Page 18 of Silk Shadow

He snorted.

“Anyway, it's follow-up stuff. Usually, I don't mind, I love what I do, but lately, with father's death and the drama around that, I’ve been feeling a little burned out. That's why I wanted a few days here by myself after the shoot." Her shoulders dropped. "But now Robert's coming."

Robert, the man who’s clothes she did not want to rip off. "Is that a bad thing?"

"It is when you want peace and quiet. He'll insist on talking about the company and while that is important, it's not what I need right now."

Viper didn't reply. It wasn't his place to suggest that she tell Robert not to come, to put up some boundaries, even if that’s what he was thinking. Hell, he didn’t want Robert Hampton-Whatshisname anywhere near her.

Her phone rang. "Excuse me."

She answered it as she went through the connecting door into her suite. "Hi, Max. Great job today." Viper left her to it. She hadn't closed the door behind her so he could hear her chatting on the phone while he took off his shirt. Damn, that felt good.

After locking the suite door from the inside, he walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. He also needed to get rid of the sand and sweat that had accumulated during the day.

He was about to strip off his jeans, when he glanced at the open interleading door. Izzy was still talking on the phone, unaware she’d left it open. Not wanting to risk a repeat of yesterday’s interruption, he grabbed a fresh set of clothes and took them into the bathroom with him. A moment later he was standing under the cool water, letting it wash away the remnants of the day. Bliss.

Then he heard her voice.

Shit, it sounded like she was in the bathroom.

"Viper? Sorry to interrupt, but Emily's here to go through the schedule for tomorrow. I'm going to let her in, okay?"

"No," he called. "Give me a second."

Bad timing.

He climbed out of the shower, leaving it running, and wrapped a towel around his waist. "Never open the door yourself," he told her, reaching for his gun that was lying on his jeans on the toilet seat. "Don't even look through the peephole. I've seen people get their faces blown off doing that."

"Jesus," she whispered, backing out of the bathroom.

He followed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you. It's just a precaution."

Striding across to the door, he stood to one side and called out. “Who is it?”

“It’s Emily. Viper, let me in.”

He opened the door, but not before checking she was alone.

"You took your time," Emily ducked underneath his arm. She looked remarkably well considering her late night and the full day on the beach. Her gaze raked over his glistening body, lingering on his tattoo, then flickered to Izzy whose hair was also damp and combed back off her face. "Did I interrupt something?"

"Don't be silly," Izzy scoffed. "Viper insists on opening the door to everyone, even when he’s in the shower. Come in." They disappeared into her suite.

"Were you in the shower with him?" Emily hissed, before the door closed.

Izzy’s voice. "Don’t be ridiculous."

"Why the fuck not?"

With a sigh, Viper got back into the shower.

CHAPTER 9

"Honey, if his room was this close to mine, I wouldn't come out for anything," Emily said, grinning.

"It's not like that, Em. He's my bodyguard."

"But look at him! He's a freaking god. How can you not be attracted to that?"

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