Jami tilted his head, a coy smile edging around his mouth. “I don’t think we’ve met.” He reached his hand out and shook hers gingerly.
“I’m Jane, Brooklyn’s best friend. I think I saw you two talking earlier.”
Jami nodded at her and then winked at me. Is Jamison Bayne really having a conversation with us, like we don’t live in totally different worlds?! My parents would freak at the thought of being in the same room as him! “I did meet Brooklyn, yes. Quite perplexing.”
I scrunched my eyebrows. “Perplexing? I’m perplexing?”
Jami shuffled on his feet and glanced over at Reid. I did the same, meeting his eye almost immediately. He was staring at us intently, not backing down one bit. “Very,” he mused, taking his eyes off Reid and the guys. “You’re not perplexing, but the situation is.”
I teetered on my heels. “What situation?”
“That Reid King says he brought you for press reasons, as many other celebrities do from time to time, yet he can’t keep his eyes off you. It bothers him when…” Jami took a step closer to me, wrapping his hand around my waist momentarily. I gulped, my heart pounding viciously in my chest. “See?” he asked. “It bothers him beyond belief that my hand is wrapped around your waist right now. He can barely stand it.”
“That’s not tru—” I began to say, but then I saw how Reid’s entire demeanor had changed. His shoulders were pulled back, and his eyes were intense as they glared at Jami and me. His hands were wrapped around his whisky glass so tight I thought it might combust. The cool color of his cheeks was splotched with red.
Jami finally pulled back and whispered, “Don’t worry. Your guys’ secret is safe with me. Just…” He paused before catching my eye. “Just be careful with him, darlin’. He’s like a walking minefield.”
Curiosity got the best of me, regardless of the rationality I thought I possessed when digging further into Reid’s life. It’s none of your business, Brooklyn! “What do you mean?”
Jami looked cool and casual as the words poured out of his mouth. “Angelina really fucked him up.”
I went to ask for more. I was ready to get down on my knees to beg for more, but Jami hurriedly stepped back and looked at Jane and me. “I’m going to turn the music up a little louder. Keep on dancing, you two. I like it.” Then he turned on his heel and sleekly walked over to the DJ.
Jane slithered up beside me and said, “See?! I’m not the only one who has noticed.”
I quickly grabbed her hand and pulled us farther onto the dance floor. The music started to get louder, and the lights were dimmed even further. “Let’s just dance.”
Jane looked worried, but she followed suit anyway. In between twists and twirls, she whispered, “As your best friend, I should tell you to be careful, but I know you won’t be.” I didn’t say anything, so after shimmying her hips in my direction, she reiterated, “But really, be careful, Brooklyn. Something about him screams jaded.”
This time I didn’t put up a fight. I looked over at Reid, who was, once again, keeping his eyes locked on me, and answered, “I’ll try.”
Chapter Fifteen
Reid
I looked at two of my five bodyguards. “I want her beside you at all times.”
“Who, sir?” Jeffrey asked.
I placed the leather band around my wrist without looking up. “Brooklyn. I don’t want her out in the crowd this time. I just want her to be beside you and Frank the entire show. You got it?”
Jeffrey cleared his throat, crossing his beefy arms across his puffed-out chest. “Not a problem.”
“Why?” Finn asked, all sprawled out on the couch in my dressing room. Why he wanted to hang out in my dressing room before a show, I had no idea, but he always did.
“Why what?” I asked, still messing with the band on my wrist.
“Why do you want them with Brooklyn?” I could tell by the way he said it that he had a snarky smile on his face.
I glanced over at him. “Because we don’t want a repeat of last show, right? I’m not diving off the stage again.”
Finn laughed loudly. “Why can’t you just admit it?”
“Admit what?” I asked, turning around and crossing my arms over my chest.
“That you’re starting to care about her.”
I rolled my eyes and scoffed. “I don’t care about her. But I’m not going to be held liable again if she gets hurt.”