Chapter 11 Sloane
Sloane
The warm pool water felt glorious on my aching limbs.
I spread my fingers wide, stretching, then dipped my head under the surface for a minute, letting the warm liquid press on me from all sides.
When my lungs started to burn, I forced myself to standing and wiped water from my eyes.
In front of me was Olivia, an amused look on her face, her gaze directed behind me.
“What?”
“Your bodyguard.”
My shoulders climbed to meet my ears. “What’s he doing now?”
Olivia shook her head before turning her attention to me. “Just peeking in to check on you.”
“Ugh.” I wanted to sink back into the water. Maybe this time I wouldn’t come up. “Could he be any more annoying?”
She shrugged. “I think he’s sweet.”
That bristled. “He’s a bodyguard. He’s not supposed to be sweet.”
Her amusement was back. Her pinched lips didn’t hide her smile. “He’s very professional. He’s keeping an eye on his client, that’s all.”
Why did it feel like his eyes were on me all the time? I looked over my shoulder at the door, and my breath caught in my throat as I saw nothing but the tight shirt covering the broad expanse of his back. “Did he tell you he’s your biggest fan when he met you, too?”
Her brow pinched and she tilted her head to the side. “No. He told me he loved Falling Rain, though.” She flashed a smile. “He’s got good taste.”
Olivia and I first met at a reading for Falling Rain.
The part could have been written for her, and I would have thought so if Calvin hadn’t sent me to try out.
We were both supposed to be reading for a small part—a minor character in a supporting role.
After our auditions, they’d gone on to rewrite the script and recast the supporting parts, giving her the lead while I was told not this time.
She was just that good, and I was… not.
“Why?” she asked, bringing me back to the present. Her eyes flashed. “Is he your biggest fan?”
I sank down until the water was up to my chin, letting the liquid cool me. “Something like that.”
Biggest fan. Biggest pain in my ass.
And unfortunately, my biggest muse at the moment.
Why did my big, strong bodyguard have to be so damn sweet and charming and fun to be around? I often found myself wondering what he was doing when I was supposed to be doing something else. Like writing. Or eating. Or thinking.
My brain didn’t want to function properly around him.
It was beyond annoying.
Olivia waggled her fingers and smiled at the door. I spun, only to catch nothing but the side of Kolton’s face as he finished turning away.
“You shouldn’t let it bother you so much.” She dipped into the water, too, looking far more relaxed than I was. It reminded me this was supposed to be a calming time away from Kolton’s prying eyes.
He’d reserved the entire pool just for us. Posted himself at the door next to the sign that said it was closed for a private party.
Private party of two.
I scoffed. “I’m not letting him bother me.” Even as I said it, the hairs on my neck lifted. I was tempted to turn and look at him again, but that would have proved my lie. “He’s annoying. I finally got out from under the thumbs of the men who were trying to control me, and now I’m stuck with him.”
The problem with Olivia was that she was an amazing actress. I sometimes wondered if she genuinely felt the way she said she did, if her actions were real. I’d told her as much once, and she’d gently shot that down by pointing out that was exactly what Calvin and Beckett had trained me to feel.
My trust in people had withered to nothing after my father died—possibly before that. Putting that trust in Beckett, then Calvin, and not realizing how they’d used that against me, had left me punch-drunk when it was finally pointed out.
Pointed out by Olivia the very first time we’d met.
“Why are you here?” she asked, and the question rankled. But she continued before I had a chance to respond, to shut her down. “You’re such an amazing singer. I always thought you’d leave these crummy roles behind and focus on the thing that obviously means more to you than anything.”
For a minute, my distrust had led me to believe she was just trying to get me to walk away from the part we were both trying for. But over the course of that afternoon, she changed my way of thinking. She changed the entire trajectory of my life.
“Speaking of being free,” Olivia said, her voice lower even though there was no one here. “I saw the news last month. Did Beckett really show up here? What did he want?”
Shrugging, my eyes blurred as I lost focus on the surface of the pool. “I’m not sure what he wanted. To lie to my face, most likely. Kolton forced me to stay in my apartment while he handled it.”
My body flared with heat at the memory of that afternoon. I’d yanked the door open to yell at Beckett, to tell him I didn’t want to see his lying, cheating face again, when Kolton’s words cut me off.
Or rather, his growl.
I’d tried not to think of how his voice had affected me. That growl, the way he told Beckett exactly what I wanted to say in words I hadn’t been able to find in the weeks since I’d walked out of my life with him.
Worse, the way I’d felt as Kolton had wrapped his arms around me, pressing the length of his hard body against my back as he lifted me like I was nothing but a feather, dropping me lightly to my feet in the safety of my apartment.
The blood that spilled down his sharp cheekbone and the wild look in his eyes.
I’d wanted to… I don’t know. Help him? Thank him?
He’d done what I hadn’t been able to do, after all.
Both out there in the hall and when he’d blocked Beckett and Brooklyn’s numbers in my phone.
Before I had a chance, though, there’d been police officers and that EMT that he’d flirted with while she patched up his cheek.
All my frustration rose to epic proportions when I was told he’d be moving in with me. Against my wishes. Without anyone bothering to ask if it was okay.
It wasn’t that he was here. No, that wasn’t the problem. After what happened with Beckett, I could appreciate the need for at least some level of security.
My problem was with who I was stuck with. And that became clear when he’d knocked on my bedroom door that night and forced me to step out to see him after he had the audacity to call me a diva.
As if my emotions were unfounded.
As if I was an entitled little shit who thought the world revolved around me.
As if I was the one who’d wrapped him in my arms and trembled and shook like I was moments from falling apart right there in my doorway.
At least I had the decency to cry about it in the privacy of my own room. He was the one who demanded I come out just so he could break apart in my arms.
I didn’t want this. I didn’t ask for it.
The split with Beckett and Brooklyn, the move across country, the bodyguard who took up too much of my attention when I only wanted to hate him and not see him in my dreams every night.
All I’d wanted since Olivia pointed out to me how wrong acting was for me, how wrong Calvin and Beckett and, yes, maybe even Brooklyn, were for me, was to follow my passion and sing.
“How did he get in?” Olivia asked, dragging me out of the whirlpool of my thoughts.
“We’re not sure.” I peeked over my shoulder at the door.
Kolton still stood there, the tension in his muscles obvious even from here.
“We’re not sure how he knew I lived here, either.
The buildings’ leases are private. All my mail goes to a P.O.
box listed in Monica’s name. Kolton’s boss and the building security are looking into it, but they haven’t found anything yet. ”
“That’s scary.” She paused. Glanced at the door. “I’m glad you have him. No matter how much you don’t like him, Sloane, I’m glad he’s here for you.”
I huffed out a breath that only made her smile.
“Are you pressing charges? Against Beckett?”
Pushing off the floor, I floated on my back. I took a minute before I could find a way to speak through my frustration. “Kolton didn’t want to.”
Olivia’s brow pinched. “Why not?”
“I don’t know.” I’d wanted it. Wanted Beckett to get charged with assault for splitting the skin on Kolton’s cheek with that wild punch.
I couldn’t get the pained look I’d seen on his face out of my head, and I’d never be able to forgive Beckett, I knew that.
“Monica told me Kolton insisted he not be charged. But…”
“But what?”
Heat trickled through me again. I couldn’t tell if it was anger or something else.
I didn’t trust myself to know.
“His stipulation was, no charges if Beckett promised to never come near me again. Next time he won’t be so lenient.”
“With luck, there won’t be a next time.”
With luck.
Olivia giggled, drawing her hand to her lips. Her light brown eyes were dancing with glee. I spun to see what she was looking at and my mouth dropped open, my chin grazing the surface of the water.
Kolton was dancing? In the hall? It was hard to tell, but the movements of his feet and hips made me think that’s what was going on. The motions were slight, almost like my backup dancers when they were thinking through the moves in their head without doing the full dance.
I blinked. Glanced at Olivia and back. Kolton was still there, but his back was as stiff as a board, like he’d never done anything at all.
“Did I just imagine that?”
“You certainly did not.” My friend grinned, then dunked herself under the water before shooting back out.