“I know,” I said with a laugh. “He was bright red the whole time, but she made it worth his while later.”
“She sounds like someone I would have liked,” she said.
Everyone loved Laura... but I couldn’t help but think that if Laura were here, we would have never met Adrianne, and that would have been a shame. Adrianne was sweet and a little goofy and absolutely gorgeous. “You would,” I said.
She sat back enough so that I could see her warm, honey eyes. “It’s okay that you love her,” she said. “I’m not jealous of a dead woman. I’m not going to begrudge you if you miss her.”
I cupped the back of her neck and brought her in for a kiss. Adrianne melted against me. She opened her mouth to me... just as the front door banged open. Adrianne yelped, and I nearly threw her on the ground so that I could shield her. But then, Callan called out, “Merc!”
If he didn’t sound so upset, I would have screamed at him for scaring us. “What’s going on?”
Foster came through the door behind Callan, holding two iced coffees and scowling. He handed Adrianne the fuller of the two drinks. “Have you checked your phone?” he asked.
She shook her head. After the disturbing call from her stalker last week, despite having changed her number, Adrianne rarely touched it. She kept her phone in the kitchen, plugged in, for emergencies. Callan handed her his phone. I stood over her shoulder and saw the article he had pulled up.Adrianne Montoya’s Dr. Marcia Falconi Gets Frisky on Set, First Look at New Falconi Heroes.Beneath it was a picture of Adrianne and Ryan locked in an embrace.
“That’sthe picture they went with?” Adrianne was dismayed. “Lee told us that they were going to send out some of the set pictures to get the buzz going, but he didn’t say which pictures.”
“That’s not the worst of it,” Callan growled. He took the phone and opened up the next tab. It was a tabloid site that took the same picture, but its headline was a little different.Adrianne Montoya and Ryan Jacobs Get Steamy in New Movie. “The article doesn’t even mention the movie’s name,” he said. “It just focuses on the ‘clear chemistry’ between you and Ryan. There aredozensof stories like that.”
Adrianne sighed. “I’m sorry. This tends to happen with every movie. The paparazzi love when co-stars fall for each other, you know? They try to control the narrative.” She handed Callan back his phone. “I should have warned you guys. I just didn’t know it would happen this quickly.” She took a sip of her coffee and made an involuntary little hum.
Ring. Riiing.It was Adrianne’s phone from the kitchen. She had an old-timey ringtone that was obnoxiously loud. She had made the point to change it so that we could hear it from anywhere in the house. She jolted, and for a moment, there was a look of real fear. It was a reminder that we were stalled in finding and stopping her stalker. So far, there hadn’t been any more presents or calls, but I knew we couldn’t let down our guard.
Adrianne went for her phone, and we went with her, and we all let go of our collective breath when we saw that it was the production company on the line. “Hello?” There was talking on the other end that we couldn’t hear. Her face fell. “Sure, I’ll be there soon.”
She hung up and met my gaze. “I have to go to the executive office at the studio. They want to speak with me.”
Not exactly what we’d hoped for on a day off, I thought. “I’ll go with you,” I said. When Callan started to argue, I added, “They know I’m the head of the security team. I can almost guarantee that whatever they want to talk about is going to affect the arrangements we made with them involving your safety.”
Adrianne sighed. “More than likely,” she agreed. “Let’s get this over with, okay? So we can hopefully enjoy the rest of our day.” She gave Foster and Callan a quick kiss and grabbed her bag, and we were out the door.
The drive to the studio was quiet. Adrianne stared out the window, gently chewing on her lip. I reached over and took her hand. “It’s going to be okay.”
“I know,” she said absently before she glanced my way. “It just makes me feel like I’m headed for the principal’s office, you know?”
I chuckled. “You think that’s how my employees feel about coming to see me?”
Adrianne considered that. “I can’t imagine it,” she said, “but I’m sure they do.”
“You don’t find me intimidating?”
“I did when I met you,” she admitted, “but I am also insanely turned on by the whole ‘Alpha male’ vibe you have going on.”
“Alpha vibes?” I snorted.
She waved a hand at me. “You know what I mean.”
I did, but I liked teasing her. It was fun to get her flustered, and I could see the anxiety melting off her. “No, tell me,” I said. “I’m really curious.”
“You’re the kind of guy women want to climb, and men wish they could beat, but they can’t, so they follow him.”
“Sounds like I could be a real asshole.”
Shetsk-ed and shook her head. “Not at all. Some guys let the Alpha thing go to their heads, but you’re an actual leader. Callan wouldn’t do anything you said if you weren’t.”
I hadn’t thought about it like that before, but it was true. Callan could be just as pigheaded as I could. He could be just as stubborn and opinionated. But he still looked to me in times of crisis. I took her hand and brought it to my mouth, brushing my lips across her knuckles.
The conversation dropped as we got closer to the studio, and by the time I found a parking spot, she was anxious again. Going into the building, we were shown directly to the waiting room of the studio head, Grant Cheswell. There was an administrative assistant sitting at a glass-top desk outside the closed door. “Ms. Montoya,” she greeted as we approached, “Mr. Cheswell will see you now.” When I tried to follow her through, the assistant made a littleah-ahsound and held up her hand. “You’ll have to wait outside, sir.”