Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 57423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 230(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 230(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Martin was already on his phone, standing close to Rand, both looking for the pics.
Ally turned her barstool toward him. “I didn’t order him out. He started in on the flirty thing, and I explained I wasn’t interested. He got butt hurt and decided to station himself outside. Also, I know I shouldn’t have opened a package without it going through a guard, but my mom had just told me she’d sent one. I wasn’t thinking. I was worried about you. What did you get called in for?”
He moved around the bar and got into her space, bringing his hand up to smooth back her hair. “The boss was upset about the pictures. He wanted to let me know I fucked up when I let a photographer follow us. There was a GPS locator in the wheel well of my SUV. It was placed there either at the studio or the hotel. I have to figure it out. I won’t let it happen again.”
“It’s not your…” she began.
He let his hand find the back of her neck. He wasn’t sure if she did it consciously, but her legs shifted open to let him in between. “It is, and my brother and Ian were right to call me out on it. I wish it hadn’t happened, but the pictures worry me far less than what happened after.”
“You’re not upset?”
“That someone sent you a box of blood?”
“No, about the pictures,” she corrected. “Those reporters will find your name. They’ll figure out you’re supposed to be my bodyguard, and they’ll make a big deal out of it. They can make a scandal out of me eating a burger and having the tiniest little belly.”
“I don’t care if they find out my name. I’m sure we’re not the first man and woman who started a relationship from a professional connection.” Maybe they should have this conversation somewhere private.
His brother and Martin were perfectly silent and still, as though not willing to interrupt the show.
Ally turned her gaze his brother’s way, not breaking the physical connection they had. “Are you upset? You are his twin. People might think it’s you.”
“People might think I’m the one passionately kissing a gorgeous actress in the middle of a sun-kissed nature setting?” his brother asked.
“I’m already planning on covering a wall in framed prints,” Martin assured her. “You both look gorgeous.”
She sighed. “Guys, it’s not as glamorous as it seems.”
Martin went serious. “No. It sucks, but West is sturdier than he looks. You’re worried he’s going to get hurt, but West has a pretty thick skin, and he doesn’t scare easily. He moved his whole life to support his brother. He’s a solid guy, and a little tabloid press isn’t going to make him run away.”
“How about the possibility of losing his job?” she countered.
Had she been thinking about this all evening? “Big Tag isn’t going to fire me. If he did, I would find another job. I do have a degree, you know. It’s in agriculture management, but it’s a degree.”
There was a knock on the door, and West felt his hand move to the pistol in his shoulder holster.
Martin had moved over to the monitor that the camera over the door fed into. One of the reasons he’d brought her here was the complex was gated, and he had an excellent security system. And there were three of them to watch her. He trusted his brother and Martin.
“It’s Tessa,” Martin announced, moving to answer the door.
Tessa Hawthorne walked in carrying a big, familiar suitcase. “I packed everything and checked you out of the hotel per your request. Including the other package, which I verified was in fact a blender and protein shake pouches. And your mom sent a nice note. She’s very proud of you. So what did you do to Matt to put him in such a shitty mood?”
“Matt is an asshole who hit on the client and didn’t like it when she turned him down,” West announced, taking the bag from Tessa.
Tessa cleared her throat, another way to point out he might be being a hypocrite.
He was about to explain that she hadn’t turned him down, but Ally stepped up.
“It wasn’t the same. I was the one who came on to West,” Ally said. “I practically threw myself at him. Those pictures don’t tell the whole story. They don’t show you the part where he kindly turned me down.”
Tessa’s head tilted slightly. It was a total tell that she didn’t believe what someone was saying. Tessa had an excellent bullshit detector. “Really? Because he didn’t look like he was turning you down.”
“Like I said, pictures don’t always tell the truth,” she reiterated quietly. “There are angles that make things look worse than they are.”
“Then why did he stand in the middle of the office and tell Big Tag he was madly in love with you and leaving for LA, and if Big Tag didn’t like it, he could eat a bag of dicks?” Tessa asked.