“Move aside,” he said in a commanding voice. The crowd, which had only grown larger, miraculously parted. Chloe pressed against him as he led her through the throng of enthusiastic fans and out into the parking lot.
But her ordeal wasn’t over yet. The horde followed them out the door.
“We’ve gotta move,” Jake said as he nearly carried her toward his Jeep.
She didn’t have to be told twice. She picked up her pace, although she knew she could never keep up with Jake if they were in a race. But he slowed his steps to accommodate her.
As they approached his Jeep, he pulled out his keys and pressed the fob, then led her to the passenger side and yanked the door open. Not giving her the chance to climb inside on her own, he lifted her like she was a small child and set her on the seat before slamming her door closed, then he darted around the hood of the Jeep and jumped into the driver’s side. Crying out like he was in pain, he let loose a string of expletives as he moved the seat back.
Oops. She’d forgotten to move the seat back earlier to allow for his larger size. Her error was quickly forgotten when Chloe saw the eager mob of fans racing toward the Jeep. Fortunately, Jake had already started to back out of their parking space, and by the time the fans reached them, he was driving away.
The adrenaline that had flooded her veins began to recede, leaving her trembling, but she was grateful. Grateful that Jake had been there even after the way she’d treated him. Even after she’d done something so reckless like go to a mall with only one security person. And had insisted that he stay well back. “Thank you,” she began, but before she could finish her thought, he cut her off.
“Are you always this stupid, or was this a one-time thing?”
All her gratitude vanished. How dare he talk to her like that? Furious to be called out on what she already knew to be an idiotic decision, all she wanted was to strike out. She glared at him. “What took you so long to reach me?”
He made a loud scoffing sound, barely glancing her way before focusing back on the road. “I think you already know the answer to that.”
She did, but since she had nothing else to call him out on, she had to use what she could. “You’re the professional here. Even though I told you to stay back you should have known it was a bad idea.”
A muscle worked in his jaw and then he ran one hand through his hair but didn’t reply. Had she hit a nerve?
Jake was furious. With the pop princess, yes, but even more with himself. Because she was right. It was up to him to do things right when it came to her security. It was up to him to temper her demands with what was safe. It was only his first day, but he’d already blown it. What if someone had had a weapon? She could have been hurt or even killed. And although he was carrying a sidearm concealed in a holster at his hip, it wasn’t like he could have opened fire in a crowded mall to save her. No, he’d made the mistake of letting her tell him how to do his job.
Grinding his teeth together, he turned to her. “It won’t happen again.”
She lifted her chin a fraction of an inch. “What? Me getting mobbed or you screwing up?”
Humiliated, Jake wanted to stare her down to hide his embarrassment, but he was driving, so instead he clenched his jaw and turned his attention back to the road. They drove the rest of the way in silence, and when they reached her house, he punched in the code at the gate, and once they’d driven through, the pop princess hopped out of his Jeep the moment it came to a stop. Jake shut off the engine, his eyes on her as she sauntered to the front door like she didn’t have a care in the world.
Chapter Eight
Chloe was stressed beyond belief, and as she unlocked her front door and stepped over the threshold, she began humming the song she’d been working on that morning. That was the only thing that ever seemed to calm her, humming or singing one of her songs. This time though, it didn’t work. Instead, all she could think about was the sheer panic she’d felt as the mob of fans had nearly crushed her. It had been a while since she’d been in that kind of situation. Come to think of it, she’d never been in that kind of situation. When she’d just been starting to become well known, the few fans she’d had hadn’t been so aggressive, and since she’d become famous, she hadn’t gone out much. When she had scheduled public appearances, she always had a security team around her. So, yeah, this was a new experience. But it was her own fault. If she hadn’t insisted on going to the mall on the spur of the moment and bringing only Jake for security, none of this would have happened. Which made her think about the way he’d swooped in and practically carried her to safety. Smiling at the memory, the lyrics of a brand-new song began to form in her mind. As the strain and fear began to seep away, she went directly to her music room to work.
An hour later, a soft knock sounded on the door. Kind of annoyed to be interrupted, when Chloe saw Beth poking her head around the door, she smiled.
“I’m not disturbing you, am I?” Beth asked.
Chloe shook her head as she set her guitar down. “No. I’m ready for a break anyway.”
“Good.” Beth walked in and settled on an overstuffed chair near where Chloe was sitting. “Where did you go earlier? I saw you drive away with Jake.”
At the memory of all that had happened, Chloe felt her face redden in embarrassment.
Beth tilted her head, her eyes narrowing. “What happened?”
Although she wanted to say Nothing, Chloe knew that Beth would find out about it eventually. Almost certainly one of her fans had recorded the entire thing. By now it had to be circulating on the Internet.
Casting her eyes toward the floor, Chloe softly sighed before lifting her gaze to Beth’s inquiring eyes. “I did something stupid.”
Beth’s eyes narrowed. “What did you do?”
Then Chloe confessed it all, not even trying to hide her own stupidity.
Beth’s eyebrows rose as her mouth fell open. “Oh, Chloe. What were you thinking?”
“I wasn’t, okay?” Hating to feel like she was being scolded, Chloe used a sharper tone than she’d meant to. Huffing a loud sigh, she shook her head. “Sorry. It’s not your fault.”
Beth’s lips were pursed. “You’re just lucky Jake was able to get you out of there before something horrible happened.”
Chloe knew that and knew it deeply. “Yeah.”
Beth looked at Chloe meaningfully. “See, it’s good to have a bodyguard.”
Chloe was beginning to agree.
“He seems like a nice guy.”
“What makes you say that?”
Lifting her shoulders in a shrug, Beth said, “I don’t know. Just a feeling. In fact, I think you should do something nice for him to, you know, make up for what you did to him today.”
“What I did to him?”
Beth’s eyebrows rose. “Yes. What you did to him. You had to know what was going to happen, but you did it anyway. Even after he told you it was a bad idea. I mean, having you mobbed in public reflects poorly on him.”
Chloe hadn’t thought of that. She’d been too focused on how she felt. “What do you suggest?”
Beth looked thoughtful. “I don’t know. What about making dinner for him?”