Heart & Soul: The Meeting (Heartland Series) (7 page)

Smiling at the security guard, Sam walked through
the security barriers with ease, only to be met by what she could only describe
as chaos in the main foyer.

There were people everywhere.
 
The Heartland building was the workplace of
hundreds of people and it seemed like all of them were down in the foyer at
that very moment.
 
Slowing her pace, she
looked at the gathered crowds until she saw someone she recognised.
 
Hurrying over, she grabbed Becky by the arm
and the blond turned to face her.

“What’s going on? I’ve never seen so many people down
here at the same time.”

“Oh hey Sam.
 
You’re never going to believe what’s
happening.”

Rolling her eyes at the woman’s words, she almost
had to bite her tongue to stop the bitchy remark from crossing her lips.
 
Hangover’s made her irritable and whilst the
headache was starting to fade, her irritation was still at
defcon
one.

“So, you gonna tell me?”
 
She asked.

“Apparently, the penthouse has been sold and
you’re never gonna guess who to.”

Sam waited patiently, hoping that the look she
would pick up on the look she was giving her and spill the information she was
obviously bursting to tell her.

“A movie star!!
A proper Hollywood movie star.
Can you believe it?”

Sam almost gasped at Becky’s words.
 
That would certainly explain the crowds that
had gathered.
 
Movie stars were ten a
penny in places like Los Angeles and New York.
 
Sure, Toronto had their fair shares of big names visit them, but she knew
it could only be a huge star to get this kind of reaction.

Chewing her lip, she began to wonder who it could
be.
 
She knew who she hoped it would be,
but she didn’t see how that was possible. Toronto wasn’t his home.
 
His family were from Montreal.
 
There was no need for him to have a permanent
residence here.
 
Still, she couldn’t deny
that the thought of him living so close to where she came to work every day sent
a shot of pure heat right between her thighs.

At she started to get lost in her thoughts, scores
of people began pushing past her and surged towards the doors.
 
She only now noticed, but the bulk of the
people there were women, which meant the movie star was more than likely a man.

Turning, she watched as the woman jostled for
position, smiling at the thought of this poor man being mobbed by all these
women.
 
Hands were being raised in the
air and screams echoed around the walls.
 
How on earth did actors put up with this every day?
 
She guessed it came with the territory and
they eventually got used to it, still, it she thought is must be overwhelming.

Grinning at all of the women who were vying for
the attention of whoever it was that had obviously just walked through the
doors, Sam waited near the back.
 
She
didn’t fancy being in the crush of bodies that seemed to be getting more and
more aggressive.
 
Jesus, women could be
vicious when they wanted something badly enough.

Turning, she headed towards the elevators, vaguely
hearing two deep masculine voices asking people to make way for
whoever
it was they were trying to escort through the
crowds.
 
Pushing the call button, the elevator
doors slid open after a few moments and she stepped inside, the screams of the
woman getting louder as the movie star got deeper into the building.

When the doors begin to slide shut, she leant
against the railing, jumping when a large hand grabbed one of the doors,
stopping their progress.
 
She just stared
open mouthed as the huge guy grinned at her.
 
His long blond hair was tied back at the nape
of his neck and the way he looked at her, his brown eyes sparkling, told her
that he knew something she didn’t.
 
What
on earth was going on?

oOo

Alistair sat in his car two blocks from the
Heartland building.
 
He’d circled the
block twice, seeing that his friend had been right.
 
The crowds that had gathered inside the
building were ridiculous.
 
On the second
drive by, he saw that people outside had started to notice the commotion and
were waiting to see what was happening.
 
There was no way he’d be able to make it through that crowd in one
piece, seeing as most of the crowd were women.
 

Checking his watch, he saw that it had been almost
thirty minutes since he’d called Chris again, telling him to get his ass down
there with one of his best guys.
 
He knew
they’d be there any minute and, sure enough, as if on cue, he heard the low
rumble of the tank they’d used the night before in the distance, then saw Chris
easily manoeuvre the car into the empty space behind him.

Within seconds, the doors of his car opened and
Chris and another guy almost as big as his friend jumped in.
 
When the doors were closed and the large men
were seated, Alistair realised who the other guy was.

“Anthony?”

“Hey there bro.”

Alistair couldn’t stop the smile from spreading
across his face as he leaned over and took his little brother’s outstretched
hand.
 
He’d not seen him in close to
three years.
 
He was no longer the young
man that Alistair remembered.
 
He’d shot
up a good few inches and bulked up even more.
 
They shared the same dark hair and blue eyes, inherited from their
mother, but Anthony wore his closely cropped to his head.
 

Anthony had always been the fitness fanatic out of
the two of them, spending more time in the gym in one day than he did in a
week, and it showed.
 
Alistair knew that
if his brother ever wanted to take a stab at being an actor, movie studios
would jump at the chance to sign him.
 
He
had both the looks and the physique to make it in the industry.
 
Having both of the Lockwood brothers in the
same movie would definitely be a big thing.

“When did you get back into town? Why didn’t you
tell me you were here?”

Alistair watched as his brother checked his watch.

“Let’s see, I landed a little over an hour ago.
 
I called Chris here to see if he had any work going at his security firm
until I get settled.
 
He said he’d let me
know.
 
A little while later he called to
say you needed a little extra backup, so here I am.
 
It’s good to see you big brother.”

“You too.
 
Are you back to stay? Do mom and dad know?”

Alistair watched his brother laugh at his stream
of questions.
 
He knew he was firing them
at him at breakneck speed, but he’d been out of the country for almost three
years with only an occasional email to let everyone know he was still alive and
well.
 
They had some catching up to do.

“I’m back indefinitely, no set plans yet.
 
Gotta look for a place to stay while I’m here
and Chris has already said I can pick up a few jobs with him.”

“A place to stay isn’t an
issue,
you can stay with me until you find something more permanent.”

“Appreciate that bro.
 
Now, you gonna tell us why we’re here?”

As Alistair explained his need for the guys being
there, he informed his driver to continue on to the Heartland building.
 
As they neared, he groaned as he saw the
crowds were just getting bigger.
 
This
was part of the job he hated.
 
He’d been
to movie premieres and big events when there were large crowds, but they were
always controlled.
 
Organised chaos is
what he liked to call it.
 
The scene he
was about to come up on was definitely chaos but in no way was it
organised.
 

The car stopped outside the building and already
people were coming up to the car to try and see who was inside.
 
Alistair had never been so happy that he’d
paid the extra for the tinted windows.

“So, how do you want to play this bud?”

Alistair pondered his friend’s question before
taking a deep breath.
 

“Let’s stick old school, you one side, Ant the
other.
 
I’m sure the two of you can get
me through in one piece.”

“We’ll do our best bro, although, judging by the
crazy look in some of those women’s eyes…..”

Anthony’s voice trailed off, leaving Alistair to
fill in the rest of his sentence.
 
Grinning
at the two men sat opposite, Alistair waited as they exited the car to get into
position. A few seconds later his door opened and he took a breath before
stepping out onto the sidewalk.
 
Chris
and Anthony were immediately by his side.
 
They each took one of his arms with the other stretched out in front of
them, clearing a path through the screaming crowd.

He heard shouts of “we love you” and “oh my god it’s
really him” before they reached the entrance to the building and two strong
arms pushed him through the large doors.
 
He had hoped things would be easier once he was inside but he’d been
wrong.
 
The crowds were even worse and it
became clear that whoever had hacked into Chris’s email the night before had
leaked his plans for today.

Looking at the two men by his side, he nodded and
they proceeded forward.
  
Never before
had he felt like a piece of meat.
 
He
felt hands grabbing at him as Chris and Anthony led the way through the masses
of women asking politely but firmly for people to make way.
 
He felt Chris’ step falter slightly as they
almost cleared the crowd.
 
Turning head,
he shot him a questioning glance.

“
Don’t look
now bud, but
there’s a pretty little redhead over by the elevators I think you may like.”

Whipping his head around so quickly he almost gave
himself whiplash, he saw her.
 
She was
indeed over by the elevators, waiting patiently for the doors to open.
 
She wore a silky red blouse and black pants,
her long hair swept up in a simple pony tail high on her head.
 
The hairstyle revealed the creamy skin of her
neck to him and he had to suppress a groan as images of kissing along that
smooth skin invaded his mind.

When they were clear of the crowds, Anthony
released his arm and spread his wide, effectively stopping anyone from
progressing any further as he and Chris continued towards the elevators.
 
He kept his eyes fixed on Samantha as the
doors opened and she vanished inside.
 

“Stop that lift Chris.”
Alistair said
,
surprised at how rough his voice
sounded.

Catching the grin on his friend’s face, Alistair
had to hide his surprised look as Chris sprinted towards the elevator.
 
He moved pretty quickly for a guy his
size.
 
Alistair watched as he stuck his
arm out, halting the progress of the doors that began to slide open again.
 
He saw him flash his trademark grin at the
woman inside before turning back to him.

“You go on
ahead,
we’ll
meet you up there.”

Nodding his appreciation, Alistair closed his eyes
briefly and took a deep breath before moving around Chris and stepping into the
small metal box.
 
The look on her face
was one of surprise and something else that he recognised only too well.
 
Desire.
 
He vaguely heard Chris talking to Anthony as
the elevator doors slid shut behind him, hiding them away from the masses
outside. Finally finding his voice, he spoke.

“Hello again Samantha.”