “Would you like a drink?”

“Coke for me,” I say.

When the drinks are brought over, I gesture for the barman to come to me first, and I pay him. I might be guarding her, but I was taught from a young age that a lady doesn’t buy her own drinks.

“Ah, thank you!” Jade holds her drink up in a salute at me when she receives it.

I nod and hold my drink up in return, then I settle back in my seat and watch.

7. Carolina

Chapter 7

Carolina

As soon as we have our beers, Jade leans in and I wait to hear what it is she needs to tell me so urgently. Instead, she glances at Samuel and grins from ear to ear.

“Wow, Carrie. You got yourself one hot sex on a stick, hunk of meat, protection there. Jesus.”

“I suppose so if you like them tattooed, pierced, and arrogant, which I don’t.”

“Pierced?” Her eyes widen, and she glances back at Samuel. “Where is he pierced? And, more to the point, how do you know?”

I take a swig of my beer, enjoying the cool bubbles as they slip down my throat. “I might have seen him naked,” I say with a smile.

“As in, completely?”

“I think that's about the only way to be naked, isn't it?” We both giggle a little. “Look, you said you had something serious to tell me, and I don't want to get derailed talking about my bodyguard.”