Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 83990 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83990 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“Six days,” she says softly, her laughter gone, and I look at her. “We’ve been together for six days.” I watch her eyes as she looks at me. “But I’m sorry I didn’t answer the door.” I raise my eyebrows, and she rolls her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m not going to apologize for you hitting your head.”
“If you had answered the door, I wouldn’t have hit my head,” I point out to her.
“Maybe it knocked some sense into you,” she mumbles, and I can’t answer her because Cori peeks in the room.
“What’s going on?” she asks, looking from Kellie to me.
“She is trying to apologize, but she sucks at it,” I tell Cori, and she just laughs.
“She never says she’s sorry, so consider yourself lucky,” Cori says. Kellie raises her hands in the air and turns to Cori, who holds up her hands in surrender. “Don’t even try to say anything because you know you never ever say you’re sorry.”
“I do, too,” she argues. “I say it all the time.”
“Really?” Cori says. “What about when you ate the last egg roll that was mine?” I watch those two fight, and if you didn’t know any better, you would think they were sisters. “The only time you said you were sorry was when you ran over my foot.”
“Oh my God.” Kellie throws up her hands. “I can’t believe you are even bringing that up. Why were you even standing so close to the car?” Cori looks at me.
“See”—she points at Kellie—“so you should count yourself lucky that you got a sorry. Now let’s get the show on the road. Leave your bag. I have them collecting everything, and it will be on the bus when we leave.” Kellie turns around and heads out. “You are getting under her skin. This can go either way, but I hope for her sake that whatever you do, she’s ready for it.”
“What does that even mean?” I ask her and then look at her. “I’m here to do a job, and that is what I’m doing. Making sure she’s safe.”
“Keep telling yourself that,” Cori says and turns to walk out before I can even say anything. I walk out of the room, leaving my luggage on my bed, and find Cori and Kellie waiting in the golf cart for me. I hear whispering, but I don’t say anything.
Once we get to the venue, Kellie goes into superstar mode. Her hair and makeup are done while she completes her voice warmups. Cori brings her two plates of assorted food. “You need to eat,” she tells her, and Kellie just nods. When the makeup and hair people leave, she plops down on the couch next to me. Leaning back, she closes her eyes while I scroll through the news on my phone.
“You didn’t eat anything,” I tell her, looking at my phone and then at her again.
“I’m not hungry.” Her eyes are still closed, so I stand to get the plate and bring it to the couch.
“Eat,” I tell her. She opens her eyes and looks at me sideways. “You have to. You’ll be under the lights and dancing for the next two hours.” She just looks at me. “Please.”
“You’re so annoying.” She sits up, grabs the sandwich from the plate, and takes a bite. I pick up a bottle of water from the table and hand it to her while she chews. She eats a bit more from the plate and then looks at me. “If I eat anymore, I’ll get a cramp.”
“Okay, baby,” I say softly, caught in the stare of her eyes. I should stop this now and block it out, but sometimes, things have a mind of their own. Regardless of what this is, it will be nothing until I’m not working for her any longer.
Chapter Thirteen
Kellie
The hiss of the bus stopping and turning off makes me open my eyes. I’m lying on the couch dressed in sweatpants and a big comfy sweater. We’ve been on the road for about twelve hours, so we only have seven more to go. “What time is it?” I ask, disoriented.
“Almost noon,” Jackie says, walking to the front of the bus and going out the door. I stretch my arms and hit him, the man who is suddenly everywhere—in my head, in my space, and in my dreams. I can’t escape him. He doesn’t say anything more. He just gets up and holds out his hand to me. “Let’s go outside and walk a bit to stretch your legs.” I slip my feet into my Gucci slides and toss the cover aside, ignoring his hand.
“Where is everyone else?” I ask him as I look around the empty bus. Everything is neat and in its place. This is the second longest stretch we’ve been on; the last one was fifteen hours.