She nods, and goes quiet again. “I’m sorry, Tyler. I’d never want to do anything to jeopardize you or your family, especially after everyone has been so kind, opening your home to strangers.”
My heart pinches at the worry in her voice. I have a feeling Rock was right when he told me his sister was one of a kind, a girl who cares more about others than she does herself. “There are no strangers in Gram’s life,” I say, and it brings a smile to her face.
“She’s really sweet. She’s like the grandmother I never had.”
I nod, sad that Haven never had anyone like Gram in her life. Honestly, she’s the glue that holds the family together. After Mom died, she stepped right in to keep us boys in line. “Yeah…,” I murmur.
She glances at her hands as she twists them in her lap. “It’s just if my director ever found out.”
Tabloid pictures fill my brain. Ah, now I get it. Haven is worried about bringing more trouble to the set, and losing her career. Shit. She’s definitely caught between a rock and a hard place. I touch her chin, lift it until those pretty eyes of hers are on me again.
“Your secret is safe with me. You have my word on that.”
She nods, picks the wet napkin back up and nervously plucks at it. “I’ve been receiving letters…threatening letters.”
Fuck. I exhale and sit back in my seat. “Did you go to the police?”
She shakes her head fast. “No, I can’t. I can’t do anything to lose this job. My career…”
“That’s why you kissed me at Winchester’s? You thought Sean was some sort of stalker, and thought if he saw you with me, he’d back off.”
“After I landed, someone shoved a letter under the bathroom stall. It said, You’ll be mine.”
“If it was the woman’s bathroom, do you think it was a woman?”
“I don’t know. I guess.”
“Well, a guy could have paid someone to do it, I suppose. A beautiful woman like you, I can see it being a guy, especially saying you’ll be mine.”
“Yeah,” she says with a nod. “I just don’t know.”
As a jolt of anger rushes through me, I shake my head, my fingers curling into fists. She notices my reaction and gives a megawatt smile, like she’s said too much and wants to backtrack. Her switch in demeanor happens so fast it catches me off guard.
“I’m sure it’s nothing,” she says quickly.
I narrow my gaze. “If it was nothing, you wouldn’t be so frightened.”
She continues to smile, but when I arch a brow, refusing to let her off the hook, she gives in and her face falls. “Yeah, you’re right.”
I lean toward her, and brace my elbows on my thighs. “How long has this been going on?”
“A couple of weeks now.”
“Do you have enemies?”
“I…I don’t think so. Rock does, but—”
I consider our MMA fans. Would one go so far as to threaten a fighter’s sister? “You think someone who has it out for Rock would come after you?”
“I really don’t know.” Blue eyes full of vulnerability search mine, and my gut twists. “Do you think it could be?”
“I don’t know either, Haven. Do you think you should call your brother?”
She shakes her head. “He has a big fight coming up in Vegas and I don’t want to worry him.”
“He’d want to know. You’re everything to him.”
A small smile touches her mouth. “I know. He’s everything to me too. He’s the only guy…”
Her words fall off, but she doesn’t need to finish for me to understand, her brother is the only guy she’s ever been able to count on. Well, that changes right now.
“Okay, then it’s settled. From this second until the movie finishes up and you leave Blue Bay, you’re with me. I’ll be that boyfriend you were seeking at Winchester’s. Whoever gave you that letter will have to go through me to get to you, I won’t let anything happen to you,” I say.
I’m not doing this just because Rock is my friend—yeah, we put on a good show, but he’s the guy who stayed with me all night when I found out my dad died. I’m doing it because she has no one else to turn to and I don’t want anything to happen to her.
“What do you want in return?” she asks.
“Your safety. If I had a sister in trouble, I’d hope someone would do this for her.”
Her entire body tightens, and her eyes narrow in on me. That obviously wasn’t the answer she was expecting. Confused, she stares for a good solid minute, or at least it feels like that, and then she shakes her head, like she can’t seem to wrap her brain around anyone not wanting something from her. That totally pisses me off. What kind of world did she grow up in where she can’t count on people? Christ, I could call any one of my brothers right now, for anything, even a paper cut, and they’d be here in a second.
“What’s the problem, Haven?” I ask, since I’m a no bullshit kind of guy.
“I can’t ask you to do that and not do anything in return,” she says. I’m about to tell her it’s fine when a loud bang reverberates through the house. She just about jumps three feet in the air.
I put my hand on her shoulder, to calm her. “It’s probably just an animal in the trash. You stay here, I’ll go look.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.” I push from my chair, and open the door, which isn’t even locked. Hell, no one locks the doors in Blue Bay, but maybe we’ll have to change that for the time being. Outside, I find the garbage tipped over, and I pick it back up and secure the metal lid. Back inside, Haven is still sitting in her chair, her eyes wide.
“Breathe, Haven,” I say when I reach her, and she sucks in a breath. “It was likely just a racoon.” I stifle a yawn and she stands.
“Thank you, Tyler. I’ve definitely kept you up long enough.”
“Wasn’t sleeping anyway.”
She puts her glass in the sink, and gives me a weird little finger wave as she starts toward the stairs. I follow behind her, and try not to look at her sweet ass in those short pajama bottoms. A groan I have absolutely zero control over rises in my throat and I fake a cough to cover it. Haven momentarily stills on the steps, and I nearly crash into her.
“You okay?” she asks.
“Fine.”
She starts up again and I follow her to my bedroom. She enters and I step inside with her, shutting the door behind us. She turns to me, her eyes wide. “What are you doing?”
“I’m staying in here tonight.” I gesture to the chair in the corner. “I’ll sleep there.”
“Tyler—”
“I don’t want anything from you, Haven,” I say, although that’s a big fucking lie. I want her in my bed, beneath me, but that’s not going to happen. “First nights in strange beds aren’t easy.” I almost snort at that. How many women have I gone home with and jumped straight into bed with, no problems at all? Although I never stay the night and sleep wasn’t what we were after. The women who get involved with me know straight up I don’t stay. I leave before they have to explain I’m not ‘meet the parents’ material.