The Kathryn Freeman Romcom Collection

Even so, the idea of someone watching his every move made his stomach turn. He was only just getting to grips with the concept of being famous, and the restrictions that placed on his life. The dread when he noticed he’d been spotted. The interruptions to sign autographs, to take his photo. The worry about the photos he wasn’t aware of. He was a private man, catapulted into a celebrity world where privacy was a luxury. Still, if that’s all this was, a celebrity stalker, he could deal with it. A small price to pay for the joy of being able to make a living from his passion, from immersing himself in another personality. Becoming someone else.

A skill he’d practised for most of his life.

But what if he wasn’t being stalked because he was a celebrity? What if there was another reason behind the notes? That’s what had woken him up in a cold sweat last night.

‘Jerry says to go straight up.’ Cassie’s voice was a welcome interruption to his spiralling thoughts. ‘He’s on the second floor, first door on the right.’ She gave him a coy smile. ‘Would you like me to show you up?’

‘Thank you,’ he answered smoothly. ‘But I’m sure I can find it.’

With a nod and a further flash of his perfect smile, he strode over to the lifts.

***

Son of a bitch, now she was really late. Kat dashed out of the ladies’ where she’d spent the last few minutes sitting on the loo – yes, she could multi-task but no, in this case she’d put the lid down – trying to talk her sister out of a total meltdown. Mandy, who she’d just dropped off at rehab, had totally freaked out on being told she needed to stay there for sixty days.

‘Two fucking months, Kat,’ she’d screamed down the phone. ‘I can’t do that long. Debs will go nuts.’

Kat had already warned her niece that her mum would need to stay longer this time. ‘Debs will be cool with it,’ she’d reassured her sister, though having spent the second part of the crappy morning taking her truculent fourteen-year-old niece to school, she’d said it with her fingers crossed. ‘I’ll be there for her, and we’ll come and visit you. Chill.’

‘I can’t chill. Come and get me, please. I don’t want to be here.’

Kat’s heart had ached for her, but she’d lived with Mandy’s addictions for too long. Softening her voice, she’d told her the truth. ‘You’ve tried outpatient therapy and shorter stays, and they didn’t work. If you want your daughter to remember you as the strong, vibrant woman I know you are, then you need to work through this.’

It had done the trick, and her sister had promised she’d stick it out.

But damn it, now she was running so far behind even she was embarrassed by it. Collier, the guy in charge of security for the production company, would likely go apeshit. He’d asked her, via Mark, her boss, to turn up half an hour before their meeting with Zac Edwards, so he could brief her. Now she was just hoping she could get to Collier’s office before Edwards did. Why the hell had the man arrived early? Didn’t he realise celebrities were allowed to be late?

Dashing towards the lifts, she jammed her hand on the button just as the doors were about to close. As they slowly opened again, she stared at the man inside and sighed.

Looking as cool and laid back as he had in the car park in his immaculately fitting suit, designer shades now slotted into the top pocket, Zac Edwards gave her a sexy smirk of a smile. ‘Not content with pinching my car park space, I see you now want to encroach on my lift.’

‘I’m joining you in the lift.’ Ignoring the flutter in her chest, she went to press the second floor, but it had already been pressed. Of course, it had. Because the man she appeared to be having an embarrassing hormonal reaction to, was her new client.

‘Apparently you are.’ With a languid grace she’d never aspire to, he leant back against the wall of the lift and crossed his ankles. ‘Are you always so … impatient?’

She hiccupped out a laugh. ‘I’m not impatient. I’m late. And please don’t give me the speech about setting off earlier, because I know that now. Trust me when I say I’ve had the sort of morning it would be hard to predict.’

He gave a lazy shrug of broad shoulders that were showcased by his perfectly fitted jacket. ‘Expect the unexpected.’

She rolled her eyes. ‘Hey, you’re preaching to the converted. That’s totally the motto I live my professional life by.’

‘But?’

‘Let’s just say my private life is way too chaotic to call.’ Suddenly the lift came to a shuddering stop. ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’

He eased off the wall. ‘Not claustrophobic, I hope.’

‘No. Just frustrated that I’m now going to be even later.’ She jabbed at the emergency button. ‘Come on, come on.’

‘There’s that impatience again.’ His lips curved into the smile that had made him a household name. ‘Relax. It’ll just be a temporary blip.’

Sighing, she turned to face him. ‘I suppose there are worse things than being stuck in a lift with, you know.’ She waved a hand in his direction. ‘You. I could have been stuck here by myself, or with a sweaty, overweight bloke who smelt of BO.’

‘I’m glad I was here to save you from that purgatory.’

Kat had to bite into her cheek to stop an unprofessional giggle. This man with his fancy suits and fancy looks sure used a lot of really funny, fancy words.

The lift gave another shudder before moving again, smoothly coming to a stop a few seconds later.

As she stepped out and turned down the corridor, she was acutely aware of him walking beside her. The warmth of his body through that ridiculously smart suit – who wore a suit during the hottest June on record? Then there was his expensive aftershave. She was almost hyperventilating with the desire to keep inhaling it.

‘I see we’re going in the same direction.’ He gave her a quizzical look. ‘What is it you do for Vision Films?’

They both came to a stop outside Jerry Collier’s door and she sucked in a deep breath. ‘You’re about to find out.’

At his bewildered expression, she felt the first jangle of nerves. This wasn’t how it had been planned. Mark was already worried about assigning her to such a high-profile case, a fact that had both touched and really frigging annoyed her. Despite assuring him she was totally up to it though, here she was, ballsing it up before she’d even properly started. She wasn’t supposed to have met Edwards yet. She also wasn’t supposed to be so late this morning that she was arriving with the guy. And they certainly shouldn’t have been flirting with each other, no matter how mildly.

The door swung open and Jerry, a big, imposing guy in his mid-fifties you wouldn’t want to piss off, stared at her before reaching out to shake the actor by the hand. ‘Good to meet you, Zac. I see you and Kat have already been introduced.’

‘Err, not exactly.’ Usually Kat had no problem talking herself out of a situation, but this was a bit tricky. ‘We sort of bumped into each other last night.’

‘Literally.’ Zac narrowed his eyes. ‘What’s going on here?’

Jerry looked between her and Edwards, and sighed. ‘When I heard about the note stuck on your front door yesterday, I asked Kat to discreetly keep an eye out for you last night. Today she was supposed to have arrived before you, so I could make the introductions properly, but it seems she’s jumped the gun.’

‘Keep an eye out for me?’ Zac was clearly confused, and Kat felt a knot of tension tighten in her stomach. Her gut told her he wasn’t going to like what he heard next.

‘Yes. That’s what she’s here for.’ Jerry nodded in her direction. ‘Zac Edwards, meet Kat Parker. Your bodyguard.’

As she watched the news sink in, Kat noticed the differing emotions flicker across her new client’s handsome face. The bewilderment and disbelief, she was used to. All part of the joy of being a woman in a man’s world. She didn’t mind the annoyance either, because God knows she wouldn’t like to have someone foisted on her. No, it was the interlaced horror that alarmed her.

Was he horrified Vision Films were so worried about his safety they’d assigned him a bodyguard? Or horrified his bodyguard was a woman?

Worse still, was the horror because his bodyguard was her?

Kat unconsciously squared her shoulders. She couldn’t do much about her job, or her gender, but she could make sure he only saw Kat the professional from now on.

Chapter 3

Zac didn’t know which of the mind-blowing pieces of information to focus on first. That the production company had hired him a bodyguard who looked so inexperienced, and appeared so chaotic. Or that said bodyguard was the woman he’d been flirting with last night and just now in the lift.

Five minutes ago, he’d been anticipating tracking her down so he could ask her out for a drink, hopefully get to know her. Now he didn’t need to do that. Because from now on she was going to be sticking to him like glue.

‘Pardon?’ It seemed the safest response. He’d long ago curbed his natural instinct to say what he thought, which was something along the lines of Are you shitting me?, with a heavy dose of What the fuck?

Jerry let out another long exhale – he’d clearly been expecting this to go more smoothly – before pointing to the seating area in the corner of his office. ‘Why don’t you take a seat and I can go over a few things.’ He narrowed his eyes at Kat. ‘With both of you.’

Kat winced, and Zac felt a smidgen of sympathy for her. Then again, she’d known about this … arrangement all along, and hadn’t had the decency to tell him. Not even after she’d upended champagne all over him.

Not even after he’d tried to flirt with her.

Steering clear of the sofa, he headed for the armchair, figuring he needed the small amount of space it provided. Space to remind himself that Jerry didn’t know the things Zac did. Jerry had no reason to believe the stalker wasn’t just a crazy fan, and likely, make that extremely likely, that’s all he or she was. It’s just, in those moments between sleep and wake, when doubts and worries were hugely exaggerated … in those moments, Zac had begun to think of other, far more terrifying possibilities. None of which he could voice, because in the world of Zac Edwards, actor, the part of his life that lent itself to those dark thoughts, had been scrubbed clean.

Jerry hunkered down on the sofa, but Kat shook her head and walked over to the desk, resting against it with her arms crossed. Her face, the one he’d enjoyed seeing smile, was now serious, those dark eyes watching him. Under different circumstances he’d have enjoyed her eyes on him, but not as his bodyguard. Not when he was riddled with fear over who might be trying to frighten him.

Deciding his best play was to feign nonchalance, Zac leant forward on the chair, loosely clasping his hands. ‘Who decided that I need a bodyguard?’

‘I did.’ Jerry twisted to face him. ‘We’re used to actors getting weird mail, but when the sender sticks the letter to the actor’s front door, it’s time to worry.’

‘Really?’ Zac felt his pulse kick up a gear. ‘You don’t think it’s just a deranged fan? Notes signed in pink lipstick don’t exactly scream menacing.’

‘And you’d know menacing when you saw it?’ Kat asked, her tone detached now. No longer the warm, chatty woman he’d talked to in the lift.

You have no idea what I know. Words he couldn’t say. ‘I know I don’t need a bodyguard if this is simply a crazy female fan,’ he settled for.

‘So because the stalker might be a female, you think you’re safe?’ Kat’s eyes narrowed. ‘If I decided to attack you, you could, what, just swat me away?’

She was offended, he realised. ‘Of course not. You’re a professional. You’d wipe the floor with me.’

At last, a return of her smile. ‘Good answer.’

‘All I’m saying is that if it’s just a crazy fan, then I don’t see the need for a bodyguard.’ He could do without intrusion in his life, thank you very much. ‘But if you believe the stalker might be more dangerous than that …’ Or if my fears turn out to be correct, he thought grimly. ‘If you really believe I’m at risk, then I’m happy to concede that I need protection.’ In fact I’ll need the most experienced, most professional bodyguard you can put your hands on. He doubted that was Kat.

‘It’s less about how dangerous the stalker might be,’ Jerry interjected. ‘And more about anticipating and preventing an attack in the first place. That’s where Kat comes in.’

Zac avoided looking at Kat as he spoke his next words to Jerry. ‘Do you mind if we discuss this privately?’

Jerry heaved out a sigh and with that, and the way Kat’s back turned ramrod straight, Zac knew exactly how unimpressed they were with his request. ‘There’s nothing you can say in front of Kat that she won’t have heard already.’

Okay, so this was going to remain at Awkward Level 10. And if he couldn’t get Collier to change his mind, Zac knew he’d just pissed off the one person he’d be relying on to keep him safe.

‘Jerry.’ He spread his hands out in a show of geniality. ‘I’m sure Kat is excellent at identifying risky situations, as you say.’

‘I am.’

‘She is.’

Don’t be put off by the steely glares. This is your life they’re discussing, not a part in a film. ‘However, she’s not as experienced as I imagined a bodyguard should be for this particular situation.’

‘First you say you don’t need a bodyguard, now you’re saying you want one with more experience.’ Jerry leant forward, his eyes piercing Zac’s. ‘Are you usually this contrary or is there something you’re not telling us?’

Inside Zac squirmed like a worm on the end of the hook, but outside he knew he looked cool, calm and collected. That was acting for you. ‘You know as much as I do, Jerry. I’m simply asking questions to identify if I really am at risk, and if I am, if you’re going to be able to protect me.’

Jerry’s voice hardened and Zac felt the power behind the Don’t mess with me tone. ‘Vision Films takes the safety of our actors very seriously. Kat works for our preferred provider, UK Security. She’s had twelve years with the army, and another three doing exactly this, so she’s got plenty of experience under her belt. Listen to her and do what she asks. She knows what she’s talking about. Even if she can’t always turn up on time.’

‘And it was going so well,’ Kat muttered. ‘Thanks, Jerry.’

The pair of them exchanged a look and Zac realised he’d been wrong in his initial impression that Jerry was annoyed with her. They clearly shared a bond. Respect, certainly, but he guessed something more, too. Affection, maybe. It explained why Jerry hadn’t liked him questioning Kat’s ability. It also told Zac any further push to change her would be viewed in a distinctly unfavourable, and possibly suspicious, light.

Jerry’s attention was back on Zac. ‘I realise you’re going to find this all very inconvenient, but while you’re under contract with Vision Films you’re going to have to suck it up. If Kat determines something is necessary for your safety, you do it or the studio lawyers will be onto you for breach of contract.’ He gave Zac the faintest of smiles. ‘Is there anything else you need to ask me, before I leave you in Kat’s very capable hands?’

‘Have you seen this approach before? Are there any suspects?’ Probably he was worrying about nothing, and lipstick notes had been delivered to other celebrities with no harm done.

‘Stalkers sending notes to celebrities isn’t new, but I’ve not heard of any being signed in pink lipstick before.’ Jerry stood, clearly signalling the meeting was over. ‘We’re working closely with the police on it, though. Kat will keep you in the loop.’

Reluctantly Zac rose to his feet. Reluctantly, because when he walked out of the door, he was going to have a bodyguard trailing around with him. Not only would that bodyguard be a constant reminder of the danger he could be in, she was also a woman he’d been flirting with. And one he’d just thoroughly pissed off.

***

Kat’s assignment was quiet as they walked into the lift.

‘Which was the biggest shock,’ she asked as the doors closed. ‘Being told you were being assigned a bodyguard, or finding out the bodyguard was me?’

A wry smile crossed his handsome face. It sure wasn’t going to be a hardship looking at him for the next however long. ‘Would it offend if I said the latter?’

‘That depends. The part about me not being experienced enough. Was that your way of saying I wasn’t male enough? That you’d feel better if I was a big, muscle-bound dude?’

He smiled again, the very smile that had helped make The Good Guy? such a big hit. Actors with beaming white grins, the public were used to, but the little sexy smirk Zac Edwards had going on? That was both unusual and, even to a cynic like herself, rather charming. ‘I bet you get that all the time, but actually, no, it wasn’t.’ He shifted his hands into his trouser pockets. ‘It was a reference to your age. Size, I’m given to understand, isn’t important.’

She snorted. ‘Are you seriously going to tell me it’s what you do with it, that counts?’

‘Actually, I was going to say it’s how you’re trained to use it, that counts.’ Before she had a chance to shake her head at his innuendo, he added, ‘You, I imagine, can be lethal.’

Despite her irritation at him, laughter burst out of her. ‘Neat catch.’ As soon as it had come, though, the laughter died and the anger, the disappointment, returned. ‘Okay, say I buy that, and you really weren’t going to ask Jerry for a male bodyguard in that private little chat you wanted, why the look of horror when Jerry told you I was your bodyguard?’

‘You know why.’

‘Err, if I did, I wouldn’t be asking.’

His shoulders rose and fell as he sighed. ‘I was annoyed you didn’t tell me who you were last night.’ The lift came to a stop and as they walked out into the reception area, he slid her a glance. ‘You had me at a disadvantage. I would have reacted differently if I’d known.’

She figured he had a point. ‘Yeah, sorry about that. I did consider telling you, but Jerry’s got this real bee in his bonnet about doing the introductions.’ She cleared her throat. ‘It sets the boundaries, Kat,’ she said, imitating Jerry’s gruff voice. ‘Makes it clear I’m the one in charge and you both need to take instructions from me.’

‘I see.’ A glimmer of a smile. ‘Though I find it hard to imagine the rather intimidating Mr Collier in a bonnet, bee or not.’ Zac paused, glancing down at his highly polished black shoes before raising his eyes back to hers. ‘And you? Would you have reacted differently if you’d met me by accident, with no hidden agenda?’

I’m pretty sure I’d have flirted right back at you. No, no, no. For their relationship to work, she couldn’t admit it. ‘We’ll never know.’ Before he could say anything more, she threw out a question of her own. ‘So you’re unhappy I didn’t warn you who I was when I dumped champagne all over you, and you think I’m inexperienced. Is that it, or is there more?’

Zac’s eyes drifted away from her and through the window to the car park. ‘If we believe the stalker is simply a fan with a screw loose, having a bodyguard, aside from the obvious intrusion, feels a little … emasculating.’

There he was with his fancy words again. ‘Will your balls feel safer if I tell you just because the letters appear to have come from a woman, doesn’t mean they have? But say yours have, you’re assuming a mere female couldn’t hurt you. Tell that to the male victims of “Monster” Aileen Wuornos, and to the husband of Katherine Knight whose body parts ended up in a stew. Or to the men who visited Belle Gunness and ended up being fed to the pigs.’ She paused. ‘Do you want me to go on?’

‘I’m not sure my stomach can take any more.’ He ghosted her a smile. ‘I suppose I should be grateful that at least my balls feel safer now, even if I don’t.’

She winced. ‘Sorry, I usually employ more of a filter when I’m working.’

‘Please don’t, not with me.’ He raked a hand restlessly through his hair. ‘This situation is going to be intolerable enough. I’d rather you were … you.’

Well, she’d hadn’t expected that. Then again, she’d not quite got the measure of the man yet. Most actors she’d met wouldn’t put on a suit to meet the head of security. Nor would they have taken her spilling drink over them, or pinching a car park space from under their noses, quite so calmly. They certainly wouldn’t have flirted with her, because actors went for beautiful willowy types, and she was more of a, well, a holly bush. Short but could do some serious damage if provoked.

‘You don’t realise what you’re letting yourself in for,’ she felt duty bound to warn him. ‘In unfiltered mode I can be pretty full-on. Just ask my sister, or my niece. They’ve been trying to gag me for years.’

‘Oh, I think I know.’ Those obscenely pretty green eyes met hers. ‘At the very least it will be a welcome diversion from …’ His shoulders rose and fell as he exhaled. ‘All this.’

His unhappiness with the situation was clear, and she felt a dart of sympathy for him. Knowing the threat was real enough to convince a film company he needed a bodyguard had to be a pretty scary prospect.

Almost as scary as being assigned to be that bodyguard.

Kat forced her mind away from the dark alley. She needed this. Three years of protecting film company bigwigs and minor stars who were no more at risk than she was just wasn’t enough. It was time to prove to Mark, prove to herself, that she could step up. Zac Edwards, a high-profile celebrity currently being stalked, would give her that chance.

And damn it, she was ready for it.

Nodding towards the exit, Kat started to walk. ‘Okay then, you get the real me. But no moaning later when your ears are complaining. Now, what’s your filming schedule like today, because at some point we need to head to your place and work out if it’s secure enough for you to stay there.’

He came to a halt just before the revolving door. Well, more of a slow, gliding stop because, like his speech, everything about this man was elegant and controlled. ‘I might have to move?’

There was no might about it. The nut job knew where he lived. No way was she, or the film company, going to be happy with him staying in his own home from now on. Not with the implied threat in the note. Still, he’d had enough shocks for now. ‘I’ll decide once I’ve taken a look.’

He ran a hand across his face in a gesture that looked both weary and frustrated. ‘I wish I’d kept quiet about the blasted note.’

‘Better that, than staring into the maniacal eyes of a knife-wielding psycho, and wishing you’d told someone.’

The blood drained from his face. ‘An eloquently made point.’ He paused, clearly trying to find his balance. ‘In answer to your question, I’m due on set at midday. But I have lines to go through.’

‘You’ve not learnt them already?’ It didn’t seem to fit with the man who’d turned up freakishly early to his appointment with Jerry.

‘Of course, I have.’ He glanced away, and she thought he looked embarrassed. ‘But a person can never be overprepared.’

She had to fight a smile. God, he was definitely on the obsessive side of the spectrum. ‘Is that the same way a person can’t be overly early for an appointment? Or overdressed?’

‘Exactly.’

If he knew she was taking the mickey, it didn’t show. ‘How about, just this once, you stick to being simply prepared, and we head over to yours now. That way, I can check out alternative places for you to stay while you’re filming.’

His right brow shot up. ‘What happened to deciding once you’d taken a look?’

Busted. ‘It’s still the plan.’ Oh, stuff it. He’d asked her to be herself. And that person said things how they were. ‘Look, don’t get your hopes up. Now this stalker knows where you live, your place would have to have more security than Fort Knox for me to agree to you staying there. Better that we move you to a hotel.’