Page 35 of Amore
He wagged his tail while I gave him more scratches.
“I better go, or I’m going to be late.” I stood and opened the front door. After setting the alarm, I walked outside and closed the door behind me. I made sure the lock was locked and then left, hoping I’d done enough to keep Frankie safe.
11
FRANKIE
It feltas though I was having a continuous sleepover. First, Emily came over for one night, then my friend Tori stayed for two. I hadn’t heard from Nick since the early morning after Sensation. Luke, however, had called me every night after his twelve-hour shifts to make sure everything was still okay. Four days later everything was fine, even though I still had no idea who had come into my house.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay tonight?” Tori asked as we sipped our coffee.
“It’s been almost a week, and nothing has happened,” I replied.
“But you haven’t been alone.”
“I know.” I nodded slightly. “But I was fine before then too.”
“Yeah, but are you sure?”
“Even if I wasn’t, you can’t stay.” Tori had a prior engagement and wasn’t able to stay the night.
“I know, but call Nick.”
I rolled my eyes. “Nick ghosted me.”
“I’ve been wondering. All I’ve heard for two days is about the hot cop.”
My heart smiled, thinking of Luke. “Yeah, but he has a girlfriend.”
“I know, but anything can happen.”
“Yeah, like they had makeup sex for the past three days.”
“Or they broke up.”
I took a sip of my coffee. “Why would they break up?”
“Because his girlfriend is threatened by you and clingy. No man wants a clingy woman.”
I’d told Tori about Candace staking her claim by letting me know who she was and clinging to Luke’s arm as though she could hold him hostage.
“And that’s the thing. I would never do anything to jeopardize his relationship, even with our history. If he wants me, he has to choose me.”
“But how will he know you want him? Have you told him?”
“You know I haven’t.” I hadn’t thought about wanting to date Luke until I’d gushed about him with Tori. I knew I still had feelings for him, but I wasn’t certain I wanted to date him. Plus, my world differed from his. I was leaving for a month or so to film in Canada, and I wouldn’t see him the entire time. How would anewrelationship survive?
It wasn’t fair to Luke. If he was happy with Candace, he wasn’t meant for me.
* * *
After Tori left,I searched for homes in gated communities. Even with my locks changed, cameras up, and a different alarm code, I felt it wasn’t enough. Luke was right that a lot of celebrities live in gated communities because of the extra security. When I bought my house, I didn’t think it would matter. I hadn’t had any scares or threats. But the more movies I was in, the more fans I gained, and sometimes fans got possessive.
Recently, one of my actor friends had a man leave cards and stuffed animals at her door for their child, but they didn’t have a kid together. Hell, my friend had no children. The guy was delusional and believed they had slept together after a party one night and conceived the baby. My friend got a restraining order and moved into a gated community.
There weren’t many homes to choose from in the LA area, and none that I wanted to live in, and since I was leaving in two weeks for an entire month, I wasn’t sure I could find anything. But I knew I couldn’t stay in my house. It would never again feel like my safe haven, and that was what a home should be.
I contacted the realtor I’d used when I’d purchased my house and told her we needed to get it on the market in the coming weeks. I wouldn’t mind if it was sold while I was in British Columbia. I would move into a hotel until I found a place if necessary.
