Page 64 of The Kissing Part
“So Rafael’s the more famous brother,” I tease.
“He’s usually behind the camera, but he enjoys mixing it up with all different kinds of people.”
Eventually, we make our way over to a round corner booth that seats twelve people. The dance captain, Ben, holds court with one funny quip after another. Owen joins in, seeming more relaxed now. I sit back and sigh. This is good. Owen’s comfortable hanging with creatives. Now that the timing’s better, I can see him fitting into my life seamlessly.
* * *
Owen
Around midnight, everyone heads home. The cast has to perform again tomorrow night, and no one wanted to stay out too late. Fine by me, I’m eager to get Shayla back in my bed. I feel like a horny teenager, always wanting her. It’s hard to be close to her and not want to get naked. Our chemistry was intense from the start and has only grown now that we have the freedom to take our time in bed. My pulse races just thinking about what I want to do to her. Even knowing it can’t work out, part of me doesn’t care.
She cares.
I push down the guilt over not telling her I see Vancouver as a temporary reprieve. I’m tired of looking toward the dismal future where our relationship inevitably falls apart as we take our separate paths. I just want to enjoy the now.
I entwine my fingers with hers as we head to the front door of the restaurant. She smiles up at me, and my heart stutters. I look straight ahead, energy coursing through me at our electric connection.
I halt suddenly a few feet from the door. There’s a mob of paparazzi waiting.
I turn to Zander. “Back door.”
“Is this all for me?” Rodney exclaims dramatically, shooing Shayla behind him. He’s awesome.
“For both of us,” the woman who plays Juliet says. “Let’s give them what they want.”
They walk out the front door together, holding hands and smiling. We don’t wait around to see if they get their own photo session.
Zander leads the way to a back door. He already scoped out the restaurant as soon as we arrived. He goes through first.
A flurry of movement has me tucking Shayla behind me.
“I’ll sue!” a man yells as he runs down the street with Zander on his heels.
And this is why Shayla needs two bodyguards because if one takes off for some reason, there needs to still be someone with her.
Shayla turns to me. “That was a pap, right?”
“We’ll find out in a minute. Zander’s on his way back.”
Zander jogs up to us. “He got into a waiting car, and I didn’t want to leave you for too long. It was Matt, carrying a camera to blend with the paparazzi. He must’ve broken away from the group when he saw you turn away from the front door.”
Shayla squeezes my hand tightly, her face pale.
Zander scowls. “He probably called the paparazzi in the first place in hopes of drawing Shayla to an alternate exit.”
“Did he have a weapon?” I ask.
“Not that I saw. Just the camera and what he said was an urgent message for Shayla.”
Shayla’s hand goes to her throat. “What was the message?”
“It doesn’t matter what the message was,” I say. “There’s nothing he has to say that should affect your life in any way.”
“But what if it was a death threat?”
“More likely a declaration of love,” I say just to reassure her. “The man is not well. Who knows what he’ll say?”
“I never heard what it was,” Zander says. “I told him I had an urgent message for him, and that was, he was about to get arrested for violating his restraining order. He took off after that.”
