Bulletproof (16 page)

CHAPTER NINETEEN

MORGAN

Reynold’s pub was busy, as usual. Ella was working the bar with Cole. I sat on a stool at the end, chatting to her when she had a few minutes to spare. The two waitresses bustled back and forth from the kitchen carrying trays of gluten-free food. I still couldn’t believe they’d pulled it off. Provided a menu that was ninety percent gluten-free, just like Cole promised he would. I grinned as I scanned the tables. The non-typical bar food obviously didn’t bother any of the patrons. The waitresses looked rushed off their feet as they moved from table to table while a solo artist in the corner calmed everything down with her acoustic guitar.

I sipped my coffee with a quiet smile, soaking in the atmosphere. These two had done an amazing job, turned the place into an LA version of Quigg’s. The Chicago bar, owned by Cole’s foster parents, was a place Brad and I had frequented. I wished Sean was here with me, but he didn’t like going out to such a public venue. He always joked that he wouldn’t have been able to keep his hands off me. Someone was always watching and we didn’t want to get caught.

Frankly, I no longer cared who was watching or if we got caught, but I
did
care about Sean and so I’d keep relishing the private moments we had together.

Ella smiled at a patron while he swiped his card to pay. In her usual style, she kept a sweet banter going with the man and passed him his receipt. No wonder people loved coming here. I caught Cole glide past her, gently squeezing her waist and kissing her forehead before grabbing a glass and deftly pulling a beer.

They worked around each other as if they were doing some kind of dance. I’d been watching them for the past hour and not once had they collided or unintentionally touched. They seemed to work in sync, a quiet repartee flowing between them, punctured only by laughter and the odd kiss. Their open displays of affection sent a knife of envy shooting through my middle. I sat up straight and rubbed my stomach.

Ella slapped her hands on the countertop beside me. “Sorry about this, I should have warned you how busy Sunday lunchtime gets.”

“That’s okay.” I rubbed her hand. “I love that you guys are so busy.”

She looked over her shoulder and took in the bustle, turning back to me with a beaming smile.

Cole approached her from behind, his hands nestling on her hips. “Hey, why don’t you go take a quick break? I’ll hold the fort so you can two can chat.”

“Are you sure?” Ella gazed up at him.

“Of course.” He nipped her nose with his lips and patted her butt before returning his attention to the bar.

“Come on.” Ella beckoned me with her hand, lifting up the bar so I could duck underneath. We wove past the steaming kitchen and up the narrow staircase.

Ella opened the door and fell straight onto their threadbare two-seater, her arms flopping onto the cushions.

I sat down next to her. “You look exhausted.”

“I am.” She turned her head and gave me a tired smile. “Things are going so well since we opened...and I may be tired, but I do love it.”

“It must be nice working with Cole.”

“It is.” Her eyes sparkled. “But you know that already, you get to work with Sean.”

“Hardly.” I didn’t usually let myself pout, but this was Ella, and I could be whomever I wanted around this girl and she’d love me regardless. “I’m so busy and he’s busy. We don’t get to see each other as much as you might think. Plus, with having to hide it all the time...”

Ella squeezed my knee. “That part must suck.”

“Yeah, it’s...” I shifted on the couch, leaning forward and resting my elbows on my knees. “I get why we have to do things this way. He wants to protect me, but sometimes it doesn’t feel like that. I wish he wasn’t so put off by that one threat from Travis. I mean,
Superstar
is huge, and the audience would be livid if Travis wrote Harley off the show. The guy might be an asshole, but he’s not stupid.”

“So why do you think Sean’s hesitating?”

“Because of his stupid manager!” I shot from my seat, the unexpected burst of anger surprising me. I took in a breath to lower my voice. “Ella, he does everything she says and again, I get why, but her influence over him really bothers me sometimes. I feel like she has this clandestine plan for his future that not even he knows about! Like he’s her little puppet or something.” I huffed, rubbing my temples. “I just really hope that all her advice is in
his
best interest and not only hers. She gets a pretty damn big cut of every deal she secures for him. The bigger his name, the bigger
her
paycheck.”

Ella listened in empathetic silence like she always did. I glanced at her, knowing I could rabbit on for the rest of her break if I wanted to.

With a heavy sigh, I slumped back onto the couch. “I know she doesn’t like me. I know she wants me out of the picture. It’s pissing her off to no end that I’m still around.”

“Why do you say that?”

I threw Ella a sad smile, letting out a heavy sigh before launching into my pre-Christmas natter with the lovely Rhonda Dickens.

“Oh my gosh!” Ella’s mouth dropped open when I’d finished. “When did that happen?”

“A few days before Christmas.” I spun the ring on my finger, rubbing my thumb over the sapphires.

“Well, did you tell him?”

“I tried.” I flicked my hands in the air. “But he brushed it off as nothing. I mean, he did call and follow it up, but apparently I misunderstood her.” I put on a snarky voice. Crossing my arms with yet another huff, I threw my head back on the couch. “I didn’t want to argue with him over the holiday break. Everything was perfect, and I just wanted to forget the outside world existed.”

“Since when has Morgan Pritchett ever shied away from a fight?”

“Since it could mean destroying my lover’s career and possibly losing him in the process.”

Ella’s smile was soft. “He’s different, isn’t he? You really love him.”

“Yeah. Sometimes I wish I didn’t, but then...” I shrugged. “The idea of him not being around kills me, like I can’t live without him.”

Ella shuffled along the couch, wrapping her arms around me and squeezing tight. I rested my cheek against the top of her head, and she gave me one more hard squeeze.

“Okay, I get it. I love you, too.” I squeezed her back and let go, holding her at arm’s length and smiling.

She didn’t smile back and my gut clenched.

“What?”

Ella pressed her lips together and stood, walking over to the little table parked against the wall and lifting her laptop screen.

The photos hit me first; they were bright and vivid and made my insides want to fall out my backside.

I lurched up and stumbled toward the screen, taking a seat at the table and soaking in the images of Ashlee and Sean. It was a full-page spread, and in every single photo they were touching. If she wasn’t kissing his cheek, she had her arm around his waist. There were two images of them dancing together and then a series of three. They were sitting at a table and she was whispering in his ear. Then he was smiling at her and she was touching her chest and giving him a mushy smile.

I slammed the lid closed, feeling sick.

“It’s probably nothing.”

“Ella, the headline says, ‘
Superstar’s
next hot couple.’”

“Yeah, but it’s all for show, right? I mean, you’re smart enough to know that.”

I cleared my throat and gave a firm nod, trying to convince myself it was true. Crossing my arms, I held them tight to my chest and stood, needing to pace.

Ella nibbled her lip. “I wasn’t sure whether to tell you or not, but after what you just told me about Rhonda… I don’t know, do you think she’s trying to manipulate this somehow?”

I scraped my nails through my hair and closed my eyes. “I don’t know! Maybe!” I spun around and pointed at the laptop. “Damn it, she’s probably right. They look amazing together.”

“Don’t say that. You look way better with him than she does. Anybody can see how into each other you are.”

“Anybody?” I scoffed.

“Anybody close to you guys. You know what I mean,” Ella muttered.

I slumped onto the couch, squeezing my eyes shut. “I wish you hadn’t shown me.”

“I’m sorry.” She nestled down beside me and rested her head on my shoulder. “I just felt like you needed to know, so you could talk to Sean and hear his side. It’s most likely nothing. Headlines are crap anyway, right?”

“Yep.” I nodded, clipping the word short.

“Morgan, I know you don’t want to fight with Sean, but this whole secrecy thing is obviously getting you down. Maybe you need to try telling Sean again, about Rhonda.”

“He doesn’t want to hear it.”

“It’s doesn’t matter. He needs to.” Ella kissed my cheek and then glanced at her watch. “Sorry, babe, I gotta get back down and help Cole. You’re welcome to stay.”

“No, that’s okay. I should probably swing past Dad’s anyway. Make sure he’s taking care of himself.”

Ella’s smile was soft and kind. “You’re really good at doing that, you know.”

“Doing what.”

“Looking after everybody.”

I shrugged. “I guess it’s what I do best.”

“Just as long as you look after yourself, too.”

My laughter was dry and hollow. “That’s what boyfriends are for.”

A sad anguish crested over Ella’s face. I turned away from her, snatching the keys out of my jacket pocket and standing from the couch.

“Don’t work too hard.” I brushed past her and headed down the stairs first, trying to outrun her sorrowful gaze.

CHAPTER TWENTY

SEAN

Morgan bailed on me. She didn’t say why, just said she’d see me at work on Monday. To say I was disappointed was an understatement; I was looking forward to telling her all about my night. Well, I was, until I ended up at Helena’s house and she started teasing me about Miss Ashlee Johnston.

“What are you talking about?”

She slapped down the entertainment section and wiggled her eyebrows.

I read the headline. “Aw, shit.” Then glanced at the photos. “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.”

“Watch your mouth.” Helena clipped the back of my head. “My babies are in the next room.”

Kip chuckled, shoving an entire chocolate chip cookie in his mouth and brushing the crumbs off on his jeans.

“The trials of fame, lil’ brother.” Residue cookie popped out of his mouth as he laughed, a fine dust sprinkling the counter.

I wrinkled my nose and shifted away from it.

“Wonder what Morgan’s gonna say.” He guffawed.

I pulled out my phone and spent the next hour trying to reach her, before calling Rhonda.

“Don’t worry about it, honey. I think this is great.”

“Ashlee’s not my girlfriend, this isn’t great.”

“Calm down. Andrew and I have already talked; we’re doing a spin on it, saying how well the cast of
Superstar
gets along. It’s really no big deal. You know better than to read headlines; that’s my job.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I just...”

“You’re worried about Morgan’s reaction, aren’t you?”

She took my sigh as a yes.

“Don’t be. She’s a smart girl. She knows there’s nothing going on between you and Ashlee. It would be irrational for her to think otherwise.”

“I should have taken her. Travis said we could bring partners.”

“Not her! That never would have flown with him and you know it. How many times do we have to talk about this, Sean? You want to protect her, remember? Last night would have opened her up to all kinds of exposure. She’s not ready for that. You’re keeping her safe by keeping this a secret. You’re protecting her from the likes of Travis and all the other media. You’re doing her a favor.”

“Yeah, I guess.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I can’t get in touch with her.”

“You know what I think would be best? Let her cool off. She’s a sensible woman, but she is a still a woman. If she
has
seen the paper, she might just need a little time and space to process it. Come tomorrow, she’ll be dying to see you again. I know what you two lovebirds are like.”

Rhonda’s chuckle made me grin.

“Thanks. You’re a great manager.”

“Hey, I’m only doing what’s best for you.”

I hung up feeling better. Rhonda was probably right; Morgan could get pretty fired up, and she probably needed some time to cool off. She would have seen my calls and heard my messages. She would know I wanted to talk to her. Now I just had to be patient and let her come to me.

*****

“Hey.” My face lit with a grin as she slipped into my dressing room and shut the door.

“Hey.”

Just seeing her made my insides stir. I didn’t care that we were at work; stepping around my chair, I gathered her into my arms and placed a sweet kiss on her glossy lips.

She reciprocated, but her usual passion was amiss.

I pulled back. “You okay, baby?”

Her head tipped to the side, giving me a cynical smirk.

“Hey, I wanted to clear this up yesterday, but you wouldn’t return my calls.”

“I got caught up at my dad’s place. It was mess. There was laundry and dishes and he’s been eating such crap food, so I had to go shopping and cook him some meals and clean the bathroom and...” She poked out her tongue. “I didn’t really have the time or the energy to deal with you and Ashlee being a hot new couple.” She rolled her eyes.

I gave her waist a light squeeze. “You know that’s not true.”

“Yeah.” She sighed. “It’s still not very fun seeing it though.”

“I can’t control what the papers write. Ashlee and I are friends; that’s it.”

“I know.” She held up her hands and backed away from me. “I’m glad you guys had a good night.”

“No, you’re not.” I grinned.

She made a face and flipped me off. I clasped her finger and pulled her toward me, kissing the tip of it before running my finger over the promise ring.

I gave her my smile, the one that turned her brown gaze into bedroom eyes. “I don’t care what the papers say. You’re my girl, Morgan.”

She gently wriggled her hand free, her bedroom eyes nowhere to be seen. “Nobody else knows that, Sean.”

My jaw worked to the side as I tried to think of an intelligent reply that didn’t involve the same words I’d been spouting off for weeks.

“I know you’re doing this to protect me. I know you want to keep me safe, but I told you I wasn’t afraid. If anything, it feels like
you’re
afraid...afraid to let the world know you’ve fallen in love again. Afraid of what they might think of us together. Afraid of how it might hurt your career.”

“It’s not that. It’s Travis...”

“It can’t just be Travis. He’s not going to write you out of the show. Harley is too important.”

I had no reply. Rhonda told me to keep it quiet and I agreed, because I was protecting the girl I loved. Morgan said she got that, but she didn’t seem to. Maybe I hadn’t been clear on how much the Abigail thing nearly destroyed me...or how powerful Travis really was. I couldn’t jeopardize my career again.

Her phone saved my ass. She cleared the message and huffed, shoving it back into her pocket.

“I gotta go.”

I wanted to hold her one more time, promise that everything would be okay, but instead, I let her walk out the door.

“You coming?” Isabella paused in my doorway, giving me an odd look before indicating with her thumb that we had work to do.

I rubbed my hand over my lips and nodded, whipping off my shirt and changing for dance rehearsal.

Three hours later, I was a sweaty mess. I had forty minutes to get showered and down to makeup. I only had a short scene to shoot today and I was grateful. This whole Morgan thing was making me restless. All I wanted to do was get her back to her place and show her how much I cared about her.

“Hey, sweaty man.” I looked up at the sound of Rhonda’s voice. Her warm smile made it impossible not to reciprocate.

“Hey, how’s it going?”

“Good, I was driving past and thought I’d drop off those cologne posters for signing. I collected them this morning and they look fantastic. I popped them in your dressing room, so if you can find a minute to scrawl your name on those today, that’d be great.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure.” I wiped the towel over my face.

“Oh, and Andrew and I have pulled a few strings. There’s going to be an article in the next
Entertainment Weekly
about the show. Travis is on board and a few people will be flitting around set taking photos and such, and I wanted to assure you that we’ll make sure we go for that cast-is-close type spin.”

“Thanks, I appre—”

“You didn’t ask for blue, you specifically said gold, because you wanted it to match the color themes of the show.” I recognized Morgan’s terse tone immediately.

I frowned, pausing outside the office door to make sure she was okay.

Travis snatched the sheet she was holding and slowly ripped it in half.

She tutted, pulling her neck straight and lifting her chin as the pieces of paper floated to the floor.

“You dumb piece of shit. Can you not do anything right?”

Morgan’s shoulders shuddered as if the dormant volcano in her belly was finally being unleashed. She made two fists and then let them go, throwing her face to the sky.

“You know what, that’s it! If I’m so stupid and useless, why the hell don’t you fire my sorry ass!”

Travis stepped back from her venom, a smirk resting on his lips. Slowly crossing his arms, he gave her a goading smile before quietly asking, “Why don’t you just quit?”

“I wouldn’t want to give you the satisfaction, you sadist.”

Travis guffawed. “Good, because your pain is my pleasure.” He leaned toward her, his beady gaze making her recoil. “So please, keep coming to work. You’re the best form of stress relief I have ever had, and I wouldn’t want to lose you.”

He ran his knuckle gently down her cheek. She slapped his hand away, making him snort with laughter. I flinched, my insides scorched hot with rage. That was it. He just crossed a line. I went to step into the room, ready to introduce Travis to my own very effective form of stress relief. My fist rounded into a tight ball as I moved, but Rhonda pinched my arm, her long nails sinking into my skin.

“Stop,” she whispered between clenched teeth.

I glanced over my shoulder as she pulled me down the hall. “I can’t let him treat her like that.”

“If you go in there now, he’s gonna know, and what do you think he’ll do to her then? What do you think he’ll do to you?”

“Oh come on.”

“Listen to me, Sean.” Rhonda’s sharp tone made it impossible not to. “He’s the bigwig, and he’s psycho enough not to care that you’re the cash cow for this show. He’d write you out of this just for fun; then where will you be?”

“He’s not going to fire me.”

“How do you know? If he’s sick enough to keep her around for stress relief, don’t you think his brain’s warped enough to make your life hell?” Rhonda’s eyebrows rose as she dipped her head forward and gave me that
get what I’m telling you
look. “Don’t throw it all away. You love your job; this is a great chance for you. You deserve this, Sean.”

“Morgan des—”

“Morgan is a tough chick, that’s one of the things you love most about her.”

How could I argue with the truth?

“She’ll get over this. She’s strong and you’ll be there to comfort her at the end of the day. She doesn’t need you to fight her battles, and if she thought it would jeopardize your career, there’s no way she’d ask you to do it.” Rhonda shook her head. “If she loves you like she says she does, she’d never let you put your job at risk.”

I pressed my lips together, hating Rhonda’s words but knowing they were right. A flash of movement from the office caught my eye, and I glanced up to see Morgan stride out of the room.

She saw me and jerked to a stop.

I gave her a sympathetic smile, letting her know I’d heard it all and I was there for her. No one else but Rhonda was in the hallway, so as she walked toward me I reached out my hand.

Her gaze narrowed as she approached, her arms remaining locked at her side. She gave my manager a sharp look before her cold glare landed on me.

“Thanks for your help,” she choked out before brushing past me.

I knew I’d let her down. I should have barreled in there; I should have stood up for my woman.

“Just give her time to cool off, Sean. It’ll be okay.” Rhonda patted my arm. “Don’t go chasing her down while she’s fiery-hot like that. You’ll just get in a fight and then everyone will find out and all your work at keeping things quiet will go down the pooper. You’re doing this because you love her. Just remember that.”

I nodded, licking my lower lip and heading for the shower. I felt like the piece of dog shit you scrape off someone’s sneaker.

I didn’t want to lose my job or Morgan. I didn’t want to lose favor with Travis. I hated that work was hard for Morgan, but wouldn’t it be even worse if it was hard for both of us? I didn’t want to open my girl up to further humiliation.

All I could hope was that Rhonda was right, because seeing that look of betrayal on Morgan’s face about killed me.