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“I’ll take care of it, sir. I promise.”
I walked back to my bedroom, almost dead on my feet now. I had to leave things up to Ashworth for tonight. I regretted some of the things I’d said to Jax Jordan. Okay, all of them. I knew I’d been hard on my mate, but I was having trouble getting my emotions under control.
Besides it was difficult to think with my big head when my little one was causing me so damn much grief.
Chapter Three
Jax
I couldn’t wrap my mind around what had happened in Dominic Bousset’s suite.
The whole visit seemed surreal, and it definitely freaked me out. His two bodyguards weirdly escorted me to my car, and then followed me back to my shop. But when I went inside, giving them a little wave to tell them they could leave, they simply parked on the curb outside and stayed there.
We were open for a few hours still and I thought they’d surely leave soon. I was wiping down tables and peeking through the blinds over the shop window every few minutes when I heard a soft laugh behind me.
“What are you doing, babe? You’ve been looking out that window ever since you got back.”
I sighed and let the slat I had pried up drop back in place. Soft Christmas music was playing on the speakers in the background as Hailey Kim, one of my waitresses in the shop, looked at me with a smile on her pretty face. Hailey wasn’t her real name—that was Hae-li, but she thought that might be hard to pronounce and wanted to Americanize her lovely Korean name. Personally, I thought the original was better.
Hailey worked in my shop most days to pick up and deliver the sandwiches and pastries I’d made for the show. Some of those trays were heavy, but she was stronger than she looked, and she liked being around the actors and the producers. She was an aspiring actress, too, so working early mornings gave her a chance to go out on auditions in the afternoons as well.
Hailey had stayed over today to help out while I had my big meeting—the one that had turned out to be such a disaster.
“I’m watching the guys out in the car,” I told her with a sigh, having already mentioned they were outside. “The ones who are stalking me. Why are they just sitting there, Hailey? Do you think they might try to rough me up when I leave tonight?”
She rolled her eyes and laughed again. “No, I do not. Honestly, honey, you’re being so dramatic. I’m just going to go out there and ask them.”
“No! Don’t do that. They might…”
“Might do what? I know Tae Kwon Do. And other Korean words, too.” She winked at me and then joined me at the window to peek through one of the slats. “I’ll take them coffee. And a few sandwiches. They look hungry.”
She turned and went back into the kitchen, while I went back to wiping down tables and worrying. It was what I’d been doing ever since I returned from the Valleywood Inn, and it had continued unabated. The worrying, that is, not the thing with the tables. I was only doing that because Damon Moray, my busboy, had to leave early to audition for a crowd scene as a zombie in a new movie remake ofNight of the Living Dead.
Damon and Hailey were my friends as well as my employees. To tell the truth, I wasn’t very good at being a boss. I had a hard time being stern about time off and giving advances on salaries and all the things bosses do. I really sucked at the unpleasant stuff, like firing somebody, or telling them they were slacking off. Hailey did that for me, and it was one reason I loved her so much.
She came out of the kitchen with two paper cups of coffee and a small bag. “I have sandwiches and cookies. I’m gonna ask them what’s up, if it’s okay.” She didn’t bother waiting for my answer and took off outside.
She was gone a long time. Long enough that I went to the window to look out and check on her, but she was bending over, leaning inside the window and seemed to be laughing and chatting happily, so I left her alone and started mopping the floor. I’d almost finished when she came back in, making the little bell over the door jingle.
“I got the scoop,” she said, coming over to hop on the counter. “The bigger one’s name is Kyle, and he’s Dominic Bousset’s younger brother. The other one is Josh, and he’s a cousin. They’re French and have the sexiest accent. Oh, and they loved the sandwiches. Well, except for the chicken salad, which Josh said could use a little more salt.”
“Oh, he did, huh? Well, who asked him?”
“I did, silly. He was nice about it.”
“It wasfree, Hailey. And what’s he doing out there anyway, besides critiquing my food? I should call the police on them.”
“For not liking your chicken salad?”
“No, Hailey, for taking up my parking spaces and just sitting there watching me all evening. It’s creepy and an invasion of my privacy.”
“They’re only staying until you leave, and you’re safely tucked in bed for the night. Then I’m going to take them to Forbidden Underground.”
“What? There are so many things wrong with that statement. First of all, what do you mean, until I’m safely ‘tucked’ in bed? What the hell?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. They just said they had to wait until you were, you know, in for the night before they could knock off.”
“That’s outrageous!”
