Dad Bod Orc, page 1
Dad Bod Orc
DAD BOD MONSTER EDITION
TANA STONE
BROADMOOR BOOKS
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Epilogue
Also by Tana Stone
About the Author
Chapter
One
Roc
Irubbed a hand over the bunched muscles in my neck as I pushed back from the desk, my chair rolling across the black, hardwood floors and slowing to a stop before the wheels bumped into the glass wall. I didn’t need to crane my sore neck to know that the sun had set long ago. I didn’t need to twist around to know that the lights from Los Angeles were flickering behind me. I didn’t need to peer out the glass wall of my home office to realize that another day had come and gone without me leaving my enclave high up Mulholland Drive. But I did.
With a groan and a loud exhale, I stood and braced my hands on the glass. The view never got old, even if I didn’t enjoy venturing into the city that provided it.
“City of Angels,” I said, with a rumbling laugh. As beautiful as the city lights might be, I knew enough of the dark side to shake my head. There were few angels in LA.
Scraping a hand through the dark, shaggy hair that fell to my shoulders, I padded on bare feet from my office to the kitchen. “But there’s no shortage of monsters.”
This made me chuckle again, since I was one of the inhuman creatures who’d integrated with society and become more human than monster. Sometimes I wondered if I’d assimilated too well and lost too many of my orc ways, especially since I wasn’t a pureblood.
I caught a glimpse of my olive-green skin in the reflection of the glass oven door as I headed for the refrigerator. Nope, I still looked like a three-quarter orc, and no amount of stylish, black clothing, or expensive cologne, would change that.
I yanked open the stainless-steel fridge door and grabbed a green juice from the top shelf. At least I didn’t crave blood like the vamps. Orcs—especially ones mixed with humans, like me—had been accepted better than most monsters. It helped that we were known for impressive physical strength, which meant we were in high demand in construction work and in the military.
My top lip curled, catching for a moment on one of the small tusks that poked up from my bottom lip. The thought of joining one of the orc construction teams had never appealed to me, but it wasn’t because I wasn’t as strong as the purebloods. Well, maybe I wasn’t, but my less-burly build meant I was quicker and had faster reflexes, both traits that came in handy in my line of work.
My office phone trilled as I twisted off the cap from the juice bottle and took a glug. I checked my watch. Who was calling so late?
I ignored it as I swept my hair up into a man bun and started for my bedroom, unbuttoning my shirt as I went. The office line stopped ringing, but I barely had a chance to enjoy the silence before the phone in my pocket started to vibrate.
“Orc’s blood,” I cursed, as I retrieved my phone and left my shirt hanging open. I didn’t check the number before answering it. Only clients had my cell number, so if someone was calling, it was important. “Orc, Inc. Security. This is Roc.”
“Roc!” The voice on the other end released a long sigh. “Sorry to bother you after hours, old friend.”
My mouth gaped. Not a client. “Jack?”
“I know it’s been a while, but you know how crazy life gets.”
I was too startled to reply. Jack might not have been a client of my personal security firm, but he had every reason to know my number. He was the one responsible for giving me my big break into providing orc security details for Hollywood celebrities. We’d both been young and new in LA, fast friends in a faster town. He’d become a talent agent and risen quickly in the ranks, while I’d struggled to find my place. That is, until Jack had recommended me as a bodyguard for one of his clients. One client had turned into many, until I had a staff of orcs providing security details for both the famous and infamous in Tinseltown and a business more successful than my most audacious dreams.
“It has been a while,” I managed to say, as I pivoted away from my bedroom door. It had, in fact, been years since I’d heard from Jack directly. He’d gotten married, inherited step-kids, had more kids of his own, and drifted away from guys’ nights out and casual hangs after work. I’d become more and more focused on my business until it was the smog-filled air I lived and breathed.
“That’s my fault.” Jack exhaled, and I could almost hear him rubbing a hand across his forehead like he used to do so often. “Between taking care of clients and my family, I dropped the ball.”
I shook my head even though he couldn’t see me. “No apologies needed.” Then it struck me that he must have a reason for calling me after so long and so late. “Is everything okay? Hallie and the kids are okay?”
“Everyone’s fine, although the kids aren’t such little kids anymore.” He barked out a pained laugh. “That’s actually why I’m calling, Roc. I need a favor.”
The worry in his voice made my spine straighten as I walked slowly back down the hallway. “Anything for you, Jack. You know that. I owe you everything.”
“You don’t owe me a thing.” His voice was stern. “You earned your success. I just gave you a push in the right direction.”
I knew we could argue all night, and Jack still wouldn’t take the credit we both knew was his due. It didn’t matter. Jack was my oldest friend, and I would never let him down. “Tell me what you need.”
“I need you to be a personal bodyguard for a new actress. She’s flying to a location shoot, and I want you to go with her.”
I dragged one hand down the sides of my short beard as I passed through the kitchen. “You mean one of my guys, right? I don’t do personal details anymore. It’s a young orc’s game.”
Jack let out a bark of laughter. “You’re younger than me, and I do not consider myself old. Besides, orcs age slower than humans and live longer.”
I stole a look at my waist, which was no longer a washboard of muscles. Shifting from field work to managing my business from behind a desk had some definite drawbacks. “Of course, I’ll do it if this is what you want, but why do you want me? I have a fleet of orc bodyguards who are the best in the business.”
“I believe you, and I know your guys are the best. My talent agency still only uses Orc, Inc.”
“Then it isn’t my orcs. It’s this actress.” I walked toward my office. “You said she was new, so how much scrutiny could she be attracting?”
“She’s on a hit TV show, and as the show’s villain, she’s been getting some unwanted attention.”
I strode through the door of my office and took in the 180-degree view of the city lights spread out in front of me, a good reminder that Jack was a big part of why I had such a nice house with such a spectacular view. “Then maybe we should put a team on her.”
“No team. I was barely able to convince her to have a single bodyguard for this trip. She isn’t crazy about the security the studio has provided her so far—not your guys, clearly—and says they stifle her freedom. She hoped this location shoot would be a break from the LA spotlight and is not happy that I’m insisting on a bodyguard.”
Clients who hated how security hampered their lives weren’t new to me. It was one of the many reasons I’d stopped taking on personal assignments. Catering to the unreasonable whims of pampered starlets and cocky billionaires had taken its toll, as had trying to keep clients safe while they complained about the intrusive fans who had made them rich.
I sighed. “Your client isn’t going to make this easy on me, is she?”
“She’s not my client, Roc. The actress you’ll be protecting is my daughter.”
I squeezed my eyes closed. Fuck me.
Chapter
Two
Harlowe
Ijammed another sweater into my suitcase and heaved the top over to close it, even though the bulge of clothes that spilled out the sides told me that it wasn’t going to be easy. Sitting on the matte-silver hull of the roll-aboard brought the two sides a bit closer as I yanked at the zipper and cursed under my breath. I bounced up and down a few times, finally tugging the straining zipper all the way around and huffing out a breath. “Take that!”
I scraped a hand through my long hair. I was too young to be this angry, too young to be this burned out, too young to be sick of my life already. But I wasn’t too young to be splashed across the covers of gossip magazines with salacious lies and the occasional painful truth buried inside the pages like precious gold flakes among so much dirt.
Standing, I glared at the suitcase sitting on the impossibly white carpet of my enormous closet, as if it were the reason for my anger. Anger that had been simmering inside me since I’d gotten the call from my dad telling me he was sending a bodyguard with me o
“I don’t need a bodyguard,” I’d argued, as I’d paced the cool black tile of my kitchen, the only thing in my new house that wasn’t white. “You’re being ridiculous.”
“I’ve seen the messages you’ve been getting on social media, Harlowe.” My dad—technically my stepdad, but I’d always called him my dad since he’d raised me—had sounded genuinely worried.
I’d stalked from my open kitchen into the living room and flopped onto the armless sofa across from the armless chairs in the house that was too chic to contain any furniture with limbs. “People are upset that Zander and I broke up, but it will blow over.”
I hated admitting that my entanglement with my co-star and love interest on our TV show—which everyone from my dad to my agent to my best friend had advised against—had blown up in my face. It didn’t matter that he’d ended it. All fans saw was the show’s temptress breaking Zander’s heart on TV, so they decided that I was the villain in real life. Forget the fact that Zander was the one with the actual wandering eye. I couldn’t prove that his other parts had wandered, but I had serious suspicions.
“Maybe, but I don’t like the threats you’ve been getting. It only takes one…” His words had trailed off, but I didn’t need him to finish the thought to know what he meant.
Although I claimed not to read social media comments, that was a lie. I’d seen what fans had posted about me, and I wasn’t blind to the threats. Threats menacing enough for the studio to insist on extra security on set, and for me to be glad that I had a wall and gate around my house as well as a top-notch security system. I thought of the one fan who had made the scariest threats—and posted photos of himself outside my house—and I took a breath to steady my nerves.
I peered out the sliding glass doors that led to the terrace and the long pool overlooking the city. The gray haze huddled over LA was the only reason the view of so much glitz wasn’t blinding in the mid-day, California sun. “This is supposed to be a relaxed location shoot. It’s not even for the show. No one knows where I’m going or that I’m going.”
“Not yet.”
I released a tortured sigh I immediately regretted. I was twenty-three, but every time I talked to my dad, I felt like I was a little kid again. I got that he felt responsible for me, especially since it was his proximity to actors that had made me want to become one, but I hated that he made me feel like a child. Then I thought of what my scary fan had said he wanted to do to me, and a shiver slid down my spine. “Fine. One bodyguard, but he has to be low profile. I do not want to feel like I have a babysitter.”
“I’m going to get you the best.”
I stilled, a flicker of unease tickling my spine. I knew my dad used orc security exclusively, which I didn’t mind. Having a hulking orc as a bodyguard usually scared off anyone who dared to approach you. I’d wished that the studio hired orcs more than once, since their human security details hadn’t done much to dissuade the throngs of fans that hung around the studio gates. I imagined an orc bodyguard body slamming one of the guys who yelled out things he wanted to do to me, and I grinned.
Then my grin faded. As long as my dad didn’t assign his friend Roc to protect me. Even the thought of the hot part-orc made my breath hitch in my throat. It had been years since I’d seen him, but I couldn’t imagine that the green-skinned guy with dark hair he wore in a ponytail and serious don’t-mess-with-me vibes had changed much. He’d given me butterflies when I was a teenager, and even now, the thought of him made my mouth go dry.
But Jack hadn’t mentioned Roc in ages, and I hadn’t even heard of the owner of Orc, Inc. providing security for anyone in a long time. He used to appear in the background of celebrity photos every so often, but that had stopped. As far as I knew, the guy could be retired.
“Only for this shoot.” I matched my stern tone to my dad’s. “This is not permanent.”
He’d sighed, making me feel like I was fulfilling every stereotype of a spoiled starlet. “Fine.”
“Everything will be okay, Dad.” My voice softened. “I promise.”
“Do you also promise to be nice to the bodyguard I’m sending? No running off or trying to ditch him.”
I opened my mouth to protest before I realized he must have talked to the studio and heard about the times that Zander and I had given our security detail the slip. That had been more Zander’s idea than mine, but no one believed that the golden boy was trouble. Not when I was around to blame for all the bad behavior.
I was too tired to argue anymore or explain my side of the story. “I promise.”
Now that I stood in my closet, packed and ready to go, I regretted making that promise, especially since all I wanted to do was grab my suitcase and make a run for it. I eyed the silver case, wondering how far I could make it alone before I was spotted by an overeager fan and my photo ended up on social media. Maybe outside my front door?
The gate alarm jangled me from my pointless fantasies, and I grabbed my phone from a tufted bench, glancing quickly at the time and cursing that the orc bodyguard was a few minutes early. I shoved my phone into the pocket of my hoodie and released the handle of my suitcase so I could drag it from the closet, through my bedroom, and down the hall with me.
“If my fans could see me now,” I muttered to myself with a laugh. I’m sure everyone would have expected Hollywood’s newest diva to have a cadre of staff to do everything from pack to carry, but the truth was I despised having strangers underfoot. I’d always loved time alone, which was yet another reason I hated the idea of a bodyguard who would be with me all the time. Even if it meant dragging a suitcase so heavy it was giving my palm a blister.
The bell rang again, making me regret sending my assistant away early. “Chill out. I’m coming!”
I paused at the front double doors and gave a final glance at the Spartan interior of the house I’d only occupied for a few weeks, all white and glass and sharp edges. I wouldn’t miss this place, even though it was exactly the kind of modern chic house everyone expected me to have. A location shoot in a quaint small town in the middle of nowhere was exactly what I needed, even if I did have to put up with a bodyguard tagging along.
Taking a quick glance at the monitor that showed me who was at the gate, I saw a driver in a limousine holding up studio credentials. No surprise there. The studio and my new bodyguard were apparently working together to coordinate my security and transportation.
I pressed the button to open the gate then made a quick dash to the kitchen to grab a can of water—eco-friendly so fans wouldn’t see me with a single-use plastic bottle and call me out—before I ventured into the Southern California heat. A rap on the door told me that the limo hadn’t wasted any time winding up the short, circular drive.
I opened the door and stepped aside so my orc bodyguard could come in and get my bag. “Just the one suitcase…” My words drifted into nothingness as my new bodyguard turned around. He might have been older and the slightest bit bulkier, but Roc had the same black hair pulled half up and dark scruff that I remembered so well. If I hadn’t been holding onto the doorframe, I might have sagged to the floor. My childhood crush was my new bodyguard?
Fuck me.
Chapter
Three
Roc
Istole a sideways glance at the woman sitting next to me in the limousine. When Jack had said I would be protecting his daughter, I’d assumed he meant his younger daughter. I’d been fully prepared to escort a child star to a shoot that I’d thought would be with Disney or maybe Nickelodeon. I hadn’t been prepared for the bombshell brunette who’d opened the door.
From her wide eyes and dangling jaw, I guessed she hadn’t expected me either, but being part-orc, I was used to that kind of reception. She’d recovered quickly, stammering something about her dad not mentioning that I’d be her bodyguard before she practically bolted for the waiting vehicle.
How could I have forgotten Jack’s older stepdaughter? I gave myself a mental scolding as I shook my head in disgust. It had been years since I’d seen Jack and his growing family, but my last memory of Harlowe had been of a slightly gawky, shy teenager. Nothing close to the long-limbed beauty whose jeans-clad legs were stretched in front of her as we rode to the airport.
