“Well, I do that.”
“Don’t. You can just stay outside.”
I raised an eyebrow. “In the cold?”
“Wear a jacket.”
I took back my thoughts that she was almost sexy. She was frigid. “I make rounds. I’ll be making rounds while I’m here.”
“That doesn’t work for me.”
I shrugged. “Too bad.”
She jerked the jacket closed and shoved her hair behind her ears. They were pierced with two of the biggest diamonds I’d ever seen. “I’m going to talk to Gerald. I don’t think there’s any reason that you need to be walking around up here.”
“Talk to whoever you want, lady. I’m just here trying to make sure no one sneaks in and murders you.”
Her eyes went wide and her hands froze on the buttons of that crisp jacket. She licked her lips nervously. “Murders me?”
“Stalkers usually progress. What’d you think? That he was just going to admire you forever?”
Her cheeks went pink again and her eyes suddenly narrowed, just enough for me to see that her brain was firing away inside her head. “This isn’t going to work.”
Before I could say anything else to her, she was hurrying off, down the stairs, off to give Gerald hell, I was sure. I just shrugged and finished looking around the top floor.
I found them in the kitchen, talking in hushed tones with their heads together when I made it back downstairs. I almost laughed at the haughty look Charlotte tossed at me over her shoulder.
“Mr. Fields. Is walking around the house necessary?”
I nodded. “I like to make sure the house is secure. The best way to do that is by walking around.”
Gerald clasped his hands together and smiled another one of those weird skin-tugging smiles. “Then, that’s what you’ll do. Anything to keep our Charlotte safe. Now, come on. Mr. Fields is driving you to your interview, Charlotte.”
She looked like she was about to argue, but the look that Gerald gave her zipped her lips. Instead, she tucked her purse under her arm and gave a curt nod. “You won’t be coming, Gerald?”
“I’ll be there before the interview starts, but I have a few calls to make here first. You’ll just be alone while they’re doing your hair and makeup.”
I looked her over. Her hair and makeup wasn’t already done? Instead of saying anything, I just shook my head and headed towards the front of the house. I was actually glad Gerald wasn’t coming. I needed to ask the haughty Charlotte a few things.
I looked around the front yard and beyond, past the tall fence and privacy shrubs. The land felt secure and the previous walk-arounds I’d done were promising. With a little bit of work, the house would be a fortress.
Charlotte glided past me down the stairs and pulled open the back door. She was about to climb in when I caught her arm and stopped her. Her elbow felt too thin under my hand and I immediately let go.
“From now on, you wait until I give you the all-clear to come out.”
Her mouth tightened into a thin line and she looked like she was going to argue, but instead, she just nodded once and slid into the backseat.
I shut the door and shook my head. She was a cold one. That was fine. She could be cold all she wanted, just as long as she didn’t get in my way.
I got behind the wheel of the expensive car and adjusted the rearview mirror so I could see her. “So, you and I are going to talk.”
“We don’t have anything to talk about.”
“Yeah, we do. Why’d you toss the letter last night?”
She frowned. “It was an accident.”
“Honey, I was born at night, but it wasn’t last night. Come on.”
“It was an accident. That’s all there is to say.”
I waited for the gate to open and held her gaze from the backseat. “Fine. Say it was an accident. What’d the letter say?”
She pulled out her phone and started hitting a few keys and I thought she was actually going to ignore me until she glanced back up and sighed. “The same stuff as always. He wants me, we’ll be together soon, all that jazz.”
“Tell me about him. When did it all start?”
“Isn’t there a file or something you can read?”
I smirked at her. “I’d prefer hearing it straight from the horse’s mouth.”
Her eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t remember when it all started. Letters just started coming. His eventually stood out as a little off. They got more and more intense. Then they started showing up in person. That’s been going on for a while. The letters, always just a single sheet of paper, just show up. Like last night. It was in the car after the valet brought it back to us.”
“Did you or Gerald call the cops?”
“What’s the point? We’ve reported almost everything and they haven’t done anything. There’s nothing they can do. They basically told us last time that unless it escalated, they couldn’t do anything.”
“Are you scared?” I wasn’t sure why I’d asked it, if just to catch her off guard and have her be real with me.
Her eyes shuttered and she looked away. Instead of answering right away, she pulled something from her purse and held it up to her face. She was reapplying lipstick, I realized. “I think it’s just some sad person who wants attention. There’s nothing that scary about that.”
I focused on the road and couldn’t help but roll my eyes. So much for being real. I didn’t know what I’d been expecting. Branson had made it clear that Charlotte was a pain. I’d just assumed that he was being dramatic. Already, though, there was something that bothered me about her. I wasn’t sure what it was exactly, but I got the feeling I couldn’t trust her.
Chapter 5
Charlie
I thought about that eye roll for a lot longer than I should have. It was a move more befitting a teenager than some buff security guard, but it didn’t stop him from doing it. It clarified what he thought of me once and for all, and I didn’t even think he’d done it for my benefit. That was what sucked the most. He just honestly felt that disgusted with me. Within twenty minutes of meeting me.
I glanced over at him and frowned. In a sea of makeup brushes and silky outfits, he looked about as natural as a Twinkie sitting in Yellowstone. Or more like Yellowstone, sitting on a Twinkie…
The network’s makeup artist was fanning stuff over my face, their hair stylist was pinning and tucking my hair within an inch of my life, and there was someone else taking the bright-pink polish off of my toes. They wanted me wearing open-toed shoes and wanted something a little more demure to be peeking out. Someone else was behind me, sewing me into a beautiful tan dress.
My reflection in the mirror was strained. I was doing my best to keep the smile on my face, but I was already exhausted. There was a mound of setting powder under my eyes as the makeup artist applied more eyeshadow to the crease of my eyelids. I looked like a ghost. And somewhere behind all of that was Tucker Fields. Standing in the most casual way he probably knew how to, he had turned the heat in the small room up by about fifteen degrees.
He didn’t blend in at all. Since he’d walked into the room, everyone had been distracted. I’d been stabbed more than once because someone’s eyes had trailed over to him instead of me. In his beat-up jeans and ratty T-shirt, he looked like he was going to band practice, instead of guarding someone. Did he even have a gun? What kind of guard didn’t have a gun?
Glancing at his arms, I doubted he actually needed one. He was built. Being stuck by John’s side for so many years, I’d started to forget what real muscles looked like. I doubted Tucker’s muscles came from doing yoga and light cardio a few times a week. I bet he bench-pressed all of the women lining up to have his babies.
I heard someone sigh and felt the hair stylist giggle and elbow me. I tore my eyes away from his arms and looked up at her. She moved her eyes to Tucker and wagged her eyebrows.
I stole another glance at him, just to find him watching me. His face wa
s blank, but his eyes held mine in the mirror. I held my breath and looked down at the new tan shade of my toenails.
The door to the small dressing room blew open and Gerald strolled in like he didn’t have a care in the world. All smiles, he looked me over and nodded. “Looks good. I like the tan.”
Of course he did. I just held my smile in place and stared past my reflection in the mirror.
“How long until she’s ready?”
“Four minutes.”
“Make it three. I need to talk to her for a minute before she goes out.”
They all finished up and trooped out of the room, leaving Tucker, Gerald, and me. Gerald looked back at Tucker and raised his eyebrows. “You mind?”
Tucker bared his teeth in what some might consider a smile. “Not at all.”
Gerald frowned, but just leaned in closer to me. “You know what to say?”
I nodded. I’d gone over the bullet points he’d given me. “I’m pushing the new season of the show.”
“They’re going to ask you about Sam.”
I flinched. “How do they know about that?”
He shrugged, all too clueless. “It’s public record, I guess, since we filed it with the police. You know how these things go.”
“I’m not talking about that.”
Gerald nodded. “Yes, you are. They’ll ask and you’ll answer.”
I shook my head and shoved my hair behind my ears, which Gerald instantly pulled back out. “No. I don’t want to draw attention to that stuff.”
“We’ll talk about this later.”
“When is later? I don’t want to do it, Gerald.”
He leaned in closer, so he knew Tucker wouldn’t be able to hear. “I don’t care, Charlie. Just smile and answer the questions when you’re asked.”
My face flushed red at being treated like a pawn that he could control. I wanted to scream at him and possibly even jab him in the eyes with the long nails he made me wear. It wasn’t easy to bite my tongue and pretend like I wasn’t upset, but that’s what I did. Charlotte would grin and move on, so that’s what I did.
When I looked into the mirror, I saw Tucker frowning while taking in the exchange. I scowled at him and turned away from the mirror. I just wanted to get everything over with and go home so I could pretend to pee and have two minutes to myself.
“Fine. Let’s get this over with.”
A few hours later, I was in the backseat with Gerald, his arm casually strewn across the seat behind me while he scrolled through his phone with his other hand. Tucker still had the rearview mirror tilted down, so I could see his face. He looked just as annoyed as he had the entire day, so far.
He had thick eyebrows, the kind models would kill for, and they were pulled together, the skin between them wrinkling. He glanced up at me randomly and that wrinkle grew deeper before he looked back at the road.
“It’s already picking up steam. Someone in the studio released the news that you have a stalker and a new security guard. This is great!”
I frowned. It wasn’t great. It was going to be more of a circus act than my life already was. I didn’t want to deal with it.
“Look! Entertainment got a great shot of us leaving the studio. They published it already!”
I crossed my arms and looked out of my window. The city passed by quickly and turned into the suburbs. We passed house after house that all looked the same before getting to mine. I was so ready to escape Gerald that as soon as the car stopped moving, I was out and hurrying towards the front door.
A large hand wrapped around my upper arm as soon as I stepped foot inside and I looked up to find Tucker scowling down at me. I pulled my arm, but he held firm. “Let me go.”
“You stay in the car until I tell you to get out of the car. Got it?”
Another man telling me what to do. Great. I yanked my arm away from him and all but stomped towards the stairs. I was busy thinking about what an asshole he was when Gerald called to me.
“Carlos will be here in thirty minutes. Get changed and then come back down here.”
I gritted my teeth and continued up to my room. I yanked the earrings out of my ears and put them on top of my dresser before shedding the rest of my clothes and slipping into the bathroom. I turned the hot water on in the shower and stepped in. Before I could help it, I was crying tears of frustration.
As if there weren’t enough people in my life bossing me around, there was now another one. For about the millionth time, I wondered how I’d gotten myself in so deep. I wondered if there would ever be a way out. I felt trapped.
Even as I was thinking that, there was a knock on the bathroom door and then Gerald walked in. It wasn’t abnormal for him to follow me from room to room, giving orders and clarifying exactly what he expected of me.
I covered myself and grunted. “Get out, Gerald. I just need a few seconds to finish.”
He waved me off. “You don’t have anything I haven’t seen, nor am I interested in anything you have.”
“This can’t wait?”
“No. John is going to be gone for the next couple of days. He got a great gig. Security will be here, almost round the clock, until he gets back.”
I turned the water off and grabbed my towel. “It’s not like I have a choice. Why are you even telling me?”
He stared at me for a few minutes, his eyes harsh as they moved down my body. “You’re holding weight in your stomach. John told me about the cheesecake. I’ll have Carlos work your core extra today.”
Instead of giving me a chance to argue, he turned and left. I glared after him, wanting nothing more than to punch him in the back of his head. Since that wouldn’t happen, ever, I dried off and quickly got dressed in my workout clothes.
I braided my hair down my back and then slipped my feet into my tennis shoes. I didn’t want to work out, but fighting Gerald about it never proved to result in anything other than a headache.
Opening my door, I stepped out, just to find Tucker walking towards me. Frustration bubbled up and I felt like screaming. The other guards hadn’t come upstairs. I didn’t know why he had to.
“Looking sporty, Charlotte.”
I frowned; I couldn’t help it. “Why are you up here again?”
“I already explained. I like to make sure the house is secure.”
“It’s no less secure than the last time you checked it.”
“You may as well get over it, honey. This is how it’s going to work.”
I shook my head and hurried downstairs. Carlos was already waiting for me. He took one look at my face and nodded towards the workout room.
“You look like you need a good workout, Mrs. Charlotte. Gerald said to make sure we do more core work today, but maybe we’ll focus on some cardio.”
I shrugged. I didn’t care. It wasn’t like I got a say, anyway.
Carlos had me warm up on the treadmill and then he wrapped my wrists and had me practice punching at him about a million times. We moved to kicking and then a combo of both. My heart was pounding and I’d sweated through my top. I was nearing exhaustion, but Carlos made me keep going. Back on the treadmill and then down into some cooling stretches. By the time he left the room, I was flat on my back, soaked in sweat.
“You always work out that hard?”
I opened my eyes to see Tucker standing over me. “Sometimes.”
He extended his hand and nodded to it. “Come on. Let me help you up. You should go get some meat in you.”
I raised my eyebrows before I could act aloof, like Charlotte. Still, I took his hand and let him pull me to my feet. His hand was rough and warm and he pulled me up with what looked like zero effort.
“Protein. Don’t tell me you’ve got a dirty mind, Charlotte.” His smirk was alarmingly handsome.
I stared up at him and licked my dry lips. I hadn’t touched a man in almost ten years. Playing Charlotte meant I was married. Married to a gay man who wouldn’t touch me if his life depended on it. Not that I’d ever want him t
o. Unless it was to strangle me and put me out of my misery. Suddenly having the entire attention of a man like Tucker was a lot for my poor hormones to take. I knew better, though. He was just another problem. My hormones could pack it up and go back West, because they were as good as dead at that point.
“Don’t you have a house to secure?”
Tucker took a step back and winked at me. “You’re right. I’m glad you see it my way.”
I watched him walk towards the door and then look back at me. I braced myself for whatever he was going to say and narrowed my eyes at him.
“Better get that meat in you, honey. You look like you really need it.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and waited for him to leave before growling and looking up at the ceiling. I couldn’t have him around constantly. He was an asshole. More than that, he was an asshole who watched me. I didn’t need that. I needed freedom.
Chapter 6
Tucker
I’d been waking up for days with the image in my head of Charlotte Crier-Banks after her workout. Sweaty, red in the face, that perky chest rising and falling fast. She was pretty when she was all dolled up. No one could deny that. That version of her was hardly sexy, though. It was cold and stiff. After a workout, though… she was a fucking knockout. Her eyes were brighter; those pouty lips were always parted in a way that made my dick hard.
That wasn’t to say I liked her any more than I had when I first met her. She was a brat. She kept on a sweet smile in front of most people, but when no one was looking, she just scowled constantly. She was as fake as they came and she complained fucking constantly. It was a pain in the ass, especially since she was complaining about me more often than not. I’d taken to annoying her on purpose. She annoyed me, so I didn’t see why not.
She’d especially annoyed me on the two nights I’d managed to get away and meet up with a woman at a bar. All during sex, both times, I’d thought of those pouty lips of hers. It was insanity.
The last thing I wanted was to think of her—at all. I couldn’t say that thinking of her hadn’t made me come harder than I had in a while, though. That pissed me off, too. She was a prissy bitch. I wasn’t even sure what she did all day long. She got her hair and makeup done a lot, but beyond that, I was pretty sure her job was just to hot-glue her bad attitude to her fake smile. At least I thought she used hot glue. Lauren had said something about that.
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