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They all nodded and only Jordan narrowed his eyes. “Is there anything we should know? Do you have security concerns? Will you be hiring a bodyguard for the tour?”
Ricky narrowed his eyes and darted his gaze between us. “What’s going on? Why would she need a bodyguard?”
I hadn’t had a chance to discuss what had happened with Phil. Noah wanted to see whatever fan mail I had received going back as far as Phil had kept things. Still, I was not going to discuss any of it with anyone I didn’t need to.
Fortunately, Phil beat me to an answer. “Of course, she’s going to hire a bodyguard, that would be a smart thing to do. Obviously, you’ll have your own security, but you are their priority. It makes sense for your guests to ensure their own security. That doesn’t mean she has any security concerns.”
I was very grateful to Phil at that moment. He ensured that I would get my bodyguard without question, and I didn’t need to divulge that I had a stalker. Phil would know, soon though and obviously I would need to let everyone else know closer to the tour if we did not stop the asshole who delivered a snake to my house.
That would be the best-case scenario. I always got the impression from our girls’ nights, and the little I picked up from Bex and Lilly, that best case scenario was never the outcome, though.
We chatted through a few more logistics and I had to admit that I was not only impressed with their vision for the tour, but I was excited, too.
It was only once they had laid out their plans that Ricky spoke to me directly. Everyone was getting up to leave and he turned to me. “You want to go and catch a coffee when we’re done here?”
Was he asking me out on a date? We had just finished a meeting to discuss business, so it couldn’t be that. I hedged a little. “I have some things to discuss with Phil when we’re done here. Maybe we can get together next week sometime to rehearseLost. Phil won’t be able to get us studio time for at least a few weeks.”
Ricky seemed disappointed, but nodded in agreement. As soon as I was alone with Phil, I let out a long breath. “I have a stalker and need you to let the security company handling it have access to my fan mail. Electronic and snail.”
Phil’s eyes widened but he took things in his stride. The lack of alarm surprised me at first but then again, the man had probably dealt with one or two clients with stalkers in his life.
“There’s one particular sender they’re going to want to check out. Signs all his letters with just the letter G.”
14
NOAH
It didn’t take us long to decide that we were going to hire Trey. Despite his obvious interest in Everly when we first met him, he was pretty good at the job. And as for his interest, well, she was a beautiful woman and if we had to use that as criteria, then I should not be hired, either. The man rubbed me the wrong way, but that probably had a lot to do with us both being interested in the same woman.
Despite a couple weeks passing since we found the parcel outside her door, I still hadn’t found a place of my own. I did however buy a new car, and Everly’s had been fixed, which made everything easier to navigate.
She had been at the office earlier in the week, to bring me the spare key she’d had made since she needed to leave early for a gig and the house would be empty. Trey had almost tripped over himself to talk to her. Not that he stood a chance. I saw how she looked at me. And while lust was in there, definitely, that was not all there was.
So, when Trey made his way to talk to Everly, I didn’t feel the need to stake my claim. There was no overt display of possession. I simply walked into the lobby to meet her and assoon as her eyes found mine, her smile… fuck that smile. Men would go to war for that look.
I wasn’t sure if Trey got the hint then, but if he didn’t I would make it more obvious the next time the situation arose.
But that was a problem for another day. For starters, my night would be spent at a bar called The Reverse Cowgirl. It sounded like a strip joint, but I had been assured it was nothing of the sort. It was Everly's Friday night gig. Mrs. Salinger would be watching Mason’s twins so he and his wife would be joining me, along with Bex Salinger.
I was looking forward to watching Everly on stage. According to Skylar, and then guys around the office, it was something to behold. I had, of course, seen her perform in music videos. Granted, those were dated, and more than a decade old. Still, it was easy to see how much she enjoyed performing.
It was something she had passed down to my daughter. Nearly every night we needed to move the furniture around the cottage to give Sky enough space to rehearse. It was obvious that she loved dance. Watching the emotions play across her face was just as mesmerizing as watching her body move. There was no doubt that if we kept up that pace at home, even I would learn the choreography. Then again, the thing very few people knew was Sky probably got her gift for dance from me.
Oh, I was never as good as her, and I gave up as soon as puberty hit, but I wasn’t bad. It was a thing my mother wanted me to do so I could get a foothold in the industry. An industry I wanted nothing to do with. And yet, it seemed I couldn’t avoid it.
Everly mentioned that she had the opportunity to record another album and do a tour. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. But I was happy that my presence in Skylar’s life had made the decision to go ahead easier for her.
On my end, I was glad that she had that kind of faith in me. The idea of spending an extended period of time alone with Skylar scared the shit out of me, though.
I was just picking up my keys when Bex walked into my office. “You sent me the Baker file. I take it you’re putting a team together?”
Randall Baker had all his fingers in some disgusting pies. With Jared in Texas working remotely, I was already a man short. I couldn’t afford for Bex to pull out of the mission as well. Lilly would have to let me know who the best person would be to replace Jared.
“Well, I was hoping you would be part of that team.” Technically, with Bex owning the company along with her siblings she was my boss, even though I was a team leader.
It was a strange dynamic, and one that would take some time to get used to.
“Of course. I take it Lilly recommended me?” Bex sat in the chair opposite me, and I took that as my cue to sit as well. “What do you need from me?”
