Kissed Blind (A Hot Pursuit Novel Book 2) (9 page)

I pressed my lips together in a slight grimace. “I signed a thing so I can’t really talk about what goes on or what we talk about. But…”

“Oh my God, what?” She leaned toward me and held her breath.

I bit down on my fingernail and looked at her out of the corner of my eye, grinning wide. “He told me I was stunning.”

Her eyes closed, and she melted into her chair. “I think I would have died on the spot.”

“I think I almost did.”

“So far he sounds like he’s pretty wonderful to work with. He is, right? Tell me he’s not a pompous ass.”

“No, so far he’s been really nice. He’s not bossy or grandiose like you’d think someone like him would be, unlike Camille.”

“Camille is here?” Her jaw almost hit the floor. “I want to live your life for one day, just one day. I swear it has to be amazing.”

I snorted. “Yes, Camille is here. She’s not the most pleasant person. She’s living up to almost every stereotype.”

“Really?” she said, drawing out the middle of the word. “I never would have guessed. She’s always talked about as being such an awesome personality and all around great gal.”

I shrugged. “She’s not, and thank God I’m not working for her. Right after she showed up today—” I almost told her about the fight between Camille and Oliver.

“What! What!”

“Ugh, I can’t tell you. I’m sorry.”

“You suck.”

I smirked. “I know.”

Becca and I finished our conversation and called it a night, promising to get together again the following week for the next episode. As I saw her out, a cool gust of wind blew, carrying the scent of spring rain and something familiar. I stepped into the hallway and watched Becca until she was inside her apartment, and then the scent grew stronger.

Moments later, he stood at the top of the stairs.

“Vance?” He continued to come toward me with his head down but said nothing. “What’s wrong?”

Nine

Vance walked heavy footed toward me. His hands were shoved in his pockets, and his head was tilted down, cast in a shadow.

“Vance? Is everything okay?” I dipped my head to find his eyes. When I found them filled with tears, my stomach clenched. “What happened?”

His chin quivered. “It’s Pop.”

He yanked me into him and wrapped his arms tightly around my shoulders. His shirt was damp with sweat, and he buried his face into my neck as his chest began to twitch. I hoped it wasn’t what I thought and squeezed him tighter. My heart splintered inside my chest.

“I didn’t want to go home.” His shaky voice vibrated against my skin. “I’m sorry, I know it’s late.”

“I don’t care. Come inside and tell me what happened.” A lump developed in my throat looking at his red rimmed eyes, and I led him to the couch.

He held his head in his hands and wiped his tears. “Ma called me when I was out. She was hysterical, I could barely understand her. I’ve never heard her that upset before, not even after he had the heart attack.”

“What happened?”

“Pop had a blood clot in his lung. He was in a lot of pain. He couldn’t breathe.” His voice cut off.

“Is he…” I couldn’t bring myself to finish the sentence.

“He’s in the ICU now.” Being in the ICU wasn’t a good thing, but at least he was still alive, and for that, I was relieved. “They said it was a complication from his surgery. The clot started in his leg and traveled to his lung. They raced him to surgery again. I don’t know what I’m going to do if he dies.” Deep sobs racked his body.

I put my arm around him, and he rested his head against my chest. “He’s not going to die, you hear me?” I ran my fingers through his hair and rubbed his head in small circles like he always did for me. He clenched my shirt, and it pulled tightly across my abdomen. “How is he doing now?”

He sat up with blotchy skin. “He’s got all these tubes going into him, stuff is draining out. He looks awful.”

“He’s got DeLuca blood coursing through his veins. Don’t give up on him.”

He stared down at his hands. “I’m not giving up. I just can’t do anything to help him, and I hate it.”

I patted his knee. “I know how you feel and it sucks. How long is he supposed to be in the ICU?”

“Depends on how long it takes before he comes around. He could be down in a regular room tomorrow or he could die tonight.”

“He’s not going to die, you hear me? He’s got the best doctors in the city working on him.”

“Yeah, well, the problems don’t stop there.” He leaned his head back.

“What do you mean?”

“If he gets better from this, he’s going to need therapy to get him back on his feet.”

“Why’s that a problem?”

“My parents don’t have the money for that. Pop’s insurance won’t cover it all. My mom was a mess at the hospital. She doesn’t know what they’re going to do. The medical bills are already piling up.”

I reached for his hand. “It’s gonna be all right. We’ll figure something out.”

“Wanna rob a bank?” He laughed.

“How about the one down the road? Easy targets if you asked me. With my looks and your charm, they’ll never know what hit ‘em.”

He smiled his first genuine smile. “Thanks.”

“You want a drink? Becca was over and left some beers.”

He nodded. “Yeah, but only if you have one too.”

“Deal.”

I opened two beers in the kitchen and brought one over to him. Turning my body toward him, I lifted my bottle. “To Sal, and his full and speedy recovery.”

He tapped the neck of his bottle against mine. “Here here.”

He drained almost half the bottle in his first drink, and his shoulders relaxed for the first time since he’d been in my apartment. We sat listening only to the sounds of our beating hearts until a fire truck drove by outside with sirens blaring, breaking the silence.

“What were you and Becca doing?” he asked.

“Hanging out and watching a little TV. Nothing too exciting. How was Irene’s?”

“I got through one game of pool when Ma called. I was hardly there.” He took another swig and was down to the last third of the bottle. “This is good.” He read the label and rested the bottle on his thigh. Leaning his head back, he shut his eyes.

I watched him for a few moments. This was the guy I’d grown to love like family over the years, the guy who wasn’t afraid to cry, especially in front of me. He could pretend to be tough all he wanted, but the real him wasn’t the macho, womanizing guy he pretended to be most days.

His breathing slowed, and I smiled at the beard that seemed to have grown thicker in the hours we’d been apart. I glanced at the clock on my cable box. “You want to stay here? I can make up the couch for you.”

His grip loosened on the bottle. He was already asleep, and why wouldn’t he have been? He’d had a rough night. I slipped the bottle from his tired fingers and dumped the last of our beers in the sink. I grabbed a pillow off my bed and returned to cover him with a blanket but stopped when I saw his feet. He still had his shoes on. I crouched next to him and slid one shoe off then the other.

“What are you doing?” He sat up disoriented, his voice groggy. “I should go.”

“You’re staying here.” I pointed to the pillow. “Lay down so I can cover you up.” He paused to protest but reconsidered. He lay down, and I bent over him, taking the back cushions off to give him more room to spread out. “I know it’s not the biggest couch, but you’ll be comfortable.” I spread a patchwork quilt over him and smiled down. “There, snug as a bug.”

“Thanks.”

I leaned over and kissed his forehead. “Sleep tight. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Without a sound, he drifted back into the darkness.

As I slipped between my sheets, Becca’s absurd notions replayed in my head. Vance didn’t have a thing for me. I laughed under my breath. He’d had plenty of opportunities to make a move on me before we got jobs at B&B but never did. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I’d thought about him in a more-than-friends kind of a way though when we first met. The high school hunk everyone dreamed about was working out and training with me. Of course I did. But it became clear it wasn’t meant to be, and when we started working together, it sealed the deal. I floated off, lost in thoughts of Vance.

.              .              .

I slept hard like I’d been catching up on months of lost sleep but was pulled from my slumber by the smell of flowers and mint. I rolled over and blinked until my vision cleared. Vance stood in the doorway to my bathroom, wet with a toothbrush sticking out of his mouth.

I covered my head with my quilt. “What the heck are you doing, watching me sleep?”

He chuckled. “Yeah, so?”

I peeked out from my cotton cocoon, revealing only my eyes. “Well stop, weirdo. God, that’s creepy.” I squinted. “Wait, is that my toothbrush.”

“Yeah, you mind? I couldn’t find another one in here.”

“Did you even look? Yes, I mind. A lot. Yuck, that’s disgusting.”

“You’ve had Gabe’s tongue in your mouth and you’re calling this disgusting?”

“FYI smart ass, now you’ve had Gabe’s tongue in your mouth too.” I sat up and pulled the covers up to my chest. “And do I need to bring up the disgusting body parts of all the random women you’ve had in your mouth? You totally outgross me.”

He shrugged and nodded. “Touchée, pussycat.”

“But whatever, I have another one in a bin under the sink. Keep it.” I grabbed my phone to check the time. It was just after six. “Why are you up so early?”

He scrubbed back and forth and spit frothy goo into the sink and returned to the doorway, drying his mouth with my hand towel. “I woke up worrying about Pop. I decided to get showered.”

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and swung my legs out. “I’ll make us some coffee.”

“No, don’t worry about it. I want to run home and get some fresh clothes and stop by the hospital. I won’t be able to work if I don’t know how he’s doing.”

“Why don’t you call in? Cavanaugh will understand.”

“And have you partnered up with one of those other amateurs? No way. I’m not throwing you to the wolves like that. We don’t need to pick Oliver up until ten. I’ll have plenty of time.”

I stepped out from under the covers and threw my pillow at the foot of my bed. “You’re hardly throwing me to the wolves. I can function without you.” I lifted my bedding and smoothed the wrinkles before putting my pillow back in place. Vance hadn’t answered me, so I turned around and found him watching me again, wearing a playful grin. “What?”

“I think we both know you can’t function without me.”

I gagged. “I’m going to go start some coffee before you make me throw up.”

“Seriously, Oliver is shooting in Over-the-Rhine today.”

I stopped and leaned against the entryway into the bedroom. “So?”

“So, it’s Over-the-Rhine. There are drug dealers, gang members, and God only knows what else on every corner down there. After what happened in the park the other night, I’m not risking leaving you out in the open like that with a rookie watching your back.”

“First of all, there are plenty of other very capable and very skilled bodyguards at B&B.”

“But none like me.” He twitched his brows.

I pretended to stick my finger down my throat. “Vance that was the Over-the-Rhine we knew in high school. It’s all built up now. Hollywood loves the look of the renovated areas. It’s like old New York City. We’re not going to be in the slums.”

“Don’t care. I’m not calling in and that’s the end of the conversation.”

He walked out of sight, and I went into the kitchen to start my coffee silently cursing his bullheadedness. Vance had put the cushions back on the couch and had folded the quilt. Everything was stacked in a neat pile sitting in the middle of the coffee table.

I was filling up the coffee pot when Vance came into the room. He set his hand on the small of my back. “Okay, I’m going to take off. I’ll be back for you a little later.”

“All right.” I glanced over my shoulder. “Let me know how your dad’s doing.”

He reached over me and shut the water off at the sink. I turned around and studied his lean, olive skin, entranced by the silent sadness in his eyes. A spark of something else flickered, a look that could so easily carry me away. I would be a ship lost at sea if I wasn’t careful.
Damn him.

Ten

Despite fears and uncertainties, I couldn’t move. My eyes darted over Vance’s shoulder to a spot on the wall behind him and back to the black hairs covering his chin.

“Thanks a lot for listening last night. Sorry if I invited myself over by falling asleep.” His soft voice rippled through my body.

I swallowed and met his eyes. “Oh stop. You know I’ll always be here when you need me.”

“I know.” He grinned and smoothed my hair down with both of his hands. “Even when your hair looks like this, wild woman.”

I tittered. “Thanks, I spent hours perfecting this look, just short of eight to be exact.”

“Hours well spent.” He pulled me into a hug and drew a fresh breath against my scalp before kissing the top of my head. “Thanks again. See you in a bit.”

I followed him to the door, and after it clicked, I leaned against it and put my hand to my heart; it hammered against my ribs. I took a deep breath, blew it out quickly, and returned to my awaiting pot of coffee.

I downed a few cups and geared up to go for a run. After, I was doing a set of push-ups when my phone rang. I snatched it off the coffee table.

“Hey, it’s me,” Vance said.

“Hey, me, I know. How’s your dad.” I rolled over on my back and tried to catch my breath.

“He’s doing pretty well actually. They moved him down to his own room this morning out of the ICU. He’s in a lot better condition than he was.”

“See, I knew he’d fight through it.” I sat up and hugged my knees.

“His color is a lot better too. Last night gave me the scare of my life. I thought I was going to lose him.”

“No way. He’s sticking around for a long time. He needs to meet the grandchildren you’re going to give him someday.” I grabbed a fresh bottle of water and chugged it.

“We’ll see about that.” He snorted. “He’s supposed to be moved to an outpatient facility some time tomorrow and then he can start therapy.”

“Therapy?”

“They said it’ll be hard for him to walk. Someone will be getting him on his feet everyday so he won’t be stuck in a wheelchair.”

“I bet he’ll love that.”

“Yeah, like a rock in his shoe.”

“He’s going to be back to himself sooner than you think. Just watch.” I screwed the cap back on my water bottle and set it next to the empty beers.

“Hope so.” He paused for a beat. “Anyway, I should be over in about a half an hour. You cool with that? We’ll be a little early, but I can’t stand sitting around idle right now. I’ll go crazy if I do.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be ready.”

“You better be.” He laughed and disconnected the call.

The stress that had weighed his voice down the day before was lifted, and that was reason to smile. I walked through my bedroom and tossed my phone on the nightstand, grinning. I took a shower and properly primped for my day with Oliver Pierce, taking time to pick the perfect pants to go with the perfect top. I met Vance down at the curb, and we headed off to meet up with Oliver.

We pulled into the lot and stopped by to check in with Barry before we took the elevator up.  When we arrived on the Pierce floor, we found the door cracked open. Vance knocked and entered.

“Hello?” he called.

“In the kitchen,” Cici answered.

We walked in where Cici was loading some plates into the dishwasher.

“Did you leave the door open for us?” Vance asked.

“Yeah, Barry called and said you were on the way up.” She loaded a cereal bowl into the bottom rack and began washing her hands.

“That was nice of you, but try not to do that. You never know if someone could sneak past security and walk right in. I’m sure it wouldn’t happen, but it could, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

She grabbed a towel to dry her hands and covered her mouth with a splash of rouge glowing in her cheeks. “Oh geez, I never thought of that.”

Vance laughed and squeezed her arm. “It’s okay.”

She tipped her shoulder up to her ear. “I guess when I hear you’ve arrived, I just feel so safe. The thought of being in danger never crossed my mind.”

I tried not to vomit.

“Oh, and you too, Diana. You guys are such a great team. With everything that happened the other day, you’re both gifts to us.” I held an even smile with vacant eyes while she finished drying her hands and rehung the towel in front of the stove. “Oliver is almost ready. He should be down any second.”

Oliver soon appeared in a blue Henley that hugged his chest in all the right spots with hair lazily mussed like he’d rolled right out of bed.

“We need to get going,” Oliver said, grabbing his satchel and throwing it over his shoulder. “Cici, I’d like you to stay here and keep an eye on Camille today.”

She frowned. “I’d planned on joining you today. Who’ll get your coffee?” She smoothed her form fitted white blazer over her dark wash jeans. “Plus, I thought it would be nice to see the city and the set. I’m itching to get out of this apartment.” The divots in her cheeks indented as she smiled coyly again at Vance.

“I know, but she can’t be alone.”

“How is Camille doing?” I asked.

“She slept well last night and is coming down off the meds. The doctor has already come and gone. He looked her over and said she’s improving nicely, but I’d feel more at ease knowing someone is keeping an eye on her.” He looked at Cici.

Cici feigned a smile. “Sure. I’d be happy to.”

“You’re the best. I’ll have these two to keep me company and I’ll get my own coffee, so don’t worry too much about me.” Traces of humor touched his voice.

“Of course.” Her eyes wandered over to Vance and disappointment was scrolled all over her face. “Have a great day shooting. I’ll be here when you get back.”

“I’m counting on it.” He marched to the door. “I need to get out of here. I don’t want to handle the wrath coming my way if I’m late again.”

Down in the lobby, Oliver and I waited while Vance brought the car around.

“How was your night?” Oliver asked.

“It was good. Were you able to get some sleep?”

“Oh yeah, I’m an old pro at that. Thanks for staying and talking with me last night. I enjoyed your company.”

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye and noticed the clear-cut lines of his profile as he cracked a sweet smile. “You’re easy to talk to as well, for a Hollywood guy.”

He threw his head back and let out a great peal of laughter. “How kind of you to say.”

I let my bottom lip slip between my teeth. “Don’t mention it.”

The Rover pulled around front, and Vance drove toward Over-the-Rhine through to the small, inner city suburbs of beautifully rehabbed buildings to where filming was to begin. In the back seat, Oliver studied his script along the way. When we approached more congested traffic and heard the swells of overlapping voices, we knew we’d arrived. A road was blocked off with makeshift gates, behind which stood mobs of people waiting to sneak a glimpse of the great Oliver Pierce.

“There’s supposed to be a specific area for actors to enter, off…” He flipped the papers in his lap. “Vine Street somewhere?”

“I’ll find it,” Vance said with a nod.

Vance found a few streets that had been blocked off and located the actor’s entrance. It had an extra gate with security holding back the crowd. Vance stopped the car, impeding traffic, so Oliver and I could get out.

“Okay?” Vance looked over his shoulder to Oliver. “Diana is going to escort you on set and I’ll go park the car. I’ll meet up with you inside.”

I got out and opened Oliver’s door. Screams erupted and hordes of people shouted his name as soon as his shoe hit the pavement. Oliver stepped out from behind the door and waved. Women wagged phones in the air, begging for a picture with him.

“I’m going to go over and say hello to a few of them,” he said.

“Okay, I’ll be watching. Try not to get too close to the crowd. I don’t want them pulling you in and tearing you to shreds.” I was half joking.

As Oliver approached the guardrail, the shouts and screams swelled to new heights. I stayed within arm’s reach.

“Hello, everyone!” Oliver shouted over the cacophony of voices. 

“Oliver, I love you!” A busty blond in a low cut tank yelled.

“I love you too, sweetheart.” He grabbed the notebook in her hand and signed it. When he handed it back, she begged for a photo. He glanced over at me to check my proximity. I took a step closer. He leaned against her and the guardrail as she held up her camera and snapped a few pictures. Not an ideal situation from a bodyguard standpoint. So many things could go wrong.

Oliver made his way down the line of fans, signing anything thrust at him and taking plenty of pictures.

“Thank you everyone for coming out.” He waved. “I’ve got to get on set before the director fires me.” He smiled and continued waving as he stepped away.

A man stood toward the end of the line. His straight face in a sea of screeching women bothered me; he was far too relaxed. I kept my eye on him as I shadowed Oliver. We were almost past the final guardrail when someone broke through the line, and a mad rush of people swarmed Oliver. The police officers who’d been watching the gates stepped in to hold people back with batons while I ushered Oliver through. I deflected hands and arms all trying to take a piece of him and me.

“Go! Go! Go!” I yelled, shielding his body with mine. “Back! Everyone back!” We’d made it safely onto set, and the officers were able to hold off the crowd.

When we were away from the raucous, Oliver started laughing. “Well that was fun.”

“I can’t believe you’re laughing.”

He patted his hair down and checked his clothing for tears. “In times like these, you learn to roll with it. If no one knew my name then where would I be? We made it through. You all right?” His hands ran over my shoulders and down my arms as he inspected me. I held up my palms and looked myself over.

My shirt had gotten untucked. I discretely shoved it back into the waistband of my pants. “Looks like I’m unscathed.”

“Good thing for you that was a small crowd.”

“That was small?” My eyebrows shot up. “If you say so.” I checked my holster to make sure my gun was still locked in place. Everything was as it should have been, except for one thing. “Oh shoot.” I looked back toward the crowd.

“What?”

“We forgot to tell the guards up there about Vance.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He got the attention of a random person circulating on the set and asked him to make sure Vance didn’t have an issue getting through security.

“Thanks,” I said.

“No problem.” He held me in his gaze for an extra moment before he pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Damn, I’m running behind. I need to get into makeup.” He glanced around looking for where he needed to go when Cadence appeared.

“Oliver.” She tapped her wrist. “You’re late.”

“Just a few, tiny minutes. You should have seen the mob of people we had to make it through just to get on set. We were almost killed.”

“Tell me about it, but I’ve got a schedule to keep.” She grabbed his arm and led him to a silver trailer parked on the side of the road. “Go get beautiful, beautiful.” She opened the door and shepherded him in. 

I stood guard outside while Oliver had his makeup applied. People moved about, setting up the lights and cameras. I recognized some faces of other actors but didn’t know their names. Vance eventually found his way to me.

“You made it through alive I see,” Vance said.

“Yeah, barely. Someone broke through one of the barriers and we got rushed by a mob of people. Oliver acted like it was no big deal, but I thought they were going to tear him to shreds.”

“He’s a hot commodity.”

I thought back to the man in the crowd; his demeanor still bothered me. “Hey, there was a strange looking guy back there when Oliver stopped to sign some autographs.”

“What was strange about him?”

“He didn’t fit in. All the people around him were crying over Oliver, and his face was like a stone wall, he couldn’t have cared less.”

“More proof of why I wouldn’t leave you with another partner down here. Probably just some nut. We are downtown, you know? See, the streets are crawling with them.”

I lifted my palms. “You’ve got me and have proven your point.”

We stood outside the trailer for almost an hour before the door opened. Out came Oliver in a new outfit, with his hair perfectly ruffled, and a fresh, faux cut under his eye.

He held his arms out. “How do I look? Like a cop who’s coming off one of the worse nights of his life?”

“You’ve sold me,” I said.

He walked down the three steps and stopped in front of us. He leaned in and dropped his voice low. “The cops who were looking into my car accident called. They’d like me to come down to the station later. I told them it would have to wait until I was finished here.”

Vance nodded. “No problem. We can handle that. Did they catch something?”

“Sounds like it.”