by Jamie Begley
Ginny didn’t know how to explain. Shade had warned her not to mention she had a stalker to any of the crew before she came to Nashville. The only ones who knew about the situation were Kaden and Alec’s security team.
“I don’t know.” She had no idea who her stalker was, so she wasn’t lying.
Kimmy wasn’t buying it. “Is the person responsible the reason you have your own security? I’ve worked in this industry long enough to know you don’t pay out the big bucks for this type of security without a darn good reason. Kaden has a huge fan base, but they cover the whole band, not just him. What’s going on, Ginny?”
Uncomfortable under three sets of eyes focused on her, she couldn’t bring herself to be evasive when a man they all knew was now missing.
“A fan has taken a liking to me enough that he will strike out the only way he can.”
“Apparently, he wants to be more than a fan if he doesn’t want you singing for anyone else.”
At the same time, Kimmy’s mouth gaped open. “You have a stalker?”
Denying Sin’s assessment would be futile, so Ginny didn’t, answering Kimmy’s shocked question instead. “Yes.”
Kimmy’s eyes widened. “For how long?”
“Since Queen City. When I moved to Nashville, he stopped. Or so I thought until I went to Treepoint and Viper told me someone had been watching Rider.”
“Who’s Viper?”
“He’s another friend of mine.” Ginny took out her phone, texting Gavin a smile emoji.
“Jesus. You have a stalker. Why didn’t you tell us?” Kimmy looked at Sin for confirmation as to his lack of knowledge.
Sin shook his head. “Don’t look at me. I’m just as much in the dark as you.”
Ginny licked her suddenly dry lips. “Alec and Shade said it would be for the best if you didn’t know.”
The drummer’s sensual lips curled in a smile. “We’re all potential suspects, Kimmy.”
“Even me?” Kimmy shook her head as if she couldn’t believe anyone would think she could be a suspect. “I mean, I like you, but not that much … I mean, not anything more than a friend.”
Ginny couldn’t help but laugh at Kimmy’s comical expression. “I know you don’t.” Ginny assured her. “I think it was more of a precaution from letting it unintentionally slip to the wrong person.”
Kimmy’s shock became confrontational. “You mean, like Nick or Lawrence?”
It was Ginny’s mouth that dropped at Kimmy’s spurt of anger. “I was talking more like someone who works in the nightclub or one of the regulars who comes to the shows.”
“Good,” Kimmy snapped. “Because I can tell you for a fact that it wasn’t Nick or Lawrence. Nick was in the meeting before I came in, and Lawrence doesn’t even like you. He told me about the time you asked him out and he turned you down.”
“I didn’t.”
“He says you did.”
“Then he’s lying, or he has me confused with someone else.”
“Maybe I heard him wrong. I’m sorry.”
Kimmy might have apologized, but Ginny saw the doubt in her eyes.
“I’ve never asked Lawrence out, not even on a friendly date. Ask anyone on the band’s staff or the nightclub’s if I’ve ever asked anyone out on a date. I just don’t do that.”
Ginny sent another emoji.
“I can vouch for that,” Nate broke in from where he was standing.
“Me, too.” Sin amusedly corroborated.
Flushing, Ginny swung her head in Nate’s then Sin’s directions.
“I thought we were friends.” Kimmy didn’t try to hide her hurt feelings. “I tell you everything. You didn’t mention you had a stalker or that you were dating someone.”
“We are friends.” Ginny broke off to text another emoji before continuing. “I explained about why I didn’t tell you about the stalker, and I’m not dating anyone.”
“Then I don’t—”
Ginny jumped in her chair when Kimmy suddenly jumped up.
“You’re sneaking behind my back, seeing Lawrence, aren’t you?”
“What? No!” Flabbergasted at Kimmy’s assumption, Ginny wanted to shake some sense into her illogically thinking friend.
“Then why wouldn’t you date? Unless ….”
She had never seen this side of Kimmy before, and the sudden change in her behavior was scaring Ginny.
“You are sneaking around with Lawrence. You come across as a Goody Two-shoes, yet you’re banging him behind—”
“No! I haven’t!” Kimmy’s whack-a-mole reasoning was totally out of the realm from her normal behavior .
“Then who? You spend most of your time with Lawrence before the shows—”
“That’s because he is constantly missing my intro.”
“The only other ones around you are Shade, who’s married, and Rider, who has a girlfriend.”
Ginny’s nerves were already strung up with her room being destroyed and a man missing, so Kimmy’s wild assumptions were sending her over the edge.
“Those aren’t the only men I’ve been around!”
Ginny’s stomach dropped when Kimmy’s face broke into a broad smile.
“It’s Gavin, isn’t it? That’s why you told me he’s attached.”
Ginny wasn’t able to compose her guilty face before Kimmy saw it and misinterpreted the expression as hitting on the truth.
“You’re with Gavin! Wow! You sure nothing is going between you and Lawrence?”
“I’m sure.” Ginny’s concern for her friend’s irrational behavior was replaced by a wave of temper. “And what’s so shocking about me and Gavin?”
Kimmy stared at her as if she had never seen her before. Ginny felt the same toward her. Being locked in the room was dissolving their friendship fast.
“I just imagined him with someone more ….” Kimmy broke off when she realized she was about to put her foot in her mouth again.
“What?” Hurt that Kimmy was right had Ginny sliding to the edge of her chair. “Prettier?”
“Ladies …,” Sin interrupted the budding argument. “Perhaps this isn’t the time—”
“Sexier? Thinner?” Jealousy had Ginny talking before her commonsense could catch up with her. “You’re so worried about Lawrence and me when nothing is there, but it didn’t stop you from asking me if Gavin was attached!”
The Kimmy that Ginny was more familiar with made an appearance. “So, you and Gavin are a couple! You should have just said so! It’s no big deal. I’m so happy!”
At that point, Ginny was about to jinx Kimmy with a wart the size of Pluto on her upper lip when a sound from the doorway had Ginny turning, then wanting to sink to the floor at the sight of Gavin standing there.
“Uh … I …” Ginny had never been so embarrassed in her life. She had unintentionally proven to him that she did live in an alternate universe. “I can explain.” And she would, as soon as she came up with something that made any sense.
“It’s doesn’t matter. I understand. I told you it wouldn’t be an easy secret to keep.”
What secret? Had she missed something? Maybe she drank the same Kool-Aid that Kimmy had?
“Did you find Mason?” Nate asked.
“Yes.” Gavin came to a stop in front of her, placing his hands on her shoulders. “We found him in a freezer in the nightclub. He’s on his way to the hospital.”
Chapter Eleven
“Why did you let Kimmy keep assuming we’re a couple?” Ginny engaged the blinker as she sped up to merge onto the interstate. She was too upset about Mason being in the hospital to be humiliated over Gavin overhearing the out-of-hand conversation with Kimmy.
“I want to find out exactly how possessive your stalker is over you.”
Gripping the steering wheel like a lifeline, Ginny continued driving as if his unemotional explanation hadn’t drilled a big hole through her heart. “I see.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gavin’s head jerk toward her at the flat into
nation of her voice.
“You don’t agree?”
“Whatever you think.” Shrugging, Ginny took the turnoff to her exit.
“You think I’m wrong?”
Ginny remained mute, sitting stiffly behind the wheel.
“So, now I’m being given the silent treatment? Fine. I don’t give a fuck if you agree with me or not. It’s my call.”
Pressing her foot down on the accelerator, Ginny drove to her apartment in record time, pulling into her parking spot with a screech of tires.
Gavin’s hand went to the dashboard as she slammed the car into Park. “You trying to kill us?”
Releasing her seatbelt with a snap of her fingers, Ginny turned sideways in her seat. “It’s one thing for me to put myself on the line to draw him out and another to paint a target on you. That’s unacceptable, and I won’t allow one more person to be hurt because of me. Especially not you.”
Gavin unclicked his seatbelt just as angrily. “Why not me? Because I was stupid enough to get myself kidnapped or—”
Fury went through Ginny like a fireball. Leaning toward Gavin, Ginny put her face right in his as she poked him in the chest. “Because I love you!” she shouted out in the close confines of the car.
Surprise had his shoulders hitting the window at his back.
“I don’t care if you think I’m crazy or not. It’s the truth. From the moment you walked out onto that patio, I knew you were the one I was waiting for—”
“You’re right; you’re crazy—”
Ginny jabbed him again. “Shut up! I’ve always known you were out there. Always … I just didn’t know who you were or where! Then you walked out on the patio, and I knew.” Ginny dropped her voice, pleading for him to understand. “I knew.” She jabbed him again. “Deny to yourself that you felt the same. Go ahead! I can’t stop you. But don’t lie to me and expect me to go along as if I don’t know what I felt.” Giving a particularly hard jab, Ginny leaned closer until she could feel his breaths against her lips. “And another freaking thing”—another pointed jab had him pressing back farther—“Don’t. Ever. Compare me to other women!” she snarled. “And don’t pick a fight with me when I’m driving. It’s not your call when you place your life in danger, not anymore. What you do affects me, too!
“I know what life without you is like. You’ve yet to find out what me not being in your life is like, but you’re going to find out.” Ginny angrily moved away from him, getting out of the car and slamming the door behind her. The sound echoed off the silence in the garage. Then a hard slam followed hers, rocking the car.
“What in the fuck does that mean?” Gavin shouted out to her retreating back.
“It means you’re going home! I’m calling Viper,” Ginny yelled back from over her shoulder, viciously punching the elevator key.
“You’re not serious.”
If she wasn’t so furious, she would have laughed at his confounded expression.
“Yes, I am.” Raising her chin high, she walked into the opening elevator. “You should be ecstatic,” she said snidely, punching her floor number before heatedly crossing her arms across her chest. “You only brought enough clothes for a few days; you won’t even have to wash them.”
Stepping past him when the elevator opened, Ginny walked to her apartment and keyed her code into the electric lock. Swinging the door open, she then gave a smartass wave of her hand for him to enter, preparing herself to wait while Gavin inspected the apartment.
A small squeak escaped her when she felt herself lifted onto her tiptoes as he took her upper arms to frog march her inside the apartment. Then Ginny felt her back pressed against the wall as Gavin clicked the lock.
Forced to lean her head back to look up at his grim features, Ginny stubbornly lifted her chin even higher, not about to take back a word she said.
“You’re the most irritating wo—”
Ginny narrowed her eyes on him in warning.
“—person I’ve ever met.”
“That’s plainly untrue. Rider holds that honor.” She disdainfully sniffed up at him.
Ginny could practically see the steam coming out of his ears as he tried to retain his passive façade.
“He’s now in second place, thanks to the most cockamamie nonsense I’ve ever heard coming from you.”
“Really!”
“For fucking sure.”
“I can prove it.” Her eyes dared him to prove her wrong.
“How?”
Was he freaking laughing at her? Any other time she would have been thrilled to see anything but the dead sea behind his eyes, just not when she was trying to make a point.
Bracing her hands on his chest, she shoved him back, well aware of the hard muscles under his T-shirt, and that the only reason she was able to move him back was of his own will.
With enough room to move, she took out her cell phone, pulling up the pictures she saved. Finding the one she wanted, she pressed, zooming it bigger before turning the screen to face him.
“See?”
Gavin’s lashes lowered as he stared at the picture. “What am I supposed to be looking at?”
“Is that you in the mirror or not?”
“Me?” Gavin grabbed her wrist, lifting the phone higher until it was at eye level.
“Is it you or not?” Ginny was glad of his hand on her wrist, afraid the phone would slip from her sweaty palm, and terrified he wouldn’t be able to see the same thing she had.
“Where did you get the picture of me from?”
Ginny was so relieved that she dropped her head to his chest. “Lily.”
Feeling the muscles tense under her cheek, she raised her head before he could pull himself away.
“What does a picture of me prove?”
“I didn’t know it was you until you came out to the patio. I just knew you were the man I was waiting for.”
“You’re crazier than I thought.”
“I’m from the mountains of Kentucky. We have superstitions we believe in. One is, if you look in the mirror at the bottom of a cellar steps, you’ll be able to see the man you’re going to marry. Lily took this picture Halloween night. Don’t you see?”
“Are you high?”
Ginny put her phone back in her pocket. “No.”
“This is ridiculous.” Abruptly, Gavin turned and began searching through the apartment before coming back.
“Save yourself the trouble of calling Viper. He’s too busy with the factory to worry about your drama. You’re stuck with me.”
Ginny stayed as still as a statue. She said what she had to say. Only time would prove what she was saying was true. Unfortunately, she was running out of that commodity, since her stalker was no longer content to stay in the background.
Gavin becoming a casualty was unacceptable to her. She wouldn’t sit back and watch that happen.
“Waiting for a storm to hit is fucking useless. It puts you at a disadvantage.”
Ginny didn’t shrink away from Gavin’s powerful body towering over hers. “What do you suggest?”
“Meet the fucker head-on. Ride the storm with me, and let’s find out who he is.”
“I don’t want to make you a target.” She really didn’t want him to leave, but then she didn’t want him hurt, either.
Gavin gave a smile that turned her blood to ice. “I was in the Navy; storms are what I’m best at.”
Chapter Twelve
“What are you wanting to do?” Making her way to the couch, Ginny sat down.
“We make him believe we’re a couple.”
“How do we accomplish that?”
“You telling Kimmy we are was a good start.”
“I didn’t exactly tell her we’re a couple,” she argued. “I just said that you were attached. She just assumed it was to me.”
Gavin folded his arms over his chest. “How did she get that impression?”
“Kimmy saw you and asked if you were the one taking Shade’s and Rider’s place.”
/> “And …?” he prompted.
“And …” Ginny guiltily lowered her gaze to his boots. “She asked if you were attached. Erring on the side of caution, I told her you were.”
“Why would you err on the side of caution?”
“Well, I couldn’t say for sure if you were or not, so I erred on the side of caution and told her you are.” She nodded as if that should make perfect sense to him.
“Yet you didn’t use the same caution when telling me your own feelings?”
“That’s different.”
“How’s it different?”
“Because we’re meant to be together.”
“We need to get something straight—”
“Let’s not, if you want me to go along with your idea.”
“You know we’re not going to be a real couple, right?”
Ginny rolled her eyes. “Of course. I’m not crazy.”
“I just want to get it straight—”
“Okay, it’s straight. Can we move on?”
“We’ll start off with me moving in here.”
“That works for me.”
Gavin ran his hand through his hair. “Cut it out.”
“Cut what out?” she asked innocently.
“Staring at me like you are.”
Poor guy was clenching his jaw so tightly that she could see the muscles bulge out. Ginny couldn’t help but grin.
“Gavin, relax. I’m just teasing you.” Sighing, she managed a more solemn expression. “Is this better?”
“Yes. This is serious. Whoever is stalking you is going to a lot trouble to make you notice him. He’s not going to be happy that your attention is focused on someone else.”
“I take your safety very seriously.”
“I’m not talking about me. I’m talking about you. Did you know Mason is an ex-Green Berets?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Well, he is.”
“I see.” Rising from the couch, Ginny went into the kitchen, coming back with a watering can to water the plants around the room.
“What do you see?”
“You want me to take this more seriously. I am. Go ahead. What comes after everyone thinks we’re a couple?”