Page 41 of Behind the Scenes

“No need. I’ll be there. Let Kyle have some time off,” Hunter said as he thought about four definitely being a crowd.

Alexis shrugged. “Okay. He’ll probably be happy to get an extra hour of sleep every day since he won’t have to come here from the hotel every morning to go to the gym with me. You let him know, and I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

Hunter watched her jog down the hallway and had to admit Gideon was right. The view from behind was spectacular.

He found Kyle downstairs in the building’s lobby and pulled him aside. “Alexis tells me you usually go with her when she works out, but now that she’s here, you’re relieved from that. Enjoy the extra hour of sleep every morning.”

At first, he didn’t seem to understand what Hunter had just said, but then his expression turned dark as his meaning became clear. “I’m Alexis’s trainer. She’s never let anyone else do the job but me.”

“Well, you don’t have to do it anymore,” Hunter said flatly, already wondering why this conversation had gone on this long.

Kyle shook his head but said nothing more. Sensing something more was going on, Hunter took a hard look at the man. Slightly shorter than him, the bodyguard had a thicker look courtesy of hours more in the gym, he assumed. He wasn’t a bad looking guy, though. Dark hair with brown eyes. Hunter had a feeling he had no difficulty with the ladies. Then he remembered the story Lauren had told him about that night Kyle had spent with Alexis right after her divorce became final.

“Is there some problem I don’t know about?” Hunter asked.

“No. I just don’t appreciate the fact that Alexis didn’t tell me this herself.”

“She’s got a lot going on, Kyle. I’m sure you understand that.”

But he didn’t seem to understand. All Hunter saw in Kyle’s face was hurt, oddly enough. Why the hell would he feel that way about getting extra sleep time every morning?

“What’s going on here?” Hunter asked, and this time he watched Kyle’s expression carefully. This guy’s reaction to a simple change in his responsibilities seemed strange, to say the least.

The words barely made it out of Hunter’s mouth before the bodyguard’s entire body language morphed into the definition of defensiveness. He grimaced and puffed out his chest like some gym rat preparing for a fight.

“What are you saying? You don’t know what you’re talking about, dude. Stick around a while and you’ll see what’s what.”

Hunter took a step toward Kyle, decreasing the space between them until he almost bumped into his bulging pecs. Whatever this guy was feeling, he was reacting way out of the ordinary to something so insignificant.

And Hunter planned to find out why.

Leveling his gaze on the man’s face, he said flatly, “I’m saying that you don’t have to get out of bed early every day because Alexis doesn’t need you to go to the gym. Nothing more. You’re not being fired or even demoted. You’re just being given a break every day. Is there a reason this means so much to you?”

Kyle stared back at him for a long moment before he shook his head. “What are you implying?”

“I’m not implying anything. I’m asking straight out. Why is being relieved of having to go to the gym every day with Alexis a problem for you?”

While he waited for Kyle to answer, Hunter wondered if the man standing in front of him could be the stalker. He clearly felt upset about something regarding Alexis, and he had a feeling the man harbored far more feelings about that single night he spent with her than she did. Had he been the one terrorizing her so she would turn to him for protection?

“It’s not a problem for me. I just don’t like being treated like some second-class citizen just because some new guy shows up on the scene.”

“You’re not. Nobody is saying you’re not a valuable member of Alexis’s security team. You’re just not needed to accompany her to the gym. Nothing else has changed.”

Hunter stopped for a moment and then added, “Is there anything I should know, Kyle?”

Still unhappy, the bodyguard stepped back and shook his head. “Nope.”

“Good.”

But Hunter made a note of how upset he’d been about something so incidental. Whatever his problem was, Kyle had jumped to the head of the line of possible suspects in Hunter’s mind.

Chapter Thirteen

The first gymon Lauren’s list was located about eight blocks away. Alexis started running as soon as they walked outside the building’s lobby, thankful to see no photographers milling about and desperate to put some distance between her and that apartment. She’d only been there a little more than a week, but every moment she spent inside felt like the walls were beginning to close in on her. She feared when the construction crews began taking down some of them and opening up the space like the designer suggested it still wouldn’t make the place anywhere she wanted to live.

Half a block away from the building, she looked to her left and saw Hunter there beside her. Kyle always ran behind her. For a moment, she didn’t know how she felt about this change.

Curious to know why he thought he should be there next to her, she said, “I’m used to Kyle staying behind me on my runs.”

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