Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 53466 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53466 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
He shakes his head. “I’m so sorry, sir, but we didn’t. People could have come and gone all night.”
This is why a bodyguard is often only half of the equation. Obviously, nobody was paying for investigative services. They just reported the initial threat to the police and hired me.
“Call the cops. Now.”
I glance at Summer, who has pulled herself together and is watching the interaction between us. “Do you think they’ll find anything helpful?” she asks as the manager steps aside to make the call.
“No.” My gut tells me they won’t discover prints that will lead to a culprit. Just everyone and anyone who had access to this room, which is the entire club. A couple could have snuck in here for a quickie and the girl fixed herself up after. Anything could have happened in here in between the time of the act and when we walked in.
“The police will be here soon,” the manager says.
I glance up at the ceiling, looking for signs of video cameras and finding none. “I don’t suppose you have cameras covering the room?” I ask the other man.
“No.” He shoves his hands into his pants pockets. “Look, I need to greet the cops when they show up.”
I incline his head. “Go. But you need to rethink your security,” I mutter, disgusted with the situation.
For the next few hours, the police come in and handle things, talking to the employees who had access to the room, questioning Tawny and members of her entourage, but overall, informing Summer and me they’ve come up empty. There are too many people in the club to bother fingerprinting the area, and Tawny and her friends deny having done anything wrong. The cops document the incident, but there is nothing more they can do.
Summer looks ready to collapse from exhaustion, and I turn to the cop in charge. “I’m taking Ms. Michelle home. If you need us, you have her information.”
“Go ahead,” the officer says.
I pull out my cell and call the driver, asking him to meet us at the front of the club.
Then I turn to Summer and meet her gaze, the first time we’ve been alone since the moments on the dance floor. Soft black smudges looked like light bruises beneath her eyes, makeup and exhaustion combining to cause the vulnerable look.
I brush a gentle knuckle across her cheek. “Hey. Are you okay? Because I’m not going to let anyone near you. You know that, right? You’re safe.”
She nods, gazing up at me with wide brown eyes. “I’m really fine. I just don’t understand why anyone would be desperate for me not to win. Other than Tawny, who cares?” She bites down on her lower lip. “Do you think she’s capable of this? Because I don’t want to think that someone I know could do something like that. I mean, I know she’s ambitious, but this is crazy.” She gestures to the mess behind her.
I groan. “I honestly wouldn’t rule her out. She’s caused trouble for you before. You believe she’s the one who turned you in to the producers hoping they’d let you go and she’d have one less person to compete with in Star Power.” I raise an eyebrow. “Which means she’s incredibly competitive and determined to win. At all costs.”
Summer sighs. “At least I have you. And I trust you to take care of me.”
Her words are humbling and they mean something to me. I don’t take them, or the job I was hired to do, lightly.
Chapter Six
Ben
I can’t sleep. Not with thoughts of Summer circling in my brain. You’d think it would be her safety that concerns me, but I trust in my abilities to protect her from any outside danger. Instead it is our relationship that has me tossing and turning. I can’t keep his hands to myself when she is around. If it was just the physical attraction that is palpable between us, I could tuck it into my back pocket and ignore it while doing my job, but over the days I’ve been with her, I’ve come to realize the fact that Summer is my ideal woman.
Her independence is a turn-on. Daily, she proves that, although she misses having her family around her, she can handle herself in the city and on the job. I admire her drive to succeed and go after what she wants in life with determination and gusto.
Her talent is exceptional. When she sings, I get lost in the emotion behind the music, and her voice transports me out of my head and to a place where I can focus only on her. It will be a huge loss if she can’t see her dream of performing for a living come to fruition.
Then there is the feminine vulnerability she exudes. The soft and sweet woman inside, a woman who, despite her independence, values her family, and though she’ll never admit it, a part of her is a lonely girl who wishes for the time to make friends. I’ve seen the way she looks at Tawny and her girl pack. She doesn’t like those women, but she envies their closeness, though not the meanness that brings them together.