Page 52 of Keeping Astrid

“Because you’re you. The fact that you just said that makes me believe you’re conscious of your brand and not only that, but I’ve seen how you are with people—respectful, kind. And if you were going to comment on anything that might be a hot topic, I’m pretty sure you’d run it past Penni first.”

His point was valid, but there had been times when people’s private conversations were recorded and replayed all over the internet. People who thought they were in a safe space expressing thoughts with friends only to find out that they weren’t.

“Not if I’m in public. Anything can happen when I’m out grocery shopping. Grabbing a coffee. Or pumping gas, for goodness’ sake.”

“Ahh, Comet, when you’re with me, I’ll make sure that when we’re out, I’ll protect you as best I can from prying eyes.”

Astrid touched his cheek, the fine bristles prickling against her palm. “You can’t be with me every hour of every day. One of the things I acknowledged the first time I was recognized in public—I’m my brand, and I will protect that with integrity and smarts. I’m very conscious of being me whether I’m on TV, at an event or in the street. The reason I am successful is because of the people who watch me. I’m not going to treat them in a way that’s not kind and respectful.” She ran her hand over his hard chest, a chest she’d slept against the previous evening. “Although I do like the idea of you being with me all the time.”

Callum smiled, and his eyes crinkled in the corner—she’d never get tired of seeing it. “Me too. Now I think it’s time I got you back to the set. We don’t want everyone to gossip about us.”

Astrid shrugged. “I think they’ve worked out that something is going on between us. I don’t care anyway. You’re not my dirty little secret, Callum, and I won’t let you think that.”

Her relationship with Callum wasn’t something to be ashamed of. If anyone suggested otherwise, she would put them in their place.

“You’re not a secret of mine, either.” He hooked a finger under her chin and lifted it so that she looked deep into his dark gaze. “You are special, Astrid Conway, and I’m very glad that you’re mine.”

“Ditto.”

Leaving her room to do the job she was being paid handsomely to do was hard, but the sooner she started, the sooner she could get home, crawl into Callum’s arms, and stay there forever.

There was a package waiting at Astrid’s front door when they pulled up to the house. The box was your average looking brown cardboard one, yet the hairs on the back of Growler’s neck stood to attention. The same warning he got when shit was about to hit the fan on a mission.

“Were you expecting a delivery today?” he asked casually as he slowed the car to a stop, further away from the front of the house than he would normally park.

“No, but that’s not unusual. From time-to-time companies bypass sending things to the network or my PR company and send direct to me so I can review or endorse the product.”

Growler didn’t like the idea of random companies knowing where Astrid lived. “Right. Stay here. I want to check it out.”

“Is that really necessary?”

“Yes.” He caught the way her back straightened at his brisk manner. This was the first time he’d used that sort of tone with her.

In the pocket behind the passenger seat was the tablet that Cass had given him. He quickly pulled up Astrid’s file and typed in Suspicious package, front doorstep. Going to inspect.

It would be wonderful if there was a program on the device which scanned boxes for anything that would cause danger. Perhaps it was something he could talk to Cass about. Although what he was thinking of was probably too high tech for a tablet to be able to do effectively.

“Cameras,” he muttered to himself.

Checking the feed was going to be the quickest and safest way to find out how the package got on her front doorstep. Locating the Security Camera Feeds folder, Growler opened it and brought up the front door camera footage. Fortunately, there was a feature that enabled him to see when the camera was triggered instead of scrolling through the hourly feeds and missing something. A couple of the snippets were bugs flying past the camera, but then he saw a figure walking to the door, their black unmarked van sat in the background.

What company delivered with black vans? Not many that he knew of.

The person dropping off the parcel ensured that the cap they wore was pulled down low over his brow, making his features hard to make out. The way he carefully placed the box on the ground had alarm bells ringing loudly in Growler’s mind.

“Shit,” he muttered and pinched the screen to enlarge the picture. It didn’t help. He wouldn’t be getting out to check it—not after watching that.

“What is it? Is it a delivery of products for me to try?” Astrid’s fingers tapped on his forearm to get his attention.

From the second he saw the package, he’d gone into SEAL mode. His concentration on the task at hand. “I don’t think so. We need to get out of here.”

Popping the tablet away, Growler started the car and pulled out.

“Where are we going to go? What’s going on? Don’t leave me in the dark. This is my life that’s being played with here, not yours,” Astrid demanded.

Growler blew out a breath and rolled his shoulders. “Sorry, you’re right. I’m going to park down the street and call Ox, as well as the authorities, to report a suspicious package. I couldn’t get a good look at who delivered the item, but I believe Cass will be able to enhance the footage to help with identifying who left this for you.”

He kept his voice neutral, tamping down his anger so that he didn’t frighten Astrid even more.

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