He held his breath, searching her eyes. ‘What are you saying?’
She dipped her head to kiss his chest. ‘I’m saying thank you for going to this trouble. Thank you for wanting to woo me.’ Once again, she looked over at the table. ‘I’ve never had candles set out for me before.’
‘It’s not too …’ He hesitated, half afraid he’d got it wrong again. ‘Too pretentious?’
‘Oh no, no, no, no. It’s perfect.’ She wrapped her arms around his waist. ‘I was a bit of a cow in The Ivy, wasn’t I?’
He smiled and kissed the top of her head. ‘I would never compare you to a member of the bovine species.’
Her soft laughter rippled through him. ‘Well thank you, kind sir. Still, I know what I said then hurt you, and I didn’t mean it to. I just wanted to make it clear that you don’t need to flash your cash around to impress me.’ She smiled up at him. ‘In case you missed it, I’m already impressed.’
He had to swallow down the lump of emotion. ‘You are?’
She gave his ribs a dig. ‘Yes, Zac Edwards, I’m impressed by you, not your money, not your fame, but you.’ Once again, her eyes drifted over the set table. ‘You know, I’ve never been wooed. Wes wasn’t the romantic sort, and after him, well, I didn’t let anyone get close enough to try.’
He brushed a hand over her hair, and down the side of her face. ‘Will you let me get closer? Will you let me in?’
The world around him seemed to go into freeze-frame as he waited for her reply.
‘I don’t need to let you in,’ she whispered. ‘You’re already there.’
Chapter 30
Kat didn’t want to admit it to Mark, to Zac, to anyone, but inside she was absolutely bricking it. Part of her was questioning her sanity. Why on earth had she insisted on being Zac’s bodyguard still? She wasn’t up against some vague stalker who liked to send notes signed with a kiss. They were dealing with a professional assassin, a paid killer. Was she really good enough to keep Zac safe, when a two-bit terrorist had beaten her?
‘Are you listening to me?’
Mark gave her a hard look and Kat shook herself. They were sitting in the small living area of the flat Zac was holed up in, reviewing the plans for the charity ball tonight. Zac was in the bedroom, going through his speech. The one he’d apparently written a week ago, because he didn’t wing it on the last minute. Of course he didn’t.
‘Sorry.’ She focused back on Mark. ‘I’ll be providing close protection, the police and you will be on surveillance. I’ve got it.’
‘Have you got it, really?’
Though the question was harsh, the voice he used was more concerned than angry. ‘I’m fine.’ But then she remembered who she was talking to. ‘I will be fine,’ she corrected. ‘Right now I’m having a teeny weeny crisis of confidence.’
He relaxed his stern features enough to smile. ‘Teeny weeny, huh?’
‘Yep, that’s all.’ Unwilling to make it into a bigger deal that it needed to be, she changed the subject. ‘When are we doing a recce?’
He glanced down at his watch. ‘Ten minutes work for you?’
She nodded, hating how nervous she felt. Before Wes’s death, she’d never been afraid of anything. Since his death, the only thing that had held fear for her had been the thought of becoming emotionally attached to someone again.
Now she could taste that fear, and it wasn’t fear of falling for Zac – it was too late for that. It was fear of failing him. Of losing him.
‘Hey.’ Mark took hold of the top of her arms, giving them a squeeze. ‘You don’t have to do this.’
‘He’s right.’ Kat jumped as she turned to see Zac standing in the doorway to the bedroom. His eyes narrowed as he took in Mark’s hands, but when he spoke again, it was in the same polite tone. ‘If I thought for one minute you were having second thoughts because you were afraid of being shot, I’d be doing all I could to dissuade you. But it’s not that, is it?’ He stepped forward, slipping his hands into his trouser pockets. ‘You’re afraid I’ll get shot, and you won’t be able to stop it.’
‘Now wait a minute.’ Mark, who’d removed his hold of her arms, started to protest.
‘It’s okay, Mark. Zac knows about Wes.’ She raised her eyes to Zac’s. ‘So he also knows he’s right. I am afraid I’ll cock this up. Yesterday I had all this bravado, but today …’ She huffed out a sigh. ‘Today I don’t know where the flip it’s decided to hide, but I tell you, I’m going to find it again.’
Zac’s lips curved in a small smile. ‘I know, but none of that is an issue for me, because I have faith in you.’
For a split second her heart stuttered, and then seemed to swell as she absorbed his words.
Clearly clueless as to how deeply his comment had affected her, Zac stepped through to the kitchen and started to fill the kettle. ‘Anyone want a drink?’
‘No, thanks, we’re off to do a check of the venue.’ Mark caught Kat’s eye and raised a brow, a world of questions in his stare, all of them involving her and Zac, and where their relationship – she could no longer deny she was in one – was heading.
‘I don’t have the answers,’ she told Mark when they settled into his car.
It was a measure of how well they knew each other, that he didn’t have to ask what she was talking about. ‘But you stayed with him last night.’
‘Yes.’ She shot him a look. ‘And I don’t need to justify that to you.’
‘I’ve not asked you to.’
‘Maybe not, but you’ve got that disapproving expression on your face. The one that’s tighter than a camel’s bum in a sandstorm.’
‘I don’t want you hurt again.’ His hands tightened on the steering wheel. ‘I saw how Wes’s death affected you, remember. I lived through it with you.’
‘I know and I’ll always be grateful.’
There was a heavy pause before Mark spoke again. ‘But grateful is all you’ll be.’
Instinctively Kat opened her mouth to say yes, but then paused, knowing the words that came out next would define their future relationship. Zac might think Mark had feelings for her, but she wasn’t convinced. ‘You know how important you are to me.’
He flicked her a look. ‘Yeah, I guess I do.’
‘And if you’re honest with yourself, you also know that if there was anything more than a deep abiding friendship between us, something would have happened by now.’
There was silence while he negotiated the heavy traffic. It was only when he finally pulled up outside the hotel, the venue for the ball, that Mark spoke again. ‘You’re probably right, though it doesn’t stop me wondering.’
She gave his side a gentle nudge. ‘Come on. I’m like, I don’t know, name me one of the toys you played with as a child. Not the best toy, the most exciting, but the go-to toy when there was nothing else better to do.’
‘Lego? Action Man?
‘Okay, that works, I’m like Action Man. You only decide I’m your favourite thing to play with in the whole wide world when someone else comes along and decides they want to play with Action Man.’
Laughter spluttered out of him. ‘Jesus. I’m never going to look at Action Man the same way again.’
She grinned, but then reached to hold his hand. ‘I’m right though, aren’t I?’
He gave her a wry smile. ‘I guess so. In the back of my mind I’ve always thought maybe we would, you know, one day.’
‘But if we were meant to be, you wouldn’t have waited. You couldn’t have waited, because the brain doesn’t get to choose who we fall in love with.’
‘And is that how it is between you and Zac?’ He didn’t look hurt, which proved her earlier point. ‘Do you love him?’
She thought of how she’d tried so hard to resist Zac, yet ultimately found it futile. She’d been the iron filing to Zac’s powerful magnetic force. Unable to hold off, unable to resist. ‘I’m not sure. Possibly, probably.’ She sighed. ‘Yes, okay. I love him.’
***
He w
as fine. It would be fine. Everything was … fine.
Zac knew if he repeated the words often enough, though they might not come true, they would at least take his mind off the alternative.
He glanced sideways at his driver. He’d never seen Kat so focused, her face so serious.
‘I’m not going to be distracted by you,’ she muttered, her eyes glancing quickly at the rear-view mirror. ‘Your pretty face can stare at me all you like, but I’m not taking my eyes off the road.’
Smiling, he started to undo the buttons of his white Tom Ford shirt. ‘Good God,’ she spluttered. ‘What on earth are you doing?’
‘Proving I can distract you.’
It was only when she didn’t laugh, he realised Kat was feeling the tension as much as he was. ‘You know you can,’ she whispered, eyes staring straight ahead. ‘But please, I need to concentrate.’
He glanced down at his open shirt, feeling foolish. ‘Sorry.’
‘Don’t be.’ Another check in the mirror. ‘Any other time I’d be more than happy to see you unbuttoning your shirt. Just not … now.’
‘Not when you’re trying to ascertain whether a trained killer is following us.’
There was a beat of silence before she answered quietly. ‘Yes, that.’
Everything is fine. He repeated the words to himself, though now they sounded hollow, lacking any real conviction. He’d meant what he’d told Kat, he trusted her implicitly. It didn’t mean he wasn’t fully aware of the potential danger out there. No matter how good she was, how good Mark and the police were, it only took one lucky shot.
‘We can always revert to plan B. Usher you in through the back entrance.’
They’d discussed it with him this morning, but Zac hated the idea of scuttling inside like a scared rabbit. ‘No. If I do that this time, what about the next time, and the one after that? If someone out there is being paid to kill me, they won’t just give up.’
‘True, but equally you can’t blindly carry on doing what you would normally do.’ Her expression tightened. ‘Unless you’re deliberately trying to draw him out.’
He couldn’t deny the thought had crossed his mind. He’d had enough of living the life of a nomad, a life so restricted he couldn’t even pop to the shops without having to put in a request. And then finding his request turned down on the basis of it being not worth the risk.
‘I want this to be over.’ It was as close as he could come to admitting he wanted to put himself out there. He wanted the bastard to have a go, so they had a chance of catching him.
‘I know.’
‘What was the result of this morning’s trip out with Mark?’ There, he’d kept his voice nice and even.
She smirked, the tiniest lift of the corners of her mouth, yet enough for him to know his acting wasn’t quite as good as he’d hoped. ‘You make it sound like we went for a walk in the park.’
Another mirror glance, this time accompanied by a shift of lanes. ‘Is anyone—’
‘There’s nobody following us. I’m just being super cautious.’
‘Okay, good.’ He allowed his heart to settle again. ‘Back to the question.’
Another smile, this time with a hint of secrecy about it. ‘It was … enlightening, I suppose you would call it. I’ll tell you about it later, when—’
‘We’re not dodging bullets.’
‘I was going to say when we’ve got more time.’ She nodded to the sat nav. ‘We’re nearly at the hotel.’
‘Right.’ His heart began to batter against his ribcage.
‘Are you okay?’
‘Sure.’ He discretely wiped the palms of his hands on his Tom Ford trousers.
‘Not nervous about all those dances?’
This time it was her trying to distract him, and he latched onto it gratefully. ‘Are you questioning my ability to give value for money?’
Her smile was calm and steady. ‘I can’t imagine you providing anything less than full value.’
Kat indicated to pull up outside the hotel where there was a waiting crowd of fans several rows deep. Flashlights popped from the half a dozen photographers as the car came to a stop.
‘I guess we should get out of the car.’
‘I guess we should.’ The Kat he knew and loved was back, her bravado found, her bearing confident and self-assured. ‘We don’t want to disappoint those rich ladies.’
‘Quite.’ Once again he ran his hands down his trousers. Then he took a deep breath, and another, before turning to her with the best smile he could muster. ‘After you.’
Chapter 31
Kat had seen Zac Edwards act on the big screen, and she’d seen him act on set. Now he was acting his socks off right in front of her. The smile he’d given her in the car had been a little off, a little wobbly, but as soon as he’d stepped out and onto the pavement, the dazzle was in full force. To look at him now, smiling and laughing with the crowds, nobody would guess he’d just been wiping his sweaty hands all over his designer trousers.
He was, quite simply, magnificent.
She on the other hand, felt like a wreck. Everything she saw made her twitchy. An arm movement, a telephoto lens. A guy at the back of the crowd, who seemed to be just watching.
Watching.
The hairs on the back of her neck started to twitch and she spoke into her microphone. ‘Not sure if I’m being paranoid, but there’s a guy four rows deep in the crowd. Average height, short dark hair, grey lightweight jacket.’
Mark’s voice came through her earpiece. ‘On it.’
Glued to Zac’s side as he posed for photos and scribbled autographs, she scanned the rest of the crowd. When she glanced back at where the guy had been standing, he was gone.
‘Damn. I can’t see him anymore,’ she said into her mic. ‘Have you got eyes on him?’
‘Negative.’
Heart racing, she whispered to Zac. ‘We need to move this along.’
He flashed her a quick look of alarm before nodding and giving the woman whose scarf he’d just autographed a practised smile.
They were now only a few yards from the hotel entrance. Kat knew Mark was in the crowd, checking everyone out. Knew too, that the police were watching surveillance footage from a van parked just up from them. None of it helped.
In the end, she felt she was almost pushing Zac towards the entrance and into the foyer which was decked with balloons and banners in the charity colours.
‘Are we good?’ His eyes looked very slightly wild as he gazed down at her.
‘Of course.’ She mustered her bright, bullshitter smile. ‘You’re with the best, Edwards. Never forget that.’
‘I don’t.’ He cursed quietly on an exhale. ‘What happened out there? Why the manhandling?’
Kat only had time to whisper, ‘In your dreams,’ to Zac because the organiser she and Mark had met earlier came rushing over to them all of a fluster.
‘Oh, Mr Edwards, Zac, I hope you don’t mind if I call you Zac? I’m Sally. It’s such a thrill to have you here this evening. We’ve never had so many people queuing outside before. And as for the ticket sales. They’ve gone through the roof.’
Back to full-on charm mode, Zac reached for her hand, then leant in for a quick kiss on her cheek. ‘I’m honoured to be here and please, call me Zac.’ He gave Kat a sidelong glance. ‘Is there somewhere we can regroup before we head into the function room?’
‘Oh, yes, of course, of course.’ Sally, who had to be sixty plus but was acting like a sixteen-year-old on prom night, led them past the reception desk and into a small anteroom. ‘Please, take your time. There’s a bathroom just behind you. Someone will be outside to escort you to the main ballroom when you’re ready.’
The moment she shut the door behind her, Zac collapsed onto the small sofa. ‘Shit.’ He squeezed the bridge of his nose. ‘Maybe this was a bad idea.’
‘You can’t let Sally down now. I bet she’s been saving for months to have that dance with you.’
He let out a str
angled laugh. ‘The way my legs are trembling right now, she’ll be the one propping me up.’ Once again he found her eyes, and once again he asked the question. ‘What did you see out there?’
‘It could be nothing.’ It was honest, but she owed him more than a slick, professional answer. ‘But there was a guy watching you. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure you appeal to both sexes, but he didn’t fit in. He wasn’t hoping for an autograph, wasn’t holding a phone to take a photo. He was just staring.’
‘Okay.’ He ran a hand down his face. ‘Do we know where he went?’
‘No.’ She wished she’d not taken her eyes off the bastard. That’s if he was one, and not just a shy fan of The Good Guy? Dear God, this was hard. ‘The police are looking through the surveillance footage so we’ll know more later. For now, he wasn’t dressed in a tux so we can assume he won’t be in the ballroom.’
‘Assume? That seems a little imprecise.’ He rubbed the heel of his hand over his eyes and then rose swiftly to his feet and headed for the bathroom. A minute later he returned with his shoulders back and what she liked to call his game face on. ‘Okay, I’m ready.’
She took a moment to walk up to him. To clasp his face and to kiss the lips she dreamt about when she closed her eyes. ‘I’ll be there, Zac. I won’t let anyone harm you.’
His expression turned fierce. ‘Look after yourself first.’
She rolled her eyes. ‘That’s not how this works.’
He gripped her left hand. ‘It’s how we work, Kat. Promise me you’ll look after you, first.’
She could sense he wasn’t going anywhere until she made the promise, so she did. With the fingers of her other hand crossed behind her back.
***
He’d done what he came to do. Zac couldn’t promise the five ladies who’d paid a ridiculous sum of money to waltz with him had actually had their money’s worth, but the dances were over, the champagne drunk and the attendees graciously thanked.
Up Close and Personal Page 24