His gaze narrowed in and dropped to my lips. “If I could just kiss you on the cheek before I go, that would mean so much to me.” He paused. “Just one itty-bitty kiss.” He pointed to his own cheek. “Right here.”
I shook my head, shuddering before I had the chance to stop myself. “No. That’s crossing the line.”
His brows lowered, and irritation flickered in his eyes for the first time. “Why are you treating me like this? It’s just a chaste kiss on the cheek. You owe me that much after I got you the flowers.” He moved so quickly, I barely realized what was happening. He lunged at me, intending to kiss me, but I moved just in time.
“Stop!” I screamed. “Help. Somebody, help me!”
Chapter 4
Kayla
“Don’t make this so hard,” he grunted. “Just let me have a kiss and I’ll go.”
A security guard came running, and Gene dropped the flowers on the hallway floor and took off in the opposite direction, rushing out the back door. Once he was gone, I held onto the doorframe and sagged, my knees feeling weak all of a sudden.
Edmund jogged over, panic on his face. “Kayla, are you okay? I heard you screaming.”
I nodded. “How did that guy get in here? He was crazy.”
He swallowed hard, his thick brows lowering as if baffled. “I don’t know. We were all up front, and the door automatically locks when it shuts, so he must have slipped in with a few of the latecomers.”
“He told me he was a stagehand. Said his name was Gene.”
He shook his head. “We don’t have anyone by that name working for us.”
A feeling of dread pooled in my stomach, threatening to turn everything upside down. “He said he was a fan and saw me perform last week.”
Edmund’s expression turned sympathetic. “That’s something you’ll have to get used to the more you’re in the public eye. For every thousand solid fans there is one psycho who wants to be your best friend.”
“Please tell me that’s not an actual statistic.”
He laughed. “Thankfully, it’s not.” He pressed his lips together and tilted his head to the side. “I’m sorry you had to go through that before a show. Will you be okay?”
“I think so.” I glanced warily down the hall where Gene and the security guard disappeared. “Can you find out what’s going on out there?”
“Sure.” He looked at the door and then returned his gaze to me. “Lock yourself in and don’t answer unless it’s me.”
I nodded. “Trust me, you don’t have to tell me twice. But first, do you mind getting rid of those flowers?” I glanced at the white roses on the floor, taunting me with their presence.
“Of course.” He reached down and picked the bouquet up, studying it closely. “I don’t see the name of a floral shop. Don’t worry, I’ll dispose of them.”
Twenty minutes after that conversation, Edmund knocked on my door, and when I answered, the security guard was with him, shaking his head.
“Sorry, Miss, but he got away. He jumped into a teal Chevy Impala, and judging by its appearance, it was probably a nineteen sixties model.” He paused, appearing out of breath. “The first letter of the license plate was an ‘A,’ but he sped off, and I couldn’t see the rest.”
I held a hand over my stomach, still feeling under the weather and wondering how I was going to get through this. “What do I do?”
“Well, he’s gone, and I seriously doubt he’ll come back, so you don’t have to worry about him during the concert. I’ll tell security to keep a lookout for him, but he won’t bother you again. Not tonight, at least. We’ll put in a call to the police so you can file a report in case he bothers you again.”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
“Hey, you don’t look so good,” Edmund said. “Maybe you should lay down for a while.”
“No, I couldn’t sleep if I tried, but I’ll take you up on that Pepto-Bismol.”
***
After that, I spent some time in prayer and then did my hair and makeup. Despite all the obstacles, my heart calmed and I focused my attention on the night ahead. I knew my mind would return to the issue again at some point, but I couldn’t allow myself to think about Gene until after my performance.
As I got ready, I dressed in a bright red dress and black cowboy boots. My long, brown hair fell over my shoulders in a beachy wave hairstyle. My stomach was uneasy from nerves and everything else that had happened, or maybe it was all from the flu and I was a complete idiot for going forward with this. Still, I was determined to keep my commitment. My parents raised me with a never-give-up attitude, and that was how I planned to proceed.
Time went quickly after that. When my name was announced, a surge of adrenaline shot through me as I walked out on stage, and I went directly into performance-mode. “How’s everyone doing this evening?” I yelled into the microphone.
The crowd cheered, and I laughed. “Come, on, y’all, you can do better than that!”
The audience went wild, and I smiled and nodded. “That’s better. Let’s have some fun tonight.”
The music started, and I sang a few songs, a euphoric feeling washing through me, not taking away the uneasiness in my stomach, but making the night easier to bear. Somehow, I managed to get through the next forty minutes. I might not have been at my best, but my presentation didn’t seem to suffer. No one could say I didn’t give it my all.
Back in my dressing room, I breathed a sigh of relief that it was over. I still felt a little sick, but I’d enjoyed performing and had
