Guarding Hearts (Living Again #3) (10 page)

Ellis swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, stretching his back from side to side. He looked outside the window to the white sandy beach and blue waves, his mind replaying that kiss over and over again. He wasn’t sure how much sleep he actually got after they came back in, but he knew it wasn’t much. He had switched from berating himself for allowing it to happen, to thinking about every aspect of it like it was the best damn thing that ever happened to him.

It was just a kiss,
he told himself for what seemed like the millionth time.
It didn’t mean anything. So she’s a pretty girl, and we have chemistry. It’s not going to go anywhere. It can’t.

Today would be a test of his willpower, but that was okay. He could do it. Slipping on a light cotton shirt and khaki shorts, he made his way for the kitchen to start some coffee. The house was quiet, and he was glad. He needed to get his mind around what was happening today. He was going to have to watch Sam in her music video for the majority of the day. Not only was he going to have to listen to her voice, but he would have to see her in whatever outfits they came up with. He knew already they would show off her amazing body.

Starting the coffee maker, he looked out again at the beach. Workers were already out there, marking off their section of the beach to the public and setting up sound equipment and props. When he really stopped to think about it, he was a little starstruck. Here was this celebrity singer, and she wanted to kiss him.
Not if she knew anything about you,
that nasty little voice reminded him. But he knew that was true, and that was exactly why he could never let it go on past just an infatuation, a crush. She didn’t need to be associated with the likes of him. Even if she did feel like he saw her for who she really was.

“Morning,” her sultry voice came from behind. Ellis turned from the window and watched Sam walk to the coffee pot. She was wearing a pair of running shorts and a tank top, her dark hair piled on top of her head.

“Morning,” he finally repeated. “You’re up early.”

She smiled. “So are you.”

“I’m an early riser,” Ellis explained.

“Me too,” Sam sipped the hot coffee and made a small moan of approval. Ellis watched her, unable to turn away. “Hey, I need to go for a run. Can you come with me?” When Ellis didn’t respond, she continued. “Brian usually goes with me, but since I…”

“No problem,” Ellis finally found his voice. He needed to call Dev later, get him to straighten him out. He was becoming just plain stupid over this woman. “Let me just change.” Now he was going to have to go running with her?

Ellis thought he was in good shape from his hours spent in the gym, but after running three miles with Sam, he was tired. The girl could run! Maybe the problem was he wasn’t focused at all while they were running and his mind was all over the place, and he had to fight with himself over wanting to watch her body move the whole time. Whatever it was, it wasn’t helping his resolve to stay away from her.

“So you live here, right, in the Sunset Beach area?” Sam sat on the step of the stairs to the beach house.

Ellis nodded, downing his water. “I just moved here a few months ago from Miami.”

“What brought you here?”

“Work,” he answered.

“Not a woman?” Sam bumped him playfully.

He looked at her, that feeling in his chest again. “No.” He said it with finality, so she knew he didn’t want to go down this road.

“Hey, we are going to have a fire tonight after the video shoot with the crew. Would you like to invite some friends?”

Ellis stared out at the water. He knew that the girls would love coming to meet Sam, especially Jessica. Thinking of her made his stomach clench in guilt. While they weren’t anything official, and he wasn’t planning to be serious with her or anyone else, it still made him feel bad to think that he hadn’t even thought about her once since meeting Sam. He cared about her; he just knew he was no good to anyone.

“I’ll call them and see if they can come out. I’m sure they’d love to meet you.”

When Sam grinned, he knew he said something wrong. “They would, huh?”

Ellis laughed. “Who wouldn’t? You are Sam Kerrigan, world famous country singer.”

“Ha,” she scoffed. She stood up and brushed sand from her backside. “I need to go shower and get ready. I’ll meet you back out here in an hour, okay?”

He stood up, noticing he was eye level with her since she was standing on the first step. And he was too close to her. Again. She smiled softly, her eyes searching his face. Oh no. He couldn’t do it again. Stepping up next to her, he smiled back. “Yep. One hour.” With that he walked into the house with her and to his room, eager to escape her all-knowing eyes.

Ellis leaned over the railing, looking out at the scene on the beach below. It had been a long day, and he knew she had to be tired. They were on their last take, and she had done amazing, just as he figured. Even though she was on the beach, she looked stunning in a soft white dress, her hair loosely hanging over her shoulder, and her feet bare. The dress blew lightly in the breeze, and the energy around her was tangible. She had a gift that was for sure. They had attracted quite a crowd outside of the shooting area, many of them figuring out who was there very early in the day. Brian had relegated Ellis to the balcony so he could keep watch on the outsides of the marked off area. He was dressed in bodyguard attire, a black shirt and dark pants, dark shades, his handgun hidden from view. So far today there had been no sign of any trouble, but they weren’t taking any chances. Local police stood guard around the area. They were as safe as they could be with her out in the open. It wasn’t going to get any easier tonight as the sun went down, especially with the fans knowing where she was, but Sam was determined to have the bonfire on the beach. She was going to kill him.

Cameras surrounded her, and the fans stood on the edge of the partitioned area, watching her. Suddenly, her eyes connected to his, and the rest of them disappeared. A bomb could’ve gone off and he wouldn’t have had any reaction. He felt the pull of her, even this far away. He wanted to deny it. He
needed
to deny it. But he wasn’t sure how much longer he could.

A voice in his earpiece shook him back to reality, and he turned his eyes from her. “Ellis? You have guests here. Just approving that they are indeed here for you.” The guard at the entrance to the beach house rattled off Ben, Kayley, Rachel, Devin, Emily, Trevor, and Jessica’s names. He approved their entrance and he then radioed to Brian, telling him he was going to go meet them and lead them to the back entrance.

“We’re wrapping up down here anyway,” he answered.

Ellis walked through the house and they were being let into the front door by the time he got there.

“Ellis!” Devin boomed, clapping him on the back. “Nice place! It’s beautiful out here!” He held his sleeping son’s car seat, while Rachel had their daughter’s. Ben and Kayley held the hands of their three children, as did Emily and Trevor. Jessica walked behind them, helping Rachel with diapers bags and supplies for the babies.

“Hey Jess,” Ellis said warmly, hugging her.

“Hey yourself,” she answered. “How’s it going?” He looked at her, noticing that something seemed off with her.

“Are you okay?”

Jessica laughed, but it sounded forced. “Of course! Why wouldn’t I be? I can’t wait to meet Sam! Where is she?”

“Goodness, Jess, are you fangirling or what?” Rachel teased, taking the diaper bag from her and setting it on the table.

The group laughed. “She’s outside finishing her video. Want to go watch the end?”

The friends made their way out to the large deck overlooking the beach, laughing and catching up. Kayley’s daughter Alexis begged to hold one of the babies, and Rachel helped her, keeping her hands around him at all times.

“How’s dad life?” Ellis asked.

Devin turned to him. “Amazing, man. Like nothing I could’ve ever imagined. Those little babies are just everything to me. You need one or two of those,” he teased, ribbing him.

Ellis laughed. “I most certainly do not.”

“Oh that’s right,” Devin continued. “You need one of
those
first.” He indicated Jessica, sitting and holding Faith.

Ellis shook his head. “Give me a break. Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Always.”

Ellis looked around to see if any of their friends were listening. “I have a problem.”

“What’s that?” Devin looked concerned.

Ellis looked down at the sand, where Sam was talking and laughing with the producer of the video. For a moment, he forgot what he was going to talk to Devin about as he watched her throw her head back in carefree laughter.

“Uh oh,” he heard Devin say from next to him. “It’s her, isn’t it?”

Ellis looked back at him, narrowing his eyes. Never mind. He couldn’t do it. No matter how great of a friend Devin was, he just couldn’t make the words come out.

“What are you talking about?”

Devin looked down at Sam, over at Jessica, then back to Ellis. “You like her, don’t you?”

“Like who?” Ellis knew he was screwed. Why had he even thought he could ask a simple question to Devin? If there was anyone other than Carl who could read him, it was Devin. Years of working together would do that.

“Don’t bullshit me, man. I see it, and I’m sure that’s what you were going to ask me about. What I want to know is, what are you going to do about it?”

Ellis thought about denying it. He should. Saying it out loud was like admitting that he felt something, and he wasn’t someone who
felt
something. But the problem was, he really wanted Devin’s help and advice.

Looking back at the group, enthralled with the new babies, he let out a breath slowly. “I have no idea what’s wrong with me.”

Devin laughed, leaning his forearms on the railing. “What’s
wrong
with you, El? There’s nothing wrong with you. She’s a beautiful woman, who just so happens to be very successful. You would be blind if you weren’t attracted to her.” He looked back out to the sand, and Ellis followed his gaze. Sam was looking at him, noticing that he was standing up there with the group. She waved and smiled, and he felt Devin’s gaze on him as he smiled and waved back.

“It’s more than that, isn’t it?” Ellis wanted to groan out loud, to tell him he was ridiculous and no way did he feel anything for anyone after just meeting them. But he couldn’t make his mouth form the words. When he didn’t respond, Devin whistled. “What about Jess?”

Ellis flicked his eyes to Jessica, cooing at Faith. “It’s not like that, Dev.”

“What isn’t? You don’t care about Jess, or you don’t care about Sam?”

Ellis felt anger pulsing through his veins, and he didn’t know why. “I just met her,” he snapped. Devin raised his eyebrow at him, but didn’t respond. Ellis ran his hands through his hair, pulling slightly as he exhaled. “I’m sorry. It’s been a stressful two days, and I’ve spent the whole day today looking to see if anyone was trying to come get her on the beach.”

“Any leads on that whole stalker thing?” Devin asked, thankfully changing the subject. As much as Ellis thought he wanted his friend’s advice, he wasn’t willing to admit that he needed it anymore.

“Nothing. And of course the flowers yesterday were a dead end. It’s so crazy to think that whoever this is doing this, he’s slick. I swear that there has to be someone on the inside helping, but no one seems to be able to break anyone. I’m determined I’m going to be the one that figures this out. This is her first tour. She should be enjoying her new fame, not scared to death of some crazy freak out to get her.”

Devin studied him silently. “I’ll be damned.”

“What?” Ellis needed to get away from him. He should’ve never invited them here.

“You guys leave tomorrow, right?” Rachel walked up and linked one arm with him and one with Devin. He wanted to kiss her for interrupting right then.

“Yes, we are going to the East coast for a few concerts, then to Orlando, then I’ll be back because her Florida tour will be over.”

“We’ll see about that,” Ellis heard Devin say under his breath. He gave him a look, then turned back to Rachel.

“You guys ready to go meet Sam? I think she’s done.”

The group all murmured their excitement, and the kids led the way down the stairs, eight year old Alexis leading the pack, holding her brother and sister’s hands like the little mommy she was.

As they made their way across the sand, Sam saw the group and started walking towards them. He watched as she looked at all of them, a big smile on her face.

“You guys must be Ellis’ friends,” she said in her adorable Southern accent.

“We’re so glad we got the chance to meet you,” Rachel piped up. “Thanks so much for inviting us. We’re big fans.”

“I love your songs,” Alexis agreed, her blonde pigtails bobbing up and down as she jumped. “My mommy let me get your album right after it came out. We loved watching you on TV. I want to be a singer like you when I grow up.”

“Well aren’t you just the cutest little thing,” Sam crooned. “What’s your name?”

“Alexis Kayley Carson Nichols, but my mom and dad call me Lexi,” she said, holding out her little hand. Sam took her hand in hers, and Ellis could tell she was suppressing a laugh. Alexis was a character. He knew that from the few months he had known her. “This is my mommy, Kayley, my daddy, Ben, and my little brother Benji, he’s five, and my little sister, Cierra. She’s three. And my mommy is pregnant, too!”