After my run, I hop in the shower and let the cool water sluice over me. It’s heaven. When I’m dried off, I grab my phone to see I’ve missed a call from Midnight. Her quirky message puts a needed smile on my face. I decide to take a chance and pay her a surprise visit. Maybe she’s up for dinner tonight. I’ve purposely given her a wide berth because she needs to stay centered on her film, and any distraction could be a bad thing for her.

I park out front but when I get to her door, she flies out right into me, and on her heels is Holt Ward. Talk about chaos. I’m not sure she knows it’s me at first but when recognition hits, she sags against me. I have to catch her to keep her from falling.

“What’s going on? Are you okay?” I ask. My gaze pings between the two of them.

“Thank God you’re here,” she breathes, panic edging her tone.

I tip her face so I can get a solid look at her and see her lip is swollen. She’s holding a wine bottle and her purse, which is a little weird. “What happened to your lip?”

She sniffs back tears and says, “He cut it when he kissed me.”

I look at him and ask, “Did you kiss her?”

“That’s none of your business.” Defiance bleeds out of Holt.

“Midnight, did you want him to kiss you?” Her answer could knife me, but I need to know.

“No!” She starts to sob.

I set her aside, even though I don’t want to, and without a word, without thinking of the consequences, I ball my hand into a fist and punch Holt Ward in the jaw.

“You punched me,” he whines.

“You sexually assaulted her.”

He rubs his jaw. “You’ll hear from my attorney.”

“You’ll hear from hers.”

We stare each other down for a minute. “I can tell you this. You. Won’t. Win. No one beats Harrison Kirkland. You just fucked with the wrong woman, Mr. Ward.”

Then I turn to Midnight, wrap an arm around her, and escort her back inside. I say to her, “I’m calling the police to file a report against him.” I say this for his benefit.

“Wait! I won’t file charges against you,” he yells. I knew the slimy fucker would back down. If anything like this got out, his career would be in the sewer.

“You also will cease any contact with Ms. Drake, except for your role on the film. Is that clear? If you ever come to this apartment again, or try to contact her outside of the studio, she will file a restraining order and this crime will be reported.”

He rubs his jaw again.

“Mr. Ward. I will end your career. I am fully capable of it.”

We stare at each other for a long minute, and then he leaves.

When I get Midnight inside, I snap some pictures of her face and ask if she was harmed anywhere else. She explains about the wine bottle and lifts up her shirt. She’s beginning to bruise there, so I take a couple of pictures of that too.

“These are in case Holt doesn’t do as he says.”

“Thanks.” She tells me the ugly story of his infatuation with her and how he wants a relationship. “I tried to be nice but he wouldn’t take no for an answer. Thank God you came when you did.”

I go to her kitchen and get some ice in a plastic bag for her lip. “Here.”

“Is it bad?”

“Not too,” I say. “I got your message. It was cute.”

She makes a funny face and tries to laugh.

“Midnight, are you okay?”

Her head bobs. “I’ll be fine. Just a little shaken up.”

Then in an attempt to cheer her, I say, “Okeydokeys smokie pokies. See you around.” I chuckle. “I’ve been giving you time. You know, so you don’t have any distractions.”

“Is that what it is?”

“Yeah.”

“Or are you afraid of me?”

“Why would I be afraid of you?” I ask.

“Oh, because maybe I’ve touched on some things that make you uncomfortable.”

“Why do you think that if someone has a need to fix things, there’s an issue there?”

“I don’t. But with you, you have to fix everything and everyone.”

“I don’t want to fix you. You’re perfect just the way you are.” The truth is she’s more than perfect, and that bothers me more than I care to admit.

Her brow wrinkles. “You didn’t at first.”

“Why do you say that?”

“You were harsh.”

Another chuckle rumbles out of me. “That was to get your attention. You were a total mess and had every right to be. We needed to work fast. But our plan came off better than I could ever have hoped. Your social media hits are through the roof. From what I understand, the dailies are incredible, you are shining like a diamond, and this film will make you one of Hollywood’s most wanted. I can’t wait to see your success soar. So I’m sorry I was harsh, but I had my reasons for being so.”

“Do you think Holt will fuck up the film?”

“Not in a million years. His career is on the line and he understands what that means. You need to let your producer know what happened here, though.”

“I know. I can’t believe how he totally freaked out on me.” She wraps her arms around herself so I pull her into mine.

“Why’d you let him in?”

She glances up at me. “I opened the door because I thought it was you. He came right after I left you that dumb message.”

“I liked that message. When I saw that fucker standing there, I wanted to beat him to a pulp.”

“I’m glad you didn’t, only because it would’ve delayed filming. I want to get this shit over now. Fast. Earlier today he pulled this crap and I told him I was seeing someone.”

“You did?” I ask. I’m surprised, but I have to admit, elated.

“Yeah. Now he knows who I was referring to.”

“Good. I’m glad you did.”

“You are?”

“Yeah.”

“Does this mean we’re dating or something?” she asks. She looks kind of shy and it reminds me of the Midnight I first met in New York.

“How do you feel about that?”

She lifts and lowers a shoulder. “It’s a foreign concept to me. I never date.”

“Why’s that?”

She lowers then lifts her eyes. “Why do you think?” she asks in a saucy tone.

“I don’t know, which is why I asked.”

“Come on, Harrison. You’re a relatively bright guy.”

“Relatively?”

“I said that because you asked a stupid question.”

“I didn’t think it was stupid. If I had, I wouldn’t have asked it.”

“I worked in porn. I had my fill of men on those disgusting sets. In the past, they usually only wanted one thing from me.”

“Hmm. If I recall, you’re the one who instigated things with that hot-as-fuck kiss.”

A flush spreads from her neck to her cheeks. She’s embarrassed? What a nice surprise. I tip her chin up and plant a loud, smacking kiss on the part of her mouth that isn’t injured. She giggles. That’s another surprise. Midnight isn’t the giggling type.

“So, I was originally coming here to surprise you and ask if you wanted to go to dinner.”

She sinks back into the curve of my body. “Would you be upset if I said no? I was so looking forward to chilling at home. I’m tapped out after this week and especially after crazy dude.”

“I will be happy to chill at home with you. Can I call in dinner? Delivery, or I can get takeout from anywhere you’d like.”

“Ahh, that sounds wonderful.”

“Hey, are you sure you’re okay? After what just happened?”

“Yeah. He only kissed me. I’m not gonna lie. For a minute there, I was pretty scared, but when I realized it was you, I knew I was safe.”

“You’re always safe with me.” But I’m the one in danger. My heart gives a squeeze as I hold her against me. I can feel her inhale deeply. It makes me want to keep her safe, and I wonder how it got to this point. What would my parents think? And what about Weston and Prescott? Does it matter?

“You know, Christmas is in what, a couple of weeks? What are you doing?” I ask.

“No plans. Danny said we’d be working straight through, much to everyone’s groaning and moaning. But the good thing is we are keeping to schedule. He said Greg, our director, was raving about me. I don’t like to toot my own horn, but you’re the only one I can tell this to. After Christmas we move to Santa Monica and start shooting on location.”

“That’ll be pretty cool for you, right? Have you ever shot on location before?”

“Only if you count beds and such.” She laughs.

“Ha, ha.”

“Does it bother you? That I made porn flicks?”

“I’d be a liar to say it didn’t.”

“But you’re still here.”

“Yeah. It was your job. At least that’s what I tell myself. Were you ever involved with any of them? Beyond the camera?”

“Didn’t you hear what I said earlier?”

When she notices my furrowed brow, she goes on. “I don’t date and didn’t back then, including the guys from the industry.”

“Good to know.”

“Let’s clear the air on this because I don’t want this to come up later or create walls between us. I was never with”—and she air quotes with her fingers—“any of them other than in the films. I know this sounds stupid and cliché, but none of it meant anything. It was all part of the industry. Now can I ask you something?”

“Yeah.”

“Have you ever been in love or in a relationship?”

“Yeah.”

“Then you were in way deeper than I’ve ever been, no pun intended.” She smirks. Then she turns serious again. “My heart’s only been affected by one thing ever. And it wasn’t a man.”

“What was it?”

“Maybe I’ll tell you another time.”

“Why do I get the feeling you won’t?”

“No idea. But how about Indian food?”

“You love ethnic food, don’t you?”

“I love the explosion of flavor in my mouth. It’s scintillating.”

“Let me give you scintillating.” I plant another kiss on her lips and then let her order the food. Since the restaurant she chose doesn’t deliver, I have to run out to pick it up. “While I’m gone, why don’t you give Danny a call?”

When I get back, she has the little bistro table on her patio set, with candles lit and wine poured. It looks quite romantic. We eat to soft music, and she says Danny will take care of Holt. He’ll talk to him and involve the CEO of Alta. That should put more pressure on him to leave Midnight alone.

Before we’re finished eating, I notice her eyelids drooping. I carry our empty plates to the kitchen, clean up, and by the time I get back outside, she’s drifting to sleep.

I lift her in my arms and carry her to bed. It’s still early, too early for me to sleep, so I decide to watch TV in the other room.

I’m watching some snorendous movie but I’ve been nodding off so I don’t even know what’s going on when a series of gunshots goes off, shooting out the living room windows. I hit the floor, covering my head. It ends as quickly as it starts. I dial 911 and crawl to the bedroom to see if Midnight is okay. She’s on the floor, fumbling around in the dark.

“Are you okay? Were you hit?” I ask.

“No. I only heard shots and rolled out of bed to the floor.”

“Stay down until the police arrive. I’ve already called 911.”

It takes them about eight minutes to get here, which feels like a lifetime. By this time, the shooter is long gone and there’s no chance of us finding him or her. But I have a good idea who did this. There’s too much coincidence for it to be anyone else besides the crazy Holt Ward.

The officers ask me questions, but there isn’t much to go on. I don’t want to tell them about Holt. It would trigger an investigation and then could impact Midnight’s career. I have other ways to deal with him. They’re on the unsavory side, but definitely more effective than going through the proper channels of the law.

The neighbors come out, I guess after they deem it safe, and see the blue lights flashing. The police question everyone they can. Unfortunately, they come up dry. No one saw a thing. The neighbors were watching TV, out on their patios, or asleep.

After all the excitement dies down, and the police finish gathering what little evidence there is, everyone wanders back to their respective homes. The officers tell us if they hear anything, they’ll give Midnight a call. The windows are a mess—broken shards everywhere. The police found the bullet casings so we’re good on sweeping everything up. But the windows need replacing. Midnight’s already called her landlord and he’s on the way to board it up until he can get the things fixed.

“You can’t stay here tonight. Why don’t you pack a bag and stay with me this weekend?”

“Oh, this is fine. Once they put the boards up ...”

“I would feel better with you away from here. What if he comes back?”

“You think it was Holt, don’t you?”

“If it wasn’t him, I think he had something to do with it. That’s why I didn’t mention what happened earlier. Well, that, and I didn’t want it to fuck up the movie.”

“Yeah, that’s exactly why I kept my mouth shut too. Why do I attract all the mystic knights of the psych unit? And believe me, I’ve been there.”

“Because you’re beautiful and men want a woman like you.”

“Okay, Boy Scout, thank you very much.”

“I’m serious. You asked, I told.”

She blows out a breath.

“Go pack a bag. This weekend’s on me. Relaxation’s the word for you.”

She chews on her lip for a second and then agrees. “Okay, but I’m greedy when it comes to being spoiled.”

“Not a problem. I like a greedy woman.”

She elbows me in the ribs. “You may regret saying that.” Then she saunters away to pack a bag while I think about how I’m going to handle Mr. Ward. He’s in for a world of surprise. I can’t damage his reputation ... yet. But I can make him fucking squirm.

And after the film is done, that slimy bastard is history.