AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He didn’t even glance up,” Levi says, pointing. “That dude could have been a murderer.”
“Right.” I pat his shoulder. “Calm down, tiger. There are at least twenty people around.”
“Damn it,” Aaron mumbles. “I can’t believe that dude killed me.”
“You’re on the fucking job, and you’re playing video games?” Levi says, stomping toward Aaron. “What the hell?”
“Who the fuck are you?” Aaron asks.
“Who am I? You met me, asshole. I’m Levi Crawford, SPD. And you’re fired.”
“I don’t work for you, asshole,” Aaron sneers. “You can’t fire me.”
The two men are in the middle of a stare down, and I simply roll my eyes and leave, headed up to the guest room where the production crew has set up hair and makeup.
Men are ridiculous.
“Hi, Starla, I’m Yvette. I’ll be doing your hair and makeup today.”
“Hi.” I sit in the high director’s chair and sigh. “It’s blissfully quiet up here. I thought my boyfriend was going to murder that security guy down there.”
“Well, the security guy is a dufus,” Yvette says with a smile and pulls my hair back into a ponytail, exposing all of my face and neck. “I walked through four times before he asked me who I was.”
“So they didn’t send the valedictorian of the security class.” I shrug a shoulder. “It’ll be okay. This feels good. It’s been a while since I’ve been in hair and makeup. I need a spa day. Maybe I’ll do that this weekend.”
“Good plan,” Yvette says, spreading primer on my face. “I could use a facial too, now that you mention it.”
Over the next half hour, we discuss our favorite spas in LA, and which treatments we prefer. Just when she gets my fake lashes applied, Levi walks through the door.
“Good timing. Makeup’s done, so now we just have to do hair.” My smile fades when I see his face. “What’s wrong?”
“I had Aaron fired.”
I sigh and close my eyes in defeat.
I’m dating an overbearing, overprotective cop.
“He was my only security, Levi.” Yvette discreetly exits the room, closing the door behind her. “And just like you always remind me, I have a stalker. Now I don’t have anyone here to protect me.”
His brown eyes narrow as he leans into me, speaking low.
“I can protect you better with my eyes closed than that idiot. If you think anything’s going to happen to you on my watch, you have another thing coming, sweetheart. He wasn’t helping anything. He was a liability. I’ll be sticking with you, and my guys are outside. We don’t need him.”
“I feel like I should be paying the Seattle Police Department for all of the man hours I’m taking away from law and order.”
“I’m sure they wouldn’t mind a generous donation.” His lips twitch as he leans in closer. “I’m going to kiss you.”
“Don’t you dare!” Yvette yells from the other side of the door. “She looks perfect the way she is.”
I giggle. “Yeah, keep your lips to yourself, Detective.”
He presses his lips to my ear. “I’m going to do a lot more than kiss you as soon as all of these damn people leave.”
“It’s a date.”“Is there anything you don’t want me to ask today?” Diane asks before we begin filming.
“I never talk about my family,” I inform her. “Aside from that, we’ll see how it goes.”
Diane smiles. I’ve met her before. She’s interviewed me at least a half-dozen times. “Fair enough.”
“And, action.”
“Good evening,” Diane begins, staring right into the camera behind me. We’re outside by the pool, both mic’d up, and there’s a large boom mic over us. “I’m Diane Dobson, and tonight we have a special guest on 20/20. I’m thrilled to be in Seattle, Washington, with the pop megastar, Starla. Thank you for letting us crash in on your vacation, Starla.”
“Thanks for crashing,” I reply. “I’m just happy you have sunny weather.”
“It is a nice day,” Diane says, but I can see in her eyes that the small talk is just to get me to relax. I’ve seen it dozens of times before. This isn’t my first rodeo. “We thought this would be a good time to catch up with you since you’re between tours and albums right now. You’re usually a very busy woman.”
“I do like to stay busy, yes.”
“How is vacation going?”
“I have to be honest, relaxing doesn’t come easy for me. And because I can take my job anywhere, I find myself working, even though I’m on a break.”
“Working how?”
“Writing songs, mostly. I had my piano shipped up a few weeks ago, and I’ve had time to enjoy the artistic process of writing.”
“You’ve stayed in excellent shape, if I may say so,” Diane says.
“Thank you. Being active is a big part of my career. I enjoy tumbling through the air and dancing. Putting on an exciting show is important to me, so I do my best to stay in shape, even when I’m not actively touring.”
