Rocco Monroe spotted with a new mystery girl walking though Miami Beach. He even has a cute nickname for her: Tiger. The new couple seemed happy together, as Rocco whisked her away for a shopping spree at the same stores where he used to take his co-star and ex, Julia Vargas. They’re set to begin filming tomorrow amidst a storm of controversy. New reports say demonstrations in front of NHN’s LA lot caused production of other movies to shut down . . .

“Will I have to fight off jealous girlfriends tonight?” Annie asked as she slipped her phone back into her tiny purse. She’d chosen a canary yellow cocktail dress that fit her beautifully. It’s wasn’t skin tight, but all her curves showed in a perfectly classy way. Rocco couldn’t keep his eyes off of the woman who kept fidgeting by his side.

“What women? I’ll have to fight off the men who will all be jealous of me for having you by my side.”

She playfully slapped his shoulder. “Such a charmer. No wonder Julia Vargas signed up to be your wife in this movie and did that sex tape with you.”

“And don’t forget the shopping spree at Versace,” he teased. “You’re not falling for the tabloid crap, are you? Don’t read any of that, 99.9 percent of it is made up or exaggerated.”

“There’s always some truth behind rumors.”

He shook his head. “Where Julia’s concerned there’s not. Plus, she’s married and I’m not interested. And neither is she. But I have to say, I’m enjoying this jealous side of you. It’s giving me hope.”

His arm snuck around her waist, bringing them close together when a photographer hired for the party took their pictures as they ascended up a grand staircase.

“I’m not jealous. I just don’t want to be blindsided. I need to know what I’m up against,” she said through gritted teeth and a plastered smile as the camera flashed.

He turned his head and whispered, close enough that he could nip the shell of her ear. “You’re my date tonight. So loosen up or no one will believe it. You’re not up against anyone. Don’t forget you shut me down. If you change your mind about that, Tiger, I’m all yours. Ball’s still in your court.”

She closed her eyes. The feel of his lips so close to her ear made her insides melt like lava. A click from the camera shook her out of the lust. She cleared her throat and took a step back. “Come on, let’s do this.”

They walked past a grand staircase, passing two butlers holding hors d’oeuvres and champagne flutes. He grabbed two glasses.

“I’m still on duty. Pretend or not,” she said, returning one of the flutes.

God, he wanted her to loosen up. For some reason, he’d pictured her differently when she was relaxed. Maybe wild at heart? Maybe ravenous in bed? She was probably the same spitfire in the bedroom as she was everywhere else. The sex would be incredible or it would be a mess—both of them fighting for control. If there was one place he wouldn’t submit, it was when they were naked and in bed. And it would happen. It was inevitable. The attraction was too explosive for it not to happen. And he was looking forward to when it did. But she couldn’t be pushed. He was going to have to be patient, show her he wasn’t the asshole she imagined him to be, and wait for her to come to him.

Unfortunately, patience was not his virtue.

“You’re giving me a look.”

“Sorry, my mind wandered,” he whispered.

She looked around. “Wandered? On what? You think something’s off here?”

He took her hand and laced his fingers with hers, soothing her hand with his thumb. “Relax. No, it has nothing to do with my safety.” It wandered into other areas. Areas involving you and me and a bed and lack of clothes. But he didn’t say any of that since they were supposed to be sticking to professional. “Come on, let’s go pretend.”

She narrowed her eyes, confused, and they walked outside to where the dinner was taking place.

“It’s the man of the hour!” Spelling, the director and the host of the dinner, bellowed from the opposite end of a very long table. They were seated outside under an enormous tent with three equally enormous chandeliers, in the backyard of a palatial home on Star Island. When Spelling stood and held up a glass of champagne, all eyes turned to Rocco and Annie as they walked down the steps and to the tent. There were toasts, cheers, and applause from the thirty or so guests. For anyone not used to the limelight, it was an overwhelming experience—the richest of the rich, the most famous in Hollywood all gathered around cheering for him.

Her grip on his hand tightened, and it gave him a weird pleasure to know she was holding on to him for strength. It was as if she had exposed a tiny bit of her true self with that small movement. A little bit of vulnerability. And suddenly all he wanted to do was forget all the eyes that were on them and turn to the woman on his arm and get to know her—the real her.

* * *

Annie was not used to being in the spotlight. In fact, she hated it. It was something she just now realized. Rocco, however, was in his element. As the crowd went back to their conversations, Spelling approached.

“Rocco Monroe, our star,” the older man said, slapping Rocco on the back with one hand and shaking his hand with the other.

“Star?” Rocco teased. “You’re the one people are talking about.”

“So modest. So modest.” He smiled sweetly. Spelling was known for being a great director, but more than that, he was a beloved icon, and one of the reasons actors wanted to work with him was his kind heart.

“Is this beauty the bodyguard I’ve been hearing so much about?”

Rocco placed a hand on her lower back, nudging Annie forward a little before looking around to make sure they were all out of earshot. “Yes, this is my bodyguard, Annie Clad. Annie, this is Steven Spelling.”

Rocco’s introduction caught Annie a little off guard, and she kicked herself for momentarily forgetting her mission and getting dazzled by the pretty dress and attentive man next to her. Bodyguard. Of course Spelling knew she was the hired help, and she wondered who else knew as well.

“Nice to meet you Mr. Spelling. I’m a big fan.”

“The pleasure’s all mine. I heard about this morning, by the way.”

“Just a few rambunctious fans and eager paps. Remember that she’s here as my date, Steven, if you don’t mind. Plus, we don’t want word getting around that there’s a threat or anything, right? ” Rocco winked.

“I haven’t forgotten. Your secret’s safe with me. But I will tell you, I’ve got some real concerns, so I hope you keep my boy safe. About an hour ago, VonCar backed out.”

“VonCar?” Annie asked.

“One of the investors,” Rocco clarified.

“They have a lot of business in Colombia and the heat was coming on them hard; they had to pull the plug,” Steven said quietly.

“But things are still okay? We’re still moving forward?” The concern in Rocco voice was noticeable.

“Yes. Yes. We’re in too deep now. All the pre-production already happened. NHN has other financial sources, don’t worry.”

“You guys already started filming?” Annie felt so out of her depth. She’d researched everything to do with the movie, the studio, the possible threat, but she had no clue about the intricacies of what went into filmmaking.

“Yes. Months ago. Sights, extras, scenes that don’t involve Rocco and Julia have already been shot. Because of safety, we’re trying to get their shots done quickly and quietly.”

“Well, don’t worry, I’ll take care of him, Mr. Spelling.”

“Please, call me Steven.” He gestured toward the table of chatting guests. “Go find a seat, have fun, eat well, we’ll talk business during business hours.”

Annie watched the director walk away and immediately felt more at ease. “He’s so nice.”

“Yeah, he is. He handpicked me for the role, you know? He could’ve gone with anyone, but he wanted me.”

“Rocco, mi amor!” A sultry and very familiar voice interrupted them. They both turned around. Julia Vargas was approaching. Holding her hand was her current husband, Lawrence DiManzo. Ben, one of ICS’s employees, trailed a few feet behind them.

“Julia, how are you?” Rocco asked, letting go of Annie to kiss Julia’s cheek and shake Lawrence’s hand.

Annie had always been a fan of Julia. She was an A-list movie star, best known for her dramatic roles, where she’d been a front-runner for two Oscars. She was beautiful from head to toe, not a hair out of place. And Annie found herself hating her immediately.

“Julia, Lawrence, this is my date Annie. Annie, this is Julia and Lawrence.”

Annie extended her hand. “Nice to meet you both.”

“They didn’t stick you with a bodyguard?” Julia asked. “They hired Ben for me.” She pointed behind her.

“Yes, but I decided it wasn’t needed tonight,” Rocco lied. Ben gave Annie a little nod. They’d discussed strategies earlier today on a telephone meeting, and Ben understood Annie’s role.

“You see, darling,” she said to her husband, “we could’ve done without him tonight.” She turned and looked at the bodyguard whose eyes were already focused on everything at once. Just like Annie should’ve been.

“It’s better to be safe than sorry, Jules,” her husband said, and she rolled her eyes and gave an irritating little fake laugh.

“So, you ready for Monday, Rocco darling?”

“As ready as can be.”

“Will you excuse me? I’ll get us some drinks,” Lawrence said.

“It’s going to be fun, just like old times.” Julia whispered, stepping closer to Rocco the moment her husband turned away. Annie had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from glaring or yelling or clawing out the woman’s eyes.

Rocco stepped aside. “We didn’t have that much fun before, Julia.”

“Don’t be silly, Rock. We’ll catch up later,” she said, looking at Annie and then back at Rocco before turning to find her dear husband.

“God, could she be more obvious? Poor Lawrence.”

“Who? Julia?”

She shouldn’t have said anything. She should’ve been quiet and minded her own business. It was just pretend and she had no right to pry. But once she started, she couldn’t seem to stop herself. “Of course, Julia. She practically asked you to leave with her. It was so obvious. Her husband was right there.”

He chuckled and moved closer. “Be careful, little Tiger, your jealousy’s showing.”

She glared at him playfully. “I just don’t like it when people treat other people poorly and that was a bitch thing to do to Lawrence, that’s all.”

“Yeah, uh huh.”

“I’m serious.”

“Fine.” He took her hand in his. He was so infuriating, she almost stuck her tongue out at him. “Come on, let’s go find our seats.” Rocco led them to the table, stopping to talk to a few people, introducing her as his date to everyone they met.

* * *

The rest of the night was more of the same. A lot of talking, mostly about the movie, Annie nodding and smiling whenever appropriate, but her eyes always looking around, making sure nothing was off. Julia sat across from them when dinner was served and she kept flirting with Rocco every chance she got. Annie tried to pretend it didn’t bother her, but hell, as far as Julia was concerned Annie was his date, and she was just being rude by flirting in front of her.

When Rocco excused himself to go to the restroom, Annie got up and followed him inside.

“What are you doing here, crazy?” Rocco said when he stepped out of the bathroom.

She looked up from her phone, where she was Googling Julia Vargas. “Waiting for you. You think I’m going to let you out of my sight?”

“Seriously? I can’t piss alone?”

“You did. I didn’t go in there with you. I just waited outside a good distance. People probably thought I was taking selfies or something ridiculous like that.”

He shook his head and escorted them back to the table. “Do you even have a gun under there?”

“I always have a gun. More than one, actually.”

“Maybe you can show me where they are later.”

She rolled her eyes and laughed as they walked back to the table.

“Crème brûlée, wonderful,” Julia said when dessert was served. “Remember that time in Spain? That little restaurant we ate in, what was it called?” She snapped her fingers trying to figure out the name.

“I can’t remember,” Rocco said irritably.

She reached forward and stroked his hand while Lawrence was turned around speaking to someone else. Rocco immediately pulled his hand away.

What a bitch.

Annie had had enough.

If this had been her real date, what would she have done? Certainly, she wouldn’t have sat back and let another woman take what was hers. And Rocco had specifically hired her over a man because she was capable of pretending to be his. He didn’t want to be seen as a pussy who needed a bodyguard. And sitting back and watching another woman hitting on her man . . . no, that would be her failing at her job.

“You want my dessert, babe? I know how much you love sweet things.” Annie leaned in closer and spooned some dessert and fed it to Rocco, who was caught by surprise but opened his mouth and took the bite nonetheless. Then she slowly wiped some from the corner of his mouth with her fingers. When she moved her hand away, he caught it midair and licked the burnt sugar off of her thumb. “I do love sweet things, Tiger,” he said, and damn they were on dangerous ground. This game was escalating too quickly.

With a huff, Julia turned her attention back to her husband, who was still talking to someone else instead of paying attention to his wife’s blatant inappropriateness.

“Some more?” Rocco asked, motioning to Annie’s spoon.

She looked at Julia, who was no longer paying them any mind, and then shrugged and pushed the dessert to him. “You’re a big boy. You can do it all on your own.”

“I liked it better when you fed it to me.”

“Pfft. Dream on.”

He took two more bites and sat back and put his palm on her thigh under the table.

“If you don’t get your hands off my leg, I’ll shoot your cock off with the gun that is about two inches from your hand,” she whispered, keeping a smile plastered on her face for the benefit of anyone watching them.

He laughed. “Feisty. That’s how I imagine you in bed. Feisty.”

If he only knew.

“You’d never be able to handle me, Monroe. So just let it go.”

“Don’t you know it’s bad to give a man like me a challenge?”

When it came to men, she was absolutely clueless. All she wanted was for her heart to stop pumping so hard, her cheeks to stop feeling warm, and her stomach to stop being full of butterflies when he gave her all his attention, when he looked at her that way, when he was that close to her. “You ready to go home, Tiger?”

It was after midnight, and she’d been up since five, so yes, she was certainly ready to go home. “Whenever you are.”

He pushed his chair back and helped her up and out of the seat.

“Aren’t we going to say good-bye to everyone?”

“Nah, we’ll see everyone in a couple of days. I’m tired and I hate long good-byes. Come on.”

As they walked out, she glanced behind her and saw Julia glaring at them.

“I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but I think there’s something more between you and Julia than you’re letting on. Just tell me, it’s no big deal.”

He stopped her and turned to her. “There’s not. We dated. It was a long, long time ago. She’s been with Lawrence for years. She probably just feels territorial, is all. I think there’s a lot of jealousy going around tonight.”

“Pfft!”

He handed the valet his ticket but didn’t let go of her hand. “She’s jealous of you and you’re jealous of her.”

“And aren’t you a cocky bastard. I’m not jealous. I was just doing what you asked me to do.”

“I don’t remember asking you to feed me crème brûlée. Was that in the contract? I’ll have to review it.”

She rolled her eyes and gave him the middle finger.

He pulled her tight against his body with his arm, so close that she had to arch back and look up to meet his eyes. This was not part of the job, she should be looking out, staking out the surroundings. Instead her mouth opened in a small “o” as he moved in closer.

“Tsk! Tsk! That’s not very girlfriendish of you. And anyway, you didn’t let me finish. She’s jealous of you, and you’re jealous of her, and I’m fucking out of my goddamn mind jealous of any man who looked at you tonight, before tonight, or after tonight. I want you, Annie. I can’t pretend I don’t.”

His lips came crashing down on hers, and even with the distinct sound of cameras clicking and the feel of flashes around her, she became completely lost and totally consumed in the kiss. Her arms wrapped around his neck and his other arm came around her back, holding her firmly as he devoured her.

It was pure lust and want, and she found herself clawing his shoulder and sneaking her tongue into his mouth, fighting an all-out battle for control. The deep guttural noise that came from somewhere inside of him just fueled her further.

It had been too long since anyone had wanted her this much. And just as long since she’d wanted a man with this intensity. She thought that that feeling had died six years ago and that she was broken inside. But maybe she just hadn’t been properly pursued, because here she was, twenty years old all over again, kissing a man she shouldn’t and breaking all the damn rules.

Catcalls and whistles caused them to separate. Tucking her under his arm protectively, he pulled her quickly into his car, closed the door behind her and then ran to the other side before taking off.

It was easily ten minutes later when he spoke. “Say something.”

She had two fingers on her lips as she looked out the window. What the hell was she thinking?

“Annabelle.” His voice was firm. He wanted something from her.

“That was a mistake . . . I think.”

“A mistake? How could that have been a mistake?”

“I don’t know. It’s just, I need to keep things professional.”

“Yeah, you keep saying that. But I bet I have scratches on my neck from your nails. You know, you could’ve stopped me instead of sliding your tongue inside my mouth. Come on, at least admit you want me.”

She shook her head and looked out the window. “Doesn’t matter what I want. It’s not gonna happen.”

“We’re two consenting adults. I’d make it spectacular for you. We can have the best four months of our lives, Annie.” He ran a finger down her arm and she turned her head to look at him. God, he was gorgeous. In the dark confines of the car, with his face turned to the street, she could see the way his masculine jaw ticked and the way his long strong fingers gripped the steering wheel. She was so tempted to agree to everything he had to say. “Why are you pretending you’re not feeling it? Tell me you don’t want me as much as I want you. Tell me, right here, right now, you don’t want me and I’ll back away.”

* * *

She didn’t respond. She wasn’t sure how to.

They reached his home, parked the car in the garage, and got out. She should’ve done a sweep of the house first. That was protocol, but this man was making her dizzy and her guard was down. He grabbed her arm before she had a chance to leave. He leaned in, again just a breath away from her ear.

“Goddamn it. Just admit it.”

She felt a small, light bite at the base of her neck, right below her ear. And apparently that particular spot had a direct line to her pussy because she immediately ached for that same nibble lower down her body where she was suddenly very wet. Her eyes were closed and she felt the change in the air as she stepped away. “I promised myself I would wait on you to come to me. When you can admit it, let me know. Ball’s in your court, Tiger.”

Sonofabitch!