Ridge: The Avenger

“Later.” She met his gaze. “Due to your discourse, my sixty-minute bath has been reduced to fifteen.” She stepped closer to him. “I’m still not convinced you’re staying. But just in case you are, you’ve given me all your rules and regulations. Now here’s one of mine, Mr. Jackson. Don’t mess with my bath.”

With that, Ridge was treated to the sight of Dara’s shapely derriere just before she walked into her bedroom and firmly shut the door.

“I don’t like him,” Dara said to her godfather, Harrison Montgomery, as she soaked in the tub.

Harrison’s muffled laughter carried through the phone wire. “I don’t believe you. You like everybody.”

“I don’t need a bodyguard.” Dara deepened her voice and imitated a well-known senator. “You know it, I know it, and the American people know it.”

Harrison laughed again shortly, then grew quiet. “I want you to humor me on this. You know how Helen and I feel about you. You’re the daughter we never had. If anything happened to you while you’re campaigning for me, I’d never forgive myself.”

Hearing the sincere concern in his voice, Dara sighed. She’d spent so much time reassuring everyone else about the incident that she hadn’t dealt with her own feelings. She had been frightened, but heaven forbid that she should tell anyone else that. “It was just a few stitches.”

“And this is just for four weeks,” he countered. “You can handle anything for four weeks. Then you can take off for some sunny island and forget about politics and bodyguards.”

Dara felt the gentle persuasive pressure in his voice and she knew she was stuck with a bodyguard. “Does it have to be him?”

“Has he been rude?” Harrison’s tone immediately cooled.

Dara rolled her eyes at the ceiling. “No, but, couldn’t you have gotten someone more…” She groped for an adequate description and found all her choices were ridiculous. “Maybe I mean less…”

“Less what?”

Less confident? Less domineering? Less sexy?

Dara kicked at her dissolving bubbles in frustration. “Someone more like Clarence?”

Harrison chuckled. “Clarence wouldn’t hurt a flea. You’ve got the best man for the job. I checked around, and Sterling Security’s reputation is formidable. I spoke to the head of the agency and told him to send his best bodyguard.”

Subject closed. Dara heard the door shut on the subject. As she and Harrison concluded their conversation with a few pleasantries, she felt the ominous knowledge down to her bones.

She was stuck with Ridge.

Ridge watched Dara step through the door and felt her blue-eyed gaze immediately latch onto his. Grudging acceptance, but no surrender, her face said. She wasn’t exactly what he’d expected. Underneath all that demure, sweet charm was a kick that would likely land another man on his butt.

The scent and sight of her bombarded his senses. Ridge felt like he was under full frontal assault. Her dark hair was piled loosely on her head, with her fringe of bangs and tendrils framing her face. She smelted like a dark, secret passion and looked like trouble waiting to happen. Her black cocktail dress faithfully and devotedly followed every curve of her body with the same fervor a Boy Scout made a promise.

Ridge, however, had never been a Boy Scout.

Her gaze swept over him as if she were checking his appearance. The moment lasted just a shade too long for his pride, so he called her on it. “Everything look okay? Or do you need a closer look?”

Her lashes lowered, momentarily hiding her eyes from him. “My vision is just fine from here. I’m sure you’ve had more than enough women tell you that you look better than fine.” She glanced up then. “But that’s not the issue, is it? I talked to Harrison, and he insists you’re the best.”

Ridge felt a strange twinge at Montgomery’s acknowledgment of his abilities.

When he remained silent, she sighed. “He also insists that you remain my bodyguard.”

“If you hate the idea of having a bodyguard so much, why don’t you remove the risk and stop campaigning?”

Dara shook her head. “That’s not an option. I owe Harrison. I’m not sure it’s the kind of debt that can ever be paid in full, but I can help him now, in this role.” She shrugged. “Besides, I believe in him. If ever a man was born and bred to be president, it’s Harrison Montgomery.”

At her words, a deep resentment burned in his gut. He knew Montgomery had been raised in a privileged home by two supportive parents, had attended the best schools, and married a wife with a pedigree. On the other hand, Ridge had been raised in near poverty by a drug-addicted single mother and he had barely graduated from public high school. With the help of the United States Marine Corps, however, he’d worked past his anger and made something of himself. Dara’s blind admiration brought every cynical instinct to the surface. “I suppose you agree with all his views.”

Dara paused and looked at him curiously. “No. I wouldn’t say I agree with all his views. But I do think he’ll make a great leader for our country. My opinion may be partly influenced by my personal experience with him. Harrison has been a stable, supportive force in my life since I was born.” Something dark and painful flickered in her eyes, and her voice softened. “Sometimes, he was the only stable, supportive person.”

He wondered at the source of the pain in her gaze, but she cleared her throat and smiled self-consciously. “That’s another story, though. One you’re probably not interested in, so—”

“Don’t bank on it,” Ridge interjected.

“Bank on what?”

“Don’t assume that I’m not interested in hearing anything about you.”

Dara felt the strangest clutch of excitement in her chest. His direct gaze left her floundering. “I, uh, I—” She cursed her stammering tongue. Heaven help her, she’d been coached by one of the best media specialists in the country to deliver a stutter-free speech. Why was she fumbling now?

“Knowing you is part of my job, and as Montgomery told you, I do my job very well.”

Dara blinked. He wasn’t interested in her personally, she realized. He was only interested in her professionally. Humiliation flooded her chest. Anger followed soon after. Why should she care what Ridge Jackson thought of her? He was just an overgrown baby-sitter.

She took a deep breath to calm herself. “I’m sure you’ve been given all the information you need to do your job.” She fought the edge she felt creeping into her voice. “We really need to be leaving for the dinner with the Chamber of Commerce. I’ve already phoned my escort—” Unable to recall the man’s name, she frowned and reached for her calendar in her purse. “Tom,” she said finally, feeling Ridge’s eyes on her and wondering why he made her feel more nervous than when she stood in front of a crowd of thousands. “Tom Andrews. I told him we’d pick him up on the way. Is that okay?”

“Fine. Do you need your coat?”

“Yes.” She reached for the blue wool cape, but Ridge put it around her shoulders.

“You know you’re safe with me, don’t you, Dara?”

“Of course,” she murmured, but something about his velvet-and-steel voice didn’t make her feel the least bit safe.

Ridge watched the crowd, not Dara. That was his job, after all. Still, he was aware of her every move. While he watched the exits, he heard her give Harrison Montgomery a glowing recommendation. His gaze moving constantly over the crowd, he wondered how she had managed to rouse the conservative group to wild applause after her brief speech. If she was Montgomery’s secret weapon, then she was more effective than the Pied Piper. He could just hear the sounds of levers being pulled on the voting machines, all for Montgomery.

It was enough to make him puke.

Ridge kept his seething temper to himself, as he had for fourteen years. The perfect moment would come, he knew it in his bones, when he could take his vengeance against Montgomery. This consuming grudge Ridge held against the presidential candidate had the potential to destroy him, and the time had come to do something about it.

He had a plan to settle the score. The first step was gaining Montgomery’s trust. If Ridge had wanted to exact his revenge from a distance he could have called one of the rag magazines and spilled his story, but it wasn’t enough just to ruin him. He wanted Montgomery to hurt, to feel a fraction of the betrayal Ridge had felt when he watched his mother die. Maybe then, he could rid himself of the anger that had burned inside him for so long. Maybe then, he could find peace.

Mindful of the woman who would unknowingly help him accomplish his goal, Ridge looked at Dara and saw her check her watch. When she thought no one was looking, she squeezed the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. Opening them, she glanced in his direction and nodded. That was the prearranged signal for them to leave. Ridge motioned the chauffeur to collect the limo while Dara said her goodbyes.

“It’s been lovely,” she said to the mayor. “I appreciate your including me tonight, and I’ll be sure to pass on your good wishes to Harrison.”

Her escort stood beside her. “Let me walk you to the car. Are you sure you don’t want to go out for a drink? There’s a nice lounge just around the corner.” He placed his hand at her back. “Or if you want to get away from the crowd, we-could go to my place.”

Dara shook her head and smiled, flashing her dimple. “I’d love to, but it’s been a long day. Maybe—”

Tom Andrews turned on the charm. “Aw, come on, just one little drink. I get introduced to a beautiful woman only to have to tell her goodbye three hours later.”

Walking behind the couple, Ridge decided he couldn’t fault the guy for his persistence. He could fault him for other reasons, though. Ridge would bet that Dara’s date was hoping to use her to pump up his own political prospects. Andrews was running for the state senate.