Page 50 of Protecting Hailey

I could hear Sam gloating over the phone. And I was willing to do whatever it took to get my music back on track.

“All right. I’ll do it. Just tell me when and where.”

“Tonight. At the Cobra Club. Ten o’clock.”

“Tonight? What’s the rush?”

“Hailey, if I could have booked it this afternoon, I would’ve. The sooner we put this fire out, the better. You just have to perform ten songs or so. Nothing more than an hour, and then you’re off.”

I nodded. “Okay. I’ll be ready.”

I hung up the phone and turned to see Christian with his arms crossed over his chest. “What was that about?”

I exhaled and pushed my hair off my forehead. “That was Sam. She’s organizing a private concert tonight at the Cobra Club. I’ve got twelve hours to prepare.”

He chewed on his bottom lip, and I wanted to run my tongue over it. “Twelve hours. That’s not a lot of time.”

I slouched down into the bed. “I know. And I hate doing intimate shows like this. I mean, I love singing my songs and sharing them with an audience, but I get so nervous when the audience is that close to me.”

He nodded. “Yeah, me, too.”

He looked pensive, rubbing his bottom lip. I furrowed my brow. “What do you mean by ‘me, too’?”

“Hailey, twelve hours isn’t a lot of time for me to scope out the place, speak to the manager, run background checks on all the staff. Plus, I’d like to get my hands on a guest list sooner rather than later.” He shot out of bed in all of his nakedness and pulled on his jeans commando style.

I held my breath when he zipped up his fly past his scrotum. He must have done that before not to have flinched.

I stretched in bed, bemoaning my loss of morning sex. “I thought we would have, you know…” I smiled.

He grinned back at me and kissed me on the lips. “We will. After your concert tonight.” He sealed his promise with another kiss.

I smiled. That was something to look forward to.

We spent the rest of the day preparing for the show. I rehearsed, and he planned. Several times, I overheard Christian on the phone speaking to the owners of the club, the security staff, and even his partners back in New York.

At one point, while I was practicing one of my slow songs from my last album in the living room, he looked up from his laptop and smiled. “Damn. I love listening to your voice.”

I smiled and felt a blush rush up my cheeks. “Thank you.” I couldn’t say why his compliment affected me so much.

He then placed a call, barking orders to some poor security guard on the other end of the line.

When the sun went down, I packed up my guitar and followed Christian to the garage. He loaded the car, and I sipped hot tea with honey.

We arrived at the venue at seven-thirty. There was no line-up outside. Christian had warned the manager that it would only stir up curiosity and ultimately give away our location.

He then turned to Ingrid, who had just arrived with Sam a few minutes ago. “And you,” he said, pointing a finger at the jittery social media manager. “No live footage tonight. You got that? If anyone finds out where we are, I’m pulling Hailey off that stage.”

Sam put a hand on Christian’s arm. “We got it, tough guy. Now relax. Everything is going to be fine.”

I smirked at Christian when he narrowed his eyes at Sam. I didn’t think he appreciated the nickname, but he kept his cool, anyway. I kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks for having my back. I appreciate it.” Even if Sam didn’t.

Sam pulled me away. “None of that, now. Let’s not forget we’re all here because you couldn’t keep your hands off of your bodyguard. I can’t do damage control if you’re going to keep inflicting more damage. Now, hands off.”

My lips twitched. Without wanting to, Sam created this forbidden romance between us, which only made me want to throw myself at Christian more.

“Meet me in the dressing room in five minutes,” I whispered in his ear. Sam snapped her eyes at me and I immediately lifted my hands off of Christian’s arm. “I’m not touching him.”

She pointed to her eyes and mouthed, “I’m watching you.”

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