Page 13 of Not the Bodyguard's Princess
“You are supposed to notify us when you leave.” Anger rolled off Stu.
Jordan set Princess on the ground and kept hold of the leash. “Stu, it’s my day off. I’m at a dog park. The only way anyone will pay any attention to me is if Princess bites another dog—which she never does—or I cause a scene. Three big burly men marching around after me causes everyone to take notice. You guys have never followed me off set before.”
“You haven’t been shot at before.” Stu crossed his arms.
Jordan took a breath to think of her next line as she slipped into the role her grandmother had played in a thriller movie from the fifties. Strong, confident, dismissive. “Then follow me if you must.” She turned and headed for the high-fenced enclosure. Andrew fell in step next to her and left the other guards behind them.
Stu caught up and walked by her other side. “He doesn’t need to be here.”
“I hired Mr. Hastings, or Mr. Andrew, to protect Princess. We are at a dog park. There are mastiffs and poodles and other mutts. This is precisely where he needs to be.” Jordan reached the double-gated entrance of the dog park and went through the gates Andrew held open. She turned to Stu. “I suggest if you are worried about my safety, you remain outside the gates. Inside, you will also have to worry about the safety of your shoes.”
Once inside, she let Princess off the leash and moved to a bench under a tree, far from the exterior fence.
Andrew came to stand behind her. His energy differed from Blake’s but was somehow still comforting. What made him tick?
Jordan played with the end of the leash. “Do you think I did the right thing with Stu?”
“Not my place to say, Miss Lee.”
Jordan rolled her eyes. The gesture was big enough he should have seen it even from behind her back. “If I let him control me, I know it will be a very long six weeks. I don’t want to fight him at every turn. And if you fight him, you’ll be off the set. No offense, but I wish Blake were here.”
“None taken. I’m sure he wishes he were here too. I have a ball for Princess. Would you like to throw it?”
Without a word, Jordan reached for the ball and lobbed it for her dog. How was she supposed to think with a handsome bodyguard standing so close?
* * *
Under the guise of taking a photo of the dog, Andrew took two of Stu and the bodyguard with him, neither of whom were doing a good job watching for dangers on their side of the chain-link fence. He sent the photos to Alan’s account for his brother to check out on Monday morning. He needed to know if any of the guards among the Hearthfire crew were more or less than they appeared. The information Blake’s wife had given him didn’t include background checks on anyone with Hearthfire. After September’s experience with a less-than-competent bodyguard, he knew he couldn’t be too careful.
A text from Adam came through the secure Hastings app.September asked around. Only Paul’s movies and those on the main lot in California are excluding outside guards. Not unusual for the California lots. May not be a Hearthfire-wide policy.
Andrew texted back.Thanks. I found four bugs in her suite. At the moment, I’m assuming they’re Hearthfire’s. I don’t think they have GPS. I will hide them in the dog park.
—LOL. Should be entertaining.
The trick was placing them where a dog wouldn’t find them and eat them. Andrew took the black bag Colin Ogilvie, one of their longtime clients, had designed to shield electronics like a portable Faraday cage. It was still in the testing phase, but it seemed to work. He walked around the large base of the nearest oak tree and removed the little listening devices from the bag. There were scratches in the tree’s bark almost at his eye level. Perhaps the larger dogs chased squirrels up the trees. Andrew checked on Stu and the other guard before reaching as high up as he could and slipping two of the bugs into the V where a branch met the tree.
Then he walked to the interior fence separating one dog park section from another and placed the other two inside the poop-bag dispenser. He pulled out a bag in case Stu or his minion were watching.
He returned to the bench where Miss Lee threw the ball. Princess eyed it then sat down at Jordan’s feet.
“Well, I guess she’s done playing. Will you retrieve it for me?”
“Are you trying to teach me to fetch?” Andrew teased, hoping to see the real smile. When Miss Lee had exited the car, she’d become someone else. More guarded and stiff.
Jordan pulled her hair over her shoulder. “I don’t think you would comply if that was my point.” No smile came, but the harshness in her voice was gone. “I don’t want to walk near the fence.”
Andrew rescued the ball.
Stu glared through the fence. “Are you done yet?”
“That isn’t my call,” answered Andrew.
“Hurry her up, will you?”
Andrew looked around the park. “Have you found a threat?”
“No.”
