Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 83986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Like most people, I thought he’d do a lot of indie films after that, maybe more TV, and perhaps end up playing the best friend, dependable sidekick, and voice of reason to the big, muscle-bound hero. But lo and behold, that wasn’t the case. Women loved him, gay men loved him, and straight men were good with him too. I had a feeling it was because he looked like a guy you could count on to have your back in a fight, and at the same time, you never had to worry he’d make a move on your wife or girlfriend. He was the perfect wingman. Somehow, someway, Ashford Lennox was openly gay and his career just kept building with no downside in sight.
“Yes, sir, I’ve heard of him,” I said without groaning, which I was proud of. I would have needed to be living under a rock not to know who Ashford Lennox was.
“Apparently, Mr. Lennox had a regular bodyguard, but he is no longer with Mr. Lennox.”
“What happened there?”
“Mr. Klein either didn’t know or didn’t want to tell me.”
“What does your gut say?”
“From all the hedging, I’m guessing the bodyguard hit on Lennox, but Lennox left it open if the man wanted to return.”
“His bodyguard hit on him and he’s giving the guy another chance?”
“That’s what it sounds like to me, but as Mr. Klein pointed out, he didn’t need to know what went on, and neither do we. What we do need to know is only that he needs a new person.”
“Why doesn’t Klein just hire Lennox one?”
“He has a whole team for events, but for simply the day-to-day, Lennox only has one person with him, and he’s always hired that person himself.”
“Okay…”
“So since he can’t at the moment, as there’s no time, he asked his agent to find him a suitable replacement.”
“I’m surprised he had his agent do that and not his manager.”
“I was told there is no manager, only an agent.”
This was sounding worse and worse. If I needed something, how was I supposed to get in touch with a busy agent?
“And as he’s going to his niece’s wedding, you won’t be going as a bodyguard, but as his plus-one.”
I couldn’t have heard him correctly.
“Keep an open mind.”
“Sir—”
“It’ll be easy.”
Had he just said that? Easy? Did he even listen to himself? He’d just given me the kiss of death right there.
“It’s a simple protection detail where you will be undercover as his boyfriend.”
“Why? I can just go as his bodyguard since that’s what I’ll be.”
“I guess—and it makes sense, he’s a very handsome man—that if he goes anywhere without someone on his arm, he becomes the focus of attention.”
Of course he did. Because really, handsome didn’t do the man justice—those forest-green eyes, jet-black hair, chiseled features, sculpted physique… He was stunning. Whenever he walked the red carpet, all eyes were on him. When I watched him on TV or in movies, inevitably I had to go back and watch it again because my eyes were riveted on him and I missed what everyone else was doing. So truly, I had no doubt that if he showed up to things alone, he’d be mobbed.
“Apparently, he even turned down his niece’s wedding invitation when she first invited him for that very reason. He wanted her to be the one in the spotlight, not him.”
“Very thoughtful of him.”
“Yes, but the niece wants him there since he’s the one paying for the wedding.”
“Oh?”
“Her father has made some bad investments or something, or wouldn’t pay—I don’t know. Mr. Klein was very light on the details, and again, those aren’t things we need to know.”
“So Lennox is bailing out his…?”
“Half brother. Technically. But their father, Coleman Walder, never married Lennox’s mother, Barbara, so—”
“He’s illegitimate.”
“Yes.”
“Which is why his last name isn’t Walder. Interesting.”
“Rich families always are.”
“But he’s done the best out of the whole group, I’m assuming, so when they need money, they hit him up for it.”
“I don’t know about that. Walder Industrial is a huge conglomerate that is not, in any way, suffering. I don’t know why Lennox is paying for his niece’s wedding, but I’m sure there’s a story there.”
“So in a nutshell, he’s going to a wedding he’s paying for and will be there to see all his extended family.”
“Correct. Plus, his father died five years ago, and he was made executor of the estate, so he’s the one who doles out the money to the rest of his relatives.”
“This sounds like it’s going to be a horror show for him.”
“I agree. No wonder he needs a buffer.”
It made sense that the person between Lennox and his family needed to at least appear to be of the romantic persuasion. A bodyguard, his family could get around, claiming they weren’t endangering him. A lover, a partner, a significant other, they could not.