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“You passed out,” he told her, stating the obvious as he straightened up off the floor and turned his attention toward me.
“Jesus, Daisy, are you okay, baby?” he asked as I stood up to meet him. I’d never seen him so angry, concerned or impatient all at once before. Even though I had felt relieved to see him, I had never felt completely threatened by his stalker fan.
“Yeah, we were both thrown out of the suite,” I admitted with a chuckle. Jamie’s eyes blazed with fury and the muscle in his jaw ticked when he glared at the hotel security guard on the other side of the door. Dragging his eyes away from it, his mouth set in a line when he glanced back down at Lottie.
“You were? I specifically told them to take care of you and they removed you and left you alone with her? I mean, Lottie’s one of the harmless ones, but had it been someone else you may not have been so lucky.”
“Wait. You know her?” I screeched, my body trembling in recognition of that fact. Had he slept with her before? Is this why she felt so sure she didn’t need a ticket? When I’d thought he was checking her name with me when she passed out, was something else running through his mind instead?
“And you can stop your mind buzzing this minute,” he warned, obviously noting my distress. “Yes, I know her, and a dozen like her in every country,” he admitted, “but this is the first time she’s attempted to get close to me. Ticker and Hogs are her usual go-to bandmates.”
And who are yours? Was a question on my tongue that I held back from asking.
Lottie scrambled to her feet and leaped off the floor into his arms, clinging to him like a monkey being shaken from a tree and sending Jamie reeling backward, but not with enough force to knock him off his feet. His hands flew to her ribs, and he yanked her off his body as soon as he’d steadied himself. Peeling her hands from around his neck, he set her firmly back on her feet, on the floor.
“You want me to call security or are we going to have a rational conversation?”
“Sorry,” she mumbled, instantly more cooperative. She sat down on the edge of her seat and placed her hands in her lap.
“How many times have we warned you about this shit?” Jamie barked, throwing his hands up in the air.
“Seven,” she replied, innocently enough, and I chuckled, the humor of the ridiculous situation not lost on me.
“Seven,” he repeated deadpan. “You’ve actually counted? Remind me what you do for a living again?” he snapped.
“I’m a nurse,” she stated proudly, her eyes shifting to me to gauge my reaction. My jaw had gaped, and she snickered before Jamie put her back in her place.
“Definitely not a mental health one though, right?” he muttered, insinuating how insane she was to behave the way she had, but he glanced at me and I saw his lips twitch with the beginnings of a smile at his own sarcasm.
“Pediatric,” she replied, less confidently, and Jamie immediately scoffed.
“Ah, that explains it,” he said, waving a hand toward her. “Being around kids all day makes you act like one? Hasn’t anyone ever told you about the danger you place yourself in with this fangirl shit?”
“Don’t patronize me. I’m not a little girl anymore,” she replied.
“Then don’t behave like a child,” he snapped.
“And don’t you behave like a hypocrite either,” she shot back.
Jamie’s eyes flicked to look at me and his jaw ticked in frustration again, like she’d hit a nerve. He stood quietly for a moment and ran his hand through his hair, clearly exacerbated by Lottie’s attempt to trap him, which she’d done with her previous comment. He glanced at me, this time apologetically, before he took a deep breath to calm himself down, and sighed.
“What do you want to do about this, baby?” he asked, turning his attention back to me.
I blinked, stunned, wondering at first what he meant, then realized he’d given me the deciding vote on what to do about Lottie’s intrusion. Deep down I knew what I should have done, but that would have been a knee jerk reaction to something that wasn’t okay. However, when I thought about how she’d been willing to do anything to be near her favorite band, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.
Gone was the naked girl who had challenged me, and in her place was someone so fanatical about the men that made up DistRoyed. She’d taken an incredible risk to get close to them for one day. I shrugged when sympathy took over and I felt sorry for the girl whose breathing had grown rapid as she stood waiting for me to decide her fate.
“I know what you think I should do,” I told Jamie, “but if it’s really up to me I think we should give her a backstage pass for the gig tomorrow night.”
“Have you gone nuts?” Jamie asked, his eyes flaring partly with anger and part from his disbelief.
“Maybe… no, I haven’t,” I decided, quickly. “Lottie can keep me company before the gig,” I decided, wondering if I had either turned into Ireland’s favorite charity worker or was courting a whole heap of trouble.
“A pass? But you’ll have Bernie,” he reminded me, looking bewildered I’d even suggest such a thing.
“I will but providing Lottie doesn’t jump any of the band members and remembers how to behave, I think I’d like to share the experience with her. She is your number one fan after all,” I stated, quoting her claim back at him.
“I thought that was you,” he said, smiling at me. He sighed, “Daisy, I don’t encourage—”
