Page 13 of Mysterious

I march in and immediately begin directing everyone out to where they belong. Pointing toward the door, I focus on the dancers first. “This show is about to start, so go take your places and be ready when Mia needs you.”

The five women dutifully hurry out into the hallway, so I turn my attention to all the people who live at the house with us. “I need to speak to Mia, so everyone out. This chaos needs to end right now, so if you want to help her, find my security guys outside the door and they’ll tell you where to safely position yourselves. That crowd is nearly at a fever pitch, and I don’t want any of you getting hurt because you’re in the wrong spot.”

I expect to get some resistance from at least one or two of them, especially that life coach, but they all hurry out like the dancers did a few seconds ago, and finally, I’m alone with Mia. She still holds on to me like I’m a life raft, so I gently pry her arms from around my waist and smile down at her.

“Things are way more exciting than I expected them to be,” I say with a chuckle. “You didn’t tell me it would be pandemonium.”

Her dark eyes stare up at me, and I can see beyond all the stage makeup that she’s been crying. “My mother must have lost her mind. How could she do this to me on my first night of the tour?”

That’s the question I want to have answered, but for now, I’ve got more important things to tackle. Taking Mia by the hand, I guide her over to the sofa and sit down next to her. I don’t know anything about calming a performer before a big show, but I know this woman well enough to understand she needs to think of something good right now or she’s never going to be able to walk out onto that stage.

“I left poor Sylvester out on the highway that looks like a parking lot because all of your fans are trying to get here. I guess it’s a good thing for those people that things are running behind, huh?”

Mia hangs her head and sighs. “I bet you think I’m some spoiled rotten diva who’s misbehaving, don’t you?”

I shake my head and smile. “Nope. Not this time. This time, I’m putting all the blame on your mother. But we can’t fix that right now. I need to get you out in front of all those people who can’t wait to see you.”

She looks up at me and smiles, and then her eyes get big. “Did you have to run down the highway to get here? You did that for me?”

Nodding, I shrug, happy to minimize my mile long sprint at this moment. “It’s my job. You told me you needed me, so here I am. That’s what a bodyguard does for the person he’s guarding.”

“I can’t believe you did that for me. Nobody’s ever done anything like that for me when I asked them for help.”

“Well, now I need you to do something for me, okay?”

Mia narrows her eyes, like she isn’t sure what I could need at this moment. “What’s that?”

Silent for a few moments, I let the noise of the crowd waiting for her fill the room. “Hear that? Those are the people who want nothing more than to see you perform, so I need you to forget all about your mother and her nonsense and go out there to give those people what only you can give them. Nobody else in the world is going to make them happier than you can just by singing your songs, Mia.”

An expression of fear washes over her. “I don’t know if I can, Liam. I feel so emotional right now. Even worse, I’ve been screaming at my mother for the past half hour, so I can only imagine what I’m going to sound like when I try to hit that first high note.”

I take her hand in mine and give it a tiny squeeze. “You can because this is what you’re great at. Everything else is bullshit we can deal with later. Right now, you need to go show that crowd what you can do. I know you can do this.”

For a long moment, I’m not sure Mia believes she can do it, though, but she takes a deep breath in and smiles, nodding like she wants to try. “Okay. Thank you, Liam. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

The fact that her mother wanted to see exactly what Mia would do without me tonight is what I plan to find out as soon as I locate Andrea. In the meantime, at least I’ve made the one person who needed to know she’s safe feel like she can do this tonight.

She stands up and turns to look at me. “You’ll be on the side of the stage, right? I don’t think I can do this without knowing you’re nearby so everything’s safe.”

I stand up and smile. “I’ll be there, along with all of my men just where they’re supposed to be.”

Like she did when she saw me when I first arrived here, she throws her arms around my waist and presses her cheek to my chest. Her body trembles next to mine, and even though I know I shouldn’t hug her back, it’s like I can’t stop myself. She’s so frail right now that I can’t let her think I’m not here for her in any way she needs.

The truth is that I like how she feels against me. Far too much, in fact. Alarms go off in my head as we stand there in each other’s arms, but I ignore them by telling myself that it would be cruel to push her away at the very moment she needs to believe she has someone who cares about her.

That’s a lie, though, and no matter how I try to convince myself I’m being some selfless guy to help her perform tonight, the truth is I care far too much about Mia to want to see her unhappy like she was earlier.

“Liam, I couldn’t do this without you. I hope you know that,” she says against me.

I don’t respond, afraid anything I say will make her realize how much I know I shouldn’t be standing here with her like this. Instead, I softly slide my hand up and down her back, as if that’s any less a violation of all the rules I’ve always followed in my job. Her red satin dress feels so cool under my palm that I let myself get lost in the sensation for a moment, but thankfully, a knock on the dressing room door puts an end to my fantasizing.

Gently, I push her away and hold her by the shoulders as I look deep into her eyes. “Okay, I’m guessing that’s one of my guys saying that if I don’t get you out there that people will be coming after us with torches and pitchforks, so what do you say you go show them why they’ve waited this long?”

Mia takes another deep breath and lets it out in a rush as she nods her agreement. “Okay. Let’s do this!”

When I take a step toward the door to leave before her, she stops me with a touch to my arm. I look back, and in a flash, she’s up on her toes softly giving me a kiss I don’t think I’ll ever forget.

She pulls away, and with a sexy grin, she says, “Now I’m ready.”

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