The Protective Billionaire

by Christine Kersey

  He was a big star so he obviously had a lot of experience with the paparazzi. But it was all new to her. “Photographers were perched outside our gate when we went running this morning.”

  Jason shook his head. “Vultures.”

  “How do you deal with it?” she asked as she lifted a bite of cake to her mouth, ready to savor the exquisite flavor of chocolate with raspberry mousse. But with all the lies baked into it, she found she couldn’t enjoy something she would normally love.

  Grimacing, Jason said, “I ignore them as much as possible and just try to live my life. Not much else you can do.”

  She appreciated his insight. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”

  He glanced toward a pair of men on the edges of the set—men from her security team. “And have someone to keep them back when necessary.”

  She was so grateful to Cameron. She tried to imagine coming to and from the set on her own, from her apartment, with Tyler on the loose. The thought made her anxious. With Cameron’s protection, she didn’t have to worry about Tyler. She hoped.

  When Aubree had finished working that evening, she texted Cameron and let him know she was on her way, but on the drive home she made a quick stop. By the time she arrived back at his house, she was wiped out, but when she walked into the house and found him putting the finishing touches on dinner, she felt her energy returning.

  “How was it?” he asked.

  She set her purse on the counter with a smile. “Exhilarating, exhausting, amazing. I can’t wait to go back tomorrow.”

  Then his gaze went to the bag she held in her hands. “What’s that?”

  She laughed and handed it to him. “A gift for my teacher.”

  He peeked inside, then pulled out a bright red apple before grinning. “Nice.”

  “There’s enough in there for you to have one a day for at least a week.”

  “Thank you.” He set the bag on the counter.

  As they ate dinner, he asked for details on her day, and when she thought about the wedding cake she tried to hold back a grimace, but she knew she failed.

  “What?” He narrowed his eyes. “Did something happen?”

  “Kind of.” Then she told him about how nice everyone had been and about the wedding cake.

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah. I feel terrible lying to everyone when they were all so supportive of our marriage.” She did air quotes on that.

  He frowned. “I know what you mean. I’ve been getting emails congratulating me.”

  She sighed. “How long should we keep this going?”

  He laughed. “More than three days. That’s for sure.”

  Guilt at lying to the world was digging into her. Although it was for a good reason—a very good reason—it still bothered her. It was one thing to keep a relationship private from the media. Another thing entirely to flat-out deceive everyone. At least her family knew the truth. That was the important thing.

  “What do you want to do?” Cameron asked.

  She thought about Tyler’s ominous email and tried to suppress a shudder. “Nothing for now.”

  “Good.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  Cameron reached across the table and took her hand. “Your safety is my only concern. We can’t worry about anything else right now.”

  Nodding, she gently squeezed his hand.

  Cameron was glad Aubree’s day had gone well, and he couldn’t express how relieved he’d been when she’d walked through the front door. She’d been on his mind the entire day. He’d even struggled to work which was extremely unusual for him. Every time he’d tried to focus on work, his mind had thrown an image of her being hurt by Tyler. It had driven him nuts.

  Now though, with her sitting across from him safe and sound, he was finally able to relax. He just hoped she wouldn’t let her feelings of guilt put her in danger.

  Wanting to keep her focused on the reason for their pretend marriage, he said, “After dinner do you want to practice your self-defense?”

  Her eyes lit up. “Yeah. That would be awesome.”

  He laughed. “I’m surprised you have the energy for it after your long day.”

  Chuckling, she said, “Me too.”

  They continued eating with Aubree regaling him with all she’d experienced that day, and when they were done, they changed into shorts and t-shirts, went out back, and practiced their moves.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  By Thursday, Aubree was feeling super comfortable on set. She and Jason had connected well, and she felt like she was really getting into her role.

  “How does your husband feel about you being in this movie?” Jason asked as they were taking a break.

  Aubree held back a frown. Hearing Cameron called her husband made her uncomfortable. Especially now that she felt like she and Jason had become friends. “He’s excited for me.”

  Jason smirked. “He’s okay with you kissing me?”

  They had yet to film any kissing scenes, so Aubree hadn’t thought much about it. Still, she wanted to give him an answer. “He knows it’s just pretend.” Saying that word out loud brought her up short. Her entire marriage was pretend, although her feelings for Cameron were anything but.

  “He’s a better man than me.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “I’d hate for my wife to be kissing someone else. Pretend or not.”

  “He’s not even my husband,” she heard herself say, then her eyes went wide as she slapped her hand over her mouth.

  Jason’s eyebrows shot up. “What?”

  “Never mind,” she said as she frantically looked around to see who may have overheard. A few people were milling about nearby. Any one of them could have overheard. Panic engulfed her. What had she just done?

  Jason grabbed her by the arm and tugged her into an area where no one could overhear. “What’s going on, Aubree?”

  “I shouldn’t have said that,” she said, her voice just above a whisper.

  “Is it true?”

  She chewed on the inside of her lip as she stared at him. She knew she could trust him with the truth, and since they would be shooting this film for weeks, she wanted him to know what was really going on. “You have to promise not to tell anyone.”

  He looked mildly offended. “Obviously.”

  Then she told him about Tyler and the plan she and Cameron had cooked up to get him to leave her alone.

  “Huh,” Jason said.

  “What?”

  “Pretty drastic, if you ask me.”

  “I was desperate, okay? Especially when I got offered this role. I couldn’t turn it down but I was scared to come out of hiding.”

  He nodded. “Okay, yeah. I can understand that.” He paused a beat. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

  Moments later they were called back to shooting, and as Aubree walked past the others working on the set, she wondered if her secret would be safe with them.

  On Friday evening, when the car Aubree rode in approached Cameron’s house, she could tell something was up. Well over a dozen paparazzi were hanging around outside the gate—double the number that were usually there. And when her car approached the gate, they went into a frenzy—filming and snapping photos and shouting at her.

  What was going on?

  Fortunately, her car drove past them and through the open gate, and as the gate clanged shut behind them, the paparazzi were left behind. But when Aubree walked through the front door, Cameron met her with a look that said all was not right in their little world.

  “Did something happen?” she asked as he led her to the couch in the family room.

  “You tell me,” he said with a stern look.

  Exhausted from her first week of filming, she wasn’t up to playing games. “I have no idea.”

  He opened his laptop, which sat on the coffee table, and pointed to the screen. It showed an article on a tabloid’s website with the headline Sham Marriage Exposed. And below the headline was the picture of them ki
ssing when they’d gotten off the plane.

  Alarm sliced through her and she immediately knew someone on the set had overheard her comment to Jason the day before and had spilled it to the media.

  “Where do you think they got that idea?” Cameron asked. Storm clouds had formed in his eyes, and Aubree wasn’t sure if he was mad at her or the tabloid.

  Then it occurred to her that she was the one who should be mad. She was the one who would be in danger if the truth came out. And she was the one who’d blown it.

  “It’s all my fault,” she said with a deep sense of regret.

  Cameron recoiled slightly. “What? Did you tell someone?”

  He was doing so much for her and now her mistake had made him look bad.

  “It was an accident.”

  “Who’d you tell?” he said as he sat ramrod straight on the edge of the couch.

  Softly sighing, she gathered her thoughts, and then she told him what had happened, leaving out the details of the conversation.

  Cameron couldn’t believe Aubree had let such an important piece of information slip. Didn’t she care about her safety at all? Was she so comfortable with Jason Evanson that she would trust him with her most important secret?

  “So, Jason told them,” he said as he gestured to the article on his screen.

  She shook her head. “No. I’m sure it wasn’t him.”

  He had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. “Well, someone told them.”

  Guilt flitted across her face.

  “Did you tell someone else?” He couldn’t believe this.

  She quickly shook her head. “No. But it’s possible that someone else overheard.” She bit her lip. “I’m so sorry, Cameron. I know this makes you look bad.”

  Exasperated, he huffed out a sigh. She didn’t understand him at all. “Don’t you get it? I don’t care about that. I care about you. What’s going to happen when Tyler gets wind of this?”

  She went quiet and then her eyes began to shimmer with unshed tears. “I don’t know.” It came out as a whisper.

  He hated seeing her so upset. “Look. We’ll figure it out, okay?”

  She nodded but didn’t speak.

  He had to make this right. “Everything will be fine.”

  “How do you know that?”

  He didn’t. That was the problem. But he needed her to believe he did. “I’ll make sure of it. You just need to trust me.”

  She wanted to believe him and she completely trusted him. He’d managed to keep the truth a secret, after all. Still, she knew Tyler was unpredictable. “I do trust you,” she managed to say, swallowing down the tears that threatened.

  His body seemed to relax, and as he reached out and stroked her cheek, she felt herself relax too.

  “What should we tell them?” she asked, gesturing in the general direction of the street.

  “Nothing. We don’t owe them—or anyone else—an explanation. The people who matter to us know the truth. That’s all that matters.” He smiled. “That and your safety.”

  She nodded. He was right. Again. Did she even deserve him? “Maybe we should stay home tomorrow. From the charity dinner.”

  His forehead furrowed. “Is that what you want?”

  Was it? She thought about it for a moment. No. She wanted to show the world that she didn’t care what the media said. She and Cameron would present a united front. They would continue their charade. They had to.

  “No. I want to go.”

  He smiled. “Good. We need to go. This charity is important and I want to support it.” His lips quirked into a smile. “We’re a hot topic right now and our being there will bring it more attention, so that’s good.”

  She was glad there was something positive coming out of this bad news.

  Cameron made them something to eat, and then they spent the rest of the evening relaxing.

  Aubree tried to enjoy it because the next evening would be stressful.

  Chapter Forty-Four

  The next evening before they left, Cameron stood at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for Aubree to make her way down. A short time later she appeared on the landing at the top, and as she began her descent, his gaze was riveted to her. The emerald-green gown clung to her in all the right places, accentuating her slender waist. And as she reached the bottom, he saw that the gown matched her eyes exactly.

  He wanted to take her into his arms then and there, but when Maya trotted over to see what was going on, he used the distraction to get himself under control. Still, he couldn’t take his eyes off of Aubree. “You look stunning.”

  “Thank you.” Aubree felt beautiful in the silky gown, and she tried not to think about how much it had cost. Even though Cameron was a billionaire, she didn’t like the idea of spending so much money on a single dress. Especially his money. But she knew looking good reflected on him. Even if the world was questioning their marriage.

  “I have something for you,” he said as they stood at the base of the stairs, then he lifted a rectangular velvet box from a small table and held it out to her.

  With a mix of trepidation and excitement, Aubree opened the lid to find a gorgeous emerald necklace with matching drop earrings. She looked at Cameron with a smile. “They match perfectly. Thank you so much.”

  He lifted the necklace from the box, then twirled a finger to tell her to turn around. She did as instructed and he clasped it around her neck. Placing a hand on the gems, Aubree felt deeply cared for.

  “Put on the earrings,” Cameron said.

  Aubree did, then she looked at her reflection in a nearby mirror. The effect of the emeralds with her gown and her eyes was striking and she knew she would do Cameron proud.

  “Are you ready to go?”

  She turned to him and slid her hand into his. “Yes.”

  He gently squeezed her hand as he smiled in a way that let her know just how much he liked the way she looked.

  A few minutes later they were in the car and heading toward the gate. The sun was still high in the sky and Aubree was kind of flabbergasted to see that the number of paparazzi had multiplied yet again.

  “Don’t they have a life?” she asked.

  “This is their life,” Cameron murmured.

  Tearing her gaze away from the crowd, she glanced at the men in the front seat of the SUV. At least they would keep everyone back.

  When they arrived at the hotel where the dinner was being held, Cameron got out of the car first, and then Aubree slid across the seat to follow him. He held out his hand to help her out and as her heels touched the ground, she heard people shouting at them.

  “Aubree! Look this way!”

  “Are you really married?”

  “Why are you pretending? Is it for publicity?”

  Ignoring all of them, Aubree kept her grip tight on Cameron’s hand as they made their way inside to the relative peace and quiet. All the women were dressed in beautiful gowns and sparkling jewels and for a moment Aubree felt conspicuous. And then she remembered that thanks to Cameron, she looked just as good.

  Then she noticed people looking their way. Was it because she looked fabulous or because they’d heard the rumors? With no way to know, she held her head high and stayed right beside Cameron. With her hand in his, she stayed by Cameron’s side as he circulated around the room, introducing her to those he knew. When it was time to start the dinner, he led her to their table.

  Throughout the meal, Aubree enjoyed herself, chatting with the others at their table. They were all very impressed that she knew Jason Evanson and asked all kinds of questions about him and about making the movie. Their interest boosted her confidence and she was beyond relieved that no one asked about her and Cameron’s marriage, even though she was certain they must have heard the rumors.

  Near the end of the meal, Aubree leaned toward Cameron and whispered, “I’m going to the ladies’ room.”

  “Okay.” He looked toward the back of the spacious room where one of his security guys was standing, then he
turned to Aubree. “Have Brian go with you.”

  She wasn’t sure that was necessary, but with all the uproar in the tabloids, it seemed like a good idea. She made her way to the back of the room and felt many pairs of eyes on her. Keeping her chin up, she walked past Brian and out into the hallway. Pretending she was just a normal girl going to the ladies’ room instead of the subject of speculation who was also afraid of her stalker, she walked down the hall and to the door to the ladies’ room with Brian trailing behind her.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Standing at the sink, Aubree was glad no one else was in the bathroom. It gave her a minute to catch her breath. She stared at her reflection and tried to see herself through Cameron’s eyes. What did he, a wonderful, wealthy, handsome man who could have any woman, see in her? She wasn’t sure, but his unwavering kindness and thoughtfulness, plus his profession of his feelings for her convinced her he was sincere, that he really cared about her as much as she cared about him.

  She pictured his face and felt her heart blossom with love. How could she be so lucky?

  The sound of a stall opening nearby startled her. She’d thought she was alone. Her gaze slid up the mirror to see the reflection of the person exiting the stall. Expecting to see one of the other ladies from the charity dinner, when she saw the face of a man she was startled. But when she recognized the face as Tyler’s, she gasped and felt her heart plunge to her toes.

  He was smiling, but it wasn’t a friendly smile. No. It was the smile of a man who was furious and triumphant all at the same time. He wore a white jacket, black pants, black vest and a black bow tie—the same uniform the servers were wearing.

  Dumbfounded to see him there, Aubree couldn’t move. Instead, her gaze was riveted to him as he sauntered toward her with that evil grin. Then her paralysis broke and she bolted toward the door. The only problem was, her high heels and long gown didn’t allow her to move very fast, and before she’d reached the door, Tyler had gotten there first. He turned the lock then faced her.