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“Everything okay?” Vanessa asks anxiously.
I reach for her, sliding my hand under her hair and taking her neck in a much lighter hold than I’d done with the security guard. She relaxes into my grip as I run my fingers up and down the smooth column.
“Everything’s great. I’m officially your bodyguard now.”
“What?” she asks, surprised.
“It’s how I got in.” The more I push the idea, the more it sounds like the perfect way to keep me by Vanessa’s side. “Actors need bodyguards, right?”
“The famous ones,” she says with a nervous laugh. “And only if they’re out in public a lot. I’m not famous, Keenan. Like at all.”
I shrug, pulling into a parking spot. “Consider me your preemptive bodyguard.”
She nods, a slow smile spreading across her face. “Okay, yeah, I like that! Your presence as my bodyguard will help manifest a successful acting career. I just have to walk-the-walk and talk-the-talk and I’ll get to where I want to be.”
I have no idea what she’s talking about, but I nod anyway, content with the part I’ve been given. I’m allowed to hang out with her, guarding her body.
“Okay, Keenan,” she says. “Let’s go nail this thing down.”
I take her hand, squeezing it before letting go. “You’ve already got the job; you’re just going in to tell them why.”
She beams at me. “Okay, bodyguard, let’s go tell them why!”
Chapter 9
Dazed and Confused
VANESSA
We’re headed back to my place from the screen test, Keenan driving, when my phone rings. It’s Laz. I answer, putting it on speakerphone, but before I can say a thing, a deafening screech fills the car.
Angel’s scream can only mean one thing… “I got the part!” I shout, almost as loud as Angel.
“You got the part, sweetheart.” Laz’s warm voice reaches through the phone. “Just talked to Wesselman. He’s going to send the contract over later today. I’ll have our lawyer look it over and we’ll decide if we need to negotiate.”
“Laz, I’m a nobody. Of course we’re not negotiating.”
“Negotiating contracts is part of the dance,” he insists. “I’ll be in touch with the details. Great work, kiddo. I’m proud of you.”
I hang up, every part of me glowing with happiness. I turn my grin on Keenan, whose eyes are on the road. “I got the part.”
“You don’t say? Thought you were discussing the weather.” Despite his teasing, his tone holds the same pride as Laz’s. “Knew you could do it.”
It’s because of Keenan that I nailed the screen test. He gave me the confidence I needed and maybe some of his wolfy mojo too. I’ve never done so well in an audition before. I didn’t stumble over my lines once!
“It was all you,” he says gruffly.
“Stop listening to my thoughts,” I scold, too excited to be truly offended.
“It’s difficult to ignore when you’re broadcasting them on a very loud frequency.”
Despite my excitement, I’m intrigued by Keenan’s ability to read minds. “How does it work? Can you hear only my thoughts or can you hear the thoughts of others?”
“Most of the time only you though there have been others.”
His vague answer makes me think he’s not telling me something.
“I can hear my brothers more clearly now than I have in centuries. It’s because we’ve reconnected and we’re spending more time around each other physically.”
