Seduced by the Bodyguard (Forbidden Confessions 5)

“I didn’t.”

I nod. “I sang some Kelly Clarkson song with Kristi and another one of our friends. I had all the high notes and the powerhouse ending. In the audience, the uncle of my piano-playing classmate was watching. He was from LA and knew some people… A couple of weeks later, I was recording demos and getting interest from record labels. Everything happened so fast after that. But when my parents’ divorce went down, Mom was absent a lot. Dorinda stepped in as a surrogate mother figure. When I eventually left her, the guilt almost killed me, but she just didn’t have the contacts I needed to rehab my image from child star to serious adult musician.”

“That’s where David came in?”

“Yes. Dorinda made a lot of my early deals. She got me into the right doors…but she also sold me really short. David negotiated better terms for me and raised my profile significantly in all the right ways.”

“So you’re happy with where you are now?”

“I’m happy with David. But professionally?” I shrug, then sip at my wine. “I don’t know. Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about taking a break.”

Well, about walking away, really. But I haven’t told anyone yet.

“Why don’t you?”

“I’ve worked for over a dozen years to get here. It seems foolish to let up now.”

“But you want to?”

I swallow another sip of wine. “What’s the point of all this money if I never have time to enjoy it?”

He nods. “Good point.”

“Tell me about you.”

“Not much to say. I’m thirty-one and single. I left the Dallas Police Department recently to become Bartonville’s chief. I’ve wanted to join a smaller force where I could make a real difference. I start next month.”

“Congratulations.”

“Thanks. I’m excited. I’m looking forward to moving out to the country and getting some peace without neighbors stacked on top of me. I move into my new place next week.”

“I’m envious. I’d love some peace.” I feel like this career chose me before I was even old enough to grasp what it entailed.

He nods as if he understands. “Is there anything else you can tell me about Dorinda? What’s her financial situation?”

“I made us both rich, and now she reps other up-and-coming child stars.”

“She married? Have kids?”

“No. She always said she was married to her job and her clients were like her children. Why? Do you suspect her?”

He shrugs. “I suspect everyone until I can prove otherwise.”

When we’re done eating, we wash the dishes together. Since the kitchen is old-fashioned, there’s no dishwasher. As I clean the plates, he dries them. Rubbing arms as we tidy up feels even more domestic than before. And every time we bump or touch, I swear my body revs higher.

After he slides the last of the forks into the drawer and I put away the clean pots, he turns my way. “Want to head down to the lake and watch the fireworks? They should start shortly.”

Might as well enjoy the holiday. It beats sitting around here, trying not to stare at him and wondering what the night might bring. “Sure.”

I make a last-minute trip to the bathroom and brush on a bit of the red lipstick for panache. My vivid mouth on my otherwise bare face demands attention, and I’m suddenly glad my stylist insisted I take the tube with me.

When I emerge again, Rand has poured me some wine into a plastic cup. He takes my hand and leads me out the back of the house, across the yard, then through a gate to a pair of enormous oak trees with a bench swing suspended between them by a thick rope.

The sun slips closer to the horizon as the vivid purples, pinks, oranges, and yellows paint the sky. Rand settles me on the bench and hands me my cup, scanning every inch of our surroundings before he sits beside me. I can’t see it, but I’m betting his gun is tucked into his holster.

“Thanks for everything. I feel really safe with you.”

“You don’t have to keep thanking me.”

“I just want you to know. Have you decided Dorinda is your suspect?”

“She’s one of them.”

“Who else?”

“I still haven’t written off David.”

“I think you’re wrong.”

He shrugs. “You’re entitled to that since you know him better. Hell, you’re probably right. But you’re not defending Dorinda?”

“I would because in the last few years she’s mostly treated me like I’m beneath her notice since she has other fish to fry…but the day I ended things with her was really ugly. She called me a fucking bitch and said I owed her and that she’d given me everything, which I repaid by stabbing her in the back. She low-key threatened me. Of course, she called the next day and left me a message with a stiff apology, but the whole episode left a bitter taste in my mouth.”