The sound of heels striking the marble floor reached him and Jake turned to see the pop princess approaching. When he saw her, it took a large measure of self-control to not react to the way she looked—sexy, confident…hot. She wore a deep-blue sequined mini-dress and high-heels that, once again, looked like they were made for her. Dramatic eye make-up and bright red lips demanded his attention, and her long, blonde hair was swept up into a messy bun with several tendrils hanging loose. A headband covered in bling completed the look.
“Ready to go?” she asked as she stopped a few feet away from him.
Jake realized his mouth was hanging open slightly. Feeling like an idiot, he snapped it shut as he nodded. “Yep.”
Her smile grew and her eyes sparkled. “I’m going to try out one of my new songs on this crowd.”
Her excitement was contagious and he couldn’t help but return her smile. “Nice.”
A smirk tugged at her lips. “You’re a man of few words, Jake.”
That was because his powerful attraction to her had left him nearly speechless. “You didn’t hire me to chat with.”
One of her eyebrows quirked up. “I didn’t hire you at all.” At that, she turned and sashayed toward the garage. “We’re taking the Ferrari.”
He hurried to follow, reaching the four car garage right after she did.
“I’m driving,” she said over her shoulder as she made her way to the driver’s side of the bright red sports car.
Deciding to let her have her way—as if he could really stop her—Jake followed her, reaching her door at the same as she did. He opened the door for her. She tossed him a smile before sliding inside. Once she was tucked safely into her seat, he closed the door and went around to the passenger side, climbing in.
He’d never been in a Ferrari before, but he had to admit, he liked it. A lot. The leather seats and the cocoon-like feeling. And the new car smell still lingered. He ran his hand along the leather beside his leg. “Very nice.”
When he lifted his eyes to the pop princess’s, she was grinning. “Right? I love this car.” She pressed a button and the garage door slid open, then she turned to Jake and winked. “Maybe I’ll let you drive it home.”
Wanting to play it cool, although inside he was giddy at the idea, he nodded. “Sounds good.”
The pop princess backed out of the garage, and after pulling through the security gate, hit the gas. As they drove to the venue, Jake tried to think of something intelligent to talk about. For some reason, he wanted to impress the pop princess, but before he could open his mouth to speak, she said, “Do you still hate me?”
Chapter Fifteen
Jake looked over at the pop princess and saw actual distress on her face, like she really cared what he thought about her. Though his feelings for her seemed to be on a roller-coaster at the moment, he knew he didn’t hate her, and he certainly didn’t want to ruin any good feelings she was having about this night when she was probably nervous about debuting a new song. Yes, he’d found her annoying at first, but she was definitely growing on him.
“Jake?” she asked when he remained silent. Her gaze darted to him like she was kind of desperate to hear the right words.
“No,” he finally said, “I don’t hate you, Ms. Ross.” He couldn’t help it. He had to throw in her formal name, had to remind himself that he worked for her, that she was his client. That it was not okay for him to feel anything but professional emotions toward her—even if those emotions were annoyance. That was better than being attracted to her, right?
“Call me Chloe,” she said, her blue eyes wide as she met his gaze before she turned her attention back to the road.
“Okay, Chloe,” Jake said, and immediately regretted it. It was better to think of her as the pop princess. That kept her at a safe distance. Thinking of her as Chloe somehow made her more human, more likable. But was that a bad thing? Yes, because he needed to keep a professional distance between them. Needed to very badly.
Chloe liked the way her name sounded coming out of Jake’s mouth. Wait. That wasn’t a good thing, was it? He was her bodyguard. And he hardly even liked her. Not hating her wasn’t the same as liking her, was it? So, yeah. She had to keep him at a distance. Besides, she wasn’t looking to get into a relationship. Hold on, he was her bodyguard so why would that thought even cross her mind? Anyway, she wasn’t looking to date anyone. She could deny herself the company of a man in a romantic way. She’d denied herself things before. Like when she was going to perform at that awards show and wanted to flatten her belly, which had felt bloated, she’d done one of those cleanses, only drinking liquid for days beforehand. It had been awful, but she’d done it. True, after the awards show she’d thrown out all the leftover liquid and had gotten a tall, chocolate shake, but hey, a girl had to reward herself for deprivation once in a while.
She merged onto the freeway, loving the power in her little reds sports car.
“I apologize if I made you feel that I hated you,” Jake said from the passenger seat.
Chloe’s head snapped in his direction. “What?”
One side of his mouth quirked up. “I think you heard me.”
She did, but his words had come out of nowhere. Okay, she had asked if he hated her, so maybe not out of nowhere, but an apology had been completely unexpected. The men she dated rarely, if ever, apologized to her for anything. That was two things about Jake that were different—apologizing and cleaning up after himself. Of course, she wasn’t dating him, so the dynamics were different. In fact, was he only apologizing to cover his butt so he wouldn’t get fired? She glanced at him again, but he was looking out the front window.
“Are you saying that so I don’t complain to your boss?” She shifted her eyes to him to see his reaction.
He turned to her with a scowl. “No. And just to prove it, I take my apology back.”
Chloe suppressed a sigh. Why did she always have to ruin everything?
They rode the rest of the way in silence, but once they got to the venue, Jake leapt out of the Ferrari and strode briskly to her door, helping her out of her seat and into the flash of the cameras.
Despite the less than pleasant drive, Chloe was super-stoked to be there and let a broad smile blossom on her lips. She walked toward the red carpet with Jake trailing her. Fans lined her path. She stopped and greeted them, warmed by their adoration. Highly aware of Jake’s proximity, she did her best to ignore him as she focused on her fans. She paused at the Step and Repeat—the place where attendees posed for photos. Once inside the building, she and Jake rode an elevator up to the floor where the event would take place, and when they entered a foyer just outside of the main event, Jake introduced Chloe to two men who had come to help with her security that night.
“I’ll be near you the entire night, but you can trust them as well,” he said beside her.
She nodded, secure in the knowledge that he would have her back. And since this was a planned event rather than her idiotic stop at the mall, she wouldn’t feel responsible if Jake had to swoop in again. Besides, this wasn’t her first paid event. She knew what to expect.