Champagne Brunch: The Stiletto Sisters Series by Ainsley Claire (easy readers .txt) 📗

he’s a young kid. He’s not overly worldly, if you know what I mean.”

Jim nods. “I get it. I actually have a client who has a three-bedroom guest house. I need to talk to him about this. He has a sixteen-year-old daughter and may not want a seventeen-year-old boy without parental supervision living on his property.”

“If it’s too big a deal…” I breathe out, frustrated as I think this through. “I can move in temporarily. It’s not ideal, and I would have to bring SoBe.”

Jim grins. “You think Mia would be okay with that?”

“Nope. She’ll dump me.”

“I’ve known her for a long time. You never know. She’s full of surprises. But we can figure out something better. I mean, money is not really an object, so we have lots of possibilities.”

I nod, and after Bash and I make plans for meeting up tomorrow, I go back inside my place.

Mia is sitting alone on the couch with her overnight bag in front of her on the floor, and Jeremy is nowhere to be seen.

“Where did he go?” I ask.

She smiles. “Jeremy has turned in for the night. This is very stressful for him.”

“I totally get it.” I slump into the couch next to her.

Mia reaches for my hand and laces her fingers with mine. “How bad is it?”

I take a deep breath. “Your search tonight should be an indicator—he’s definitely on a lot of radars. But beyond tonight and this one particular person, we don’t know. Clear Security has someone working on restraining orders, and they want Jeremy to move. One of Jim’s other clients has a guest house that might be a possibility, but he also has a sixteen-year-old daughter.”

Mia grins. “I’m pretty sure he’s talking about Nate.”

I turn and look at her, a bit confused. “You think so?”

She chuckles. “Absolutely. Katrina Lancaster is sixteen and a little boy crazy. Nate’s pretty protective, so who knows if he’ll go for it.”

Now to drop the bomb. “They may want me to move in there with Jeremy initially.”

She just nods, seeming unfazed. “That makes sense. You saw him tonight. He’s overwhelmed by all of this. He’s going to need you.”

I sigh. I know she’s right, and a few months ago I wouldn’t have thought twice about it. But now, I like having a life outside of the ballpark. I hope there’s a way to make this all work. I remember what I’ve learned about Mia this evening. “So, you’ve been working with Jim?”

I see conflict on her face. “With my job has come some unwanted attention. I run a publicly traded company, and some people think what we do is an invasion of privacy, though we only pull from public sites and records. You might have noticed my bodyguard, Peter, around. He’s always close, but not so close that it’s intrusive.”

Peter? I feel foolish that I didn’t realize who he was. I can’t believe I was so unobservant. “Is he outside waiting all night for you?”

She chuckles. “No. He doesn’t always stay with me. He drives me to the office or wherever I need to go, and sometimes he stays, but if not, he’s always a quick phone call away. Tonight, he dropped me off and went home. I could call him to come to pick me up, but he’s married with kids, and I don’t want to interrupt his personal time, so I’ll grab a rideshare—which I do on occasion. He’s not crazy about it, but he knows.”

I shake my head as I process this. Mia needs a bodyguard sometimes. I suppose if I were single and living in a big city, I might want some protection. I can only imagine how often guys get too aggressive.

“I was introduced to Jim because of my sister, though,” she continues after a moment. “She’s a mega pop star in China, and a growing number of people here know her as well. She gets mobbed wherever she goes. She and my parents joined me to ring the bell the morning my company went public. She was mobbed, and it made the Chinese papers that we were related. After that, I had some strange things happen. I’m a single woman, and I got nervous for my personal safety. I was working with a friend of Jim’s at the time, and he referred me to Jim and Clear Security. The rest is history.”

She looks at me with her big brown eyes as she stands and picks up her bag.

I step in and kiss her softly. “You don’t have to go.”

“Go talk to Jeremy and make sure he’s okay with me here. I think he needs time with his big brother. He probably went to his room because he feels like he’s intruding. If you can convince him to come out, and he’s comfortable with me being here, I might stay.”

“You’re really amazing.” I kiss her softly. “I hope you know that.”

I walk down the hall to the guest room. It’s behind the kitchen, but the room is directly below mine. I knock on the door.

“Come in,” Jeremy says.

He is sitting on the bed in his clothes. “Should I go home so your girlfriend can stay over?”

I shake my head. “No, I want you to stay. In fact, I promised Jim you’d stay over.” I relay what Mia told me about her having security always around.

“I get it. Mia’s a big deal, but I don’t know. It sounds so creepy to have some guy hanging out with me all the time. The press may think I’m weak or something.”

I take a deep breath. “First, lots of people have bodyguards, and it doesn’t make them weak. You heard what Mia said about public interest in you after she ran that search—and that was only the first hour after you broke the record. I want you