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They'd arrived at the entrance to the lot they were filming in. Ryder gave her ass a pinch as he lifted her up and out onto her own feet. He took her hand as they left the heat behind them for the darkenedhallway.
A few minutes walk took them to an opening where a replica of a traditional courtroom appeared. She adorably smiled up at him before taking off to talk with a group of men about a dozen feet away. Ryder's trained eye started evaluating the environment for threats... clues to who might be behind the threats to hisprincess.
He stayed on the sidelines on purpose, out of the way, but where he had the best vantage point to watch the cast and crew interacting with Khloe. Makeup was touched up, costumes were checked, refreshments delivered, dialogue reviewed. He made mental notes of people and actions so he could ask her questions about them later. It wasn't ideal that he hadn't had more time to debrief with her and the evidence prior to being thrown into herdetail.
It also wasn't lost on him that Trevor had purposefully taken a protective stance exactly opposite Ryder on the far side of the set. He begrudgingly admitted the guy looked to be taking his jobseriously.
They were about to begin filming when his cell phone started ringing in his pocket. He pulled it out in time to see his boss's name on his caller ID. Flashbacks of the diplomatic disaster he'd thrown the country into the week before invaded his thoughts, distracting him from his current mission. He hit theIGNOREbutton on thecall.
If he really needs to talk to me, he can leave amessage.
He flipped the phone to silent and threw it back in his pocket. When he looked up, several crew members in the area where giving him dirty looks for making noise. They distracted him momentarily and when he glanced back to where he'd last seen Khloe, she was gone. A quick scan of the area proved she was no longer on theset.
And neither wasMcLean.
His heart lurched. He'd only looked away for a few seconds. He'd never forgive himself if anything happened to her. There were faux walls, doors to nowhere, and large recording equipment making the area a mini-labyrinth. He took off to the last location she'd been standing in hopes of seeing where she might havegone.
He was standing in the middle of the now empty courtroom when he spotted her waiting off-stage with the guy he suspected was thedirector.
A grizzly looking guy with a beard like Santa Clause shouted at him. "Hey, who the hell are you? We're about to start shooting! Clear theset!"
The hardened undercover operative forced on his best placid facade as he stalked toward Khloe. Their eyes met as he approached, and he could tell she was already in character, preparing for the upcoming scene. That was too damn bad. He'd forgotten to lay down some importantrules.
"I need to talk withyou."
The director answered before she could. "You haven't delayed us enough? Don't know who you are, but there's no time for chitchat. We have hours of work ahead ofus."
He towered over the shorter, portly man with an out-of-place fishing cap on. "I need one minute with Khloe." When the man started to object, Ryder raised his hand like a stop sign. "Iinsist."
He squeezed her elbow, pulling her into motion beside him until they had a modicum of privacy amongst what looked like some old props and new cleaningsupplies.
"I can't believe you embarrassed me like that. I'm working here," shehissed.
"Yeah, well so am I, and I don't appreciate you getting out of my line ofsight."
"You're kidding,right?"
He hesitated, not wanting to scare her, but knowing she needed to take the threats more seriously if she was going to staysafe.
"Where did the first break-in take place?" Her caramel-brown eyes widened in alarm. When she didn't answer, he added. "In your locked, private home. And where was the second threat left?" He again answered for her. "In your locked, privatetrailer."
He had her full attention. Drudging up the scariest moments in a person's life will dothat.
"If he can get to those places, he can get to you anywhere." Tears welled in her eyes. It struck him that in his past, seeing a woman crying usually meant he was having fun at one of the BDSM clubs he frequented. Things had changed the night he met the remarkable woman standing in front of him. These tears weren'tfun.
"I swear to you, I won't let that happen, but you need to be smart. Don't go anywhere alone. Don't leave the area without me or McLean withyou."
She protested, "Don't you think you're being a bit melodramatic? I mean what if I need to pee and you aren't around to escortme?"
He reached on the shelf behind her to pull out an empty five-gallon bucket. He grinned. "Then, like you did at Black Light, you can pop a squat over the bucket here in the corner." He was rewarded with a mortified groan from Khloe before he got more serious. "I mean it. Do not leave the area without me, understand? I think you can guess how I would likely deal with your defiance onthis."
Her eyes widened with understanding before she teased him with her best imitation of an Army salute. "Yes,sir."
Little did she know, she'd be saying 'yes, sir' often to him in the future if he had anything to say aboutit.
"Can I get back to work now?" He heard the snark in her tone, but nodded yes. Only when she turned to retrace her steps back to the director did he pop her on the ass with a swat. She swung around, surprise on her face. "Hey, what was thatfor?"
He leaned in, loving the scent of his own soap on her. "Just a preview of what to expect if you get too sassy, younglady."
