Page 84 of Protecting Mr. Fine

I offered the royals a friendly wave goodbye and thanked them for coming before allowing Bear to lead me out of the room. Just before we reached the door, little Carina came barreling into the back of me, throwing her arms around my middle. “Thank you so much for everything! This is amazing. I can’t wait to tell all my friends I met you in person. Can we take a picture just you and me?”

I smiled and put my arm around her. Her little arm came around my waist as we posed for a silly-faced selfie and then a smiling one. I handed her phone back before saying goodbye again and letting Bear lead me out. Lou stepped into place beside us once we reached the door

As soon as we were down the long hallway and on the elevator to another level, I let out a long exhale. “That was hectic.”

Bear’s jaw flexed, but the only sound he made was a deep grumble in his chest.

I wanted to lean against him, wanted to bury my face in his chest and inhale deeply to center myself, but I couldn’t. Lou was busy typing something into her phone, and Bear… Bear seemed to be busy trying to keep from murdering me for all the unnecessary touching I’d done.

As soon as the elevator stopped, Boomer was waiting to escort us to the dressing room so I could prepare for the concert.

“Hey, Boomer? Why did you ask Bodhi to keep an eye on me?” I wondered. “I mean, it was no big deal. He’s a sweet guy, and I… I don’t actually think he has anything to do with the stamping, but?—”

Bear shot Boomer an incredulous look. “You did what?”

Boomer shot Bear a guilty look. “He’s clear, Ryan. I told you, he almost definitely had an alibi for San Diego?—”

“And I told you, I don’t care aboutalmostdefinitely?—”

“I got a callback tonight from the owner of the bar where he was playing. The guy has Bodhi on security cameras. He was in Reno that night. A hundred percent.”

Bear fumed, clearly not ready to let it go. “He could have paid someone?—”

Boomer shook his head insistently. “He didn’t. I checked Bodhi’s financials, and he’s not in a position to be paying anyone for anything. Besides which, he’s not the type. I told you?—”

“That he’s nice? Yeah, I got that. Would you stake your career on it?” Bear demanded.

“I’d stake my life on it,” Boomer shot back. His cheeks went pink. “I mean, yeah, I’d definitely stake my career on it. You get to know somebody when you’re tailing them like I’ve been doing, and Bodhi’s like… he’s like Snow White with the animals in the forest. He’s not just a pretty face and a great musician. He’s like… pure all the way down in his core. He’s earnest and kind. He finds musicians who need a hand up, and he gets them contacts and stuff. And he’snot obsessed with Zee. If anything, he’s trying to help people like Zee does.”

I blinked. I wasn’t sure I’d heard Boomer string that many words together in all the months I’d known him… and definitely not that soulfully.

I bit my lip to hold back a laugh. I wondered if Bear noticed the heart-eyes bugging out of Boomer’s face as he talked about my old friend or if that was just something I was attuned to, given my feelings for Bear himself.

“Told you,” I said to Bear, relieved to know for sure. “Bodhi’s a nice guy. One less person on the suspect list.”

We got to the door of the dressing room, and Boomer went in first. Once the space was clear, he came back out and nodded to Bear. Bear gave Boomer a look that said he wasn’t ready to forgive him for trusting Bodhi with my safety, then ushered me in and closed the door behind us, leaving Lou and Boomer out in the hall, guarding the door.

I immediately stepped into Bear’s body and mashed my face into his chest. His arms came around me and banded tight.

“You’re shaking,” he said, moving his hands to the collar of my shirt. He pulled it open just enough to peek on my neck and shoulders and let out a grunt of satisfaction at finding it free of marks.

“I was.” I shook my head. “I’m okay now. Truly.”

“Did something happen? Gerhard and Kasper pulled me aside to give me some, ah… paperwork. When I came back, you were surrounded by people.”

Even though I didn’t want to pull out of his embrace, I wanted to see his expression when I asked the question I couldn’t stop thinking about. “Are you going back to Ventdestine?”

“What?” His eyes narrowed. “Who told you that?”

My stomach twisted, and my heart gave a little lurch. I pulled completely out of his embrace and moved over to sit in a chair in front of the dressing table mirror. Bear put his hands on his hips and waited.

“Gisella mentioned the king and his security guy were offering you a lot of money to go back to them. Obscene amounts, she said.”

“Oh.” His posture relaxed. “Yes, they did. And no, I’m not.”

I knew he’d taken the job in Ventdestine originally because they’d offered him a good salary. I also knew the label wasn’t paying him enough for all the hours he spent guarding me, and I wasn’t allowed to supplement it. All I could do was request he be compensated at their highest established level.

“I would understand,” I began haltingly, “if?—”

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