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“She’s impressive, isn’t she?”
Growler glanced over his shoulder and spied Basil standing beside him—this time he’d been aware of the man’s approach.
“She is. And she has a good relationship with everyone, which must make things easier for you,” commented Growler.
While he believed that whoever had seen Astrid in that parking lot was behind what happened this morning, Growler wasn’t going to rule out that it could be someone close to Astrid who wanted her attention and was going about it the wrong way.
“From the second we shot the pilot, I knew we were on a winner of a show. I already knew the camera loved Astrid because of the videos she’d posted—and they were on far inferior cameras than what we use.” Basil scratched his chin. “When we got the green light to shoot a short season, Astrid worked hard and tirelessly. Never complaining about anything. She always thanked everyone after every shoot—still does.”
Growler may have only been on set once, but he’d already noted how Astrid interacted with her team. There wasn’t any reason for anyone to want to harm her, but he’d heard too many stories about how people had presented one persona to someone, but underneath it all, they were playing for the other side and planning their demise.
“Is it rare for a star to act the way Astrid does?” Growler didn’t believe Astrid was the only one who was polite. Not every star was a diva or asshole—at least he wanted to believe they weren’t.
“Not really, but there are always the outliers who start off humble, but the moment their show takes off and they’re fending off groupies as well as invites to all the major events, they change and believe that they can do no wrong.” Basil indicated where Astrid was still conversing with the crew. “Even when she was grieving her father’s death after his long illness, she didn’t throw fits when things didn’t go right. She took it all in her stride and produced some of the best shows we’ve made. She’s definitely one of the rare ones.”
Growler took everything Basil said and filed it away, ready to go over later. In the dossier that Cass had prepared, it had been listed that both Astrid’s parents had died. There weren’t a lot of details as to how they passed, as that wasn’t necessary, but with Basil mentioning her father’s long illness, Growler wondered how much pain she’d gone through alone.
All this information only increased how impressed he was with Astrid. How resilient. Even now, she showed no signs of the shock that had overwhelmed her. No matter how strong she was acting at the moment, he would watch her carefully once they were home. When there wasn’t a show that required her attention, her mind would circle back to this morning’s events and the potential for her to sink back into that shock was possible, regardless of her crying episode in the car. Having her car shot while being chased wasn’t something that she could easily get over.
If she needed him, he was going to be there for her. Even if it went against his edict of keeping his distance. If she needed to be held, he was going to hold her. If she needed a shoulder to cry on, he’d give her one. Whatever Astrid needed, he would give it to her.
Chapter Thirteen
The sauce bubbled away on the cooktop, and the aroma of tomato, onion, basil, and garlic teased Astrid’s nostrils, calming her.
How the hell had she gotten through the shoot today?
While she smiled and guided people through making an upside-down pineapple cake, inside, her heart had thumped so hard she was surprised the sound guy hadn’t questioned what that loud sound was.
No one had any idea that she was hanging onto her composure like a scraggly tree clinging to the side of a cliff. However there was one person who may have picked up on her unease—Growler.
Unlike yesterday when he’d been on set, Growler had stayed out of her line of vision. Lurking in the shadows as though not to get in the way of the crew. Today, though, he’d remained just behind where Basil sat so that when she looked up and smiled into camera three, there he was looking at her.
It had been unnerving and comfortable all at the same time.
“Something smells good. Although, aren’t you tired of cooking?” Growler walked into the kitchen, his hair damp from his shower.
The black t-shirt he wore clung to his chest, and the material stretched enticingly over his shoulders. He’d paired it with black sweats that fitted snugly around his thighs.
What would he look like if he wore gray sweats?
How many pictures floated around the internet with guys wearing gray sweats that left nothing to the imagination? Although the black ones Growler wore defined his crotch area quite nicely.
Oh my God, stop it. He’s your bodyguard.
You wouldn’t mind if he was more.
Great, now her inner thoughts were fighting each other as if she had an angel and a devil residing in her mind. Although she couldn’t deny she was leaning toward the devil side of things.
“Astrid, you good?”
Growler came up beside her, not touching, but close enough that if she wanted to, she could lean her head on his shoulder.
“Cooking calms me.”
It wasn’t a lie. How many times had she gotten up in the middle of the night, when her show was just starting out and she was stressed about how it would perform, and cook up meals for the week? So many times.
“We could’ve ordered in. You’ve had quite the day.” Growler brushed his fingers against the back of her forearm. The touch was gentle and comforting.
