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“Sounds like Vivi is an entrepreneur,” he said, turning onto the street saturated with cars and school buses.
“A what?”
“It means she’s a business owner. She thought of a way to make money.”
“Oh, I get it. I bought two pieces.”
Hunter chuckled. “That’s good of you to support your friend.”
His phone pinged, and the car deck read out the text: “You have a message from Eloise Sanchez.” He tapped theplayoption, and the computerized voice read,“We need to talk with Snow. Can you come to the studio?”
“The studio?” Kassie exclaimed. “Can I come, Daddy?”
He didn’t want to go back to the studio yet. Hunter had been hoping to make an afternoon of it with his daughter. “I thought we’d go get some ice cream. It’s not every day I get to pick up my baby girl from school.”
His ex-wife, Kassie’s mom, had taken off when Kassie was a baby. She’d left with another man while Hunter had been on active duty in the Army and stationed in Iraq, saying she wasn’t cut out to be a mother. He’d raised Kassie on his own with the help of his parents.
“Ice cream is fun—but I want to go see the studio! Your new Heartthrob could be there.”
“You’d like Snow,” he said.
“I like her name. Not very many people are named Snow,” Kassie said with sweet innocence. “I wish we could see snow.”
“It doesn’t really snow around here, does it?” Hunter said, concentrating and rerouting for the studio instead of downtown as he’d planned. “The studio it is. Maybe we can get ice cream after I see what Eloise wants.”
He took the necessary exit.
“What’s the meeting about, Daddy?” Kassie asked. “Do you have to arrest someone?”
“I’m not a police officer,” he said, smiling. “I’m a security guard.”
“So you go with the contestants and keep them safe?”
“Not personally,” he said, merging in with the rest of the afternoon’s traffic. “I used to be a bodyguard, but now I monitor people’s safety while they’re on the set.”
“That’s why you’re so good at karate.”
“Krav, baby,” he said. He’d been trained in hand-to-hand combat in the Army and kept training in various forms of martial arts after. He’d also had experience being a bodyguard before he’d inherited Heartthrob Magazine, but that wasn’t necessary now.
The police had been notified of the threats to the studio, which had arrived by mail, so of course there was no security footage of anything being delivered. The cheap missives hadn’t gone beyond pieced-together notes like something Kassie might put together for one of her craft projects at school.
They rode a bit longer while Kassie asked questions about his job, and he talked to her about her day. Finally, they pulled into the studio parking lot.
“We’re here!” Kassie said, unbuckling.
“You know to wait for me before you get your door, right?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
They’d had the talk multiple times when she’d been in the habit of bounding from the vehicle without him before he’d managed to cut the ignition. Together, the two of them went inside, taking the employee entrance. Though Kassie had been here many times, she still acted amazed at seeing the large pictures of celebrities and magazine issues that had performed well blasted on the walls.
“I’ve got to go talk to Eloise for a minute,” he said, guiding Kassie to the waiting area where they usually led people who came for guest appearances. It was a room where they could sit and watch the show, drink some water, check their hair and clothing before their time to come on. Kassie strode in and made for the brightly colored Lego table.
Hunter knelt by her side. “You good here?”
“You bet.” She’d already started digging Legos out from beneath the table.
“Remember to stay—”
