by Alexis Anne
“Oh, Zoe. Really? Must you ignore me like this? It’s so childish.” And then, just as I was about to cover my ear, “I’ll be in LA all week. Call me to your hotel room at the Belmont any time you like. I’ll be ready.”
29
Zoe
Running Around Inside My Own Book
Tony made one thing abundantly clear: he was dangerous.
He knew everything about me, including where I was staying. I could not get off this plane with him. He wasn’t going to kidnap me, at least I didn’t think he would, but I was going to use the same sage advice anyway. I would not be taken to a second location with this man.
When we were about thirty minutes out of LAX I excused myself again, only instead of simply using the restroom one last time, I slipped a note to Mariah detailing who Tony was and that I would not get off the plane with him. Period.
When I left the restroom she gave me a sad smile and a nod. “It’s all taken care of.”
I didn’t know what that meant but it was a huge relief to know I wasn’t in this alone. I returned to my seat and waited. Once we arrived at our gate Mariah hurried over.
“I just wanted to remind you that you have that special carry-on we had to stow in the back. Unfortunately you’ll have to wait for everyone on board to deplane before we’ll be able to retrieve it for you.”
Fifteen million butterflies took off in my chest as relief washed over me. I damn near started crying right then and there but somehow kept it together. “Of course. I understood bringing it on board would affect things.”
“I appreciate that,” Mariah said. “Not all of our passengers do.”
“This is ridiculous,” Tony sputtered, realizing he wouldn’t get to manhandle me off the plane. “Can’t you retrieve it now so she isn’t forced to wait?”
Mariah turned her cold stare on him. “Excuse me? I don’t believe this has anything to do with you.”
Ten points to Mariah.
“I’m simply trying to help out a fellow passenger. What’s the point of paying for First Class if she’s going to be treated this way?”
“Tony,” I warned. “This has nothing to do with you. I knew bringing it along would mean waiting. Trust me, I’m fine.”
The asshole had the nerve to pat my hand. “I know she’s not used to how things work up here, but I am.”
I jerked my hand and my head back. “Excuse me?”
“Sir, you are being inappropriate and you need to stop,” Mariah said, looking down the aisle at one of her colleagues.
“I’m being inappropriate?” Tony’s voice rose.
“Sir, this has nothing to do with you.”
“Is there a problem here?” The man from across the aisle asked.
I really needed to find out his name. At this point “man across the aisle” wasn’t enough.
“No problem,” Mariah said, turning just enough to include him in the conversation. She kept her eyes laser locked on Tony. “Our policy is that special sized items are stored in the rear of the plane. Miss Hyde will have to wait to retrieve it. That is the beginning and the end of the equation.”
“Something I am completely fine with,” I interjected. I hated how Tony could overtake a conversation.
“Great,” the man said. “Then we can all stop talking and get off the plane. You first.” He pointed at Tony.
I saw some very angry sides to Tony over the years, but never this version. His anger was palpable as he grabbed his bag and stalked off the plane.
“Guess it’s my turn.” The man winked at Mariah and took off with his bag, following Tony very closely, I noticed.
Mariah moved into Tony’s now vacant seat. “His name is Brian. He works for Contention Security, the company we use to monitor some of our flights. I let him know we might have a situation.”
“You did?”
“Turns out he had been watching your seatmate the entire flight. He said he hit all his red flags as a troublemaker.”
It was strange how relieving it was to hear someone else confirm something I already knew but secretly feared wasn’t true. I knew Tony was a cold manipulator, but there was that small part of me that always wondered if maybe I was wrong.
“You have no idea how happy I am to hear that.”
She smiled kindly, watching the line of passengers as they streamed off the flight. “I’m sorry you had to sit next to him the whole flight. How long has it been since you last saw him?”
“Three years,” I said as I let out a long stream of air. “Thank you so much for your help.”
She patted my hand. “Women have to stand up for each other. It was my pleasure to assist you today.”
I stumbled off the plane last with a heart pounding erratically. Even though Mariah assured me Brian would follow Tony and make sure he stayed far away from me until he left the airport, I didn’t really believe it. I kind of thought maybe I was having a heart attack but I had to be too young, right? The off-pattern beating had to be because of the world’s worst panic attack. Lights blurred and sounds softened under the roar in my ears. If I didn’t know better I’d think I was asleep and having one of my wackadoo underwater dreams.
I somehow made it to the restroom without mowing over a small family with my luggage, slammed into the first open stall I saw, and collapsed on what I hoped was a relatively clean toilet seat.
Tony.
Fucking hell. If ever there was a time to swear like a sailor, this was it.
I felt like I needed a hot shower to scrub him from my skin. Now that he wasn’t sitting right beside me, forcing me to keep my defenses up, it sank in. He booked that flight on purpose.
He found me and used one of his many connections to get seated beside me.
Son of a bitch.
Oh, he’d swear up and down it was a coincidence. Fate. But really? No way. Tony knew the right people to pull those strings and if he’d been keeping tabs on me this whole time all it would take is a public kiss to send him into a rage.
My kiss with Erik.
I dug out my phone and waited for it to reconnect to the tower, then called Erik.
“You’ve reached Erik Cassidy. Leave a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”
I glanced at my watch. He was probably in warm-ups and wouldn’t get this for hours.
“Hey babe. I made it to LA. I hope your game went well.” Then I took a deep breath. “Call me as soon as you get this, okay? I need to talk to you about something.” I wanted to tell him everything right here and now but I was also keenly aware of the toilets flushing beside me. “Love you, baby.”
Flush.
I shoved the phone back away and decided to use the toilet for what it was actually for, then rolled my luggage out to the sink, freshened myself up a bit, and steeled myself to go back out into the world.
I was in LA for a reason after all. A damn good reason. And I wasn’t about to let Tony take that from me. Besides, I had a car and an assistant waiting for me. I would be perfectly safe.
I found them waiting for me at baggage claim as planned. Lucy Davis worked for Lily & Kaine Productions, but she was serving as my liaison during the trip. We spoke several times over email and on the phone so in a way I felt like I’d already met her.
“It’s so nice to meet you in person,” she said warmly. “We have a busy evening planned so I hope you’re not too jet-lagged.
From there I was whisked to the office where we reviewed the script changes, set and costume designs, and an early listen to some music samples from Nora Phillips, the exact composer I’d hoped we’d get for the soundtrack.
After that it was cocktails and dinner with the director and my stars.
Yeah, I was totally star struck meeting Lily Lawrence and Scott Kaine. I fully admit to giggling and blushing.
“Aren’t you used to this?” Scott asked, laughing. “Chris said you’ve been around the team for years.”
“I didn’t know anything about baseball when I met Chris and Erik, a
nd by the time I understood I already knew them pretty well, so I skipped that phase, I guess.”
“So let me get this straight,” Colt, Lily’s incredibly handsome husband asked, “You’re friends with Scott’s brother, Chris?”
“Yes. And now I’m dating Erik, the second baseman for the team.” I turned back to Scott. “Will you be at any of the games this week?”
His eyes darted over to Lucy and back to me. “Uh, yes. I plan on flying up tomorrow. You?”
“Same. Maybe we’re on the same flight.”
“Wow, whirlwind trip for you,” Lily said.
I shrugged. “I don’t have much choice. I’m missing tonight’s game as it is. But don’t get me wrong, I was thrilled to be included in all the final details and I’m ridiculously happy to get to meet all of you before filming starts. Oh my gosh,” I sighed, tears welling up in my eyes. “I’m looking at Theodore and Caroline. You’re making them real.”
From my head to the page to the silver screen.
Wild. Just wild.
Dinner was so much fun. It was like someone had popped me into one of my books and I was running around inside it. Like Alice in Wonderland. But I was also exhausted and on east coast time, so by the time dinner was over I was practically asleep.
As I said my goodbyes Scott stopped me. “I plan on spending some time with my brothers after we’re done filming. Chris offered up his house on Calusa Key. I hope you’ll drop by.”
Scott Kaine is asking me to hang out with him. And I was being totally cool.
Totally cool.
I smiled up at him. “We’ll make plans.”
Lucy escorted me to the hotel and didn’t act at all surprised when I asked her to walk me up. “You’re in room 1550, here’s the key.” She handed it to me as we stepped into the hotel.
The lobby was tall—really tall—and bright. I stopped for a second to admire the arching ceiling and massive crystal chandelier. The soft colors made the entire lobby glow as if it were lit by a thousand candles.
I needed to put this in a book.
“The car will be outside at six o’clock sharp to take you to the airport. We really appreciate you taking the time to fly out.”
“Are you kidding? This is a dream come true for a writer. You all are so amazingly supportive.”
“They’re your words. Your creation. It only makes sense that you’re part of the process.”
But for most writers that wasn’t the case. Some had no interest—something I totally didn’t get—but usually the author wasn’t considered qualified to be involved in the movie making process. We were too close the source material, not trained in the different aspects of the movie medium.
And yet those things were changing quickly as technology and storytelling styles clashed and melded into new things each year.
“Well I appreciate that you were able to schedule things so I could get up to San Francisco. Scott is coming tomorrow, right?” It struck me as odd the way he’d looked to Lucy before answering and now that I brought it up again she looked uncomfortable.
“Oh yes. He’ll be there if I have to drive him to the plane myself.”
“Does he not want to go?” We stepped into the elevator.
As the doors slid shut a man stepped into view.
Tony locked eyes with me and cocked an eyebrow.
Oh my god.
“No, it’s not that,” Lucy went on, not noticing my meltdown. “It’s complicated.” Then she sighed. “He wants me to go with him but I have too much work to do.”
I knew she was saying things I should pay attention to, respond to, but I couldn’t. Tony was here.
Did he know what room I was in? How far did his connections reach?”
“How discreet is the staff here?”
She blinked at me a few times. “Very. The best. Zoe, you don’t look well. Are you okay?”
“My ex is downstairs.”
The elevator stopped on the fifteenth floor but neither of us got out.
“I’m sorry did you just say your ex was downstairs? Is he stalking you?” The doors started to close so she shot out a hand to stop them. “Zoe? Is he dangerous?”
Nothing seemed to be working anymore. Not my mind, not my body, not my mouth. So I squeaked out the easiest word I could.
“Yes.”
30
ERIK
This Is Your Fault, Bear
I fell into my plush white hotel bed fully clothed. I didn’t think I could move if I wanted to. Between the time difference and another brutal game that went down to the final at-bat, I was exhausted.
I knew I had a message from Zoe but I hadn’t listened to it because I wanted to do it in private—meaning away from Wes and his non-stop banter. Besides, she was most likely fast asleep by now. We knew today was going to be nuts for both of us and I told her to call me in the morning as soon as she woke up.
“Hey babe. I made it to LA. I hope your game went well.” She took a deep breath that worried me. It sounded heavy. “Call me as soon as you get this, okay? I need to talk to you about something.”
I really, really didn’t like that. Her voice was kind of shaky, like something was wrong but she was trying to sound like it wasn’t. I sat up and looked at the glowing red numbers on the clock.
It was almost eleven, which meant it was two in the morning for us. She was definitely asleep.
I collapsed back on the bed—sad we were apart and a little pissed I wasn’t with her to fix whatever it was that was bothering her. Since I couldn’t do anything I forced myself to strip out of my jacket and start getting ready for bed. As much as I wanted to just close my eyes and call it a night I knew I’d wake up in a few hours uncomfortable and pissed.
So off went the shoes and socks. Off went my shirt. I was just reaching for my belt when my phone started vibrating on the bed.
Call it instinct, but I had a very bad feeling about this phone call before I even looked at the screen.
And when I saw Zoe’s name flashing I knew without a doubt my instincts were right.
“Hey Darlin’.” I was still hoping I was wrong. I had to be wrong. What could have possibly happened in LA that could be that bad?”
“How was the game?” she asked, her voice so soft and weak I barely heard her.
“We won. What’s wrong?” My heart kept beating harder and faster.
“What makes you think something’s wrong?”
“I can hear it in your voice and you’re scaring me.” Better to be blunt. Zoe responded well to it.
“I’m okay,” she said quickly. “But I do need to talk to you about something.”
“Thank you for telling me you’re okay. What’s wrong?” I was going to have a heart attack before she got to the point.
“Tony’s here.”
Tony.
Tony’s here.
Tony was there.
I couldn’t wrap my brain around what she was saying. “Right now?”
“I’m with Lucy. From the production company? She’s sitting with me in my hotel room and helping me arrange security for the night.”
“He’s in your hotel?” I shouted, standing up. “You saw him?” I was going to kill the man. It was going to happen.
“Yes,” she whispered, close to tears.
Fuck. I needed to calm down. “Are you okay, baby?” All I wanted in that moment was to be in the same room with her so I could hold her.
“I’m okay. But Erik . . . ”
Oh fuck. There was more. “I’m here. I’m listening.” And planning. Could I get a flight this late? I knocked on the door that connected my room to Wes’s.
“He was on my plane.”
My fist connected with the door. “The same flight?”
“I think he intentionally booked the seat beside me.”
I was definitely killing him.
Wes opened the door with a What the Fuck face that was quickly replaced with Who Are We Killing face the moment he saw me.
“You th
ink he intentionally booked the seat beside you? How?” I repeated everything so Wes could hear the parts that mattered.
She didn’t reply at first. The pause damn near killed me. “I think, from what he said, he’s been keeping tabs on me this whole time. And when that picture of us made the paper it made him very angry. Tony has a lot of connections. It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if he was capable of doing something like this.” She took a quick, shaky breath. “Erik, he knew where I was staying but I thought it was a casual threat. I didn’t expect him to be downstairs when I got here tonight. I can’t believe he was that bold.”
I muted the phone. “I need to get to LA.”
“The shithead?” Wes was on the same page.
“Yep.”
“I’m on it.” He disappeared back into his room.
I unmuted the phone. “You shouldn’t have to worry about things like that. No one should ever behave that way, Zo. You said you have security coming?”
“Yes. Lucy knows a good company and they’re sending someone over now. She’s going to stay with me until they get here.”
“Good. I’m coming too.”
“Erik, don’t.”
But I cut that off real fast. “It’s a quick flight. I’m coming.”
“You need to sleep. You have a game tomorrow.”
“Like I give a fuck about sleep or tomorrow’s game. Right now you’re the only thing I care about.” Wild horses couldn’t stop me.
She sniffled and I knew I was doing the right thing. “Okay.”
“You want to stay on the phone?”
“No,” she sighed. “I think . . . yes, the security people are here. I should go.”
“I’ll be there soon. Zoe?”
“Yes?”
I could hear how tired she was and that somehow made all my exhaustion disappear. “I love you.”
Her reply was a hundred percent brighter. “I love you too.”
“I’ve got you a flight but there are some complications,” Wes said, leading me out of the hotel room to the elevator.
“What’s that?” I punched the button for the lobby.