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Daisy squealed. “I knew it! How was it? I bet it was good. I bet it was better than good.”
“Thank God you’re at work and not with my brother.”
Daisy barked a laugh. “He’s going to kill Sebastian. He’s been going on and on about how he’s such a standup guy, the only person he’d trust with his sister. I’m guessing Sebastian wasn’t sleeping around throughout college.”
I shook my head. “I’m pretty sure he was too busy holding down a job and doing his schoolwork.”
“Well. This should be fun.” Daisy was practically giddy.
“So sleeping with Sebastian wasn’t what I wanted to talk about.”
“Well, that’s disappointing. That’s all I want to talk about. When did this happen? Why am I just finding out about it now?”
“Focus, Daisy. I’ll tell you everything you want to know later. Can I tell you why I called now?”
“Fine,” she relented, glancing down at her watch. “You have two minutes.”
The phone signal weakened as I walked further from the house, so I plopped down on a nearby tree stump. I crossed my legs and planted an elbow on my knee, the phone right in front of my face.
“The man hired security guards.”
My friend’s brow furrowed. “I don’t get it. Wasn’t the whole point of going to his place so you could avoid getting extra security in the city?”
“That was the whole point. He’s being paranoid.”
Daisy brought the phone closer to her face. “Are you not safe right now? Why doesn’t he think you’re safe? Did something happen?”
I rolled my eyes. “He’s overreacting.”
She didn’t look convinced. “Overreacting about what?”
“We were at the animal shelter today and the young volunteer recognized me. He wanted a picture, and Sebastian shut him down real fast.”
Daisy tilted her head. “Sebastian didn’t like that the guy recognized you?”
I clicked my tongue. “Pretty much.”
“And he’s worried the guy from the shelter will tell someone?”
I nodded. “Yep.”
“Most people don’t know how to call the paparazzi. That’s not a normal thing to know. But if this guy posts to Instagram or TikTok or whatever young people are using these days, that could become a problem.”
“It could. But that’s a lot of ifs.”
Daisy winced. “Is it such a bad thing if you have a couple of bodyguards around? I think it’s nice he wants to make sure you’re safe.”
“It’s extreme. I thought you’d be on my side.”
Daisy leveled her gaze at me. “I’m always on your side and sometimes that means disagreeing with you. Especially if it’s related to your safety. I was there when the paps swarmed you. It scared the crap out of me. I’ve been dreaming about it—so much so that it’s waking me up at night.”
I sagged. “I didn’t know that.”
“I didn’t want to make things worse for you because if I felt that bad, how must you be feeling about everything that went down? That wasn’t a normal situation. It was scary being surrounded like that and I wasn’t even the target.”
My hands shook. “Yeah, it was scary for me too,” I admitted.
Daisy’s face softened. “Of course, it was. It would be wild if you weren’t scared. Besides, they literally left a mark on you. That black eye only just healed.”
