‘Thanks.’
She didn’t dare look or speak to him again, so it was in silence that she parked the Jeep and escorted him up to his private floor.
After doing another cursory check of his room – she’d done a proper check earlier when she’d dropped his things – she waved him in. ‘Mark will be here in a few minutes to introduce himself. He just needs to ask you a few questions and we’ll be out of your hair. But if you want to go out—’
‘Call you. I know the drill.’ He slipped off his jacket and laid it neatly over the back of the sofa before undoing the cuffs of his shirt and rolling them up. It was almost surreal watching him. As if she had a front-row spot at a 3D film. She’d never met an actor so captivating in the flesh.
‘What sort of questions?’ His voice brought her out of her daydream. She must have looked blank because he added, ‘You said Mark needed to ask a few questions?’
‘Yes, just to see if you have any ideas about who could be behind the stalking.’ As she spoke, Zac moved to stand behind the sofa, his hands resting on the back. His eyes fixed on a spot over her left shoulder.
‘If I did, don’t you think I’d have mentioned it to Jerry Collier earlier?’
Kat couldn’t explain why she thought it, but her gut said he was hiding something from her. ‘Any smart, sensible guy would have done so, yes.’
Now she had his full attention. And to give him his due, the gaze that locked with hers didn’t waver. Then again, he was an actor. ‘As I’m both sensible and smart, we can assume I’m as much in the dark about who’s doing this to me as you are. So, what questions does Mark want answers to?’
‘Whether you can remember anyone who might have given you cause to think they could turn psycho on you. In particular any women you’ve met and maybe had a drink with. Dated.’ She paused. ‘Have slept with or are sleeping with.’
He let out a muted oath before turning towards the window, leaving her with a view of his ramrod straight back.
Bugger. She should have waited for Mark. Clearly she had the tact of a charging rhino. ‘Look, I know this is difficult, but any information you can provide us will help the police track this person down.’
‘How far back do I need to go?’
She could understand his annoyance. This time yesterday he’d been an actor whose movements were followed by the press. Now he was an actor followed by the press, a stalker and a bodyguard. He must feel his privacy had been violated enough already today.
Yet her sympathy was tempered by the belief he wasn’t being totally open with her. ‘The notes started a few months ago, so I would say six months is enough. For now.’ She could feel the tension pinging across the room. ‘If it helps, you can talk to Mark alone. I don’t need to know.’
Finally, he turned, slipping his hands into his pockets. ‘You think discussing my love life with a complete stranger will help?’ His eloquent eyes looked so wounded, and guilt pricked.
‘I don’t know.’
With a sigh, he went to sit on the sofa. ‘Can we just get it over with now?’
‘Sure. Whatever you want.’
‘I want for this to be over.’ He drew in a breath and let it out slowly. ‘Sorry. I just …’ He dragged a hand through his hair. ‘It’s been a long day.’
‘Tomorrow will be easier. And the day after that, if they’ve not caught Lipstick yet, you probably won’t even notice I’m around.’
His eyes met and held hers. ‘I very much doubt that.’
The dip in his voice, coupled with the way his gaze didn’t leave hers, sent her pulse skittering. Crap, was he flirting with her again? Or did he mean he couldn’t fail to notice her because she was such a pain in the arse intrusion on his life?
It had to be the latter. She needed it to be. ‘So, those names.’
‘Yes.’ With another deep expulsion of breath, he took out his phone and began to scroll, presumably through his contacts. ‘I dated Chloe Patterson for a while. It ended six months ago. Amicably, I thought.’ He glanced briefly at her. ‘I’ll ping the contact through to you.’
‘Thanks.’ God, this was stickier than a vat of treacle. ‘Any others?’
‘There have been a couple of ladies I’ve … had a drink with since.’ She felt her phone beep twice. ‘I’ve sent you the contacts.’ He paused, eyes on his phone and not on her. ‘There was one other, Hannah, but I don’t have her number. I met her at a party. She was waitressing. My manager will have the details of it if you feel the need to track her down.’
Oh boy, the tacky one-night stand. She didn’t know who was more embarrassed, him for having to admit to it, or her for having to ask about it. ‘Anyone you’re seeing currently?’
He gave her a hard stare. ‘No.’
His annoyance was palpable. Then again, she had just asked him if he was sleeping with someone, despite knowing he’d been flirting with her. ‘Have you any reason to think someone you know might be the stalker?’
‘For Christ’s sake.’ He leapt to his feet. ‘I don’t treat women like shit.’
It was the first time she’d heard him sound anything other than polite. ‘I’m not suggesting you do.’
‘No?’
‘No,’ she asserted. ‘I’m trying to do my job. The police will want to know, and we figured you’d find it easier discussing it now, than at the police station.’
Once again, he ran a hand through his hair, walking a few strides away before turning. ‘Sorry. It’s just this is very … awkward.’
‘Tell me about it,’ she said on a sigh. ‘It’s why I’d planned to leave it to Mark to handle.’
‘Oh?’ Some of the tension on his face eased. ‘I didn’t have you down as a coward.’
‘I’m not, but I am a mouthy ex-soldier. Delicacy and diplomacy don’t come naturally.’
‘And they do to Mark?’
The thought made her laugh. ‘You’ve got me there. He’s also ex-army and worse than I am.’ Zac had been forced to admit things he hadn’t wanted to. Perhaps it was time she did the same. ‘Look, the truth is, for you and me to work, we need to develop a rapport. I didn’t want to risk ruining any hope of that by asking these questions.’
The sharp buzz of the doorbell interrupted any answer he may have planned. ‘That’ll be Mark.’ She walked to the door and as she checked through the peep hole, Zac spoke again.
‘For the record. There’s already a rapport. And this hasn’t dented it.’
Relief and something else, something unwanted, fluttered through her as she opened the door to let her boss in.
The guy who strode purposefully into the room was tall and wide and … well, the phrase ‘built like a brick shithouse’ could have been coined for him. Her former CO when they were in the army, Mark had helped her through one of the toughest times in her life, so she knew, first hand, he was far less scary than he appeared. Of course, it also meant he’d seen her at her worst, which was proving to be a tough obstacle to overcome.
In four strides, he crossed the room towards Zac. ‘Mark Evans.’ He stuck out his hand. ‘Good to meet you.’