Kat Bailey was a sexy bundle of surprises and he wanted to know more about her. But that wasn’t going to happen. Despite what she did to his body, they had nothing in common. She might have surprised him with how down-to-earth she seemed, but he’d met several famous actresses, and they’d all been divas. They were the ones in restaurants sending their meals back over and over, rolling their eyes because, “How hard is it really?” The ones sitting at the bar in their “look at me” dresses but acting annoyed when every man in the place tried to pick them up. The ones difficult to resist, strutting into men’s hearts before they knew it, feisty and irresistible with the confidence of ten runway models. But eventually? Difficult. Manipulative. Sucking all of the oxygen out of every room.
No thanks.
If there ever came a time that Luke was ready to settle down, he’d want a far simpler woman, attractive and intelligent and kind, of course, but not full of herself. One that respected his opinions and skills.
Bailey was too gorgeous and too famous. The worlds they came from would not mix well. Most of all, she craved the spotlight yet didn’t take her safety seriously.
And that wasn’t something Luke could ever accept.
* * *
Outside Hang Tough Café, Kat Bailey smiled for pictures with two teenage fans even as she willed her racing heart to slow.
You’ve got this, Kat. It’s only a little anxiety. It’ll pass.
Sure enough, by the time the pictures were done and the family left with murmured thank yous, she’d managed to regain her composure.
She took a sip of her coffee, pleased that her hand was steady. Still, the fact Charlie’s call had spiked her anxiety at all bothered her. So did the fact she’d been anxious when she’d first arrived at the café. Not too long ago, she’d thought all that was behind her. Despite the demands of her job and the appearances she had to make, she hadn’t suffered from anxiety in years. But then came the public scandal with Ray and the threats by one of his fans, which had caused her anxiety to return. She was determined, however, not to let it stop her from living a normal life—well, as much of a normal life as a celebrity actress could have. That was the reason she’d decided to meet the bodyguard here. To take advantage of neutral territory so she’d feel more in control during their meeting, sure, but also to prove that she could still sit outside a café just like any other person and not have anything terrible happen.
Even so, she wasn’t stupid.
She had back up just in case things took a turn for the worst.
Scanning the park adjacent to the café, she smiled when she saw the big homeless-looking man playing with his dog. Catching his gaze, she waved at him. He nodded, and headed toward her.
The dog, a golden Lab named Mamie, reached her first. Instead of jumping on Kat again, she sat next to her, panting happily. Kat scratched her behind her ears. “Well, hello again, sweet girl. You done playing?”
The homeless man—who wasn’t homeless at all, but rather her friend, Ben, an actor pretending to be homeless—walked up to her table, sprawled into the seat across from her, and sighed. “Well
I’m
done playing. Method acting is a pain in the ass,” he said as he stretched out his long legs. “I’ve been at this for hours, and my face is itching like crazy.”
She tilted her head and studied him. “The beard looks great, though. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear it was real.”
He tugged on the fake facial hair. “Thanks. I just wish they hadn’t waited two weeks before filming started to give me the part. Then I could have grown my own damn beard.”
“But Sergio hates facial hair,” she teased.
Ben’s eyebrows popped into his hairline. “Sergio also broke up with me last year—without telling me why, mind you—just so he could convincingly portray a character in the midst of a depressive episode. Believe me, he wouldn’t dare complain.”
Kat winced at the memory of how devastated Ben had been when Sergio had suddenly broken up with him. It had taken Sergio the better part of a month to convince Ben it had all been part of his process and to take him back. God, actors were a crazy lot.
Reaching out, she tugged on a lock of Ben’s unkempt hair. What a pair they made. Him, dirty and bewhiskered; her, dressed in her couture white pantsuit with the dirt stains from where Mamie had jumped on her earlier. She’d felt more than a little silly wearing the pantsuit for her appointment, but the photo shoot she’d scheduled before the meeting had run late. She’d decided she’d rather appear to be the kind of diva that wore fancy clothes to a business meeting than the kind of diva who didn’t show up on time.
“Well,” she said, “I, for one, am so glad they gave you a call back. A year ago you were doing Pepto-Bismol commercials and now look at you, starring in a made-for-television drama that might just turn into a series.”
He nodded. “I’m thrilled, trust me. This get up is just going to take some time to get used to. But enough about that. Where’s the bodyguard?”
“Cancelled.”
“Fuck.” He peered at her more closely. “You feeling anxious?”
“No,” she said automatically.
He raised an eyebrow.
She opened her mouth, shut it then shrugged. “You always saw through my act, even in high school,” she grumbled.
“So why do you try to con me?”
“Habit.”
“No, it’s you taking your daddy’s lessons to heart. Never let them see you sweat, right?”
She snorted. “I’ve been sweating plenty. Long before I received that bouquet of dead flowers at my doorstep the other day. I still don’t understand how the person got through my gates to put them there. What’s the point of having security measures if someone can bypass them so easily?”
Ben reached out and took her hand. “That won’t happen with a bodyguard. A trained professional won’t let anyone get that close to you again. Now tell me why the guy you had an appointment with cancelled.”
She squeezed his hand back. “Charlie just said this Mr. Indigo turned us down and referred us to another company. Maybe it’s a sign.”
“Of what? You
need
a bodyguard.”
“Not if I walk away,” she said quietly.
He blinked. “What?”
She swallowed hard, not sure she had it in her to voice what she’d been thinking lately, but this was Ben. Finally, she said, “I need a bodyguard because I’m in the public eye. Because I’m a famous actress. Because my ex cheated and published topless pictures of me, and one of his crazy fans decided he was the injured party and wants to hurt me. But if I walk away, if I…”
“If you what? Stop going out in public and lock yourself up in your apartment again? I thought you were determined not to become like your mother?”
She scowled and pulled her hand out of his grasp. “I’m
not
going to become my mother. But I don’t want a life where I need to be protected by a bodyguard, either.”
“You need to take these threats seriously right now. It doesn’t mean you’ll
always
need protection. Even if it does…you love acting. And the fact is, you
are
famous. You’ve worked damn hard to become famous. You can’t just throw that all away because you don’t want to rely on someone else to protect you.”
“But I
don’t
want to rely on someone else,” she said. “Relying on others to protect me will make me careless. It also puts that other person at risk. I’d rather take my chances on my own, and if something happens, so be it. At least it was my doing and it only happens to me.”
“But it’s the person’s job—”
“No one expects it to happen to them, Ben, but it could. Someone could get hurt. Or killed. Because of me. And I don’t know if I could live with myself if that happened.”
“At least you’d be alive to find out!” he snapped. “And if you hire someone good enough, nothing will happen to anyone. That’s the whole point.”
She shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. But it looks like the best of the best has passed on the job. What I need to decide is whether to hire the second best company.”
“There’s nothing to decide. You know it’s what you need to do, Kat. Don’t back out now.”
She stared at him. Saw his resolve and felt it flow into her. He rarely lost his temper with her or got bossy, but he was worried. And he was right to worry even if she wished he wasn’t—those dead flowers delivered to her front door had been proof of that.
“I just want to live my life. Is that too much to ask?”
“Of course not. But we all have our burdens, baby. We rely on our inner strength and those close to us to help us through them. Like you’ll be keeping me company tonight while Sergio is away…”
Her mouth twisted. “And then tomorrow you’ll come with me to visit my agoraphobic mom. A true friend indeed.”
“Stop it. I love your mom and am looking forward to seeing her.”
“I know. And she looks forward to seeing you more than she does me sometimes.”
He grinned and winked, and the heaviness in Kat’s chest lightened.
“It’s the cheesecake,” he said. Ben went with Kat to visit her mother about once a month. He was the only other person she’d let into her house other than Kat, and every time he came, he always brought her a homemade cheesecake.
“I know. That’s why
I
love you,” Kat teased. “That, and because I like hanging out with Sergio and playing with Mamie.”
At the mention of her name, Mamie raised her head and licked Kat’s hand. She put her face down close to the dog’s and nuzzled noses with her. “I think I need a dog more than a bodyguard.”
“Baby, what you need is a man.”
She straightened with a scowl. “You do remember what happened the last time I had a man, right?”
“Ray is a moron. You can’t let what he did stop you from living and having fun. If you do that, he wins. Besides, you don’t have to get into a relationship. Find a hot guy, take him home, fuck his brains out and send him on his way. If he has a nice ass, give it a pat on the way out the door.”
She shook her head. “Thanks for the tip, but I think I’ll pass. I don’t want a man who wants to fuck a famous actress. And that’s all it would be.”
“You’re deluding yourself if you think men want to fuck you because you’re a famous actress. Here’s a thought—find a man to protect you
and
a man to fuck. Preferably before I leave to start filming. I’ll feel better, knowing you’re being taken care of.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t want you to go to Connecticut. I’ll miss you.”
“I’ll miss you too, desperately. But you can come visit me in Mystic anytime.”
“Is Sergio still going with you?”
“Are you kidding? He’d never let me go three thousand miles away without him. He wants to take care of me, and unlike you, I see the benefits in letting a man do that.”
“Well, you struck gold with Sergio. He’s one in a million.”
He reached out and took hold of her hand again. “I struck gold twice.”
She felt her heart swell. “Thank you for everything. But you gave me tough love and now it’s my turn. Get back to work.
I’m
going to head home and prepare for our movie night. But…” She exhaled, then said, “But only
after
I tell Charlie to set up an appointment with that other bodyguard company.”
He grinned. “There’s my girl,” he said.
As he walked Mamie back toward the park, she glanced at her watch. If she waited five more minutes, she would have been at the café for half an hour and except for that little bit of anxiety she’d suffered after Charlie’s call, she’d had a pleasant time. Just as Ben had said earlier, she had her father to partially thank for that. Despite her anxiety, she’d acted confident. She’d smiled. And she’d survived.
Fake it till you make it, right, Daddy
?
While Richard Bailey hadn’t suffered from anxiety, both Kat and her mother did. And despite the stress and long hours he’d experienced as a congressman, he’d had nothing but time and patience for them, teaching them skills to distract themselves and act more confident.
That was the most important lesson she’d learned from her father before he’d died: If she acted confident, she’d feel confident and people would respond accordingly.
“Appearing insecure is what makes most people victims, Kat,” her father had said. “If you project confidence, most of the time people will leave you alone.”
Kat had gotten very good at projecting confidence. She’d done it for years, and had a successful acting career as a result of it. A career she wasn’t going to give up without a fight.
Ben was right. Not about finding a man to fuck, but about her loving the career she worked so hard to have, and finding someone to protect her—temporarily—until all this craziness blew over. She didn’t like it, but she’d muddle through.
Seven minutes later, she gathered her things. She slipped on her purse and headed toward the garage where she’d parked her car. For now, she’d focus on hiring the best bodyguard she could, even if he would technically be second to the actual best.
No biggie, Mr. Indigo. I survived today. I’ll continue to survive. With or without you.
In the two weeks since he’d seen Kat Bailey, Luke hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her. Truth was, he’d been doing far more than just thinking.
He’d watched every one of her movies, both the ones he’d already seen and the ones he hadn’t. And he’d Googled her several times, albeit making sure to avoid the leaked nude photos of her (which he had to admit had taken more will power on his part than he’d thought it would) and keeping his searches confined to her activities over the past two weeks. That way, he could tell himself he was simply curious about how she was faring under Myers’s care and not obsessed, but he knew he was walking a fine line there.
Just this morning, he’d bought a magazine with her face on the cover. According to the article he’d read, she was getting to the end of her latest press tour and was already in negotiations for another film.
With a curse, Luke stood from where he’d been squatting down in his garage and working on his Indian motorcycle. He swiped his arm against his forehead and resisted the urge to kick the bike’s tire. It absolutely infuriated him that no matter how hard he tried, thoughts of Bailey kept leaking into his brain. The only time he could halfway keep thoughts of her at bay was when he was working, but he’d taken this particular week off, knowing that the upcoming anniversary of his father’s death would hit him hard as it always did. Now, with all the down time he had, thoughts of Bailey were never too far away.