Page 19 of Her Ruthless Protector

“You think she would come?” Troy asked hopefully.

“I’ve only known you a couple of days, but I read up on you before taking this gig. I’ve read the interviews you’ve given, as well as that article you wrote on behalf of the World Wildlife Fund. You’re a good guy, Troy, and Fleur just needs to be reminded of this.”

A.J. opened the box, “If you give her this ring, I know so,” she smiled.

“You will be with me?”

“Every step of the way,” she assured him. “We’re not going to let him win.”

He brightened. “I shall call her right now,” he smiled.

“That’s an excellent idea.”

“Thank you,” he threw his arms around her, and gave her a big hug.

She pushed out of his arms with a smile. “No more hugging other women besides Fleur, you don’t want to give the tabloids any additional fodder.”

“Good idea,” he grinned at her. “I will not hug you.”

He started to rush off, and she called him back. “Don’t forget your ring.” She held it out to him.

“Thank you again.” He smiled broadly.

“Do you mind if I show a couple of people around the stage?”

He waved his hand as he pushed the ring back in his pocket and took out his phone. “A.J., you can do whatever you want. Thank you for listening.” He walked away and she headed back towards Asher and Kane.

“You were good with him.” Kane said in an admiring tone of voice. “Is relationship counselor always part of the job?”

“You wouldn’t believe what falls under the heading of Cat Herder,” she grinned ruefully. “Hell, I worked as a producer for a game show in Hollywood, this is nothing! Seriously, they need to make one of those soap operas about a game show. You wouldn’t believe the amount of infighting, backstabbing and sex that goes on.”

“Was it one of those reality shows?” Asher asked.

“I’ve worked both kinds, the straight up morning game shows as well as a three-year stint herding tigers on various reality game shows. This is a breeze, comparatively speaking.” She saw the next question in Asher’s eyes and answered it. “One of the shows was where the children got to set up their divorced parent with dates.”

“I heard about that. It was a train wreck.”

“Tell me about it. I was dealing with kids between the ages of seven to seventeen, but I swear they had more sense than the adults in the contest. Their parents were the ones who acted like hormonal adolescents.”

“Isn’t that show still going strong?” Asher asked. “I’m pretty sure my mom is DVR’ing it.”

“What show isn’t your mom watching?” Kane asked.

“She only likes these reality game shows. Nothing with violence. I think it’s because she has three sons in the military,” Asher answered. Then he turned back to A.J. “So, why’d you leave the states?”

“A chance to see the world and because it would really boost my resume.”

“How come I’m thinking they might be paying you more money?” Kane said.

“Because you’re smart,” A.J. answered. “With the cash I’m getting I can kick back for a couple of months and tour the world, or possibly set up my own company. Not sure which yet.” A.J. felt her ass vibrate, and grabbed the phone out of her pocket. Looking down she saw that it was Ed.

“Hey, we’ll be back in my trailer in five minutes, meet us there.” She hung up. “Guys, we need to scoot.”

Asher and Kane looked at one another. “I guess we’re scooting,” Kane said wryly.

* * *

“How bad is it?”Ed asked when he saw Kane and Asher follow A.J. into the trailer.