At the Boss's Beck and Call

Chapter 8

'She's not like the others, is she?' Ken grinned wickedly at Ross. They were back in Ross's hotel suite after their day-long meeting. Ross was enthusiastic to see if he could resolve the overheating of the sensor on his prototype.

'What are you talking about?' Ross feigned ignorance, his head down, studying the circuit board. From the corner of his eye, momentarily, he attuned himself to Savannah watching the Japanese channel with ear plugs on. She did not want to disturb them.

'Savannah,' Ken spoke her name softly. He allowed his eyes to stray to her before he returned his perceptive eyes back to Ross.

'She's my secretary,' Ross retorted gruffly.

'I knew that,' Ken smirked sarcastically.

'What's that supposed to mean?' Ross glared at his friend.

'I'm a highly paid field operative. 'You're paying me a fortune to baby sit your secretary.'

Ross looked away. He knew he should have left Savannah at home. Damn, he should have known too, that Ken was too sharp and would have seen through his guise.

'And you tell me, you're going to cut the trip short,' Ken added. 'My guess is, you suspect your secretary could be a target,' his voice was even lower.

The pulse at Ross's throat throbbed violently. He directed his eyes to Savannah. She was laughing at something she was watching on the TV, her fingers abstractly wrapping around her glowing brunette tresses. He allowed his eyes to rake over Savannah, but this time is was not with lust, it was with concern for her safety. No harm should ever come to her. He would not allow it. He will dissect this planet piece by piece until he found the person who would harm her or attempt to take her away from him, then he would rip every limb from their body piece by piece until nothing was left.

As if sensing Ross's eyes on her, Savannah looked his way, their eyes locked for a millisecond before she quickly removed the earplugs thinking Ross needed her. He shook his head and she returned her attention to the TV. Ross narrowed his eyes glaringly at his friend.

'You have an overactive imagination Takahashi,' Ross growled and stood up.

'Right,' Ken needled, following Ross to the drinks cabinet, where Ross poured himself a liberal amount of scotch.

'Pour your own drink,' Ross hissed inhospitably.

'Off course,' Ken reached out for the bottle. 'It's not like you to tend to such menial tasks, that's why you have a secretary,' he taunted as he emptied his glass.

'You've overstayed your welcome,' Ross pulled the glass out of Ken's hand.

'Yes,' Ken looked at his watch. 'My wife wanted me home early tonight,' Ken walked towards the door.

'How is OJ?' Ross smiled affectionately.

'You should come see for yourself.'

Ross would love to visit Ken's home and greet OJ but his gut feeling was telling him to get out of Japan and he never disobeyed his instincts. He still needed to tell Savannah to pack and to inform their pilot that they were leaving tonight, but first he planned to take Savannah out and show her some of the sights. His heart leaped into acrobatics at the thought of seeing her enthusiastic responses at Tokyo's attractions.

Ross gripped Ken's shoulders in a brotherly embrace. 'Another time Ken. Apologize to OJ for me. I need to go home.'

'Sure, nice seeing you again Ross. Next time make it a social call,' he smiled.

'Sure,' Ross nodded.

'Savannah,' Ken waved to get her attention.

'Sorry?' She removed the plugs again and stood up.