“Why hasn’t he called me back?” I asked Han nervously as I chewed on my bottom lip.

I’d called Parker right after I uploaded the photo, but it had gone to voicemail, so then I’d text and apologised for ignoring his calls earlier and to tell him I loved and missed him. But I hadn’t heard back… not one single word.

I was beginning to get worried.

What if I did the wrong thing?

Parker probably had a team of people employed by him to handle this kind of stuff, and he may not have had a publicist right now, but I’m sure he had someone more qualified than I was to sort this mess out.

“He will call,” Hannah tried to soothe me.

“He might not, Han, what if he’s pissed I turned my phone off and didn’t talk about it with him before I took matters into my own hands?”

“The only person here that should be pissed off is you. His crazy ex is the one stirring up trouble. That’s not on you, girl. You just stood up for yourself and your man. I think Parker will be proud.”

“Then why won’t he call me?” I whined. I’d caved after about an hour of waiting and called him twice more, and Hannah had taken my phone away before I got the chance to hit redial again.

“For the love of god, woman, it’s late. He had a show tonight so my guess is he’s either at his appearances, or he’s called it a night. Maybe you should just go to bed and worry about it tomorrow.”

I laughed humourlessly. “You really think I’d be able to sleep right now?”

“A girl can dream,” she muttered. “I could certainly go for some sleep right about now; all this revenge posting has taken the life right out of me.” She yawned.

“Go to bed then,” I encouraged.

“And leave you out here to get all worked up? Uh, uh. I don’t think so.” She shook her head. “Not happening, Little Red.”

“Urgh,” I groaned. “Don’t you start calling me that too.”

She winked at me like a smart-ass. “You don’t like the new ink?” she questioned.

It was actually quite the opposite. Just the thought of him getting marked with a representation of me made me hot, not to mention the fact that it was beautifully done.

I shook my head. “I love the tattoo… it’s the nickname I could take or leave.”

She sighed. “God that’s hot. I wish I had a guy that’d get a shrine to me tattooed into his flesh.”

I snorted.

A shrine.

She’s so damn dramatic.

“Why don’t we watch a movie in bed? There’s no point in just sitting around waiting for a call that probably isn’t coming.”

She had a point. There was every chance that Parker and Jasper were busy and that we wouldn’t hear from them until tomorrow. If I was going to sit here all night, I may as well try to take my mind off him.

“Fine,” I begrudgingly agreed.

I forced myself to get up out of my seat and trudge towards the hallway. It was after one in the morning and I knew I needed to sleep, but I just couldn’t seem to turn my mind off.

Hannah grabbed a DVD from the cabinet and switched off the lights as she followed after me.

We both froze as we heard a key turning in a lock.

Our lock.

“Did you just hear—”

“Shhhh,” Hannah interrupted my whisper. “Grab a weapon,” she hissed.

“I don’t have a fucking weapon,” I hissed back. “I’m a makeup artist, not a ninja.”

“We’re both going to die,” she whispered.

“The bathroom,” I whispered back. “Get to the bathroom, right now!”

The sound of the door handle turning spurred us into action and we dashed for the hallway.

“They’ve got a key… we’re gonna die!” Hannah cried, in full hysteria mode now.

I tugged her into the bathroom and shut the door quietly behind us before securing the lock.

“Call someone,” she pleaded, pointing to the phone in my hand.

Who the hell do I call?

I knew who I wanted to call, but Parker hadn’t been answering. Even still, my thumb scrolled down to his name on its own accord and hit the green call button.

I heard a loud bang in the living room followed by a string of curse words.

I winced and Hannah looked like she was going to pass out.

“It’s ringing,” I whispered to her.

We both scrambled away from the door as a sliver of light came underneath it. Whoever was in our apartment had made their way into our living room.

“Oh fuck,” I breathed. I squeezed my eyes shut tight.

That was when I heard it, ‘Life In The Fast Lane’ by the Eagles.

It was a great song, and it also happened to be Parker’s ringtone.

He’s here.

I exhaled a relieved breath and reached for the lock on the door.

“What the hell are you doing?” Hannah hissed, swatting my hand away.

“It’s Parker,” I hissed back.

“You are bat-shit crazy, woman, he’s not even in town… are you trying to get us killed?”

“It’s Parker for fuck’s sake,” I told her more loudly.

“Shhhhhh.”

“I bet you two grand that it’s Parker,” I told her, as I held her arm back and turned the lock with my free hand.

“I can’t use two grand if I’m dead,” she cried dramatically.

I shoved her to the side and swung the door open.

“Parker?” I called and crept into the hallway. I knew it was him, but my crazy best friend had me on edge.

Hannah slammed the bathroom door shut behind me and I heard the lock turn.

He appeared in the doorway and my god, was he a sight for sore eyes.

“Legs,” he choked out. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

I heard a sobbing noise and it took me a moment to figure out it came from me.

I was crying. Big fat, ugly tears streamed down my face as all the pent-up emotions from the day, and the stress of thinking we had an intruder overflowed from within me.

“Charlotte,” Parker whispered as he jogged over to me. He scooped me up in his arms as my legs gave way beneath me.

“I… I… could… couldn’t... g… g…get you… on… on the phone,” I stuttered in between sobs.

“It’s okay, baby, I’m here, it’s okay.”

“I hear crying!” Hannah yelled from behind the bathroom door. “Are you being killed?”

I let out a laugh against Parker’s chest that came out sounding like a half sob, half hiccup.

“I told you it was Parker, you fool,” I snivelled.

“How’d he get a key?” Hannah demanded – still in hiding and refusing to believe I wasn’t being murdered.

That was a damn good question.

I tipped my head back to look at him.

He shot me a sheepish look and rubbed at the back of his neck. “Would you be mad if I told you I’d asked Jasper to make a copy of your key one night when you stayed over?”

“Forced Jasper to make a copy you mean,” Jasper called from the living room.

I jumped, startled by his voice, I hadn’t realized he was here too.

“Jasper?” Hannah called timidly from inside the still locked bathroom.

“Yeah, barbie?” Jasper called back as he strolled into the hallway, casual as anything, as though it wasn’t well after midnight on the most exhausting day I could remember having in a long, long time.

I heard the lock on the bathroom door unlatch before it opened slowly and Hannah appeared.

“I’m not giving you two grand,” she told me as she breezed past, heading towards Jasper.

I giggled and shook my head.

“I think I need a hug too,” Han teased as though she wasn’t bothered in the least. She wasn’t fooling me though. She’d been more rattled than I had.

“Bring it in, you little fruit cake,” he told her as he opened his arms for her to cuddle in to him.

I couldn’t help but notice how comfortable they were together, and I hadn’t missed the fact that Hannah had only deemed the situation safe once she’d heard Jasper’s voice… I made a mental note to talk to Hannah again about the ‘one time only’ situation these two idiots had agreed to – it was obvious they still both meant something to one another.

Jasper rested his cheek on the top of Hannah’s head and took a deep breath almost as though he was as relieved to have her in his arms as I was to be in Parker’s.

I looked away.

That was another mystery to be solved another day.

“God, I missed you,” Parker whispered as he held me tight, rocking me gently side to side, kind of like you would do to soothe a baby.

“I missed you more,” I whispered back.

“I’m so, so sorry this happened, legs… the thought of you being hurt by something like this cuts me so damn deep.” He looked down into my eyes as he spoke, and I could tell just how distraught he was by the situation.

I didn’t blame him for this – not at all. All he’d done was be his famous self… the madness just followed him.

“I’m just so tired,” I told him as tears pooled in the corners of my eyes for no real reason at all. I tried my best to hold them back. “Could we talk about this after a few hours sleep?”

Parker nodded at me quickly. “Of course, baby, whatever you need.”

I snuggled into his chest. “I just need you.”

I closed my eyes and breathed in the familiar scent of the man I loved.

Nothing has ever smelt this good…

I could feel the exhaustion taking over as my eyelids got heavier. I took another deep breath.

Not even bacon smells this good…

I was vaguely aware of Parker lifting me off the floor and into his arms – much the same as he had on that first night in the club. I heard the conversation Parker and Jasper had about them both spending the night, but it was like I was listening to it from the other side of a hotel wall… I couldn’t make out the exact words.

Parker carried me into my room and somehow managed to hold me up with one arm as he stripped back the covers from my bed and placed me gently down onto the sheets.

“Charlotte?” he murmured quietly as he brushed my mane of hair to the side.

“Mmm hmm?” I answered sleepily.

“Thank you for believing in me,” he said, his voice betraying his emotions.

My eyes flickered open so I could look at his gorgeous face. “Thank you for being someone I can believe in,” I replied simply.

He placed a soft kiss to my lips before stripping off and crawling in next to me and holding me tight like he couldn’t get close enough.

I’d never felt so safe or loved in my entire life.