Page 70 of The Bombshell and the Bodyguard
“They followed up on some weird posts on social media, found evidence the guy had basically been following you around the country on your tour—even to some of the international shows.”
“I have lots of fans who do that, though.”
“Well, apparently he went a few thousand miles past fandom. They searched his apartment and found some creepy cut and paste photos starring you and him in... how shall I put this... fantasy scenarios—and I don’t mean dressed as characters from Game of Thrones.”
A surge of bile rushed up my esophagus, leaving an acrid taste in my mouth. “Gross. Okay well, at least they caught him. I’m safe again, and we can go back to the ‘real world.’ I will miss it here, though.”
“I thought you were going stir-crazy.”
“Well, I was, but only because you and I weren’t communicating. It was driving me mad to keep my feelings for you all bottled up. I wasn’t tired of hiding physically as much as I was drained from hiding my emotions day after day. I don’t ever want us to do that. I want things to be out in the open from now on.”
A dark cloud passed over Wilder’s face. “About that...”
“What?”
“I’m not sure we should go public—I mean, not right away.”
“You ashamed to join ‘Jade’s list?’” I teased, though my question was more serious than I let on.
He didn’t answer it directly. “I’m concerned about Hap’s reaction for sure.”
“Wait—you don’t think he’s going to be mad, do you?” I laughed. “I know he used to threaten you guys about staying away from his ‘baby sister,’ but he was kidding. Besides, we’re all grown-ups now.”
“Yeah, well I’m not sure he’s actually grown out of his overprotective streak—not where you’re concerned. And I don’t think he was kidding. There’s a very good chance he’ll take out a hit on me—and he has the money to do it.”
I moved close to him, wrapping my arms around his neck and smiling up into his handsome, worried face. “Hap loves you—nothing could ever change that.”
“Well, I guess we’ll find out. Maybe... if you wouldn’t mind, could we just wait until after we get back from Coachella to tell him about us?”
My heart zinged with delight. “We? You’re coming with me?”
“Is that okay? I know your record company only provides personal security when you’re on tour for them. I want to make sure you’re safe there.”
His fierce protectiveness melted my heart. But then protecting peoplewashis job. Was that all this was? We hadn’t talked about any sort of lasting future together.
“Of course I want you to come,” I said. “If it were up to me, I’d have you travel with me full-time. And yes, we can wait until afterward to tell people.”
A micro-expression crossed his face, the hint of a wince. “Listen, as far as going public… I’m not sure we even have tomakean announcement. It’s no one else’s business really. And I’m an expert at maintaining privacy—one of my specialties is helping my celebrity clients elude the paparazzi. When people see you and me together, they’ll just assume I’m your new bodyguard. We should let them. We can probably keep this thing quiet for months—maybe years if we’re careful.”
“Uh huh.” I turned away, folding a shirt and placing it in my suitcase. “You’re probably right.”
It all sounded so reasonable, so sane. So why had the last few minutes reawakened my fears and set them dancing on the grave of my newfound hope for us?Couldour fledgling relationship survive the rigors of the real world?
It didn’t help that Wilder wanted to keep our connection a secret. It was too much like what had happened when I was sixteen and he’d basically acted like our amazing first kiss had never happened.
In his determination to protect his friendship with Hap, he’d shoved me right back into the little sister zone and essentially removed himself from my life. Would that happen again when push came to shove?
If Wilder turned out to be just another frog I’d kissed, my heart would break.
Only time would tell.
At least we had a little more of that. The flight back to the States would take almost twenty-four hours, and we’d be in California for the Coachella festival for several days before returning to Eastport Bay.
As we left the gorgeous beach house and walked down the dock to the yacht together, I determined to make the most of it, to enjoy every minute I had with Wilder.
And to convince him weweremeant to be, no matter what my fans—or my brother—might think of it.
Chapter Twenty-Four
