Frankie: Cow
Addi: Yeap, but still no.
Frankie: He hurt me.
Addi: He’s too good at his job.
Frankie: You expect me to be able to put up with looking at his sexy body all day and not have my heart break?
Addi: So don’t look.
Frankie: Have you seen the man? It’s impossible not to look.
Addi: I prefer my men less like an angry lumberjack, but you do you.
Frankie: How long does heartbreak take to stop hurting?
Addi: Google it.
Frankie: You’re all heart, you know.
Addi: I know. I’m overflowing with mushy feelings.
Frankie: So, I can’t persuade you to sack him and help a girl out?
Addie: Nope. Now stop annoying me. I’m trying to manage a band here and you’re putting me off.
Frankie: I love him and it hurts like hell.
Addie: I know. I’m sorry, I really am. Talk to him. Please.
Frankie: He doesn’t have anything to say that I want to hear.
Addie: You’d be surprised.
I stopped reading and handed her back the phone, feeling like my heart was being crushed by Frankie’s sadness. As I did, my phone buzzed to let me know that our special guest had arrived.
“Emmy’s here.”
I spend the night with the band, doing my job, protecting them while they met with different reporters and mingled with the celebrities that had been invited.
As ever, it was a dry room, the band still supporting Tanner’s sobriety, even though he’d done the six months he’d promised. So at least I didn’t need to worry about people getting drunk and causing me problems. Instead, I had another problem.Frankie.
It was like she was trying to wind me up. She flirted with everyone, offering her smile to anyone who wanted it, while I only got her angry glare. If I wasn’t desperately trying to keep them safe from Tanner’s stalker, I would have flung her over my shoulder and dragged her out of there, but instead, I did what I did best. I let any emotion fall away and kept my face blank, hoping anyone around us would think I was simply doing my job and not angrily seething that the woman I loved appeared to want to push my buttons until I exploded.
Eventually, Emmy left, obviously feeling the same frustration with Tanner as I was with Frankie. The Cosmic God life was a lot to handle, and poor Emmy wasn’t ready for it at all.
I made sure my team knew who was watching who, and then I typed out a message to Addi.
Me: I’m taking a break. Don’t worry if Frankie goes AWOL. She’ll be with me.
Addi: Talk to her, for God’s sake.
Finding Frankie chatting with Grayson, Ethan, and Ivy, I stepped up behind and I couldn’t resist ghosting my hand over her tattoo, making her freeze.
“We need to talk,” I whispered into her ear.
She shook her head and carried on talking, agreeing with something Ivy was saying.