Page 229 of Duty and Desire

“Lovely to meet you,” I said.

Ziggy nodded. “Miss.”

“Miss Cooper,” his brother added.

I got my butt back to the couch and retrieved my drink. But I could feel his eyes on me. All damn night, Ziggy continued to watch.

CHAPTER 6

“Nice bodyguard.”

I frowned. “Why is everyone always commenting on my bodyguard?”

“Because he’s hot,” said Abigael, the hair stylist and make-up artist.

“Yeah, but we’re around hot people all the time. It’s basically kind of the point of our industry.”

At this, the petite blonde stopped and pondered.

The man himself stood at the other end of the large room, out of the way near the coffee and pastries table. Not that he was indulging. I’d have to steal an extra almond croissant to eat later to make up for his lack of pastry love. Once more, his face seemed set in stone. His big body remained still while his gaze constantly wandered the area. We hadn’t talked much on the drive over to the studio, even though it was on the other side of town. After last night’s weirdness with his brother, and the renewed attention of the paparazzi, and more lack of sleep, I didn’t feel like chatting. Truth was, the man set me on edge. This entire situation set me on edge. And today, I needed to focus on work.

So I’d guzzled caffeine while Abigael fixed the bags and dark shadows beneath my eyes with eye masks and various other tricks. Lucky for me, the woman was magic with a messy face. She’d spent years living in Los Angeles fixing party people the day after, getting them ready to face the world and the camera. Her skills were legendary.

“I think it’s all the big dick energy he’s giving off,” she finally announced.

“Huh.”

“Now stop talking. Lip gloss touch-up and you’re good to go.”

I sat in the make-up chair clad in a long white robe. My hair was a dark silky fall straight down my back to my bra strap. My eyes were smoky and my lips were red. A nice sexy look.

Abigael finished and stepped back with a happy smile. “You’re my masterpiece.”

“You say that to everyone you work on.”

“Yeah, but I mean it this time. Damn, I’m good.”

I laughed.

Abigael was great to work with. She always had a funny story about a bridezilla or similar to spill during the hour or more I spent in the chair. She touched up the lip gloss then fixed a few spots where my skin had either reddened or darkened.

“Stop frowning,” she mumbled. “Not that I don’t blame you with the stuff going on right now.”

“You’ve been on the gossip sites, huh?”

“Didn’t need to. It’s the talk of the town.”

I groaned. “Slow news week. This too shall pass.”

“Sorry,” she said. “You probably don’t want to talk about it. My bad.”

“No, it’s fine.” I stretched my neck when she stopped touching up my face with concealer for a moment. “There’s a lot going on right now. Kind of hard not to think about it. I tried tokeep it quiet, but that clearly didn’t work. All of last night I just lay awake trying to figure out who it could be.”

“So what do you know about him?”

I took a deep breath, thinking it through. “He knows my proper address. Not too difficult to find out, but means he’s not an amateur sending stuff care of my agent. Mind you, is there even such a thing as an amateur stalker?”

“Good question.”