I was finishing my coffee in the dressing room a few minutes later when my phone chirped.

Cali usually took possession of my phone while I was working, but I grabbed it before she could snatch it away.

Sebastian’s name popped up with a text that said simply, “He’s on his way.”

Irrationally, I felt a little better.

I’d grown up with Sebastian. Our families had been friends, and we’d gone to the same exclusive schools since kindergarten although he was two years older than me. We’d even dated some as teenagers, when I was back home in DC between filming seasons.

Nothing had ever been serious between us, but he felt like family, and I was glad I’d made the decision to contact him about my problem. When he’d gotten out of the Marines, he’d started up a security firm with some of his buddies, and I couldn’t help but envy the way he’d broken away from the pressure of his family and made his own way in the world.

That was what I wanted too—to not give in to the demands of everyone around me, who wanted me to be a perky princess who made everyone a lot of money. I wanted to really be me. Just me. If Sebastian could do his own thing, maybe I could too.

It was just taking me longer.

“Sebastian’s guy is on his way,” I told Cali, who was waiting expectantly for me to report. “Maybe you can go catch him when he arrives and bring him back here.”

“Sure. Malcolm doesn’t like him.”

“Well, Malcolm isn’t going to like him no matter what since he thinks he’s treading on his territory. I can explain that I just want someone else to help with the stalker situation, but Malcolm is still going to think I don’t trust him.”

“Do you trust him?”

I shrugged. “I think so. He’s always done a fine job. I just don’t know why they can’t get control of this guy. Another person on the job can only help, so Malcolm is just going to have to suck up his hurt feelings.”

“Should I tell him that?” There was almost a smile on Cali’s face.

“Please don’t. Just go wait for this guy, will you?”

Cali nodded and left the room, and I went to stretch out on the small couch against the wall. The day hadn’t even started, and I was already exhausted. I wondered if anyone would notice if I just collapsed on the couch and took a nap.

My head felt a little better when I closed my eyes.

A few minutes later, there was a tap on the door, and I opened my eyes slowly, not wanting to jar the headache back.

Cali opened the door—she was used to not always waiting for a response—so I hadn’t even turned my head when there were two people standing in the dressing room.

Cali was one.

And the guy was another.

When Sebastian said he had a buddy who was better at security than anyone he’d ever known, I’d expected the man to be kind of like Sebastian. Clean-cut. Articulate. Maybe even handsome.

This guy wasn’t any of those things.

He was strong, with impressive shoulders and suppressed power in his stance. But he looked rough, unshaven, with a square jaw and steel-gray eyes that were strangely challenging.

He didn’t look anything like Sebastian. He didn’t look anything like the guys I was used to seeing.

He looked like he belonged in this dark, gritty, crime drama I was acting in now. He could have been the lead.

All this flashed through my head in the few seconds I blinked at him until I realized I was supine on the little couch in my leggings and tunic-style top, which was presently riding up too high.

Pulling myself together, I sat up and smiled at him—my normal, friendly smile with which I always greeted new people. “Hi. I’m Evangeline. Thanks for coming out.”

The guy gave a grunt that might have been a word—but not an identifiable one.

Feeling annoyed that he couldn’t even stretch himself enough to smile, I stood up, wincing slightly when my headache came back with full force. I reached a hand out to him, a gesture he was forced to return in order to shake my hand.

His grip was strong, warm—almost uncomfortably firm. It felt just as challenging as his gaze did.

“So Sebastian gave you the background and everything?” I asked, deciding that getting down to business made the most sense since this guy clearly didn’t want to be friendly.

“Yes. I’ve done my homework.”

I waited to hear about what homework he’d done, but he didn’t offer any details. His eyes raked over me, leaving me feeling almost naked.

What was with this guy’s attitude anyway?

“Okay. Any thoughts then?”

“Not yet, but I just got here.” His eyes narrowed, and they shifted from me to the rest of the dressing room—which was small and simple with none of the luxury I was used to. His gaze rested on the large bouquet of roses and orchids, which Jimmy had ordered for me to brighten up the sparse room.

“Okay,” I said again, feeling half-awkward and half-annoyed. Now, I was the first to admit that my life had been privileged in a lot of ways, and people probably went out of their way to please me—just based on my fame and my money. But I couldn’t believe this guy’s rudeness would be acceptable, no matter who he was talking to. “Just so you know, my current security isn’t too happy about the fact that I brought you in.”

“I could tell. But you shouldn’t get in a fuss about that since your staff could be part of the problem.”

“What?” My response was torn between annoyance at his patronizing tone in saying I might “make a fuss” and concern about the idea that my staff was a problem. “What are you talking about?”

“There might be a reason why the threats keep getting through to you, even though you should have more than enough protection. You need to look at your staff.”

I stiffened my shoulders, really bothered by this idea. Obviously, it had occurred to me as a possibility, but I only had a small number of people who worked for me, and they’d all been with me for years. I couldn’t believe any of them would be responsible for something so nasty—something obviously intended to hurt me.

It made me even more scared. Even more vulnerable.

“This is why you brought me in,” the guy said tersely. “Getting pissy about it isn’t going to help.”

I blinked, trying to figure out what he was talking about. Maybe it was the headache, or maybe it was because people normally went out of their way to be nice to me, but it took me several seconds to realize he thought I was being pissy.

He thought I was being pissy.

I sucked in a sharp breath. “There’s no reason to talk that way to me. And I wasn’t inclined to be pissy until you came in here with an attitude.”

“There’s no attitude.” He met my eyes and seemed to tower over me, although I was tall and he was only a few inches taller. “I’m here to do a job. I don’t waste my time with sugarcoating things. I’ll keep you safe, and I’ll find out who’s doing this to you, but I don’t cater to divas or prima donnas.”

I was so shocked and outraged that I almost sputtered. I felt my cheeks blaze hot, and my fingers tightened at my sides. I actually wanted to slug this guy. I couldn’t remember the last time I fought that particular instinct.

Before I could get any word spoken—much less the frigid setdown his obnoxiousness deserved—Cali reappeared in the doorway.

“They want you out front for the read-through,” she said, looking curiously between the two of us as if she’d sensed something was off.

I cleared my throat. “I’ll talk to you later,” I said to the guy, hoping I sounded appropriately dismissive. “What’s your name anyway?”

He’d moved to leave immediately, but he paused at my last question. Turning his head to give me a cool look, he said, “Cole.”

Cole. The name fit him somehow.

Deciding the thing that would annoy him the most was to not react to his rudeness, I had a sudden inspiration. “If you’ll excuse me, Cole,” I said with my sweetest of smiles, “we can talk later.”

He blinked, looking briefly surprised, but then he narrowed his eyes as he shot me one last look and left the room.

I blew out a sigh as I watched his tight butt and strong back leave the room.

As soon as I got a break, I was going to call Sebastian. There was no way I was going to put up with this asshole for more than a day.

***

You can find out more about Protecting the Movie Star (and the entire series) .