Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“What’s your bike doing here?” Vanessa asked when they arrived in the hallway between their apartments.
“I walked to The Link today,” Jordan answered as he took her purse off her shoulder and dug through it for her key.
For the first time in hours, a small smile spread over her lips. “So you’re a live-in nanny for Nigel now?” She held her breath as she watched him.
Jordan hesitated with her key in the lock. He stared at the doorknob a beat longer than necessary, then unlocked it, the mechanism’s soft click breaking the silence. “He doesn’t like to be alone for too long. It’s easier to stay here.” He pushed the door wide and ushered her in.
“Uh-huh,” she said, shrugging out of her jacket. Maybe that was true, but she couldn’t help noticing that his bike had become ever present in the hallway since the unsettling things had started happening to her. Truth be told, she didn’t mind it. She slept better knowing Jordan was across the hall.
“Well,” she said hesitantly. “I bet he feels much safer knowing you’re here every minute you’re not working.” She peeked at him from under her lashes. That probably gave away more than she intended, but she didn’t know how else to express her gratitude.
Lately, they’d shifted toward something in-between. Tenderness woven through their usual bickering. Which really only meant one thing. Jordan Thompson was becoming harder to resist.
The brief falter in his steps was the only outward sign that he’d caught her double meaning. Which was no surprise, since she was starting to realize how uncomfortable he was with gratitude or praise of any kind.
Trust me, I deserved to be there.
She knew how it felt to be haunted by a past, but no matter how dark Jordan made his sound, she couldn’t believe he had any of that man left in him now.
Even at his most annoying, he’d never been anything but reliable around her.
The way he was with the kids at The Link…
He was more of a father figure than a gangster.
After what appeared to be a quick sweep of her apartment, Jordan planted himself in front of her. “Look, I have my last shift at Silk tonight, so I won’t be home until after 2 a.m. Do you want to call a friend to come stay with you?”
“Your last shift at Silk?” He’d become the signature grumpy-assed bouncer at the front door. She couldn’t imagine him not working there.
Jordan shrugged. “Between working for Joel, The Link, and helping Sean with the gym, I don’t have any hours to give Max anymore.” He eyed her wearily. “That said, if you ever decide you need to let loose at a club again, please God, let me know, Vanessa, and I’ll go with you.”
She couldn’t help but smirk. “You’ll go dancing with me?”
A half-smile quirked his lips. “Well, I can’t have you kissing random men to get out of tricky situations all the time, can I?” He dipped his chin and caught her eye. “Do you want me to call someone to come stay with you tonight?”
Oh no. When he looked at her like that, with care, and concern, and a twinkle, it went straight to her heart. She swallowed and shook her head. “I’ll be fine. I’ll, um, lock the door.”
“I’m coming with you to The Link tomorrow. I’ll knock on your door at nine.” He stared at her like he was fighting something with everything he had. After a beat, he leaned forward and kissed her forehead, lingering a second longer than necessary.
Then he strode out her front door, leaving it wide open. She barely had time to register his absence when he returned with Nigel in hand.
“Your bodyguard for the evening, Miss Barone.” He transferred the wide-eyed bunny to her arms. “He’s surprisingly good at alerting me to noise outside doors. He’ll race over to you if he hears anything.”
Vanessa cuddled the bunny to her chin. “I thought he was terrified of you.”
Jordan snorted. “That was weeks ago. He adores me now.”
She nuzzled the silky fur behind Nigel’s ears. “I bet he does.” Looked like she and the bunny had something in common.
After a quiet moment where they simply looked at each other, Jordan turned to her door. “Lock it behind me. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“So, like, you’re obsessed with him now or what?” Natalie asked.
Vanessa rolled her eyes as she propped her phone on her vanity. Her sister hadn’t answered her morning FaceTime, so she’d resorted to calling her cousin for a morning pep talk. “I’m not obsessed. It’s just…I don’t know. Strange. I’m supposed to hate him, right?”
“Cuz, I never thought you hated him in the first place. The two of you were always like the couple in an enemies-to-lovers romance, you know? Where there’s all this bickering and pretend fighting, but everyone knows all they really want to do is fuck.
So, can we please skip to chapter twenty-three? ”
Vanessa dropped her forehead onto the vanity table. “You are so bad at this, Nat.” She lifted her head and sent a pleading look over the line. “I need advice, not horny, sex-deprived opinions.”
Natalie chuckled. She was already at the salon, setting up her station, and from the vantage point of her phone, Vanessa could see Colin in the distance, prepping his own workspace.
“After all these years, you should know better. I’m the worst with boy advice. I like to fuck ‘em. I don’t like to date ‘em. Remember?”
“Men are nothing but a broken heart waiting to happen.” She repeated Natalie’s relationship mantra.
“Exactly. Besides, if you really want my advice, Ness, it is this—” She picked up the phone and brought it up to her face. “You still plan on moving back to the Big Apple when this show is wrapped up?”
That was the plan. “Yes.”
“Are you really going to let whatever fleeting feelings you’re having for the bodyguard stop you from chasing your dreams?”
“He’s not my bodyguard.” In the background, she heard Colin laughing. “He’s not!”
The image on the phone jostled before half of Colin’s face appeared beside Natalie’s.
“Girl, you told us a few minutes ago that he basically moved in across the hall. He’s always at The Link with you, or magically appearing wherever else you are, so if he’s not the bodyguard, then he’s the stalker. ”
A cold chill swept up her spine. “Don’t joke, Col. That shit’s been scary. And yes, Jordan re-entered the picture when it started, but only because he was across the hall Nigel-sitting. A coincidence. Nothing more.”
To his credit, Colin sobered somewhat. “I know. It’s fucked up, and we’re totally grateful you have a badass ex-con watching your back. I didn’t mean to suggest he’s a depraved dude. It’s a lucky coincidence.”
“Any ideas who might be behind all the stalker stuff?” Natalie asked. “Do think it’s Kurt?”
Kurt Robertson had crossed her mind more than once, but she’d dismissed the idea.
The producer of her Vancouver paranormal show had a massive career behind him, not to mention a wife and family.
Just because he’d been a total asshole to her, and probably other young, unsuspecting actresses, didn’t mean he was stalker material.
As far as she knew, his indiscretions, including the ones that involved her, were all swept neatly under the rug, either with money or the sheer influence of his reputation in the industry.
When Joel had come to Vancouver for her, he’d put a cramp in Kurt’s career, but it wasn’t enough for Kurt to risk everything and turn to this level of criminal behavior. Was it?
“Lucy asked me that too, but…” She hesitated, unsure of anything anymore. “I don’t know. Why would he do it?”
“Oh geez, I don’t know, because he was a manipulative prick who was obsessed with you? And then when Joel threatened him, he was forced to let you go when he didn’t really want to?” Natalie’s logic wasn’t totally invalid, but somehow it didn’t fit.
Kurt was a bully, high on his own power.
Slinking in darkened street corners trying to catch a photograph of a model actress he’d once seduced, didn’t sound up his alley.
Of course, she couldn’t discount that he’d pay someone to make her life hell.
Still she doubted he’d bother with this level of planning. Not unless it benefited him directly.
“Just promise me you’ll tell the local police or Jordan about Kurt. Put that fuck on everyone’s radar, because he’s not innocent, that’s for sure.” Natalie brought her face right to the screen. “Okay, Ness?”
“Yes, okay. Kurt’s name has always been at the top of my suspect list.” Because God knew who else she could put on there. “Changing to more urgent topics, are you ready for Friday night?”
The screen blurred, then settled back a distance, probably propped on Nat’s workstation again, and she got a long shot view of her cousin.
“Yes, and I’m bringing Colin and Brittany.” Natalie started unwinding a hairdryer. “If I have to close up shop, I’m bringing my staff. No way can I do hair and makeup for the whole group on my own, especially when you keep adding more models.”
“Beck and Murray are the finishing touches to the show. It’s going to be so good, you wait and see!” A knock rattled her door, and she knew it was Jordan, right on time, as promised. “Don’t forget to bring business cards and swag. You’re definitely going to pick up new clients.”
She hung up and raced to the door. Jordan stood on the other side, hand propped on the upper doorjamb. He took up all the space, so much so that she couldn’t see beyond him.
His gaze trailed over her body, as if making sure she was as he’d left her the night before. “Everything okay?”
“Perfect,” she replied, then dashed into the living room to scoop Nigel off the couch where she’d made him a small nest of blankets. “You’ll be happy to know my bodyguard did a fine job protecting me.”
She turned to hand over Nigel, then stepped back in surprise when she saw a very large, very tatted man she didn’t recognize standing in her living room next to Jordan. “Oh. Who’s this?”
Jordan slanted his head toward the man. “This is Dex. Your new bodyguard.”