Anna DePalo - Hollywood Baby Affair

When his gaze came back to rest on Chiara, she tilted her head, and said, “People weren’t sure when you tackled him whether it was a stunt, or if you were rehearsing a scene from the movie.”

“You’re welcome.” Leaning against a counter, he folded his arms, like a cop getting ready for an interrogation. He wanted answers only she could provide, and after getting into a fight with her admirer, he was going to get them. “Luckily you weren’t in your trailer when he got here.”

“I was rehearsing. We’re shooting a difficult scene.”

Rick figured that helped explain why she was sitting with a script in front of her, though he imagined her concentration was shot.

“I can only imagine the press coverage that today will get.” A horrified look crossed her face, and she closed her eyes on a shudder.

So she wasn’t as unaffected as she seemed. In fact, Rick had already dealt with suppressing the video of him tackling Jeffers. The person who’d been taping had turned out to be a visiting relative of one of the film crew. But even if those images didn’t become public or weren’t sold to the tabloids, the media would get wind of what happened from the police report and show up for Jeffers’s court hearing. Then, of course, Jeffers himself might choose to make a public statement...

“Hey, at least it’ll take attention away from your father’s latest losses at the gambling tables.” He wondered if Chiara appreciated just how close she’d come to danger. It had been dumb luck that her overly enthusiastic fan hadn’t found her earlier.

She opened her eyes and raised her head. “Yes, how can I forget about my father? How can anyone?”

“So you have a stalker.” He kept his tone mild, belying the emotions coursing through him. Damn it. Chiara was slender and a lightweight despite her mouth and bravado. His blood boiled just thinking of some jerk threatening her.

“Many celebrities have overly enthusiastic fans.” She waved her hand, and Rick could practically see her walls going up. “But my property has a security gate and cameras.”

Rick narrowed his eyes. “Have you dealt with this Todd Jeffers guy before? What kind of unstoppable fan is he? The sort who writes you pretty letters or the type who pens twisted ones?”

She shrugged. “He tried to scale my property fence once, but he was spotted by a landscaper and shooed away even before he got within view of the security cameras. I haven’t heard from him in the months since.”

So today’s guy was the same person who’d shown up at Chiara’s house once, and yeah, she wasn’t understanding the risk... Still, Rick strove for patience. “How do you know it was Jeffers at your house that day?”

She hesitated. “He wrote to me afterward to say he’d tried to see me.”

“He wrote to you about an attempted criminal trespass?” Rick let his tone drip disbelief. “Have you gotten a temporary restraining order?”

Chiara sighed. “No. He’s never been a physical threat, just a pest.”

“Just because he only tried to jump the fence doesn’t mean that’s what he’ll settle for doing in the future. There’s often an escalation with these nut jobs once they figure out that plan A isn’t working.”

Chiara raised her chin. “He’s probably a lonely, starstruck guy. Plenty of fans are.”

“Probably? I don’t deal in probabilities. Your run-of-the-mill serial killer often starts out torturing animals before moving to the big time. As I said, escalation.”

“Like A-list stars starting out in B movies?” she asked snippily.

“Right,” he said, his voice tight even as he ignored her flippant attitude. “Listen, Snow White, there are villains out there aside from the Evil Queen.”

Rick raked his fingers through his hair. He could understand why this guy was besotted with Chiara. Unfortunately Chiara herself wasn’t appreciating the gravity of the problem. They were like two trains on parallel tracks. “You’ve got a stalker. It’s time you acquired a boyfriend. Me.”

He’d been mulling things over, his mind in overdrive ever since he’d tackled Jeffers. If he pretended to be Chiara’s boyfriend, he could stick close and keep an eye on her. Maybe once this guy realized Chiara had a supposedly real boyfriend, he’d back off. Odele may have been onto a good idea.

Chiara opened and closed her mouth. “You’re not in the protection business.”

“I’m appointing myself right now. Besides, I’ve got the right background. I used to do security.” He’d worked as a guard at an office building during his college days and beyond in order to earn extra cash. He’d been a good bouncer, too. His parents had instilled the value of hard work in their children even though they’d been well-off.

Chiara slid off her seat and stood. In the confined space, she was within touching distance. “You can’t unilaterally decide to be my protector.” She spluttered as if searching for words. “I won’t agree to it.”

“You could solve two problems at once. The bad press from your father, and the issue of your stalker and needing security. Don’t quibble.”

“I’ll get a restraining order.”

He took a step forward. “Damn straight, you will.”

“So I don’t need you.”

“You need physical protection, too, unless you have seven dwarves hanging around, because a court order is just a piece of paper.” He didn’t want to think about how many news stories there’d been concerning an order of protection being violated—and someone getting hurt or killed.

She looked mutinous. “I’ll hire professional security.”

“It still won’t solve the problem of your father and distracting the press.”

Chiara threw up her hands.

“Don’t worry. I’ll always be a step behind you, like a good prince consort—I mean, bodyguard.”

“Hilarious.”

“I’ll make sure to hold an umbrella open for you in the rain,” he added solemnly.

“What’s in this for you?”

“Let’s just say I have a vested interest in the star of my next blockbuster staying safe until the end of filming. Everyone working on this movie wants to see it finished so they can get paid.”

“I thought so. Well, my answer is still no.”

He’d given her the wrong answer, and she’d responded in kind. “Do you just act contrary, or is this your best side?”

“How can you say that about the damsel in distress you helped save from a helicopter?” she asked sweetly.

“Exactly.”

They were practically nose-to-nose, except because she stood several inches shorter than his six-foot frame, it was more like nose-to-chin. But then she raised her face to a stubborn angle, and he abandoned his good intentions about keeping himself in check during this conversation.

Hell, here goes nothing.

He tugged her forward and captured her mouth. It was just as good as before, damn it. There was a little zap of electricity because they were differently charged, and then he was kissing her in earnest, opening that luscious mouth and deepening the kiss.

She smelled faintly of honeysuckle, just like Snow White ought to. He caressed her cheek with the back of his hand. She was petal-soft, and he was getting hard.

After what felt like an eternity, she pushed him away.

Her chest rose and fell, and he was breathing deeply with arousal.

She touched her fingers to her lips and then shot fire at him with her eyes. “That’s twice.”

“Are we getting better? We’ve got to be convincing if we’re going to pull this off.”

“We’re not practicing scenes, but if we were, try this response on for size.” She stretched out her arm and pointed to the door of the trailer, giving him his marching orders.

It was a proverbial slap in the face, but Chiara was wrong if she thought he was backing down. “Let me know when our next scene is scheduled for filming. It might be time to throw a plate or break something. For real, not pretend.”