Martha Kennerson - Protecting the Heiress

Tiffany took another sip of water and said, “I had an affair with a couple of guys on my security team.”

“A couple?” Robert asked, his eyes wide.

Both sisters glared at Robert. He shrugged and mouthed, “What?”

Mr. Morgan reached for Tiffany’s hand and gave it a supportive squeeze before saying, “Tiffany, you don’t have to—”

“Yes, she does,” Meeks said. “We need to know everything if you want us to be able to protect her.”

“It’s okay, Bill,” Tiffany said before removing her hand from his grip and taking another sip of her water. “I’m twenty-one years old, and I’ve been working in this industry for ten years. For the past four years I’ve had some exceptionally good luck, which required me to be even more selective with the people I associate with.”

“Exceptionally good luck?” Robert said sarcastically as he too flipped through his electronic tablet. “You’ve had three back-to-back blockbuster movies and gained access to a fifty-million-dollar trust fund. Yeah, I’d say that’s some exceptionally good luck.”

Tiffany smiled. “I’ve never wanted to be one of those childhood stars that ended up broke and in the gutter somewhere, and my family and Bill made sure that would never happen.”

Tiffany gave Bill a smile that clearly expressed gratitude, but his responding smile seemed to offer more than paternal love.

“Do you have any idea how hard it is to make friends? I mean, real friends?” she asked, her voice rising an octave. “Let alone trying to find a nice guy? Trust me, it’s not easy. So I find myself gravitating toward my security team.”

Tiffany got up and walked around the table and stared out the clear glass wall of windows that looked out over the city. She wrapped her arms around her body and slowly moved her hands up and down her arms. The room was at a comfortable temperature so Farrah recognized the gesture as a defense mechanism and asked, “Tiffany, would you like to take a break?”

Tiffany turned away from the windows and faced her. She wiped away a lone tear that had escaped her left eye and said, “No...I’m fine. What more do you need to know?”

“Is this really necessary?” Bill demanded as he made his way around the table to stand next to Tiffany, where he placed his arm around her.

“I’m afraid so,” Francine said before she continued to question Tiffany about her relationships with members of her former security team, her friends and her normal routine—all under Meeks’s heated scrutiny, which appeared to have made the air slowly evaporate from the room.

Another hour and several cups of coffee later, Tiffany had finally decided she’d had enough. “I’m exhausted, and I have an event tonight,” she said, gathering her things. “So if you need any more information, feel free to join me at the house.”

“I’ll accompany Ms. Tanner home and get the team in place,” Robert said as he too gathered his things to leave. “While I’m there, I’ll figure out what updates her current security system may need.”

Meeks nodded. “And we’ll have any necessary adjustments made first thing in the morning.”

“That’s great. Robert and Farrah and I will accompany you to your event this evening until we can assign someone to watch over you on a more permanent basis,” Francine explained to Tiffany.

Tiffany breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Thank you.”

Francine could feel Meeks’s eyes on her, but she ignored him and continued to go through her security checklist.

Meeks pulled out his cell phone and started dialing. “I’ll contact a friend of mine at the police department—”

“Is that necessary?” Mr. Morgan questioned Meeks. “The way I understand it, you have better resources than most police departments across the country. Besides, we really don’t want the press to get wind of any of this. Why can’t you just handle this on your own?”

“You didn’t let me finish,” Meeks added. “I’ll see if he’s willing to make a house call and take the police report there. That way, there’s less of a chance of this news getting out. There are protocols with everything we do, and while we will do everything in our power to find the person that’s behind all this, our priority has to be to keep Tiffany...” he slid a glance at Francine, “and our team safe,” Meeks told Mr. Morgan, leaving no question as to his priorities.

“Having the police work with us on finding Tiffany’s stalker will hopefully make apprehending him that much easier,” Francine offered. “And the sooner we can put that person behind bars, the sooner we can get Tiffany settled into that routine we discussed earlier,” she reminded Mr. Morgan, who acknowledged her statement with a simple nod.

“Thanks, I’d appreciate that,” Tiffany said, making her way to the door. “The less publicity this thing generates, the better.”

“Farrah and Robert will see you out,” Francine said.

Farrah gave her sister a small nod and said, “After you,” to their guest.

Francine waited for the room to clear before she turned to pick up her tablet and found Meeks glaring at her. “What? Go ahead, say it. I’d hate for you to spontaneously combust from holding back,” she declared as she retreated to her office, knowing that he would follow.

Chapter 6

“Are you crazy?” Meeks asked Francine as he followed her into her office. He closed the door behind him with enough force to make his point.

“Last time I checked I wasn’t, but let me check again,” Francine replied, tapping her index finger against her temple. “Nope...still not crazy.”

Meeks walked around her desk to stand in front of her with his arms folded across his heaving chest. “Then why the hell do you insist on doing crazy shit?”

She raised her chin and crossed her arms, matching his stance before asking, “What are you talking about, Meeks?”

“What am I—” He took a deep breath. “I’m talking about you taking the lead on this stalker case—a case that has danger written all over it. Especially with what we know now, our experience and your dumb luck, it is likely someone who’s familiar with our line of work! That’s what I’m talking about,” Meeks explained as he took another step closer to Francine.

Francine blew out a breath and rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Not this again.”

Meeks took the final step forward that had them mere inches apart. She stared up into his eyes and dropped her hands to her sides. Meeks watched as her breathing escalated, as her breasts slowly rose and fell. He dropped his arms and fisted his hands at his sides to keep himself from reaching out to caress them. He could imagine the taste and the softness of them and grew hard. Francine held his gaze and bit down on her lower lip—another move that made things worse for him. The sexual tension in the air was like a fog circling around them.

After several moments of tense silence, Meeks couldn’t resist any longer. He raised his right hand and traced the tip of a finger slowly across Francine’s lower lip. The feel of her silk-like skin made his hand tremble slightly. He captured Francine’s chin in between his thumb and index finger, raising it slightly as he slowly began to lower his head and held her gaze.

Francine rose up on her tiptoes and wet her lips. The sight of Francine’s pink tongue nearly sent Meeks over the edge, and he leaned in to capture her mouth.

Knock , knock .

Farrah, as usual, had entered the office before being invited in. She stood smiling in the doorway and asked, “Excuse me...am I interrupting something?”

Francine and Meeks continued to stare at each other for several additional seconds before Meeks dropped his hand, straightened to his full height and said, “No...not at all.” Meeks gave both women a curt nod before making his exit.