Chapter 19

I couldn’t believe I had heard him right at first.

“What about who pretending to be my what?” I asked.

“Me. Pretending to be your boyfriend. Do you need me to?”

That time, I knew I had heard him right.

“No, I don’t think so.”

Arthur’s smile faltered, but it never disappeared.

“Are you sure? With this whole Barnett and Julia situation, I figured that a fake boyfriend would be the perfect cover to throw the paparazzi and Julia’s crazy fans off your scent.”

“That’s really sweet, but I couldn’t impose on you like that.”

“Of course not. You’re too considerate to impose on anyone.”

He took my hand in both of his and ran his thumb along the top of it. Heat flooded my cheeks. His smile seemed to grow wider.

“I…It’s getting late, don’t you think?”

Arthur didn’t answer. Instead, he merely called the waitress over and paid the check.

I hoped that would be the last time we would mention the subject.

• * *

I hated getting up the next morning.

After having such a late night, it was hard dragging my butt out of bed to get to work on time. I also wasn’t looking forward to another day of Rebecca’s abuse in the office. Still, I wasn’t going to be late and start off another day on the wrong foot.

As I got down to the parking lot, I noticed someone waiting a few feet away from my Corolla. At first, I thought she was a neighbor walking to her car. Then I noticed the pistol in her hand.

I tried to back away, but I must have caught her attention as she turned toward me, the pistol pointed right at me. I froze in place.

“Anna Hayes!” she shouted my married name.

“Anna…Leonard,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

“Shut up!”

I tried to shout, to get anyone’s attention, but my voice was lost in my throat. My hands trembled. I longed to reach for my phone, but I knew that even the slightest movement could kill me.

“I don’t know who you think you are, trying to mess with someone like Julia Cogsworth,” she said, her voice now dangerously low and level, “but I’m going to make sure that you know your place.”

She cocked the pistol. My heart raced.

The woman wrenched the gun toward my car and fired. I instinctively ducked and covered my ears as the glass of my car’s windows shattered and the tires blew out. Before I dared to stand back up, Julia’s crazed fan was running out of the parking lot and out of sight.

“Anna? Anna!” I heard Barnett’s voice call out to me.

Barnett’s firm hands wrapped around my forearms and helped me to my feet.

“Are you all right?” he asked. “I heard gunshots.”

I nodded.

“Are you sure? It looks like you’ve been crying.”

I lifted my hand to my cheek. It was wet. Had I been crying?

“Well, I’m fine.” I looked over at my Corolla and winced. “My car, however, is not.”

Barnett followed my eyes and grimaced. “Oh God, it’s definitely not. What happened?”

“It was some fan of Julia’s. She babbled on about me messing with Julia and teaching me my place. Then she shot up my car.”

Barnett’s eyes widened. “That’s horrible. I’m so sorry.”

I shrugged. “It’s not your fault.”

He rubbed his chin as he seemed to contemplate something.

After a moment, he said, “Even so, to apologize, I want you to have one of my bulletproof cars.”

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and brought up a picture of the car, a global limited edition gold Aston Martin. I couldn’t believe he wanted to just give me something so spectacular and ostentatious.

“I don’t have it here in the city,” he continued, “but someone can bring it by in 20 minutes.”

“No, no. It’s really not your fault, you have nothing to apologize for, and I don’t want to put you out like that.”

“I want to make sure that you’re safe, and it’s my ex’s crazy fans who are putting you in danger.”

“Really, Barnett, I’ll be fine. You don’t need to do this.”

“Yes, I do,” he said, his voice becoming even sterner and more forceful than normal. “If you don’t take the car, then I’ll just have to drive you to work myself every day.”

I groaned internally at Barnett’s stubbornness. “You don’t need to do that, either.”

“Those are my only options if I want to ensure your safety. So, either you accept the car, or you ride with me.”

In a way, I was touched by how concerned he was with my safety. I knew it was only because I was Lily’s best friend, but it still softened my heart. Still, he was being incredibly stubborn.

At the same time, I also didn’t want such a high-profile commute to work every day. Either way, I was doomed on that count. If Barnett drove me, though, it would only add fuel to the rumors about us, and I couldn’t let that happen.

“Fine. I’ll drive it while my car is in the shop, then I’ll give it to you after.”

Barnett huffed and waved his hand dismissively. “You’ll only be wasting my time coming to me for such a trivial matter, and I can make what it takes to buy one of these in a minute. Keep it.”

In my mind, I rolled my eyes at the arrogant display of wealth. Outwardly, I merely smiled.

“My driver, Thom, will be here in 20 with the car.”

“How will he get back?”

“Don’t worry about that. Just take the keys and get to work. Speaking of which, I have a meeting to get to.”

I felt horrible for keeping from work again, but I didn’t dare mention it to him.

As he walked to his car—his silver Aston Martin—he said over his shoulder, “And don’t worry. I’ll solve Julia’s problem as soon as possible.”

• * *

That night, Lily came over for a ladies’ night. As soon as she saw Barnett’s car in the parking lot, she demanded to know what happened since she knew that Barnett was spending the night at his house. When I told her the whole story, she was instantly jealous.

“You are so lucky,” she gushed.

“Yes, I’m so lucky that I almost got shot in a parking lot,” I countered.

I popped us some popcorn and brought it into the living room with some flavored water. Lily finally pried herself away from the window, where she had been staring at Barnett’s car, to plop on the couch next to me.

“You don’t get it. That’s a worldwide limited edition. Even I can’t have it.”

I rolled my eyes. “Priorities, Lily. Priorities.”

“Yeah, I know, Julia’s fans are crazy with a capital C U Next Tuesday. But seriously, Anna, don’t you know how expensive that thing is?”

She stole some popcorn and shoveled it into her mouth in a very un-ladylike manner.

“So long as it gets me to work without getting shot up, I’ll try not to think about it.”

I started to plop popcorn into my mouth one piece at a time.

“Anna, I swear, Barnett must really like you,” Lily said excitedly.