Page 77 of Beauty Queens
“Yes.” Ginny patted her jacket pocket, reassuring herself it was still where she placed it this morning.
“I want a happy emoji texted to me every two minutes. If you become the least bit uncomfortable, text me a sad one.”
“Okay.”
“I don’t care if this fucking room catches on fire, you don’t fucking leave.”
“I swear,” she promised, trying to lighten the hard-lined way he was talking to her.
Gavin wasn’t having it. “Don’t disappointment me again, Ginny.”
Ginny reached out, running her hand down the length of his arm. “I won’t.” She tried not to be hurt when he shrugged away from her touch.
Feeling helpless, she watched Gavin and Alec leave the room, shutting the door behind them.
With her heart pounding, Ginny took a chair closest to her.
“Why would someone want to trash your dressing room?” Kimmy’s frightened voice broke the silence.
Ginny didn’t know how to explain. Shade had warned her not to mention she had a stalker to any of the crew before she came to Nashville. The only ones who knew about the situation were Kaden and Alec’s security team.
“I don’t know.” She had no idea who her stalker was, so she wasn’t lying.
Kimmy wasn’t buying it. “Is the person responsible the reason you have your own security? I’ve worked in this industry long enough to know you don’t pay out the big bucks for this type of security without a darn good reason. Kaden has a huge fan base, but they cover the whole band, not just him. What’s going on, Ginny?”
Uncomfortable under three sets of eyes focused on her, she couldn’t bring herself to be evasive when a man they all knew was now missing.
“A fan has taken a liking to me enough that he will strike out the only way he can.”
“Apparently, he wants to be more than a fan if he doesn’t want you singing for anyone else.”
At the same time, Kimmy’s mouth gaped open. “You have a stalker?”
Denying Sin’s assessment would be futile, so Ginny didn’t, answering Kimmy’s shocked question instead. “Yes.”
Kimmy’s eyes widened. “For how long?”
“Since Queen City. When I moved to Nashville, he stopped. Or so I thought until I went to Treepoint and Viper told me someone had been watching Rider.”
“Who’s Viper?”
“He’s another friend of mine.” Ginny took out her phone, texting Gavin a smile emoji.
“Jesus. You have a stalker. Why didn’t you tell us?” Kimmy looked at Sin for confirmation as to his lack of knowledge.
Sin shook his head. “Don’t look at me. I’m just as much in the dark as you.”
Ginny licked her suddenly dry lips. “Alec and Shade said it would be for the best if you didn’t know.”
The drummer’s sensual lips curled in a smile. “We’re all potential suspects, Kimmy.”
“Even me?” Kimmy shook her head as if she couldn’t believe anyone would think she could be a suspect. “I mean, I like you, but not that much … I mean, not anything more than a friend.”
Ginny couldn’t help but laugh at Kimmy’s comical expression. “I know you don’t.” Ginny assured her. “I think it was more of a precaution from letting it unintentionally slip to the wrong person.”
Kimmy’s shock became confrontational. “You mean, like Nick or Lawrence?”
It was Ginny’s mouth that dropped at Kimmy’s spurt of anger. “I was talking more like someone who works in the nightclub or one of the regulars who comes to the shows.”
“Good,” Kimmy snapped. “Because I can tell you for a fact that it wasn’t Nick or Lawrence. Nick was in the meeting before I came in, and Lawrence doesn’t even like you. He told me about the time you asked him out and he turned you down.”
“I didn’t.”
“He says you did.”
“Then he’s lying, or he has me confused with someone else.”
“Maybe I heard him wrong. I’m sorry.”
Kimmy might have apologized, but Ginny saw the doubt in her eyes.
“I’ve never asked Lawrence out, not even on a friendly date. Ask anyone on the band’s staff or the nightclub’s if I’ve ever asked anyone out on a date. I just don’t do that.”
Ginny sent another emoji.
“I can vouch for that,” Nate broke in from where he was standing.
“Me, too.” Sin amusedly corroborated.
Flushing, Ginny swung her head in Nate’s then Sin’s directions.
“I thought we were friends.” Kimmy didn’t try to hide her hurt feelings. “I tell you everything. You didn’t mention you had a stalker or that you were dating someone.”
“We are friends.” Ginny broke off to text another emoji before continuing. “I explained about why I didn’t tell you about the stalker, and I’m not dating anyone.”
“Then I don’t—”
Ginny jumped in her chair when Kimmy suddenly jumped up.
“You’re sneaking behind my back, seeing Lawrence, aren’t you?”
“What? No!” Flabbergasted at Kimmy’s assumption, Ginny wanted to shake some sense into her illogically thinking friend.
“Then why wouldn’t you date? Unless ….”
She had never seen this side of Kimmy before, and the sudden change in her behavior was scaring Ginny.