A Wolf at the Door

that?”

Bobby nodded toward the throng of photographers still following us down the street. “No one’s gonna try anything with all those eyes around.”

“Besides,” Tai nudged me with an elbow, almost knocking me over. “That’s what you’re for, right?” He gave me a mischievous tattooed grin.

I just rolled my eyes at him.

As we were loading up the trunk of the Town Car, one of the paparazzi grew bold enough to call out to us. Well, to me, actually. “Hey! Hey, what’s your name?”

I looked behind me, to see who they were talking to, but there was only Gretchen, giving me a small smirk. “You can answer them if you want, but it’ll be all over the Internet by tonight.”

“Um…” I glanced back at the rabid camera-bearing pack. “Jesse. My name’s Jesse.” Instantly, thirty cameras went off in my face and I grimaced.

“Jesse what?”

“Jesse None-of-Your-Business.” The bold guy got the gift of one of my glares, and backed down quickly. It didn’t faze the rest of them, though.

“How long have you been dating Gretchen?”

“Are there wedding bells in your future?”

“Where did you two meet?”

They all shouted over each other, hoping that I’d give them some sound bite they could sell to the TV tabloids. I looked back to Gretchen helplessly, but she only shook her head with an amused smile and ducked into the car.

Tai chuckled as he slammed the trunk shut. “Now you’ve done it. We’ll never get rid of them. First rule is never make eye contact.”

“Thought the first rule was not to punch them.”

“Rule one-b.”

“Great. My wife’s gonna be thrilled to see this on the news.” I retreated for the car, only to find Bobby already in the front passenger seat.

He gave me a scarred smirk. “Shotgun.”

“I’ll get even,” I threatened, and crammed into the back of the car next to Dante, careful to keep him between Gretchen and me. Last thing I needed was a picture of me and my new “girlfriend” getting cozy.

“It’s all right, they won’t come to the studio. Part of the deal I made with them. They can’t interfere with my job.” Gretchen gave me an encouraging smile from the other end of the seat.

“Yay for small miracles.” I tried to get comfortable, but soon gave it up for a lost cause.

We weren’t exactly squashed, but there’s really no way to sit comfortably with three adults in the backseat of a car, no matter how luxurious. And Dante was one of those people who talked with his hands. A lot. He almost clobbered me in the face three times in the space of driving two blocks, gesticulating wildly about whatever it was he was babbling about.

“Geez, Dante, scoot over. You’re freezing.” That one phrase got me smashed against the door as Gretchen grumpily pushed Dante away from her.

And you know, she was right. He was freezing. I shivered when our arms came into contact, his skin feeling cold and clammy.

He snorted indignantly. “Well, it’s winter, and it’s freezing outside too. It’s a wonder I’m not a solid block of ice.”

I rolled my eyes. “If you think this is cold, you guys would die in Missouri. When I left, it was like seventeen degrees that day.”

That prompted a lot of questions about my home state, which carried us through to the movie lots. Odd, some of the preconceptions people have about living in the Midwest. Probably just as odd as some preconceptions about living in California.

Tai flashed some kind of ID badge at the gate guard, and we were waved through with barely a glance. I admit it, I rubbernecked just like any tourist as we drove through, checking out the place where the movie magic happened. We passed a group of nuns, standing around smoking cigarettes, an astronaut in full gear being walked along by a group of cautious attendants, and four different Elvises. Elvi? Whatever. Tai slammed on the brakes once, jolting us all in our seats as some frantic handler chased four loose chickens across the street in front of us.

Finally, we found a place to park, clambering out, and Dante made his immediate departure.

“Where are you going?” Gretchen asked.

“There’s this guy…”

“What guy?”

Dante grinned. “Just a guy. I’ll catch up with you later.” And he vanished into the very strange crowd.

Bobby and Tai debated the idea of going for food for a few moments, neither man truly wanting to let Gretchen go wandering off alone despite the fact that they apparently found the studio security acceptable. She, for her part, turned to look at me curiously. “You’ve never seen a movie lot before, have you?”

“No ma’am.”

“You come with me, then. I’ll show you around, and these guys can go get lunch.” Y’know, sometimes she was