Sage looked up at the clock on the wall. Cantrell would be here soon. When a soft knock sounded, she was sure he’d arrived a few minutes early, but when the door swung open, it wasn’t him. Her best friend, Sabrina Eckhart, swept into the office. Red-haired and feisty, and currently dating a brilliant computer geek, Rina was a successful stockbroker who earned a very good living though the market was shooting up and down like an out-of-control fire hose.
“Sorry to barge in,” her friend said, though clearly she wasn’t sorry at all. Being best friends gave her plenty of latitude, and Sage was always glad to see her. “Marie said you were alone, and it’s almost noon. I thought I’d drop by, see if I could talk you into getting some lunch.”
Sage sighed. “I wish I could. I’m up to my ears in alligators, and on top of that, my grandfather’s hired me a bodyguard.”
Rina’s blue eyes widened. “Oh, my God—not that good-looking hunk out in the waiting room.”
“That’s him. Ex-soldier and all that.”
“I can imagine. Even in a suit, the guy looks tough enough to eat nails.”
He looked exactly like the kind of man her grandfather would choose, confident and capable, and underneath that veneer of civility, a very dangerous man. “It’ll just be for the Saudis’ visit. Granddad insisted. You know how protective he can be.”
“Maybe he’s right. Did you see what happened at the university last night? The students were protesting some damn thing and a guy got killed.”
“It was an accident.”
“Doesn’t make him any less dead.”
Sage’s lips twitched. “There is that.”
Another knock sounded, this one firm and faintly demanding. “No doubt who that is,” she grumbled.
Rina’s face lit up. “The Incredible Hunk? For God’s sake, let him in.”
Sage rolled her eyes. “What would Ryan say if he saw you drooling like that?”
Rina laughed. “Not much, since I’m usually drooling over him.”
Sage started for the door, but before she had time to reached it the knob turned and it swung open.
“You did say thirty minutes?” Cantrell’s deep voice boomed into the office.
Sage’s mouth tightened.
“I was just leaving,” Rina said, wiggling her fingers over her shoulder as she walked past the tall, brawny man standing in the doorway.
“Why don’t you come right in?” Sage said with a hint of sarcasm.
“Bad idea.” Cantrell closed the door behind him.
Sage’s gaze ran over him. She couldn’t remember seeing a more impressive male specimen. One she was going to have to put in his place right from the start.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “We need to get something straight right now.”
Cantrell cocked a dark eyebrow. “And that would be…?”
“I’m the boss here, not you. You work for me. That means you do as I say.”
“Sorry, no. I work for your grandfather, not you. You’re in charge as long as it involves your job. Until this is over and you’re no longer under my protection, I’m the boss and you do exactly what I say. That’s what we need to get straight.”
Sage just stared. “You can’t be serious.”
“I’m deadly serious. It’s my job to keep you alive. That’s what I intend to do.”
Sage started shaking her head. “I’m not in any real danger and I can see right now this isn’t going to work.”
“Until your grandfather says differently, it’s going to work just fine.”
And that was the moment she realized she had lost the war. Ian would never back down—not on this. If she wanted to stay in charge of the negotiations with the Saudis—make the biggest purchase of used offshore drilling equipment in the history of the company, and save them millions of dollars—she had to deal with Jake Cantrell.
She let her arms fall back to her sides. “Fine, you win. When it comes to my protection, you’re in charge. The rest of the time I’m the boss. Does that satisfy you?”
The look he gave her said that wasn’t even close to the kind of satisfaction he wanted from her. Then he blinked and the expression was gone. She might have believed she’d imagined it if her stomach hadn’t floated up the way it did.
“That’ll work just fine.” He pulled an envelope out of the breast pocket of his navy blue coat, opened it and withdrew several sheets of paper. “These are notes I made on some of the protocols you and your people will need to learn. If you’re ready, we might as well get started.”
His blue eyes ran over her, but the heat was no longer there. Still, just looking at all that masculinity packaged so nicely made her skin feel warm. She told herself whatever minor attraction she felt to Jake Cantrell was unimportant. And that all of this would be over in just a few days.
Walking away from him, she sat down behind her desk. “I’m ready whenever you are.”
Two
The lady was hot, no doubt about it. Jake knew a lot of pretty women, but Sage Dumont had something besides a beautiful face and what appeared to be a spectacular body. No, she wasn’t just pretty. She had a certain presence, a kind of aura about her. In the marines, the guys used to say a woman had It. That inexplicable quality that drew a man when his brain told him to run like hell the opposite way.
Fortunately, Sage was a Dumont, and to Jake that screamed high society, rich and spoiled. The lady might be great for a night or two in bed, but beyond that, he hadn’t the slightest interest.
One thing he knew. She might be engaged, but she wasn’t in love. A woman didn’t look at a man the way she looked at him when she was in love with someone else.
He couldn’t help pitying the unlucky bastard she was going to marry. Jake was just damned glad it wasn’t him.
Settling in one of the two cream leather chairs across from where she sat behind a sleek, black-granite topped desk, he unfolded several printed sheets of instruction.
“Let’s start with some general background,” he said. “I’ll make it short and to the point. If you know this already, stop me.” He glanced at her, saw he had her full attention. “Saudi Arabia is a monarchy bordered by Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, the Persian Gulf and Qatar.”
“I know where it is.”
“But you’ve never been there.”
“No.”
“Then maybe you don’t know that if you aren’t Muslim, you can’t go to Saudi Arabia without an invitation, nor can you leave without permission.” He checked to see if she was getting bored. “To give you some idea of the kind of people you’ll be dealing with, visitors to Saudi Arabia have to abide by sharia law. You can be imprisoned for possessing alcohol, pornography, drugs or even pork. Thieves still have their hands cut off, and capital crimes are punished by public beheadings.”
Her face went a little pale.
“It’s a different culture,” he went on. “They don’t think the way we do. That’s the first thing you need to know.”
She took a slow breath and started nodding. “All right. What else?”
“Knowing their names isn’t enough. You’ll need to find out how they want you to address them. If they’re members of the royal family—and there are six thousand