Wicked Ties (Steele Security Series) (27 page)

Settling it on the table in front of him, his mind wandered while he waited for it to boot up. When his mind wandered, it always went back
there
. Thirteen years. Seemed like a lifetime ago. The worst year of his life, for more than one reason. He wondered where they were, what they were doing. If they ever thought of him.

The screen loaded, shaking him out of his thoughts. Forcing them back where they belonged, he typed in Samantha’s name in the search engine, then sat back while he watched the hourglass think about the results. When the screen loaded, his eyes widened at the image of her at the top of the page. She was absolutely gorgeous. Her long chocolate brown hair was curled and hung down her back. Her dark eyes, framed by the longest, thickest eyelashes he had ever seen, seemed like they laughed at the camera. Her wide smile, showcasing perfectly straight, white teeth, lit up her face, and a small dimple made her look innocent. Her body hugging jeans and sequined tank top almost made his eyes go crossed. She was wearing the hottest bright pink cowboy boots. Wait. Had he just thought that cowboy boots were hot? Or was it just
her
in the cowboy boots that was hot?

He had no idea how long he stared at that picture of her.
This
was Samantha Kerrigan? Why hadn’t he ever paid attention to her before? Shaking himself out of the trance that image had put him in, he clicked on a YouTube link of her singing. He knew nothing about country music at all. He had never listened to it except for maybe at a bar or something.

The screen opened up, and she was sitting on a stool, gripping the microphone as the opening chords of a song started playing. He watched as she closed her eyes, swaying to the music. The spotlight showcased only her, but even if it wouldn’t have, she had that kind of enigma that just made you want to stare at only her. She opened her eyes, and stood up, sliding the stool back with her boot.

Her silky voice started singing, the camera zooming in on her face as she belted out lyrics about him not wanting her anymore, leaving her crying and feeling like a fool. Every word she sang infiltrated every spot in his soul, making him want to close his eyes against the sensation. But he couldn’t. He had to watch her.

As she moved around the stage, the audience was enraptured with the passion in her voice, the
pitch which she sang the words, and the sight that was Samantha Kerrigan. When they panned to the audience, he could see signs everywhere with her name on them. ‘America’s next Country Star- Sam!’ most of them read. This must’ve been her final performance on the show.

The camera panned back to her as she hit a high note. Her voice then became raspy and sexy, and as she ended the song, the camera did an up close of her eyes. He swore she was looking right through him, and found that he was holding his breath.

He stared at the screen long after the video was over. It reset back to the opening image of her sitting on a stool. This was Sam Kerrigan, newly hatched superstar. He could see why. Forcing himself away from the video, he went back to the search engine and clicked on a few articles about her. She was from Nashville, the only daughter to wealthy business owner parents Samuel and Ella Kerrigan. Sam was 23 and had been signing her entire life in the Nashville area. She had been a regular at many local bars and restaurants for a long time. It wasn’t until her parents encouraged her to try out for America’s Country Star that she thought maybe she could really live her dream.

Ellis had no idea how long he sat there and read everything he could about Sam. He told himself it was because he had to decide if this was the best thing for him to do, take this extra job as her security. But if he was honest with himself, he knew that wasn’t it at all. There was something about her.
A young innocence, a passion that surrounded her. He knew he should say no. He hadn’t even met her yet and his heart was pounding.

It’s a job, just a job
, he reminded himself.
She needs help, and you are good at what you do. So what she’s hot and seems like a genuine person. You aren’t good enough for someone like her
.

His brow furrowed as he clicked on a story that one of the news stations had picked up about a possible stalker on new country music star Sam Kerrigan.
Videos of her being ushered into vehicles by her security team, her walking out on stage, and fans screaming outside for her showed just how popular she really was. Apparently she had not only received many letters from this ‘stalker’, but he/she had been able to get past her security more than once and put stuffed animals, flowers, and jewelry in her dressing room and limo. No wonder they wanted more security. Someone in her team was slacking, or was allowing it to happen. The reason they were so concerned, other than this person getting too close to her, was that they were getting brave, starting to say scary things like ‘I’m going to have you, ‘You are mine’, ‘We are meant to be’, etc. The whole thing left a pit in his stomach. He had seen cases like this before. Not with big superstars, of course, but with regular people and wacko’s that became obsessed with them. He could only imagine how difficult it would be to protect someone who was in the public eye constantly.

Exiting the articles, he went back to the music video one more
time. He picked up his phone and hit Andrew’s name before he could lose nerve. “Andrew? Hey man, it’s Ellis. I’ll take the security job if no one else has claimed it yet.”

Want to read more? One click
Guarding Hearts (Living Again #3)
by LL Collins on May 23, 2014. Available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, and Kobo.

2014 – 2015

Steele Security Series

Wicked Nights – Book 2.5

Wicked Intentions – Book 3

Wicked Shadows – Book 4

The Crazy Series

Crazy Baby – Book 2

Crazy Over You – Book 3

Crazy Love – Book 4

Dominic Powers

Her Dom – Book 1

Her Dom’s Lesson – Book 2

Completely Captivated

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