“Beth showed you around?”
Jake nodded. “Yeah. You need to make a few changes to improve security.”
Her lips compressed as she stared at him, then she huffed a sigh as she waved a hand. “Fine. Do whatever you need to.” She slid a document across the table to him. “I need you to sign this.”
He pulled it closer. “What is it?”
“An NDA. A non-disclosure agreement.”
Tyler had told him he would probably need to sign one. He skimmed it over, not too concerned. It’s not like he was the type of person to call the media and tell all about a client. He picked up a nearby pen and scrawled his signature on the line at the end, then slid it back across the desk.
“Thank you.” She leaned back in her chair. “There are a few rules that you need to understand.”
“Rules?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“Like?”
She sat up straighter. “When I go out, you need to stay back. Way back.”
Jake’s eyebrows jerked together. “How can I protect you if I’m not nearby?”
She shook her head. “That’s not my problem. I want to live my life as normal.” Her lips compressed again. “In case you haven’t figured it out, hiring you was not my idea.”
Yeah, he’d gotten that.
Shifting in her chair, she said, “I don’t plan on changing anything about the way I do things. If Scotty insists on me having a bodyguard, it won’t be with my cooperation.”
This was getting better and better. A reluctant client. Just what he needed for his first assignment. The pop princess was going to make this hard. But since he needed this job, he had no choice but to bow to her will.
He suppressed a scowl. “Whatever you say.”
Chapter Five
Why was she making this so hard for him? Chloe had no idea, but it felt good to assert her will. Then again, when she looked at Jake’s face, she felt bad. It wasn’t his fault that she was adamantly opposed to having a bodyguard. He was just doing his job. Still, that didn’t mean she had to give in and do whatever he asked. She refused to let her life be disrupted or changed in any way because of Scotty’s insistence that she have protection.
“Any other rules?” he asked.
She pursed her lips as she considered what else she needed to tell him to make sure her life didn’t change one iota. She couldn’t come up with anything else. Yet. “I’ll let you know if I think of any.”
His lips began to twist into a scowl, but then he pushed a professional smile onto his mouth like he remembered that she was the one in charge. That put a genuine smile on her face. Lately it felt like she was at the mercy of everyone around her—her manager, her record label, even her fans and their demands. It was time she took back control over her life. It was just too bad Jake Mitchell would be the one dealing with the fallout.
“I’m going shopping this afternoon,” she announced, although the idea had just occurred to her.
Jake’s eyes widened. “Where?”
A crazy thought filled her head. “The mall.”
“No.” He said it like it was up to him, which only made Chloe more determined to make it happen.
She narrowed her eyes. “I think you misunderstood. I wasn’t asking permission. I was telling you my plans.”
He sat up straighter, if that was possible. Chloe couldn’t stop her eyes from gliding down to his abs. His button down shirt fit well and she could tell he didn’t have any flab around his middle. The man was all muscle. Snapping her eyes back to his, she stared at him hard, daring him to fight her on her plans. Evidently he was up to the challenge, because he said, “If you want to go to such a public place, we’ll need more security.”
She lifted her chin a fraction of an inch. “Are you saying you can’t handle something as simple as a trip to the mall?”
A muscle worked in his jaw.
She realized she was hoping to see his elusive smile—his real one, not the professional one he’d forced onto his lips a couple of times. The one she’d only seen once before—when she’d had her encounter with him at her front door. Not that it mattered. It wasn’t like he was a romantic prospect. He worked for her. Well, for Scotty, but still.
She tilted her head in a challenge. In all reality, she didn’t actually care about going to the mall, and in fact knew that putting herself into that situation was not the best idea. It was more the principle of the thing. She needed to prove that she still had some control over her life.
“Fine,” he said with a resolute nod. “If that’s what you want, then of course we’ll go.”
Rather shocked that he’d so easily agreed, and okay, maybe a little scared to face crowds of people with just him for protection, she considered telling him she’d changed her mind. No. That would make it too obvious that she’d only been trying to prove a point. She had to follow through.
Then, with a grim expression, he asked, “When do you want to leave?”
“Uh…” she glanced at the small stack of papers on her desk like she had pressing matters to attend to when in reality it was all fan mail. Pushing a bright smile onto her lips, she said, “Meet me in the foyer in thirty minutes.”
Jake stood in the foyer as he’d been ordered to, his mind going over what he would do in any number of situations they might face. It was only his first day babysitting the pop princess, but he found himself disliking her more with each encounter.
Didn’t matter. This was his job. Not everyone had a job they liked. He didn’t have to like his either. Well, he liked the job. He just wasn’t too fond of the client.
He heard footsteps approaching. A moment later the pop princess strode into the foyer. When he saw her skin tight jeans, high-heel boots, and the ball cap pulled low over her head like that would disguise her true identity, he almost laughed, but he suppressed the urge, putting on his game face instead. “I’ll drive,” he stated, although he had a feeling she wouldn’t agree easily.
She made a scoffing sound. “I don’t think so.” She turned on that booted heel and sashayed down the hall toward the door that led to the four car garage.
Shaking his head in annoyance, Jake followed. Once in the garage, when he saw her opening the door of a bright red Ferrari, he rolled his eyes. “Why bother trying to disguise your appearance if you’re going to show up in that?”
About to get in the car, she lifted her eyes to meet his. She bit her lip, then motioned to the more subdued black Rolls. “What about that?”
Pleased that she was listening to him—and also surprised—he shook his head. The woman had no clue how things worked. “We’ll take my Jeep.”
Her delicate jaw clenched, but she closed the door to the Ferrari and said, “Fine.” Her tone said it wasn’t fine at all, but Jake didn’t care. As long as she did what he told her to, they would get through this ridiculous exercise in her showing she was in charge and him proving that he knew what was best.
Chapter Six
Chloe was annoyed. Not just at the fact that she wasn’t going to be taking her fun little sports car, but because she knew Jake was right. Still, that didn’t make it any easier to swallow.